PARADE A TREAT FOR O'CONNOR SHE'S ONE OF 9 WOMEN TO SERVE AS EVENT'S GRAND MARSHAL.

Byline: Gary Scott Staff Writer

PASADENA - The selection of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to serve as grand marshal of the 2006 Rose Parade is a watershed moment for Pasadena and for the Tournament of Roses Association.

There have been 117 parades since 1890, but only eight other women have been selected as grand marshal: three actresses, two comedians, a singer, a gymnast and a cowgirl. None has risen to the level of prominence or played as pivotal a role in the nation's politics as O'Connor.

Not coincidentally, the person who made the choice happens to be the first woman to serve as president of the Tournament, Libby Evans Wright.

``I think Justice O'Connor is a very distinguished, well-accomplished woman - probably one of the most powerful women in the whole world,'' Wright said. ``She accomplished so much when many women didn't have the opportunities they have today. I think she is a real inspiration.''

Wright and O'Connor share a centrist streak that makes them particularly inviting vanguards for the Tournament - an organization that relishes tradition, shies from ideological debate, and, over the years, earned a deserved reputation as an ``old-boys network.''

If Wright's selection signals change on the inside, then O'Connor's selection is a recognition of the dramatic changes that have already occurred in the outside world.

``Having the first woman on the Supreme Court join the first woman president of the Tournament of Roses is a great honor and a historic event for Pasadena,'' said Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard.

``I think it is a breakthrough,'' Bogaard said. ``It is a breakthrough of which the Tournament can be proud, and the city will join in that celebration.''

Indeed, whether intentional or not, Wright's selection has turned 2006 into a belated ``Year of the Woman'' for the Tournament of Roses - albeit filtered through the slogan, ``It's magical,'' the theme for Monday's parade.

``(O'Connor) represents things that are magical in our world,'' Wright said. ``She is a woman who is very accomplished; there is a mystique to that.''

Even before she learned she would be waving to hundreds of thousands of people and flipping the kickoff coin at the Rose Bowl Game, O'Connor had been having what some might call an interesting year.

In June, she announced her retirement from the bench, but agreed to remain until a successor is confirmed.

The announcement sparked a number of profiles and reflections on O'Connor's influence on the role on the court and the American justice system. Many gained a newfound appreciation of the moderating voice she brought to the court.

``Unlike some of the other justices, she approached all cases with an open mind and ruled on the merits, not based on the political fallout that might come from her decision,'' said Pasadena Councilman Victor Gordo, a personnel attorney for a union and a registered Democrat.

Born in El Paso, Texas, in 1930, O'Connor grew up on cattle ranches in Arizona and New Mexico, and wanted to be a rancher when she grew up.

She remembered as a little girl being driven to Pasadena, where her family once had a home, to watch the Rose Parade.

``I look forward to the privilege of being there again and seeing the parade from a very different vantage point,'' she said upon accepting the mantle of grand marshal.

O'Connor graduated magna cum laude from Stanford University, where she also earned her law degree. After a stint as a deputy county attorney in California, she went on to become assistant attorney general of Arizona and was later appointed to the state Senate there.

A woman of quiet ambition, she rose quickly through the ranks and, after twice being elected to the same office, became Senate majority leader in 1972. Later, she won a seat on the Maricopa County Superior Court and, in 1979, was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals.

In 1981, President Reagan tapped her to replace Justice Potter Stewart, making her the first female Supreme Court Justice.

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