SUN AND FLOWERS SMALLER-THAN-USUAL CROWDS TURN OUT ALONG PARADE ROUTE.

Byline: Howard Breuer Staff Writer

PASADENA - An enthusiastic but sparser-than-usual Rose Parade crowd turned out Wednesday to cheer a brisk-moving procession of flower-covered floats, strutting horses and marching bands.

Many spent a cold New Year's Eve camping on the sidewalk, bundled in fleece jackets and sleeping bags, only to be awakened by a fly-by of vintage aircraft and the roar of a B-2 stealth bomber flanked by two F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters.

But with the 114th annual parade came a glaring and warm sun, illuminating floats carrying a split pea Gumby, a Yellow (mum) Submarine and cats made of seaweed and coconut flakes. Designers and volunteers logged an estimated 80,000 hours to produce the 54 parade floats.

``It's so much different live than on TV,'' marveled Lee Swanson, 58, of Temple City, who smiled broadly as he stood on Colorado Boulevard with his wife, Sandra, and 6-year-old grandson, Dustin. ``You have the emotion of the crowd, the energy.''

Aly Rivera, 25, of Highland Park, and 20 friends camped along Colorado Boulevard near Arroyo Parkway. They threw marshmallows at night, and during the parade held signs saying ``Slow Down'' and ``Happy New Year.'' The boulevard was littered with pizza boxes, confetti and soda bottles.

``We're just messing around, having a good time,'' Rivera said.

The parade moved briskly with few problems and, for the first time that Tournament of Roses officials could recall, no float breakdowns. Four anti-war protesters were told to leave after running in front of the Air Force band, but they didn't break the band's stride.

``It's one of the best parades I've seen,'' said Frank Menafee, 69, of Pasadena, who claims to have seen about 50 Rose Parades. ``I think they're improving. They're doing different things with it.''

The crowd applauded a 1939 Packard Derham carrying grand marshals Art Linkletter, Fred Rogers and Bill Cosby.

``Such appreciative neighbors you have here in Pasadena,'' Rogers - wearing his trademark blue canvas sneakers - said after the parade. ``Such beautiful faces you have of adults and children with such words of welcome all along the way.''

Gingerbread men rode a roller coaster around a candy-cane Ferris wheel on the ``Sundae Afternoon'' float, built by California Polytechnic Universities of Pomona and San Luis Obispo, winner of the trophy for the best presentation of the parade's theme, ``Children's Dreams, Wishes and Imagination.''

The theme inspired a few floats with dreaming children. On the Downey Rose Float Association's ``Midnight Rescue,'' monsters, sharks and an octopus surrounded a sleeping girl.

The Extraordinaire Trophy went to Honda's ``Power of Dreams'' float, in which a sleeping boy's bed became a race car.

At Sierra Madre Boulevard and Paloma Street, crowds in the grandstand on the Marine National Guard property shouted, ``Raise it up!'' every time a tall float retracted to pass under the traffic light.

Among the 26 equestrian units, actress Bo Derek led Andalusian and Lusitano horses.

And among the 24 bands, the Hawai'i All-State Marching Band featured 473 students, selected from every public and private school in the Hawaiian Islands.

Running a close second, though, was the Arcadia High School Apache Marching Band, which boasted 400 musicians and color guard members.

There were also loud cheers for the marching bands from the University of Oklahoma and Washington State University, although police and local businesses said the lack of a traditional Big 10-Pac 10 pairing attracted smaller-than-normal crowds to Pasadena.

For the first time that police could remember, there were open spaces overnight along the parade route. Major hotels in town had vacancies New Year's Eve. Game tickets were sold on eBay for 30 percent to 50 percent of their $125 face value.

About 20 families of New York firefighters killed in the attack on the World Trade Center watched the parade from the corner of Lake Avenue and Colorado Boulevard with an escort of Los Angeles county firefighters.

The visit was sponsored by local county firefighters who traveled to New York after Sept. 11, 2001.

Sharon Cole and her son, Keithroy Maynard II, son of New York firefighter Keithroy Maynard, were curled up under blankets and FDNY coats.

``This is less crowded and it's not as cold as New York parades,'' Cole said.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- color) ``Read Me A Story,'' a Dr Pepper float featuring a giant fire- breathing, two-headed colorful dragon accompanied by a wizard, won the Directors' Trophy for outstanding artistic merit in design and floral presentation.

Keith Durflinger/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) Rose Queen Alexandra Wucetich, a 17-year-old San Marino High School senior, wrestled with her heavy crown in appearances before the parade. ``It's actually approximately about 5 pounds, so I took two Advil to alleviate the pain,'' she told reporters. ``I can't really move my head much.''

Walt Mancini/Staff Photographer

Map:

POST-PARADE FLOAT VIEWING