Rose Bowl Floats Will Get a Taste of Wolcott Expertise
Eric Marlowe, Wayuga Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 5 2006
Dic Lasher
WOLCOTT-For 30 years Dic Lasher has been building parade floats for the Town of Wolcott. Now he is ready to take the knowledge he has gained over the past three decades all the way to the Rose Bowl in California.
Lasher will fly out to Pasadena, Calif., Dec. 14 where he will begin his work decorating floats constructed by the Phoenix Decorating Company. Phoenix is responsible for 20 of the major floats seen during the parade. They construct more floats than any other builder combined.
The floats they construct range in size from 35 to 210 feet long and 17 to 50 feet high. The company uses 20,000,000 flowers, 300 tons of steel, 70,000 square feet of plywood, 8,000 gallons of glue, 225,000 square feet of chicken wire and 16,000 volunteers to create the floats for the Rose Bowl parade.
“I’ve done parades and floats in Wolcott for 30 years but this is quite different,” Lasher said.
This year Lasher will be building 12 floats for Wolcott’s bicentennial parade.
Dic Lasher has been constructing floats for the Town of Wolcott for 30 years. On Aug. 19, 1972 Lasher and his wife were married ona float during the Apple Harvest Festival.
In 1972, Lasher and his wife were married on a parade float during the Apple Harvest Festival on Aug. 19. It took them six months to build the floats in which the entire wedding party was situated.
Since then he has built floats for three other weddings.
Making something out of nothing is what motivates Lasher to construct parade floats. “I just like creating and doing things where you can get kids involved using their ideas to make something work.”
Lasher was on the Internet when he discovered he had a chance to volunteer for the Rose Bowl Parade. He then e-mailed an organizer who invited Lasher out to California and gave him his assignment.
“I don’t care what I’m doing,” Lasher said. “I just want to be part of the operation. Who knows, I may be bringing ideas back to Wolcott.”
Lasher will be in California for three weeks. He said he has one day of decorating the floats and four days of attaching flowers. The flowers, however, are not applied until after Christmas.
The theme of this year’s parade is “Our Good Nature”. Lasher does not know yet which floats he will be working on.
Lasher must pay for everything while he is in California but he doesn’t mind the expense. “I had to pay for everything but for me it’s well worth it. I’m ready. I’m packed and ready to go.”
His family has supported Lasher’s decision to travel to California. “I was driving school buses up until June,” he said. “My son said ‘you don’t need that. Go do something you want’. I said ‘OK. I’m going to California.’ They told me to go for it. They’ve been great; very supportive”
The trip out to California is something Lasher has been wanting to do for 50 years. “I finally put my foot down and told myself I would go do it. It’s great. I can’t wait.”
Lasher has no plans of slowing down after he arrives home from Pasadena on Jan. 4. Next year he would like to work on the floats for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
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