Manitobans set to participate in Rose Parade

A pair of Manitobans are in the U.S. where they’ll participate in a staple event of the holiday season today. 

Winnipeg teen Matthew Owen-Hunt and 25-year-old Rachel UnRuh will be participating in the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, Calif. Owen-Hunt — a bagpiper and UnRuh, a Highland dancer — will both be part of the group called Pipes on Parade. 

“I was a little bit in disbelief,” said UnRuh. “I had heard of the Rose Bowl and the parade before, but it wasn’t until after that it actually set in I was going to be there, I was going to be a part of this.” 

“It was when I was telling people about this and their reactions were like ‘Oh my goodness, how did you get involved in this,'” said UnRuh. “That was when it really started to sink in.” 

The Rose Parade has taken place for more than a century and is considered an iconic New Year’s Day tradition, according to the event’s website. 

The parade goes almost nine kilometres (five-and-a-half miles according to the Rose Parade website) down Colorado Boulevard starting at 10 a.m. CT and is set to end at noon.  

Once the parade ends, the attention shifts to the Rose Bowl, which is one of the biggest events on the American college football calendar. 

The first Tournament of Roses football game was played in 1902 and was also the inaugural post-season contest for the sport in the U.S. This year’s Rose Bowl Game will see the University of Michigan Wolverines face the University of Alabama Crimson Tide as part of the College Football Playoff for National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I teams.

But while the athletes in this year’s Rose Bowl must be in their best shape to perform, so too must the participants in the parade in order to brave the heat and length of the route. 

“I have a treadmill set up downstairs, which I will throw on my marching shoes and pick up my pipes and just go on the treadmill playing the repertoire,” Owen-Hunt said.

Owen-Hunt said there was an open call for bagpipe players. He auditioned and found out a week later that he had been accepted. He said the practice started off difficult, but that it helps most of the tunes selected for the parade are “fairly common” ones that he’s already known other arrangements of.

Getting accepted to perform at the parade was just part of the journey to California. 

Owen-Hunt said it cost $1,500 for him to go, but since he’s under 18 years old and couldn’t go alone, his father also had to pay that. He held a pancake breakfast to raise funds for the trip last spring. 

“I didn’t think I had a chance getting in,” he said. “I am by no means the best in the world, by no means even good compared to some people way younger than me now, but  I was quite happy when I found out I would be accepted for that.” 

Family plays an important role 

Family heritage also plays an important role for both Owen-Hunt and UnRuh.  

Owen-Hunt said his grandmother came to Canada from Scotland when she was very young. He said his mother encouraged him to embrace that heritage, something he said he was grateful for in the lead up to the trip.  

And UnRuh said her great grandfather came to Winnipeg from Scotland in the 1950s and he started a bagpipe band when he arrived. She said her mother was put into dance when she was young and UnRuh and her sisters were put into dance from a young age too. 

“We might be very, very out of breath by the end, but it will be a great experience overall,” she said.