Arcadia Celebrates Tournament Of Roses Princesses

ARCADIA, CA — Arcadia High School royalty was celebrated on Monday, at the 129th Rose Parade. The peaceful, festive parade launched with a B-2 bomber soaring overhead. Princesses Sydney Grace Pickering and Lauren Elizabeth Buehner, both of Arcadia High School, were celebrated by their district.

"We are extremely proud of our two Arcadia High Rose Parade Princesses," they told Twitter followers. "With almost 1,000 applicants, Lauren & Sydney earned the coveted spots on the Rose Parade Royal Court."

In the parade, another Arcadia High School student carried the banner.

The parade featured 39 floral-covered floats, 20 equestrian groups and 20 marching bands -- along with the marching bands from Oklahoma University and the University of Georgia, the teams competing in the Rose Bowl Monday afternoon.

Among the marching bands taking part were Australia's Marching Koalas; Kyoto Tachibana High School from Kyoto, Japan; Banda De Musica Herberto Lopez of Panama; the Los Angeles Unified School District All District High School Honor Band; the U.S. Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band; and the Burlington Teen Tour Band from Burlington, Canada.

La Salle High School senior Isabella Marie Marez, 18, was to preside over the festivities as this year's Rose Queen. She was to be accompanied by the six members of her Royal Court:

• Sydney Grace Pickering, Arcadia High School.
• Alexandra Marie Artura, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy;
• Savannah Rose Bradley, Pasadena High School;
• Lauren Elizabeth Buehner, Arcadia High School;
• Georgia Jane Cervenka, La Canada High School;
• Julianne Elise Lauenstein, La Canada High School;

The highlight of the parade, however, is always the array of intricately designed and decorated floats. This year's lineup includes floats sponsored by a variety of Southland cities, along with groups and companies including the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Honda, Dole Packaged Foods, Kaiser Permanente, Lucy Pet, Trader Joe's and Shriner's Hospital for Children.

The Donate Life float, an annual fixture in the parade, will again pay tribute to organ donors. Among those riding on the float will be baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who received a heart and kidney from the late NFL tight end Konrad Reuland, and former NFL quarterback and coach Sam Wyche, who received a heart just hours before being placed on hospice care.

A float by the United Sikh Mission will feature a replica of the world's largest free kitchen, which is located at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India.

Once the parade concludes, the floats were on display until Tuesday during the Showcase of Floats at Sierra Madre and Washington boulevards.

Parade-goers will notice a stepped-up presence of law enforcement officials. Police took the added step this year of closing off the parade route earlier than usual, with barricades going up at 10 p.m. New Year's Eve in an effort to better control traffic through the area. Bomb-sniffing dogs, a "no drone zone" and barricades blocking vehicle traffic from entering the parade route at its 56 intersections are all part of the security plan.

Tournament of Roses Press Release Photo