Rose Parade features "Star Wars" tribute

PASADENA, Calif. — Let 2007 go down as the year that the storm troopers claimed downtown Pasadena for the Galactic Empire and the notaries were on hand to make sure the deal went down smoothly.

As hundreds of thousands of Rose Parade spectators cheered wildly Monday, about 200 armor-clad volunteers of the 501st Legion — aka Fist — marched grimly down Colorado Boulevard, paying tribute to the Tournament of Roses' grand marshal, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas.

Meanwhile, a float put together by the National Notaries Association depicted a family of squirrels excitedly moving into their new home — a 35-foot-tall treehouse — as a giant notary rabbit checked out all the paperwork for the move. "It's a way to have 50 million viewers around the world all thinking about notaries at the same time," said Melinda Barrett, a spokeswoman for the association.

All this amid a swirl of Silly String and baton twirlers and tuba players and, of course, dozens of obsessively decorated floats hauling enough gorgeous plant matter to clothe, feed and adorn Planet Vegan for the next millennium or so.

In other words, the 118th eye-popping edition of the Rose Parade was a typical Southern California kickoff to the new year, right down to the balmy temperatures.

Mobbed with cellphone-toting parade-goers taking pictures of him in his 11-pound Imperial Storm Trooper ensemble, Richard Woloski was wondering if the Force would be with his tootsies along the 5.5-mile parade route.

"I once walked from Mann's Chinese to the ArcLight," he recalled ruefully, realizing that the distance between the two Los Angeles theaters was less than one-fifth the length of the parade route.

Lulled by the sunshine, the aroma of grilling hot dogs and the occasional scent of crushed blossoms wafting from the floats, the crowd — estimated at 1 million — was "quiet and well-behaved," said Janet Pope Givens, a Pasadena police spokeswoman.

Despite the parade's "Our Good Nature" theme, it was more notably an ode to "Star Wars," which marks its 30th anniversary this year.

"The movies may be over, but 'Star Wars' fandom will never end," said Bryan Lee, 21, of Burbank. Carrying a Jedi robe for warmth, Lee had pitched camp on a sidewalk at 4 p.m. Sunday — easy duty for someone who occupied a patch of pavement for six-and-a-half weeks to get into a "Star Wars" showing two years ago.

The parade as a whole was the usual sensory smorgasbord, with millions of flowers, seeds, cuttings, leaves and roots encasing virtually every moving part of the 45 floats.

The parade also featured 22 marching bands and 23 equestrian units as well as appearances by actor James Garner, Miss America Jennifer Berry and basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.