Two Late Mahwah Residents to Be Remembered on Rose Bowl Float

On New Year’s Day, two late Mahwah residents will be memorialized on a float in the 2014 Tournament of Roses parade at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Donate Life, a non-profit organization that works to support and promote organ donation, recently announced that it will honor 81 late organ donors on its 2014 Rose Parade float. Images of all of the honorees will be depicted on the float in flowers, or memorial “floragraphs,” the organization said.

Late Mahwah residents Mike Drozd, a volunteer firefighter who died at age 46 in a 2008 car accident, and Ena “Po-Po” Lue, a mom and grandma who died at 68 in 2010, will be two of the honorees on the float. And, their family members recently announced at a Mahwah township council meeting that they will be heading to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl.

Pam Drozd, Mike’s wife, and Jackie Lue Raia, Po-Po’s daughter, are both Mahwah residents and NJ Sharing Network – a local ‘Donate Life’ group – volunteers. At a meeting earlier this month, the duo presented the mayor and members of the township council with roses and asked them to write out dedications for them. The two announced they will take the dedications with them to California and place them on the float.

Mayor Bill Laforet issued a proclamation at the meeting recognizing Mike and Po-Po’s depiction on the float and recognizing Pam and Jackie. He said this was the first time Mahwah residents would be represented at the Rose Bowl parade.

“It is a very special thing for our community to have both of you recognized,” he said. “We will be with you every step of the way on your path to Pasadena.”

According to Donate Life, both women will help assemble thousands of roses that will come together to memorialize Mike, Po-Po, and the others represented on the float.

"The donors' families and dozens of volunteers will decorate portraits [of those being honored] with grains, flowers, seeds, spices and other organic materials," said Bryan Stewart, chairman of the Donate Life float."For many of their families, this is a unique opportunity to see their loved one shine before millions of people worldwide and to gain special recognition for their gifts of life and hope."