Gary DiSano didn't think anything was unusual when the outgoing president of the Tournament of Roses invited him to San Marino for a casual dinner.
The invitation, the president explained, was merely social, a way of thanking DiSano for his hard work as volunteer in charge of selecting floats for the 2002 Rose Parade.
When DiSano arrived at the president's San Marino home on a chilly Monday evening in January, he was led into the basement. As the president mixed DiSano a gin and tonic, other members of the tournament's executive committee appeared out of the den's dimly lighted corners.
"Welcome!" they shouted, taking turns shaking DiSano's hand.
In that moment, a stunned DiSano realized a long-held dream--and instantly felt a new weight on his shoulders. The handshakes meant that the general manager of a Montebello automobile wheel and rim company would be president of the world's most famous parade.
The catch?
He won't take office for eight years.
DiSano, 55, has embarked on what one Tournament of Roses member calls the longest apprenticeship in America. During a period of study as long as that required of surgeons, DiSano will coordinate every facet of staging the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game, from negotiating TV contracts to supervising the delivery of portable toilets--even, according to parade lore, earning the power to control the weather.
He will have one day of reward. On Jan. 1, 2010, DiSano will don the traditional red coat of president and ride down Colorado Boulevard. As president, he will give the parade his personal stamp, picking the theme, the grand marshal, the first float, maybe even one of the bands.
"Of course, there's a big if," says DiSano, his mood suddenly turning somber, as he uses a cane to slowly walk around the desk in his company office. "I don't know if I'll live that long."
Lifelong Dedication
Friends say DiSano lives for the parade.
Growing up in Los Angeles in such neighborhoods as Lincoln Heights and Leimert Park, he often watched the Jan. 1 spectacle. In 1972, as a recently discharged lieutenant who served in Vietnam, he found himself living in Arcadia, lonely and bored. His girlfriend had left him while he was in the service; his next-door neighbor, a Tournament of Roses member, offered to nominate him for membership in the organization.
