A float fit for national TV should make this year’s Fourth of
July parade even more memorable.
Morgan Hill – A float fit for national TV should make this year’s Fourth of July parade even more memorable.
At least, that’s what folks at Pinnacle Bank are banking on. The new South County business opens its branch in Morgan Hill on July 17, and wants to make a big splash next week by rolling out a $4,200 Fourth of July designed by award-winning Tournament of Roses company Fiesta Parade Floats.
“The main reason we jumped on this so quickly is we are a brand new bank,” said Pinnacle marketing assistant Brittany Casarez, who grew up in Morgan Hill enjoying the town’s beloved star-spangled parade and fireworks show. “It makes the parade more predominant and special to have someone of (Fiesta’s) caliber build a float.”
The bank’s float features a colorful “day in the park” theme, with smoking barbecues, lush “lawns” and shady “trees.” Lucky passengers will include Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy and Pinnacle Bank CEO David Funkhouser.
The attraction is one of 22 floats entered in this year’s Fourth of July Parade, which kicks off at 10am in downtown Morgan Hill. Other notable floats include a centennial float celebrating Morgan Hill’s agricultural past, designed on a flatbed trailer by local volunteers.
But unlike its counterparts, the Fiesta float will be “self-propelled,” just like the ones seen on national TV, said parade planner Maureen Hunt. Rather than being pulled by truck, the celebrity float will have two hidden pilots: one camouflaged at the front of the float to radio directions to another tucked into a secret cockpit with no view of the road.
Hunt said the idea for enlisting the Pasadena float builders came about after she and other parade planners took behind-the-scenes tours of the Rose Parade in recent years. The tours offered peeks at Pasadena’s legendary float barns, she said, and gave local event organizers a chance to meet Fiesta Parade Floats President Tim Estes.
Then, in February, fellow Morgan Hill parade volunteer Don Cowan bumped into Estes at a convention in Los Vegas hosted by Calfest, a California and Nevada events association that serves as a networking tool for event planners.
At the convention, Cowan and Estes kicked around the idea of building a float for the Fourth of July Parade, provided a sponsor could be found to commission the work.
It all came together in April when Pinnacle Bank stepped up after more than 10 other potential sponsors declined the offer.
“Don was instrumental in getting the word out,” Hunt said.
The elaborate float brings up the rear of this year’s parade, which wraps around Monterey Road and Main, Peak and Dunne avenues. The parade is expected to last up to two hours, culminating with a large downtown street party and, later on, a fireworks show at Community Park that begins at nightfall.
