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Rose Bowl’s AmericaFest Goes Virtual to Keep Tradition Alive

Photo courtesy Rose Bowl
The culmination of the 94th annual AmericaFest celebration virtual event was a flyover of Pasadena and its most historic landmarks. The flyover could be viewed from many city residents’ homes and was streamed online.

Recognized as one of the largest and longest-running shows celebrating the nation’s birthday, the 94th annual AmericaFest hosted by the Rose Bowl Stadium was celebrated virtually this year to ensure that the tradition would go on.
“For the past 93 years, America’s Stadium has proudly provided the Greater Pasadena area and beyond with a Fourth of July celebration, which comprised an all-day tailgate, family-fun activities, musical act and fireworks show,” Rose Bowl officials said in a statement.
“Due to the current status surrounding COVID-19 and the inability to host and encourage gatherings, the Rose Bowl Operating Co. [changed] tradition with a new form of entertainment this year. The Rose Bowl Stadium [transitioned] to a virtual event on the afternoon of July 4 so Pasadena locals and national fans alike [could] tune in to the 94th Virtual AmericaFest celebration on Rose Bowl Live, located on the stadium’s social media platforms.”
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Rose Bowl Dedicates Statue Honoring ‘99 Women’s Soccer Champs

Brandi Chastain
Photo courtesy Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation
U.S. 1999 Women’s World Cup championship team member Brandi Chastain poses with the commemorative statue unveiled last week at the Rose Bowl Stadium, which pays tribute to the “99ers” team and all it did for women’s sports.

It was the kick felt around the world for women’s sports, and now, the momentous occasion of soccer legend Brandi Chastain celebrating the winning goal for the United States’ 1999 Women’s World Cup championship team has been immortalized on the green expanse near the Rose Bowl Stadium entrance with a life-like bronze statue. Continue reading “Rose Bowl Dedicates Statue Honoring ‘99 Women’s Soccer Champs”

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Rose Bowl’s GM Looks to the Future

Darryl Dunn Rose Bowl General Manager
Darryl Dunn
Rose Bowl General Manager

The Rose Bowl Stadium, one of the most iconic and well-known stadiums in the world, continues to thrive as it heads toward its centennial in 2022. Even with all the success, the Rose Bowl Stadium does have some significant challenges looming in the near future.
The Rose Bowl Operating Co., which oversees the Rose Bowl Stadium, is well-positioned after completing a $180 million renovation, with reliable anchor tenants in UCLA and the Tournament of Roses. Currently, operating expenses and the bond debt service comprise most of the $55 million annual budget. The ever-present need to operate with fiscal responsibility while maintaining the historic stadium is a daily challenge for the staff. And in the coming years, that balance will become even more delicate.
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Jackie Robinson Statue Unveiled at Rose Bowl

Photo courtesy Sierra Kemp/Rose Bowl Stadium Thomas and Alba Tull (from left) pose with Vin Scully, Rachel Robinson and Sharon Robinson after the statue of Jackie Robinson they funded was unveiled at the Rose Bowl Stadium last week.
Photo courtesy Sierra Kemp/Rose Bowl Stadium
Thomas and Alba Tull (from left) pose with Vin Scully, Rachel Robinson and Sharon Robinson after the statue of Jackie Robinson they funded was unveiled at the Rose Bowl Stadium last week.

The weather was perfectly bright and clear last Wednesday, setting the best possible stage for the unveiling of the statue of local and national sports icon Jackie Robinson at the Rose Bowl Stadium.
Clad in a No. 55 jersey and old-school football helmet, Robinson’s newest statue depicts him engaging in a dramatic stiff-arm during what might be a kickoff or punt-return, for which the Major League Baseball Hall of Famer earned a reputation playing football at then-Pasadena Junior College (now Pasadena City College). That jersey number is what he wore as a footballer (in which he also played quarterback and safety) before breaking the race barrier in professional baseball.
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Community Fills Kettle at Salvation Army Kickoff

Photo by Erin Rodick / OUTLOOK Salvation Army Captains Terry and Rutendo Masango opened the Pasadena Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle drive with the organization’s fun-filled Kickoff Breakfast inside the UCLA locker room in the Rose Bowl last Friday, with 300 people attending the event.
Photo by Erin Rodick / OUTLOOK
Salvation Army Captains Terry and Rutendo Masango opened the Pasadena Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle drive with the organization’s fun-filled Kickoff Breakfast inside the UCLA locker room in the Rose Bowl last Friday, with 300 people attending the event.

Kathy Larson, the advisory board chair for the Pasadena Salvation Army, admitted to sneaking out to the Rose Bowl Stadium the weekend preceding the organization’s Kettle Kickoff so she could set up one of the Salvation Army’s iconic donation kettles.
As she was approached by a gentleman while setting up, she thought he was probably one of the shoppers at the weekly flea market in the stadium. She had assumed he would, at best, empty out whatever loose change was in his pocket into the kettle. He instead slipped in a $20 bill.
“He said, ‘Salvation Army saved my life,’” Larson said, giving opening remarks for the Kettle Kickoff inside the same stadium last week. “There were probably 20,000 people in there that day, and I heard that three times. And they all put money in the kettle.”
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Top Marching Bands to Perform at Rose Bowl July 1

Photo courtesy PCYAO Drum Corps International will put on a special performance, featuring some of the world’s premier drum and bugle corps, on Saturday evening, July 1.
Photo courtesy PCYAO
Drum Corps International will put on a special performance, featuring some of the world’s premier drum and bugle corps, on Saturday evening, July 1.

Pacific Crest Youth Arts Organization is hosting Drum Corps International at Rose Bowl Stadium on Saturday, July 1, with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and Lone Star Percussion serving as presenting sponsors.
The event will feature more than 1,400 youth in performance with 12 drum and bugle corps, including seven of the nation’s top performing groups.
The event is part of the Drum Corps International Tour, a summer season of 100 events across the United States. The Drum Corps tour will return to the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium, bringing a dynamic lineup of world and open class corps, and marking the biggest event of its kind in California. Pacific Crest is one of North America’s most renowned performing arts programs for youth. Its core program is a drum and bugle corps, one of the nation’s foremost ensembles of its kind.
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