PASADENA - The name Els Hazenburg may not ring any bells in connection with the Rose Parade, but anyone who's watched it over the past 30 years has seen her work.

The vehicles carrying the grand marshal, Tournament of Roses president and the mayor, be they horse-drawn carriages, cars or buses, have long been decorated by Hazenburg and her husband, George.

Every year since 1978, the couple has left their home, Aalsmeer in the Netherlands, to spend the last two weeks of December in Pasadena designing and applying the floral decorations on vehicles carrying parade VIPs.

But this is their last year on the job.

George Hazenburg, 73, said the decision to quit after this year was his wife's, but he agrees with it.

"It's 30 years," he said. "If you're lucky, that's a third of your lifetime. At a certain moment you have to be realistic. You have to say you're getting older.

"There's a younger generation coming and you have to allow them to get in. If you stick to where you are, they don't have a chance. So it's a normal thing in life. I feel OK with it," he said.

Using her experience as a floral designer, Els Hazenburg, 64, introduced a new style for decorating vehicles.

"They just had garlands on the cars, a very simple decoration," she said. "In Holland, we are used to decorating cars for flower parades."

She pioneered a method that involves placing soft foam on vehicles, to protect the paint, topped by blocks of wet sod. The flowers go in the sod, where they absorb the moisture and stay fresh.

"It's very important to tie \ to the cars without scratching them," Hazenburg said. "Those cars are very valuable; they're worth millions."

Hazenburg saw her first Rose Parade in 1977.

"I thought it was wonderful," she said. "I was overwhelmed by it. The floats were just very impressive. We have flower parades in Holland, but on a much smaller scale.

"I am very impressed by the animation, that's wonderful. Because we don't have that at ours - it would be too expensive."

Keith White, 48, from Houston, an FTD design instructor the Hazenburgs trained for two years, will succeed them. FTD has sponsored the Hazenburgs for the past 15 years.

"The most important thing I learned from them is we're working with some cars worth up to a $1 million," White said, "so it's to focus and take care of the cars."

This year they're decorating a 1925 tour bus, a 1911 Pope-Hartford Model Y and a 1907 Thomas Flyer Model 36.

While the couple will return next year to see friends and watch the parade, Els Hazenburg said she will miss working with tournament volunteers.

"What I like very much is the dedication of the people," she said. "All the volunteers, the way they are gluing flowers and seeds to the floats. Everybody is working together to get this parade on the streets."

SOURCE:  www.pasadenastarnews.com