Cal Poly Rose Parade float wins Bob Hope Humor Award

PASADENA - Months of work paid off when the Cal Poly Universities float the schools entered in Friday's 121st Tournament of Roses Parade earned the Bob Hope Humor Award.

The prize, awarded to the entry judges consider the most comical and amusing, is one of the more prestigious, said Johnathan Jianu, a third year mechanical engineering student at Cal Poly Pomona who is also on the campus Rose Float Committee.

"It's pretty much what we were gunning for," Jianu said after the parade concluded.

This year's float, "Jungle Cuts," is the 62nd consecutive entry in the Rose Parade created by students from Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The float depicted five barber monkeys styling the hair of various clients that included a giraffe with a beehive, a snake with a flat top and a zebra with a mowhawk.

With the help of engineering students technical know-how many of the animals on the float were able to move.

A group of about 180 people consisting of Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students along with volunteers, family, friends and other supporters were at their customary spot on the parade route - in front of the Norton Simon Museum on Colorado Boulevard - to cheer for their float, Jianu said.

Although students were ready for a vacation following numerous long days leading up to the parade, many were still encouraging friends and others to vote for their float as part of the Viewer's Choice Award contest.

Viewers were able to vote for their favorite float New Year's Day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. via the KTLA website.

The winner will be announced shortly.