Raining On Their Parade

Despite Steady Rain, Rose Parade Goes On, With Ponchos

(AP)  A steady rain fell as the Rose Parade got under way Monday, forcing the Rose Queen to don a poncho. It was the first soggy day in more than a half century.

Despite the conditions, the event started as planned shortly after 8 a.m., but as CBS News correspondent Steve Futterman reports, crowds were smaller than usual and "many people have brought with them raincoats, umbrellas, and parkas."

Rose Queen Camille Clark, who turned 18 on Monday, was draped in a clear poncho so spectators and viewers will be able to see her white gown.

"They are going to be a little wet on the bottom," Clark said just before the parade. "It's still magical. It's my birthday. It's a wonderful day for me." Soon after she spoke, the rain intensified and the wind kicked up, bending umbrellas and whipping rain slickers.

Although several hundred die-hard fans camped out overnight along the Rose Parade route, crowds were thin and front row spots remained open a half-hour before start time as many people remained pinned to building walls to escape the rain.

Bob Garcia and 15 family members tried to keep warm overnight by huddling around a tabletop propane gas heater.

"We had to run out in the street to catch our chairs that were taken in the wind," said Garcia, who has been coming to the parade for 23 years. "Without this (heater), it would have been miserable."

The last time it rained on the Rose Parade was in 1955. The Tournament of Roses is traditionally held on New Year's morning, but a never-on-Sunday rule pushed the 117th parade to Monday.

Some parade-goers staked a claim a few feet back from Colorado Boulevard where they could be protected.

"If it rains, everybody is going to want this spot," said Jason Loucks, 26, sitting beneath the awning of a bar. "I bet I could even sell it."

The glue that holds decorations to the floats is waterproof and the floats are designed to withstand 50 mph winds. Before the parade began, decorators made last-minute adjustments to protect electronic equipment inside the slow-moving vehicles.

Judges scrutinized the parade's 48 floats early Monday. The Sweepstakes Award, the parade's top honor for the float with the "most beautiful entry with outstanding floral presentation and design," went, fittingly, to the float sponsored by the FTD flower delivery company.