2019 Rose Parade® Float Commemorates 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad, Kickstarting Yearlong "Harmony Through Union" Program of Special Events and Educational Curriculum Across USA

    BOSTON, MA, October 02, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Chinese American Heritage Foundation (CAHF), a community-driven organization, launches their Harmony Through Union project with a float in the 2019 Rose Parade® presented by Honda. CAHF is the first Chinese American non-profit organization to sponsor a Rose Parade float since the Tournament of Roses® began in Pasadena, California, in 1890.

CAHF's Harmony Through Union float, a dynamic reenactment of the momentous event when the Transcontinental Railroad was completed on May 10, 1869, will traverse along the Rose Parade route on January 1, 2019, kicking off a yearlong program of special events and educational curriculum, focusing on the contributions of immigrants to the development of the United States through their work on the Transcontinental Railroad. The railroad linked the east and west coasts of America, providing infrastructure that united the nation geographically, economically, historically, and symbolically following the divisive Civil War. President Lincoln effectively used the capital project of the Transcontinental Railroad as a way to bring the country together, with former Confederate soldiers working alongside former slaves, and immigrants of Irish, German, and Greek descent working in concert with Chinese laborers. The perseverant and tenacious workforce was composed of over 14,000 Chinese railroad workers, with 80% of those on the Central Pacific Railroad hailing originally from the Pearl River Delta in China.

Union Pacific Railroad (UP), one of America's leading transportation companies, is joining CAHF as their Golden Spike sponsor of the Rose Parade float. For 155 years, UP has focused on the important connection between rail transportation and our nation's strong economy, while honoring the generations that preceded us and providing promise for the generations to come. "Union Pacific is honored to partner with the Chinese American Heritage Foundation as this year's Golden Spike sponsor of the Rose Parade float," says Scott Moore, Union Pacific's senior vice president of Corporate Relations and chief administrative officer. "The railroad linked the country and formed our nation's backbone, building communities along the way and uniting a nation. Chinese laborers and immigrants were instrumental in the work necessary to achieve the monumental task of completing the Transcontinental Railroad."

2019 marks the Sesquicentennial (150th) Anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

"The Chinese American Heritage Foundation is honored to be working with the Tournament of Roses and Union Pacific Railroad to realize Harmony Through Union. Our Rose Parade float will draw international attention to recognizing the contributions of immigrants in building America. That's just the beginning of our ambitious and pervasive public education program for all ages. Immigrant contributions are not widely taught in our history books or discussed in our culture. So we hope to shine more light to the role of immigrants in uniting and building our country," comments Esther Zee Lee, Chair of the Board of Directors for CAHF. This topic is particularly resonant with Lee, whose husband's family immigrated in 1865 to work on the railroad. It was Wilson Lee's family history that originally sparked the concept for the Harmony Through Union project, 10 years in the making.

The Harmony Through Union project unites, coordinates, and educates people of all ages and ethnicities nationwide by celebrating what has been accomplished thus far, and what can be accomplished continuing as one nation. The Harmony Through Union float concept dovetails into the 2019 Rose Parade theme, "The Melody of Life," offering harmony to the parade's melody. The Harmony Through Union project includes educational curriculum for grades K-5, and distribution to public and private schools and nonprofit learning centers, under a yearlong program called We Built America.

Composer and innovator, Blythe Abigail Su-Ren Schulte, a performance artist of both Chinese and German descent, will debut her new song, Out of Many, One, during the float's journey down the streets of Pasadena, California, on New Year's Day 2019. The song will be released as a single following the parade and made available via iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and other digital streaming services.

CAHF has engaged PANGEA, a strategic development, marketing, and creative production consultancy, to manage the Harmony Through Union project. PANGEA's role includes overseeing all components of the program, including Tournament of Roses® interface, sponsor and grassroots relations, organizational and program development, float production management, special event production, and educational curriculum development and distribution.

"Part of our vision of what union means is to provide all interested companies, organizations, families, and individuals an opportunity to participate in the support of the Harmony Through Union project in any way they can. We welcome hands-on float-building and volunteering, donating to crowd-source funding or sponsorship, or anything in-between. In the spirit of the Transcontinental Railroad project, our initiative is about all of us uniting and working side-by-side to achieve a common goal. We encourage and welcome everyone to join the cause," invites Cheryl Ann Wong, director at PANGEA.

Award-winning Fiesta Parade Floats, the longest-tenured official builder in the Rose Parade, is CAHF's partner in float production. Fiesta holds the impressive track record for having the highest award win rate in the Rose Parade float building industry. "Tim Estes and the expert crew at Fiesta are champions," Wong notes. "They are creative geniuses, have a hands-on work ethic, and have provided masterful stewardship with our project."

About the Pasadena Tournament of Roses®
The Tournament of Roses is a volunteer organization that hosts America's New Year Celebration® with the Rose Parade® presented by Honda, the Rose Bowl Game® presented by Northwestern Mutual and a variety of accompanying events. 935 volunteer members of the association will drive the success of 130th Rose Parade themed "The Melody of Life," on Tuesday, January 1, 2019, followed by the 105th Rose Bowl Game. For more information, visit www.tournamentofroses.com. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About Union Pacific
Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP). One of America's most recognized companies, Union Pacific Railroad connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, providing a critical link in the global supply chain. From 2008-2017, Union Pacific invested approximately $34 billion in its network and operations to support America's transportation infrastructure. The railroad's diversified business mix is classified into its Agricultural Products, Energy, and Industrial and Premium business groups. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers, operates from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways, connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major Mexico gateways. Union Pacific provides value to its roughly 10,000 customers by delivering products in a safe, reliable, fuel-efficient and environmentally responsible manner. For additional information, visit: www.up.com www.facebook.com/unionpacific www.twitter.com/unionpacific
 
About PANGEA
PANGEA is a creative development and strategic marketing salon based in Southern California that specializes in ideation, writing, design, production, marketing, and publishing of intellectual properties in the worldwide confluence of the toy, licensing, animation, lifestyle, publishing, and entertainment industries. PANGEA has developed content for international premier brands, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Doctor Who, Rick and Morty, Zorro, Speed Racer, DragonBall Z, and Barbie. PANGEA represents the works of Edgar Award-winning authoress, Barbara Brooks Wallace. PANGEA's also served as a transition, marketing, and media consultant for retirement community, Laguna Woods Village, provided minority media relations for the Los Angeles Recycling Program (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), the roll-out of the Los Angeles Red Line and Blue Line mass transit systems, and sundry other minority outreach initiatives. Follow PANGEA on FaceBook, Twitter and Instagram @PangeaCorp

Fiesta Parade Floats
Based in Irwindale, CA, the 2018 Rose Parade was Fiesta's 30th year as a world premier float builder. Fiesta Parade Floats is considered a leader in both floral technology and floral application within both, the float and floral industries. Fiesta also builds custom props for television commercials, feature films, exhibits, and theme parks. Major exhibits include: Spring Garden Show, Crystal Court South Coast Plaza, American Institute of Floral Design National Symposium, Feature Exhibits and the Flower/Garden Pavilion at the Los Angeles County Fair, Bellagio and Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Innoventions, Disneyland's popular attraction in Tomorrowland and Venus Fort Shopping Mall in Tokyo, Japan. For more information, visit, http://www.fiestaparadefloats.com.

About Chinese American Heritage Foundation
The core mission of the Chinese American Heritage Foundation is to identify, verify, document, preserve, and share Chinese American contributions to the cultural, economic, and social development of the United States of America. By encouraging community involvement, contributing to the service of the American civil process, and promoting diversity and integration, we envision a stronger country that champions equally the contributions and cultural assets of all people. For additional information about our organization and its programs, visit www.CAHF.us. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Support our Rose Parade Transcontinental Float initiative by visiting our GoFundMe page and our GoFundMe educational curriculum page.

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