Local business owner representing Rotary in Rose Parade

Tahoe Douglas Rotarian Joe Zarachoff has been in Pasadena all week, preparing to participate in the 126th annual Tournament of Roses Parade. Zarachoff, who owns Affordable Business Services on the South Shore, is the current District Governor for Rotary District 5190. This year will be the 36th year Rotary has had a float in the parade and the third straight year that the District Governor from Zarachoff's district has walked with, or rode on, the float.

"I am honored to be here representing our District," Zarachoff said.

He and his wife Cheryl, herself a South Lake Tahoe area business owner and Rotarian, met with Rotary International's President Gary Huang who is from Taiwan. They watched the addition of last minute touches on the float as well as the judging. Joe said viewers will see the Rotary Wheel on the float which is made of corn and the word "Rotary" is created with blueberries.

Those watching the parade will see Zarachoff and the other Rotarians from around the county walking with, or riding on, the float which will is slated for the 63-69 spot in the parade order.

In what could be the coldest parade in history, the 8 a.m. start could have temperatures at or below freezing. The 1952 Rose Parade currently has the coldest temperature on record with 32 degrees.

When Cheryl heads over to watch the parade at 3:30 a.m. she will experience very cold temps, but not as cold as Lake Tahoe is on Thursday.

Here is the official program for the Rose Parade.

Braving the weather will be riders on 39 floats, members of 20 marching bands and riders in 18 equestrian units. The marching band lineup includes groups from Denmark, Japan and Mexico.

The Tournament of Roses Parade’s theme is “Inspiring Stories” this year which will highlight the memory of the late parade Grand Marshall Louis Zamperini. Zamperini, a USC and Olympic track star who survived 47 days on an inflatable raft during World War II before he was taken prisoner and tortured for two years, was named the parade's grand marshal in May, but he died two months later at age 97.

Rotary International has many inspiring stories, and one of Rotary’s areas of focus, is the work the service organization does around the world to bring clean water and sanitation to millions of those who lack these vital resources. More than 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation facilities. It is reported that at least 3,000 children die each day from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water.

With this in mind the name of the Rotary 2015 float entry is “Changing Lives Through Clean Water.” Many Rotary clubs participate in water projects around the world and they want to share that message with the live audience at the Rose Parade on January 1 and the millions of television and web viewers. The viewing audience for the Tournament of Roses, Rose Parade is an estimated 500,000 in pre- and post-parade viewing, 700,000 on the Parade route, 40 million television viewers in the United States and millions more in over 200 countries worldwide. Rotary feels this is a great way to share Rotary’s life-saving message with the world and inform more people about all of the great work they do.