23-Year White-Suiter’s First Parade Experience Was As A Member of Tournament Band
Dave Link’s role as a volunteer for the Tournament of Roses didn’t come about through total immersion, but rather through a series of logical steps which led to a foregone conclusion.
“I grew up in Altadena and over the years I became aware that there were a bunch of people in white suits that helped out at the Rose Parade,” said Link. “My first contact with the Tournament was as a member of the Tournament of Roses band, which is made up of students from Pasadena City College and several local high schools. Years later, I learned that the Tournament of Roses was actually managed by those white suiters. I was impressed that something so big could be managed by a bunch of volunteers, so I joined the Tournament to help out.”
A graduate of John Muir High School, Link played the snare drum and was a section leader in PCC’s marching band when he was asked to take his talents to the Tournament band.
Twenty-three years after beginning his gig as a volunteer, Link is currently chair of the Community Relations Committee.
“Our committee acts as the speaker’s bureau for the Tournament of Roses, manages an art contest for students in Pasadena elementary and middle schools, hosts a community reception at the Tournament House, and hosts three parade viewing areas which are dedicated to guests with disabilities,” Link told The Tribune.
Next year, Link and his wife, Lisa, will lead the Queen & Court Committee that will select the 100th Rose Queen and her Royal Court. It’s just the next step on an interesting journey that has taken him far beyond the intersection of Orange Grove and Colorado Blvds.
“Since joining the Tournament of Roses, I have had lots of assignments,” Link said. “That’s one of the fascinating features of the Tournament: every two years you get a brand new job. I have hosted dinners for the coaching staffs of the football teams who have played in the Rose Bowl game and have tended barricades in the formation area, at post parade and at the float decorating locations. I have driven a scooter down the parade route. I have managed the Beef Bowl. I have been a parking lot attendant. I have hosted luncheons for former Rose Queens. And I have helped line up the parade and get it to TV Corner on time. It has been a wide, wonderful variety.”
The intersection of Orange Grove and Colorado Boulevards is known among Tournament members as TV Corner, which is where the cameras of the many networks providing live coverage of the iconic event assemble.
His favorite assignment to date?
“Parade Operations,” Link replied without hesitation. “I loved the logistical challenge. We spent months watching the floats being built and road tested. Then we put together a timing sheet so that every entry would get their share of television coverage. Then, in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, we put the parade together on Orange Grove. We managed the flow of the parade in front of live television and then all the way to the end of the route. That was a great experience.”
Dave is president of Link-Nilsen Corp., which does design and installation of commercial fire sprinkler and fire suppression systems.
Lisa Link, a retired attorney, is in her second term as a member of the San Marino School Board. The couple have two children. Andy, 24, graduated from San Marino High School in 2010, earned a diploma from Claremont McKenna College in 2014 and brews beer for Beachwood Brewing in Huntington Beach.
Ryan, 20, graduated from SMHS in 2014 and is a junior at Occidental College.
Dave doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
“I am amazed by the opportunities I have had to participate in the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game,” he said. “I have met people and had experiences that I would have never been exposed to but for the Tournament of Roses. Frankly, I am amazed by the things they let me do. I am proud to be one of the 935 volunteer members of the Tournament of Roses who are caretakers of a tradition that began way back in 1890.”
With enthusiastic supporters like Link, the beloved parade is good to go for a whole lot longer.
