"Running Commentary"
New Year’s Eve, 1965
Editor’s Note: Today, an old favorite from the archives, originally published in The Wayne (PA) Times in 1983. Some readers will have read this before, as it was republished in the Salina Journal; however, there’s no shame in repeating a great story. And forgive me for a small boast – I think this story qualifies. It’s an all-time favorite. Hope you enjoy it (again and again) …
Pasadena, California.
Volunteers will be working most of the night putting finishing touches on large floats for what is unquestionably the most spectacular holiday parade in America – the Tournament of Roses, held New Year’s Day.
Panic Button? You betcha! A little after dawn, the colossal floats must inch their way out of the airport hangar and head toward Colorado Ave – whether they are finished or not.
Even as floats begin to pull out of the hanger, you can see workers furiously sticking last-minute flowers onto a float, patching a bare spot or two. If there are a few bare holes, the casual viewer watching the parade on TV won’t notice. Back in the studio, the show’s producers ensure that only a float’s best side will be shown to viewers.
Parade rules require that every square inch of every float must be covered with natural flowers or natural materials, such as bark or leaves. Individual flower stems are pushed into green plastic water vials, then punched one by one into mesh wiring molded in the shape of whatever form the float portrays. Tens of thousands of flowers conceal semi-trucks underneath.
I’m one of the worker bees who make it all possible … using my college semester break to volunteer in the huge airport hangar where eight mega-sized floats are being built simultaneously, one flower at a time. Rock music blares across the hangar.
Top of the chart’s Hot 100? “Michelle,” by the Beatles.
I’m dating a coed whose great-aunt is the Grand Dame of The Rose Parade, an elderly matron of Southern California society who began designing floats decades ago. My girlfriend and I are staying at her sprawling hillside mansion, just up the hill from the Rose Bowl.
Our pay for the week? Sumptuous food and all the soda pop we can drink. But thanks to our host we get special perks for our hard work, including an invitation to a private party with Lawrence Welk and his orchestra. We danced the night away!
We also snagged great seats for the Rose Bowl game, where the lowly UCLA Bruins are given virtually no chance against undefeated Big-10 powerhouse Michigan State.
Michigan State is ranked No. 1 in the nation and is considered one of the greatest college football teams – ever! It’s a classic battle of David vs. Goliath. According to the gridiron pundits, UCLA has no shot; but this California kid will certainly be cheering them on.
Each New Year’s Eve, the Grand Marshall of the Rose Parade tours the facilities where floats are being constructed. This year’s honoree? Walt Disney.
I’d love to meet him, but like the UCLA football team – I have virtually no shot. Hundreds of people are following Disney around as he goes from float to float in the airport hangar. A sizeable security contingent protects Disney from the large hordes following him around.
Suddenly, I had a moment of “Plan B” inspiration – what if I avoided the crowds and went to an area where Disney wasn’t, but where he likely would go? Have Disney come to me, rather than the other way around.
Like a speedy halfback running in the opposite direction of his blockers, I dashed around to the other end of the hangar and stood alone in an empty aisle.
My plan worked perfectly – 15 minutes later, Walt Disney walked up right up to me in the aisle where I was standing. He stopped and asked me questions about the float I was working on for the City of Los Angeles.
Thus it was that I was able to introduce myself to Walt Disney and shake the hand that first drew Mickey Mouse. The very same hand that also created Minnie Mouse, Pluto and Donald Duck.
It was quite a thrill. That freeze-frame moment would have made a great selfie, but cellphones were still 30 years away. I was too starstruck to even think of asking for an autograph.
Decades later, Wayne Gretzky became a great hockey player by doing something similar. When asked what made him special, Gretzky famously replied that unlike most players, he didn’t go where the hockey puck was – he went to the spot where the puck was going to be.
His greatness was the ability to anticipate events before they happened.
I’d like to think Gretzky got that idea from me; however, he wasn’t even born when I pulled Walt Disney out of a hat.
If there is a lesson for the upcoming New Year, it’s that all things are possible if we are creative, come up with a game plan, and implement that plan to perfection.
Creative people don’t follow the crowds. They figure out where the crowds are likely to go. If you want to meet Walt Disney, you need to be an innovator, not a follower.
With a good game plan, all things are possible.
Like that Rose Bowl game on New Year’s Day …
David 14, Goliath 12.
Michael wishes everyone a wonderful and prosperous 2022. Hopefully, it will be a better year than the last few disasters. God bless! Stay safe.