About 100 onlookers gathered at the Don Miller and Ron Simons Rose Float Lab in Pomona and counted down as team presidents from Cal Poly (Collin Marfia -- '26, master's in higher education, counseling and student affairs) and California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, (Brooke Handschin -- '25, mechanical engineering) jointly crashed a bottle of bubbly on Nessie's tow bar.
Measuring 55 feet long, 21 feet high and 17 feet wide, the float depicts an animated lakeside party featuring puffins sliding down Nessie's fin, beavers crafting with found driftwood, a Scottish terrier riding a paddleboat on the loch, and a smiling Scottish Highland cow spinning in an innertube. The happy payoff for Nessie's bravery honors the 2025 Rose Float theme "Best Day Ever!"
Designing and building the float is nearly a yearlong process for the team from both universities and involves building, adjusting and fine-tuning the mechanical, drive and animation systems; welding the structural supports and shaping the design elements; testing decorative material; and sheeting and foaming before the students can begin adding final design elements. The focus now shifts to decoration, which starts Thursday, Dec. 26.
The student teams and a dedicated corps of volunteers will work from 7 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m. daily to complete the effort.
More than 37,000 flowers will be used. Nessie's body is covered with bright-green pistachios and splotches of pink roses and carnations garnish the back and spine. The lake features deepening shades of purple and blue irises and statice. White irises, roses and baby's breath are intermingled to represent the foam formed by ripples in the water, and cattails will decorate the surrounding rock formations.
The formations and shore are covered in a mix of dry materials including as blue corn. White onions are scattered about just like bubbles. Below the bubbles, blooming purple cabbages decorate the lake surface. The furry animals are covered in a mix of coconut husk and corn silk. At the front of the float is a wooden boat that moves in the current.
Pinecone knots enhance the details of the wood planks. The lakeside is accented with floral displays depicting native Scottish greenery in imaginative ways. Keep your eyes out for blooming globe artichokes and poppy pods that look like Scottish thistles.