By Frank C. Girardot Staff Writer | Pasadena Star News
Events were held (or are scheduled to be held) in Tampa, Florida; Alburquerque, New Mexico; Grass Valley and Pasadena - all to honor dead loved ones who donated organs or tissue so that others could live.
"We export float decorating," said Bryan Stewart, vice president of Onelegacy and president of Donate Life, which sponsors the float, titled "Seize the Day."
"We decorate everything in Pasadena but the eyebrows, and that gets done in Florida or New Jersey, or wherever our recipients or donors or family members happen to be," Stewart said.
One of those events took place Tuesday in Tampa, where Sara Kocab and Kelly Curtis put the finishing touches on floral portraits of their husbands, police officers gunned down in June during a routine traffic stop.
Officers Curtis and Kocab will be among 60 organ, eye or tissue donors honored on the float, Stewart said. Curtis was an organ donor while Kocab was a tissue donor.
"I think they would be blown away by all the attention," Kelly Curtis told the Tampa Tribune Tuesday.
Besides the 60 organ donors recognized on the float, which is dedicated to the theme of kite flying, 30 organ recipients will ride or march in the parade, Stewart said.
Additionally, 2,000 roses on the float will carry special messages from loved ones to their deceased family members.
There has been a "Donate to Life" float in the parade every year since 2004, Stewart said. The program was the brainchild of Gary Foxen, an Orange County man who was an organ recipient.
"He was thankful about the gift of renewed life and recalled the feeling of joy he got serving as a float decorator for the Auto Club for 12 years," Stewart said. "He suggested we enter a float to both celebrate life and to thank donors for all they've done."
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