The UPS Store, Inc. won the Judges Award for its float in the 136th Rose Parade® presented by Honda. Themed “Helping Dreams Take Flight,” the floral float depicted a stunning prehistoric scene aimed to inspire all to dream big while celebrating those who encourage others to take that big leap and soar.

The UPS Store float won the Judges Award for most outstanding float design and dramatic impact. This year’s Rose Parade theme of “Best Day Ever!” took almost a year to complete, starting with concepts from float designer Charles Meier and then executing that final design with buildout from Artistic Entertainment Services. Hundreds of volunteers helped decorate and put the finishing touches to the award-winning float, culminating in adding all the fresh florals leading up to parade day. This marks the sixth time The UPS Store float has received an award from the Tournament of Roses® organization.

“We are honored to receive the Judges Award as it symbolizes that starting and running a small business is no small feat,” said Sarah Casalan, president of The UPS Store, Inc. “This award reflects the collective efforts of everyone involved and the hard work and passion of our network of 5,300 locally owned locations nationwide who put our customers first.”

The 30-foot-tall float, among this year’s tallest of all float entries, featured a mother pterodactyl surrounded by a lush prehistoric landscape as she proudly watched her two young pterodactyl offspring take their first flight. The float spotlighted the national retailer’s Start Small, Grow Big program, benefitting the Junior Achievement USA® non-profit organization, which provides students nationwide with lessons in financial literacy, work and career readiness, and entrepreneurship. Since the program began in 2022, The UPS Store customers have donated more than $6 million to support Junior Achievement programming nationwide.

As the float glided down the parade route in Pasadena, the trio of pterodactyls flapped their enormous wings alongside steaming volcanoes and flowing waterfalls. The prehistoric paradise was brought to life by cutting-edge animation, special effects, and thousands of flowers and various fruits and vegetables, seeds, leaves and other plants. The pterodactyls were covered with a mix of kumquat and fresh cranberry halves, cranberry seeds, orange lentils, fine strawflower, maroon Chinese long beans and gold flaxseed. Nearly 25,000 red and orange roses covered the base, while golden yarrow, native to southern California, adorned the float in honor of the regional roots of The UPS Store.



The local UPS Store and Chamber member is located at 820 S. Monaco Pkwy. in Denver (Monaco & Leetsdale, in King Soopers Shopping Center). Visit locations.theupsstore.com/co/denver/820-s-monaco-pkwy-4-b for more information.