Tournament of Roses President Echoed Success Stories Wednesday as 128th Parade Nears

The Pasadena Chamber of Commerce honored 2017 Tournament of Roses Association President Brad Ratliff at the annual President’s Breakfast at the Westin Pasadena on Thursday to hear stories of Echoes of Success, the theme for the 2017 Tournament festivities.

The morning gathering provided an opportunity to honor special guests that included the Royal Court, as well as Tournament presidents past, present and future as the Rose Parade nears just weeks away.

“The President’s Breakfast is really a nice opportunity for the Chamber to celebrate everything that the tournament has done for the city and to specifically honor President Brad Ratliff and his service and all that he’s put in to making that organization a success and the New Year’s event a success as well,” said Pasadena Chamber of Commerce CEO Paul Little.

Ratliff has been a volunteer member of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses since 1988 and was appointed a chairman in 2004 and a director in 2007. Throughout his extensive Association career, Ratliff served on and chaired various committees including Equestrian, Queen & Court and Services & Properties. He was elected to the Executive Committee in 2009.

“The Tournament of Roses is about how the community and family get together really to put on one of the greatest celebrations in the world, but more importantly to show the cultural dynamics that we all celebrate every single year,” said Ratliff.

Ratliff is a third generation Pasadenan and follows in the footsteps of his father, Dick E. Ratliff, who was the Tournament of Roses president of the 110th Rose Parade and 85th Rose Bowl Game in 1999.

“Are there more with who we can develop relationships?,” Ratliff asked. “Well, of course. But are we doing all that we can to reach out? Absolutely,” explained Ratliff about the Tournament’s goal of expanding its network.

Earlier this year the Chamber of Commerce honored the Tournament of Roses Association with the 2016 Corporate Citizen’s Award and in October the Pasadena NAACP gave special recognition to the Tournament of Roses.

A notable achievement in 2016 Ratliff mentioned was the increase of range for the Tournament of Roses college intern program to include schools outside of the Pasadena area that gives students the opportunity to be assigned to various operating committees of the Tournament of Roses. They attend committee meetings, are assigned duties, and volunteer in the same capacity as Tournament of Roses volunteer members, according the Tournament website.

“This is yielding a group of young adults that not only bring more students into our organization, but bring new ideas that will help with our growth,” said Ratliff.

Future 2020 Tournament of Roses President Laura Farber recently hosted a consortium for the representatives of Embassies of Latin American countries to learn how to extend the reach of the association to Latino communities.

“We know that our cultural distinctions are not to be overlooked, but are to be recognized, honored and celebrated,” said Ratliff.

Ratliff acknowledged the 1992 Tournament of Roses President in attendance Robert Cheney as a what he called “the Tournament’s greatest” and described him as a mentor who created the best Rose Parade Theme in the Tournament’s history: “Voyages of Discovery”.

“Not only can people relate to it, people can tell their own stories with it. Our community has grown since that theme was announced in 1991,” said Ratliff.

Ratliff and his wife Susan traveled to the cities across the U.S. where each of the marching bands that are participating in the Rose Parade are from with a goal to advocate music programs for youth.

“Each President is unique in how he or she approaches the traveling and this year it was our mission to tout to the communities that we visited about the benefits of music programs and the positive effect it has on kids,” said Ratliff who is a former marching band trumpet player and music enthusiast.

“Not only did we want to help the bands raise money for the trip to Pasadena, we wanted to bring more support to music programs because most are underfunded.”

Ratliff’s travels gave him the opportunity to learn about parent’s priorities in regards to the success of their children.

“We discovered that so many people really do care about our children and their future,” said Ratliff.

The 2017 Royal Court was in attendance and included Rose Queen Victoria Castellanos and Princesses Shannon Larsuel, Natalie Petrosian, Maya Khan, Audrey Cameron, Autumn Lundy and Lauren ‘Emi’ Powers.

The 128th Rose Parade theme reflects not only the legacy of the Tournament, but also the community as a whole, according to Ratliff.

“Echoes of Success celebrates those people, organizations and institutions that play a part in the stories of the success of others,” shared Ratliff. “Success cannot be achieved alone. It takes the support, dedication, compassion and love of many others to help in finding that satisfaction of success. Family, friends and teachers contribute selflessly and tirelessly to the success of many. These influences in our lives, these people of selfless commitment, these Echoes of Success make us who we are.”