CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — Members of the Snow Canyon High School Interact Club and the St. George Sunrise Rotary Club recently traveled to Pasadena, California, to bring a bit of Southern Utah sunshine to the historic Rose Parade.
Snow Canyon’s Interact Club, the high school equivalent of a rotary club, launched at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year. Having organized a successful community trunk-or-treat that drew over 200 people and fundraising efforts during football season, they jumped at the chance to participate in a service project that would be seen on the national stage.
“It’s a unique experience for high schoolers in Utah,” said Sandi Schwartz, a member of the St. George Sunrise Rotary Club.
With a goal of promoting community involvement and the message of “Service Above Self” to millions of viewers, Rotary International has entered a float in the Rose Parade every year since 1980. The float is funded by annual contributions from more than 700 local rotary clubs around the world.
The St. George Sunrise Rotary Club covered all expenses for eight Snow Canyon students to make the trip to Pasadena in the days leading up to the Rose Parade. The teens worked alongside rotary members, as well as youth from other Interact Clubs, to decorate the Rotary International float to fit this year’s theme, “Clean Water: The Music of Life.”
All of the decorations on a Rose Parade float contain natural products, from various types of flowers to seeds, berries and even grains of rice. The Snow Canyon Interact Club spent most of their time placing greenery, gluing on flower petals and seaweed, and inserting roses into carefully positioned glass vials filled with water.
Jonathan Fife, the club’s president, said that they worked on virtually every part of the float to help get it camera-ready.
“After we were done, we looked at the float one more time and were able to see how all the flowers and everything finally fit together,” he added. “It was just so pretty to look at, and the whole warehouse smelled amazing.”
“They were all really excited, and they worked really hard,” Schwartz said. “I was proud of them.”
The 135th annual Rose Parade was held on Jan. 2 and broadcast live to over 50 million people nationwide. Rotary International’s float won the Leishman Public Spirit Award for most outstanding floral presentation from a non-commercial participant.
Interact Clubs are organized to inspire young leaders through service and shape the next generation of responsible global citizens. Supported by the sponsorship and guidance of the St. George Sunrise Rotary Club, the students of the Snow Canyon Interact Club are dedicated to making a difference within their community.
And they’re just getting started, Fife said. In the near future, they’re planning to volunteer at Diamond Valley Elementary School’s color run, tossing chalk and cheering on students. They’re also assembling gift baskets for Snow Canyon’s crossing guards packed with hot cocoa, hand warmers and other wintertime essentials.
“We get a lot of support from the rotary,” he added. “They’re great people.”
Written by ALEXA MORGAN for St. George News.
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