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Parade Float Floats on Spray Foam
By Jessica A. Baris
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VENDOR TEAM
Wiltshire Urethane Foam Company
SPF contractor
P.O. Box 3455
San Dimas, CA 91773
(909) 599-1217
Arnco
SPF manufacturer
5141 Firestone Place
South Gate, CA 90280
Tel: 323-249-7500
www.arnconet.com
Graco
Spray equipment
88-11th Avenue NE
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55413
800-690-2894
www.graco.com
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Chariot races, jousting, and tug-of-war games were some activities that—back in 1890—were organized by the members of the Pasadena, California, Valley Hunt Club so that East Coasters could see how Californians enjoy their winter months. The club wasn’t trying to make them jealous—they just wanted to show off California’s gorgeous weather to say, “This can be your home, too! Come on out!”
 The events became popular, so the club decided to organize a parade to precede the competitive games. Parade participants decorated their horse-drawn carriages with the flowers that bloomed in the warm West Coast climate. The parade became the Tournament of Roses, which is still celebrated today.
This parade is a long-standing American tradition that is held annually after the Rose Bowl. Students from Cal Poly Pomona and San Luis Obispo universities work collaboratively to build a float for the parade. It’s a hands-on project that presents a design, building, and creativity challenge. The students manage it from the design phase to its construction and decoration, but they needed one thing that they couldn’t do themselves—spray polyurethane foam insulation. That’s when Will Lorenz of Arnco, a foam manufacturer, and applicator Mike Wiltshire of Wiltshire Urethane Foam Company stepped into the picture.
“We decided that it was important to support their endeavor,” says Lorenz. “We donated the material, and Mike Wiltshire donated his contractor expertise.”
 Lorenz said that he began communicating with the students around November 2010. They had already designed and constructed the skeletal structure for the motorized float. The foam experts were tasked with installing the float’s foundation.
“They built a frame for the motorized float,” explains Lorenz. “It had sophisticated hydraulics to move and operate the float. Mike sprayed foam over the metal mesh to create a walking surface.”
This year’s float was entitled Galactic Expedition—the students designed a large Saturn planet with a rocket whizzing by, all painted with the colors of fresh, live flowers.
But the students couldn’t get started on the construction and decoration of their orbiting float until their foundation was set. They don’t have access to a Gusmer H2000, GX7 spray gun, and 70PCD spray tips, but Wiltshire sure does. He donated his equipment and time to spray Arncoat 20, a 2-pound wall foam. In six hours, Wiltshire had laid the foam down for the float’s foundation.
Wiltshire has participated in the Rose Parade before, so he’s familiar with using foam for the extraordinary. “I’ve sprayed cotton candy,” he says of his past creative foam applications.
 The structure for the students’ float was built with “pencil steel and cloth over that,” describes Wiltshire. “They used staples to hold the cloth onto the steel—that was the foundation. I foamed that. I sprayed around the base with 4 inches. They used the foam to make it sturdy enough to walk on. From that point on, everything was installed on top of it.”
The students glued natural seeds to the float and attached vials filled with water to decorate the float with hundreds of flowers. The students pushed the vials down into the 4-inch foam.
“The foam just needed a general shape,” says Wiltshire, “and the flowers are what they covered it with to take care of the finish.”
“The Rose Bowl criteria is for everything to be green and natural, so they applied seeds, grass, and natural fibers to it,” says Lorenz. “They compete against major corporations like Honda, as well as against foreign countries and cities. The students are highly creative, and they compete to win.”
The Cal Poly students did indeed win—their float received the honor of the 2011 Rose Parade “Viewer’s Choice” Award, and this is the third year in a row that they have taken home the title. According to Cal Poly News’ website, they also won the “Fantasy Trophy” for the “most outstanding display of fantasy and imagination.”
“The Cal Poly float is their annual project to show the dynamics of their school on national television, and it is part of their long tradition of supporting the Rose Parade, Pomona, and San Luis Obispo community. They are talented engineers,” adds Lorenz, “but they are also very creative artists, too.”
To see a photo of the final float, visit http://www.asi.calpoly.edu/rose_float
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