EDWARD (EDDIE) BLACK (extreme right) points to Paul Bunyan in artist's preliminary sketch
of the float which Washington State will enter in the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena as he and
others in this group complete plans for the float entry. The others in the interested group are (left to
right) Jack Gordon, who is a member of the State of Washington Activity Committee for the Rose Bowl, of
which Black is chairman, and W. B. (Bud) Stuht, Otto Brandt, Neil T. MacNeil and Arthur Gerbel, who were
appointed by Black as an advisory sub-committee. (Post-Intelligencer Photo.)
From an unbylined article in the December 11, 1959, issue of The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Work will begin today on Washington State's float for Pasadena's Tournament of Roses, and it will be "the
biggest or one of the biggest" floats in the parade, Edward (Eddie) Black, chairman of the State of
Washington Activity Committee for the Rose Bowl, reported yesterday.
THE FLOAT WILL be 60 feet long, 17 feet high and 20 feet wide with "Paul Bunyan and the Evergreen State of
Washington" as its theme. Theme of the parade will be "Tall Tales and True."
Fresh flowers, 250,000 of them, will depict a 17-foot-tall Paul Bunyan towering over Mount Rainier, the Grand
Coulee Dam, Washington's State's forests and Seattle's Lake Washington on the spectacular entry from this
state. A big red salmon, also fashioned of flowers, will appear to be leaping below the dam. A hydroplane,
to be named Miss Evergreen State, will tow Miss Washington (Sharon Vaughn of Seattle) who will be there in
person on water skis in the floral lake. The Century 21 insignia and "1962" will also be lettered on the
hydroplane.
FOUR OTHER QUEENS of the state will be invited to ride on the float: Seattle's Queen of the Seas Diane Gray,
Ellensburg's Rodeo Queen Linda Anderson, Wenatchee's Apple Blossom Festival Queen Beverly McKain and
Spokane's Lilac Festival Queen Donna Jeanne Goodell.
Walter Van Camp, who, as managing director of Greater Seattle, Inc., has been assigned to invite the queens,
reported that the Seattle and Wenatchee queens have already accepted.
Final plans for the float were approved yesterday at a meeting called by Black in the Washington Athletic
Club. Black and his committee, Jack Gordon, Seattle, coordinator for Gov. Albert D. Rosellini. and H.
Dewayne Kreager, Olympia, state director of commerce and industry, met with an advisory group. The group
included Arthur Gerbel, public relations manager, KOMO; Otto Brandt, vice president, King Broadcasting Co.;
Neil T. MacNeil, promotion manager, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and W. B. (Bud) Stuht, assistant
advertising manager, The Seattle Times.
THE FLOAT WILL cost between $17,000 and $20,000, of which $15,000 has already been pledged, Black reported.
THE MONEY IS being donated by public-spirited citizens, organizations and groups. Anyone wishing to
contribute may send the money to the Rose Bowl Committee, P. O. Box 693, Seattle, Wash.
The float will be built in Pasadena, by Coleman Enterprises, of Pasadena.
