2015 Rose Parade to Honor Special Olympics World Games

Pasadena’s 2015 Rose Parade will celebrate The Special Olympics World Games to be held in Los Angeles from July 25 to August 2, 2015 and the 7,000 international athletes that will take part.

“Inspiring Stories” is the theme of the 126th Rose Parade.

Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed care organization in the United States, will take the lead in this tribute with its 2015 Rose Parade float entry named “Together We Thrive.” This will be Kaiser Permanente’s 10th float in the Rose Parade.

Kaiser Permanente dedicated its float to The Special Olympics World Games, which it said shares its commitment to diversity, inclusion and total health for individuals and communities.

It said its float will celebrate Special Olympics athletes “in a very visual way and advances our mission to create the awareness that leads to acceptance and inclusion of all people with intellectual disabilities with a worldwide audience.”

The Kaiser Permanente float features a sculptured reproduction of the World Games torch, ablaze and sitting atop a rotating replica of the World Games logo.

A rotating hexagon with eight magnificently detailed floral-graphs will serve as the floats central focal point. On the sides of the float are reproductions of the emblematic gold, silver and bronze medals.

A reproduction of the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the site for the World Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, stands tall as the float’s backdrop.

Riding on the float will be 1960 Olympic Gold Medalist and Founder of the Special Olympics Southern California, Rafer Johnson. He will be joined by 2015 World Games Global Messengers, Dustin Plunkett and Debi Anderson and 12 Kaiser Permanente members, including three Special Olympics Team USA athletes competing in the World Games.

“Our float will raise awareness of the 2015 World Games and the Special Olympics mission to promote acceptance and inclusion for those with intellectual disabilities by demonstrating and celebrating the joy, courage and determination of these remarkable athletes,” said Edward M. Ellison, MD, executive medical director for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, and member of the Special Olympics LA2015 board of directors.

The 2015 Special Olympics World Games will be the largest sports and humanitarian event anywhere in the world in 2015, and the single biggest event in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games.

Taking part in the games will be 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches representing 177 countries. There will also be 30,000 volunteers and an estimated 500,000 spectators, The 2015 Special Olympics World Games will feature 25 Olympic-style sports in venues throughout the Los Angeles region.

The Opening Ceremony will be July 25 in the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, site of the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games, and is expected to draw 80,000 spectators.