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I believe I may have watched portions of the Rose Parade some years growing up, but I think those images and memories of the parade where lumped in the same general "parade" category in my brain. You know...the Rose Parade, the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, the Days of 47, Farmington Festival Days...they all have floats, bands, beauty queens, etc. This year is the first year that I watched the parade with actual interest as to what was going on. The thing that hit me about the Rose Parade is this: the Rose Parade is as close to parade socialism as we have in the United States of America. Every time a float came down the street, that weather dude who did the whole gastric bypass thing would announce, "and now we have the float that won the Friends of California Dolphins Award for the best use of bottlenose dolphins on a turquoise colored float." Seriously, this parade has more awards per float than my third-grade class where I believe I won the award for best smile. The following are real examples of the Rose Parade Awards:

The Sweepstakes Award - Most Beautiful Entry With Outstanding Floral Presentation and Design
The President's Award - Most Effective Floral Use & Presentation
The Director's Award - Outstanding Artistic Merit in Design & Floral Presentation
The Queen's Award - Most Effective Use & Display of Roses in Concept, Design & Presentation
The Isabella Coleman Award - Best Presentation of Color & Color Harmony Through Floral Use

Believe it or not, these awards were all awarded to different floats. I'm not sure how the distinction was drawn. In all, 25 awards where awarded to the field of 46 floats. USSA indeed.