Glendale has been brainstorming what their next float will be in the 2014 Rose Parade, and they may have come to a decision. Meatball the bear first gained notoriety when he was found in a Glendale garage eating Costco meatballs over a year ago, and he quickly became a media sensation. The City Council was scheduled to meet to review the float design that is said to contain an animatronic Meatball moving in and out of a trashcan while being surrounded by other wildlife creatures.
The 2014 parade’s theme will be “Dreams Come True” and the float design under review is named “Let’s be Neighbors.” This float idea goes along with the idea of conserving nature and living in harmony with our surrounding wildlife. Meatball has become an icon of Glendale and its coexistence with nature. The bear was actually captured several different times last year and would be re-released deep into the Los Angeles National Forest. Each time he would return to the foothill neighborhood where he would be spotted foraging for food. This last encounter in a resident’s garage booked him a ticket to a wildlife sanctuary in Alpine.
This float design will mark Glendale’s 100th entry into the New Year’s Day parade and it’s most expensive in years. The city has set aside $155,000 for the large project, but officials have also set up a donation program to raise more money for the event. Their current goal is to raise $75,000.
