Have you ever watched the Rose Bowl Parade and revelled in the spectacular of the floats? Thanks to their imposing size, intricate designs and stunning flowers, Rose Bowl floats have been a favourite New Year's Day pastime for years.

Now spectators at Monday's Bermuda Day Parade will be in for a treat thanks to efforts of several men who have helped create those Rose Bowl floats.

Four students, from Cal Poly Pomona University of California, are on Bermuda to help Agape House build a float for the May 24th Parade.

Robert Charmers, Paul Portillo and twin brothers Mike and Tim Harrington are skipping ten days from school to work their award-winning magic for a local cause.

Geneva Humdy-Woodley of Agape House said she found the foursome one day while she was surfing the Internet.

"I saw their web site and e-mailed them,'' she recalled. "I asked them to volunteer their time to help us build a float and they agreed.'' With the help of corporate sponsor, Centre Solution, Agape House was able to bring the team to the Island last Saturday.

But instead of focusing their talents exclusively on the Agape House float, the foursome agreed to share their expertise with other groups who are building Bermuda Day floats.

Sponsored by Cultural Affairs, the four first held a float-building workshop.

"Use your imagination and be creative, that's what it's all about,'' said Mr.

Charmers.

Mr. Portillo told his understudies there were several components to building a float.

"There's the engineering, design and decorating aspects,'' he explained. "A lot of different things are involved...'' But before breaking out the hammer and nails, the group said the whole process had to begin with a simple sketch.

"First find the theme for the parade and then take that theme and draw some pictures,'' Mr. Portillo explained.

"Kids are also a great source of simple ideas that are funny and cute. Think about having a contest, that way you will have hundreds of ideas to work with.'' Once the sketches are in, Mr. Portillo said a committee then needed to sort through it all.

Tim Harrington added: "For Agape House, we were told the size and rules. They also told us that a duck was in the theme. We came up with some sketches and the Agape committee picked a design.'' The group also urged the local organisation to always remember to keep their final design simple, an important concept with floats.

"Remember the three second rule,'' Tim Harrington noted. "People should be able to look at your float and understand and appreciate it in three seconds.

"People have a short attention span at parades. They look at it and then they are on to the next float.'' Once the design was selected, the float builders told organisers they needed scale drawings.

"You have to figure out the size and work within the limitations you have, like the dimensions of your boat trailer,'' explained Mike Harrington.

"Scale drawings are important because you use them for the construction of the frame, you use them to help you figure out how much materials you will need and you use it to figure out how much your float will weigh.'' Once all the preliminary work was completed, they group said it was time to start building.

"This is where your carpenters get involved.'' said Mr. Portillo, adding designers should first build a skeleton structure and then cover it with some screening -- similar to that used in windows.

"We use a lot of stiff foam, especially for the more detailed pieces,'' said Tim Harrington. "Wood is another main building tool. We usually use it for flat surfaces. You should also think about using pencil rods which are a 1/4 inch tube of steel that can be bent and shaped into what you need,'' added Mr.

Portillo.

Once the frame has been constructed and covered, a flat surface has to be applied to float.

"You need to finish the surface,'' explained Mr. Portillo. "Then you can paper mache it or affix old sheets on top so you will be able to paint and decorate it.'' Mr. Charmers also suggested builders use spray foam to create a surface with texture.

"Spray foam has texture so it is great for things like hills,'' he pointed out. "You can also stick vials, containing water and flowers, into the spray foam. It is hard to get fresh flowers to stay fresh once you place them on the float, but the vials help.

"Next comes the painting, which is an important process because it seals your float and it colour codes your float so that volunteers know what flowers goes where.'' Mr. Charmers said decorating a float could take as long as a week or two, depending on the size of the structure.

"You can start to put on dry materials ahead of time but the fresh flowers have to be left until a day or two before the parade.'' Then comes the price, he warned: "You can easily spend $12,000 on one type of flower,'' he said. "One year we had someone donate $10,000 in roses for a float.

"You have to hunt for donations, call people and sometimes if you plan far enough in advance, you can grow them,'' Mr. Charmers said. "We have people go out, keep an eye out for things all year around and collect stuff and try to dry them.'' Ms Humdy-Woodley admits the initial quote of $14,000 to cover the duck float with yellow flowers was sobering, and unworkable.

Instead, the Agape House float will be covered with dried flowers.

But she said organisers had locals who were willing to help supply flowers for next year's parade.

Mr. Charmers also encouraged local float builders to be creative and remember that almost anything could be used for decoration.

"Dried flowers, fruits and vegetables can all be used,'' he noted. "You just have to remember to test the material out -- find out how well it will glue and how quickly it will rot.

"Use your imagination and remember that some flowers can be dried and blended into a powder or you can dehydrate fruits and use them,'' he added. "And keep in mind that you must take into account that there will be about 15 percent waste, no matter how careful your volunteers are.'' The foursome unanimously agreed that volunteers were the backbone behind any good float.

"Volunteers are the heart and soul of any float,'' Mr. Portillo pointed out.

"Bring in children from local schools or a girl guide troupe -- anyone can help.

"But just remember that you can't have everyone pasting flowers on at one time.'' Once the float has been completed, the team said builders should stand back and admire their final masterpiece with a critical eye.

"And when the parade is over it is time to start thinking about next year's float,'' they chuckled. "If you are really serious about float making then you need to set up a home base that you can return to year after year.

"You can also use that place to store things from the float so you can reuse them. Being able to reuse things saves a lot of time and money.''