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Al Roker, Hoda Kotb to Anchor NBC Rose Parade Coverage

Published on Thursday, December 1, 2016 | 6:17 am
 
Al Roker and Hoda Kotb

NBC Today weather anchor Al Roker and Hoda Kotb, co-host of Today’s fourth hour, will be co-hosting NBC’s live, high-definition coverage of the 128th Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, starting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, January 2, 2017.

This will be the 90th year NBC is broadcasting the parade. The coverage began on radio in 1927 and television started bringing the event live in 1954. Roker will be on his 20th year as host and the fourth for Kotb.

Due to Pasadena’s Never on a Sunday rule, the parade will be held a day after New Year’s Day.

The Tournament of Roses Association said the parade will officially start at 8 a.m. to usher in a festival of flowers, music and sports unequaled anywhere else in the world. The Rose Parade and Game has been dubbed as America’s New Year Celebration, a greeting to the world on the first day of the year and a “salute to the community spirit and love of pageantry that have thrived in Pasadena for over 100 years.”

This year’s theme is “Echoes of Success.” Three Olympic legends are honored as this year’s Grand Marshals – six-time Olympic gold medalist and track and field star Allyson Felix, five-time Olympic medalist and long distance swimmer Janet Evans and five-time Olympic medalist and diver Greg Louganis.

The Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game requires about 80,000 hours of combined manpower each year, supplied by 935 members of the non-profit Tournament of Roses Association. Each volunteer is assigned to one of 31 committees, with responsibilities ranging from selecting parade participants to directing visitors on New Year’s Day, to hosting the press headquarters for media coverage of the Rose Bowl Game, to giving presentations about the Tournament to community groups.

Every volunteer is nicknamed White Suiter because of the distinctive white uniform. The volunteers give up their evenings, weekends and holidays to ensure the success of the parade and game. A small full-time staff provides support and continuity to the volunteer organization.

Honda will lead the parade with their “Hope Blooms Forever” entry, followed by 43 other lavishly decorated floats, including Dole’s “Spirit of Hawaii,” Cal Poly Universities’ “A New Leaf,” and Western Asset Management Company’s “Prosperity in the Wild.”

Lucy Pet’s entry, which includes an 80-foot long ocean of water featuring a wave machine and surfing dogs, will try to claim two new Guinness World Records as the longest float (at 125 feet) and the heaviest float.

The Organ Donation Alliance’s float, “Teammates in Life,” will depict a Polynesian catamaran propelled by a team of 24 organ, eye and tissue transplant recipients rowing in unison with strength gained from their donors. The sails will feature 60 floral portraits of donors, and 16 living donors will walk alongside the float carrying flowers.

Nineteen equestrian teams including the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales will be marching with the parade, along with over 20 marching bands from all over.

The Pasadena Police Department said they expect over 700,000 spectators to line the 5.5-mile route which begins at the corner of Green Street and Orange Grove Boulevard, travels north on Orange Grove and then turns east onto Colorado Boulevard, where the majority of the parade viewing takes place. Tens of millions of people also watch the television broadcast every year.

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