The South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Committee is looking for "the big idea" for next year's float entry – before they've even completed this year's float!

The current float, scheduled to debut on Colorado Boulevard to international television audiences on new Year's Day, 2009, is well under way in construction at the War Memorial Building, 435 Fair Oaks Ave.

This year's float, "Nature's Entertainment," will be decorated by hundreds of volunteers. A sneak preview will be available to attendees of the Crunch Time Party on Monday, December 29th. Meanwhile, the design process for the 2010 float has begun, and the Chamber of Commerce is accepting entries from interested parties.

The South Pasadena float is the oldest self-built entry in the parade. It's primarily funded by donations and built by volunteers. The 2009 float concept was submitted by Marcia Lindahl of Van Nuys, California. South Pasadena resident and Float Designer Dominique Heffley created the final color rendering.

The official theme of the 2010 Tournament of Roses won't be announced by Tournament House until the third Thursday in January, this year that will be January 15th. But a "hint" may be released earlier to the committee.

A community-wide contest is being conducted. The Float Design Committee, along with an ad hoc group of community advisors with various specialties, will review every idea submitted, as well as a few culled from the archives. The concepts will be reviewed in an open house pizza party called "The 2¢ Party" at the Chamber of Commerce toward the end of January.

After this informal review and discussion, the Design Committee will make selections of finalists: at least three and possibly more. The results of this process will be presented to the SPTOR Committee at the February 3rd meeting. The SPTOR Committee will be asked to ratify the concepts and their ranking by majority vote, or to redirect the Design Committee if necessary.

Then the five concepts will go to the Pasadena Tournament of Roses officials at Tournament House for approval at "Theme Draft" on February 13th – a whole process in itself.

After approval by Tournament House, a color rendering will then be commissioned (volunteered!) and the official float design for 2010 will be presented to the citizens of South Pasadena by Mayor David Sifuentes, and posted online at SPTOR.com.

Friday, January 23rd by 5 pm is the deadline for postmarked entries to the Chamber of Commerce, at 1121 Mission Street, South Pasadena. Mailed entries should be sent to PO Box 3446, South Pasadena CA 91031.

The contest is open to public. Residents and non-residents may participate, including members of the committee and employees of the City. Concepts should be submitted on a 8.5" X 11" sheet of white bond paper, in black and white only. Color entries will be Xeroxed and presented in black and white. All ownership rights are transferred to City upon submission, and the entry must be signed by a legal guardian if the entrant is younger than 18 years old.

The South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Committee is an official committee of the City. The 2009 SPTOR Chair is Ted Shaw. Committee meetings are open to the public, occurring on the first Tuesday each month in City Council Chambers at 1424 Mission Street at 7:30pm. Volunteers interested in participating on the float design, construction, decorating or fundraising can contact City Staff Liaison Jeannie Chui at   626-403-7239  . For more information about the float, visit www.sptor.com

The South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce works to promote economic success and well-being by connecting business owners and operators with the community and the City in one of the most enduring "Small Town America" environments in Southern California. For more information about the Chamber, visit www.southpaschamber.com or call   626-44... .