You could spot them from a mile away.
The people in the orange SOI RV Club caps make a bright spectacle in the low-slung Rose Parade grandstands just east of the Wells Fargo building along Colorado Boulevard.
Related: Complete coverage of the 2024 Rose Parade
The members of the Sports Coach Owners International stand out against a sea of maize and blue Michigan fans and the red and white of Alabama’s Roll Tide fans.
The group is here for the culmination of a five-day rally that’s all about the Rose Parade. Most of them aren’t going to the Rose Bowl Game. Instead, they’re here to soak up the floral displays, the pagentry, the marching bands, the musical performances, the equestrian displays.
SOI and its parent organization — Family Motor Coach Association — have been organizing these Rose Parade Rallies for nearly 45 years, according to FMCA’s senior vice president Paul Mitchell. They’re such a part of the historical fabric of the parade, that they’re client number 54 on Sharp Seating’s list, he said.
The group of 30 RVs settles in at their usual spot — the parking lot at Santa Anita Racetrack. There’s a big tent set up with a kitchen where meals are prepared as the wanderers need to keep up their strength. Because over the course of five days, from Dec. 28 to Jan. 2, for a fee of $2935, they’ll attend multiple events including Equestfest, Bandfest and some horse racing at the track.
But the thing the RV owners love the best is pitching in to decorate the Sierra Madre Rose Float Association’s “Enchanted Music Box” float.
“It gets everybody excited,” said Mitchell, “to actually put the flowers on the float.”
And, that’s what gives the club members a feeling of ownership, Mitchell said. It’s as if it’s their float coming around that corner from Orange Grove to Colorado Boulevard.
On Monday, before the start of the parade, group members talked about the advantages of traveling in an RV. Their homes on wheels…
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