Promoting Sierra County Tourism at the Tournament of Roses Parade Or “How I managed to jam broken walnut shells under my fingernails without really trying”

By popular demand...following is the article that I wrote for the local newspapers on my Tournament of Roses Experience:

Ten observations on volunteering to work on the Grand Marshal's Award winning New Mexico Tourism Department “Enchantment Is In The Air” float at this years Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. Hey, it takes a lot to build a winner!

1) Teenage Girl Scouts have absolutely no idea who Pepe LePew and Penelope Pussycat are, but they are incredibly useful when it comes to crawling across scaffolding to glue & apply massive amounts of onion seeds & dried coconut to those 10 foot replicas of the Warner Brothers cartoons. We had several different Girl Scout troops from throughout the LA area working with us on the float decoration. And yes, the coconut is edible.

2) The NM Tourism Dept “Land of Enchantment” logo signs have been used for all 4 of our floats, to cut down on costs. I repaired the walnut shell background & onion seed lettering two years ago...so guess what my first assignment was? “Hey look, Gina's here! Let's make HER fix this atrocity – again!”. Thanks guys! It only took me 5 hours to “fix” one sign.

3) There are about 6 different types of glue used to affix seeds, flowers, legumes, seaweed & corn husks to the float. And they all have their own distinctive, headache inspiring aroma.

4) There are too many chiefs involved when you have about 100 people crawling around a float. 'Tis far, far better to always check with the 24 year old kids in the red jackets than to listen to opinions from fellow volunteers that start with the words “I've been here all 4 times, and we should...” The 24 year old kids have been doing this since they were 10 or 11 years old, and have worked their way up the Fiesta Floats organization hierarchy. Don't mess with Ryan or Theresa or you may find yourself banned from the barn!

5) People don't realize that the base of the float gets covered with pine branches. Then huckleberry branches. Then juniper branches. THEN the roses, which are in vials of water, get jammed through those 3 layers of greenery & into a very thick layer of cardboard-ish material. Hence the blisters on our hands & stiff shoulders & biceps on New Years Day. All this, and you can't even see the greenery under the roses. Sheesh!

6) There were approximately 8,000 roses, 3,000 daisies and 1,000 orchids on our float. And those were just on the “deck”. The balloons were covered in coconut, mums, carnations, lentils, kidney beans, split peas, and in one case, pieces of celery (my suggestion that we use green chile instead was appreciated, but ignored).

7) 60 volunteers traveled from New Mexico to California at their own expense to work on the float. We worked from 8am Monday till 11pm on Wednesday.

8) Float judging takes place on the morning of December 31st. Evidently, you are supposed to cheer wildly when the judges reach your float, and cheer even more wildly when the mechanics of your float kick in. Some people think you earn extra points with the judges this way. I looked on in horror the first time Penelope's tail twitched, spraying coconut flakes across the float. But hey, they seemed to enjoy it.

9) Over 1 million people line Colorado Blvd in Pasadena for the Parade. Over 40 million Americans watch it on TV. The Tourism Dept estimates that for New Mexico to pay for a TV ad with that kind of coverage would run about $4 million.

10) After the parade ends, the floats are all driven to a park in Pasadena where the public can view them up close. The New Mexico Tourism Dept drove their mobile visitor information center - “Moby VIC” - to the park where several of us distributed visitor information to the crowd. It was 4 ½ hours of non-stop guerrilla marketing. Unbelievably, we are the only destination with the common sense to use this as a marketing opportunity. At times, visitors to our VIC were 4 deep. I spoke with hundreds of people & thankfully, I had only one person ask me if you “still need a passport to visit New Mexico”. And, I had only one person ask “New Mexico? There's a “new” one?” and look at me skeptically when I told her that we are located between Texas & Arizona. “Since WHEN???”

Surprisingly, I discovered that lots of New Mexicans travel to New Mexico to attend the parade. Many of those folks sought us out to thank us for the beautiful float, to thank us for working to promote the state at the “post parade float park” and volunteered to help us next year.

Thank you Mark Trujillo and everyone at the New Mexico Tourism Department for such a great experience!

I've spent the past week in Southern California with the New Mexico Tourism Department working on our entry in the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade, "Enchantment Is In The Air". 60 volunteers from New Mexico made the trip to Pasadena to work on the float, which featured Warner Brothers cartoon character Pepe LePew courting Penelope Pussycat, who was making her getaway on a hot air balloon.

Our float was awarded the Grand Marshal's Award for excellence in creative concept and design. We won this award two years ago with our "alien" float; last year we were awarded the Bob Hope Humor Award for our entry featuring Wile E. Coyote chasing the Roadrunner across the desert on an ACME rocket.

After the parade ends, the floats are all moved to Victory Park in Pasadena where the public can get an up close look. The New Mexico float attracted a lot of attention, and thousands of people visited our mobile Visitor Information Center (lovingly referred to as "Moby VIC") to learn more about New Mexico and the visitor attractions that we have to offer.

It was an overwhelming, delightful experience and hopefully we will have funding available to enter a float again in 2011. I can't think of a more unique and memorable way to promote New Mexico to the world!

Merry Christmas!

I still get excited when it snows in Southern New Mexico, I like to sit in my nice warm house & watch the snow fall. So I was dismayed when it began to snow just as I was getting in the car to take a road trip to Southern California to spend Christmas with my family! As you can see, it came down pretty heavy between Deming & Lordsburg, right at the Continental Divide.

In a few days I will journey to Pasadena where I will be helping the New Mexico Tourism Department decorate our entry in the Tournament of Roses Parade. This year our float will feature Pepe Le Pew & his girlfriend Penelope Pussycat in hot air balloons. Sounds like another winner!

Here's wishing everyone a safe & happy holiday season!!!

Gina

Merry Christmas from Sierra County

I've become so used to winter in southern New Mexico that I find that I now dread leaving my cozy little home in Truth or Consequences to head off to Southern California for the Holidays. Granted, the nights are cold...but the daytime temps are in the mid to high 50's, the sky is blue and cloudless.

Things have slowed down a bit, giving me time to reflect on how lucky I am to be in a small town with good friends, working for great people. Sometimes it's a challenge - my friend Jen with the Tourism Department always says "the smaller the town, the bigger the drama" - but hey! Never a dull moment!

I'm getting ready to drive off to Oceanside, CA to spend Christmas with my family, then up to Pasadena to work on the New Mexico float in the Tournament of Roses Parade. Viva Pepe le Pew! Merry Christmas everyone, and I'll see you in the New Year!

Hard Hat Tours of Spaceport America Start December 5th!

Recently I had the opportunity to visit the construction site at Spaceport America. Frankly, I was prepared to be unimpressed - how impressive could the construction of a 10,000 foot runway be, right?

Wrong. It is one thing to know that construction has started. It is quite another to actually stand on the runway and look down the length of it. In Hawai'i, we call it "chicken skin". You stand there and think "oh my...it's REALLY happening".

Now the general public has the opportunity to visit the construction site, via a Spaceport Hard Hat Tour. Tours, currently scheduled for the weekends of December 5-6 and 19-20, depart the Sierra Grande Lodge in Truth or Consequences at 8am & 1pm on Saturday, and 1pm on Sunday. Tours last about 4 hours; cost is $59 per person. Sign up on the Spaceport America website! Here is a great description of the tour courtesy of the Las Cruces Sun News: http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_13870855

Never Too Hot To Soak!

OK, so here's an observation I've made during the past 4 years I've lived in Truth or Consequences. It's 97 degrees, admittedly it's a tad warm for some people...but not oppressively so (think the Eastern seaboard when it's 95% humidity and 95 degrees. Blech!).

And I hear people whimper..."it's too hot to soak!"

Ha! Say I. It's never too hot to soak. In fact, soaking during the summer months when the mercury rises is my favorite time to soak. "she's crazy" say you. But here's the thing. The water is about 110+ degrees. You get out of the water, you sit outside with that breeze coming off the of the river, and suddenly, that 97 degrees feels downright comfortable. For that matter, you don't have to be anywhere NEAR the river - you still feel refreshed when you hit that dry 97 degrees after simmering your cares away in the hot mineral waters.

Fast forward to winter, when the faint-hearted think this is the best time to soak. Yes, I admit - it feels pretty darn great to float in the hot water when it's 40 degrees outside (our version of winter). BUT - you leave your bath warm & toasty...and get cold again within short order.

Maybe I'm wrong. Check back with me in December. Or better yet, come for a visit during all 4 seasons & pick your favorite. I suppose that actually...given that we have 10 different mineral bath establishments, you could pick your favorite based upon the time of year. Further research is required. These decisions can't be made lightly, you know.

A hui hou!
Gina

To The Bat Cave!

Holy Bat Fest Batman! Saturday June 13 is the date of the Sierra County Historical Society's popular Bat Cave fund raising tour of the Armendaris Ranch!

If you've never participated in this tour, you can't begin to imagine the sound created by thousands of tiny bat wings fluttering en masse. it sounds like...water. Rushing water. It builds to the crescendo of a very large waterfall.

To watch tens of thousands of bats take to the sky, joined by birds of prey who descend into their midst for their own evening meal...it is an awe-inspiring natural phenomenon that should not be missed. Swainson's Hawk ... meet Mexican Bat. Can you say "dinner!!"???

The tour will reach the bat caves just before dusk, prime time for observing thousands of bats exiting their caves below the lava beds. En route, we have seen antelope, oryx, bison, tortoises and a variety of birds, including the rare Aplomado Falcon.

Depending on conditions, the tour may also stop at the pens where the bison are vaccinated, tested, and examined. Return time is approximately 10pm. The $150 cost includes a meal, soft drinks, and plenty of water. All proceeds of this tour go directly to the museum. We are thankful for the ongoing support of Ted Turner and Tom Waddell at the Armendaris Ranch for our fund raising efforts. To participate in this tour, 4WD/high clearance vehicles are required and carpooling will be utilized. This trip is limited to 6 vehicles.

Please contact LaRena Miller for more info at 894-6600 or by e-mail at larena@geronimotrail.com