Float More Than a Wish for Children

On the morning of his 10th birthday, John Mercer of La Crescenta was picked up by a limousine at his hotel in Hawaii and driven to the ocean, where he kept his date to swim with a school of dolphins.

His adventure in August came with the aid of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which fulfills the fantasies of children all over the world who are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. John was born with cystic fibrosis.

He had always been fascinated with dolphins and wanted to meet them up close.

“The dolphins were really friendly,” he said, “and people came up to me for my autograph.

“They thought I was famous.”

Yesterday, John, now 11, and other children who have had their wishes fulfilled by the foundation, helped decorate the Make-A-Wish float for the Tournament of Roses Parade.

The “Sailing for Dreams” float, sponsored by Rembrandt Oral Care Products, features children made of flowers sailing on a sea of roses in a wooden-shoe sailboat.

The theme is based on a nursery rhyme, which calls on the characters to “cast your nets” into a sea of dreams so that their wishes can come to surface.

Dubbed the “SS Make-A-Wish,” the sailing-shoe design is also a nod to the parade’s theme this year, “Sports--Quest for Excellence.”

Make-A-Wish officials said they strove to design a float that would tie into the parade’s and their own themes.

“The sport of sailing figures prominently in the (parade) theme,” said Don Sowers, president of the Los Angeles chapter for Make-A-Wish, “but, it’s really about these children striving to make their dreams come true.”

The float is designed so that as it moves, the boat rocks over white rose waves and one of the flower characters reaches to grab a star hanging overhead.

According to Make-A-Wish founder Judith Lewis, this image demonstrates the spirit with which the program’s children face the routine chore of hospital visits and medical checkups.

“Lots of treatment and hospitalization tends to grow you up quickly,” Lewis said. “These children are incredible because they are real fighters.”

Make-A-Wish foundation fulfills an average of 5,000 wishes a year for children 18 or younger, allowing an expense of about $2,500 per wish. Its Los Angeles chapter provided about 275 fantasies in 1994.

The children, who are often referred to the program by their treatment centers, can choose from several wish categories. Among them are travel, gifts, meeting a celebrity and an “I want to be” category.

In all, five alumni of the program strong enough to help out with the float were pitching in yesterday.

Yvette Martinez, 15, of Alhambra, who has leukemia, chose as her wish an amusement park tour in Florida. Because she would like to one day be a marine biologist, her focus was on Sea World.

A homecoming queen at Alhambra High School, she was asked to ride on the float with Miss America 1995.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the Rose Parade when I saw it on TV,” Martinez said. “I’m looking forward to the memories of being with Miss America for such a long time.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”