Humans of Downey - Kelley

"I am the same as everybody else in that I wake up in the morning like everybody else does, I go to work like everybody else does, take lunch, deal with problems that come up, come home, deal with issues and maintain the house. I think 'laughter is the best medicine' and so I think I enjoy humor, I enjoy a good smile, a good laugh just like everybody else.

"I am unique in that once when I was 10 years old, my neighbor and his sister were going to go down and decorate a parade float and I really wanted to go but I was on restriction. So I went and I pouted and cried and went to my room. Then I opened the window and jumped out, hopped over the neighbor's fence, and met them on the next block. Then I went down and decorated a float.

"I met some pretty interesting people and had a lot of fun. They showed me how to decorate a float and that just drew me in more. I wanted to know more about it. I kept coming back year after year and now I've been construction chairman of the Downey Rose Float Association for the past 28 years.

"My parents knew exactly where I was within 15 minutes of my jumping out that window. They said that I could have been doing a lot worse. But that I was still on restriction."

~ Kelley

PS Kelley is standing in front of this year's Downey float. It won the Queen's Trophy for 'Most outstanding presentation of roses.' It is currently parked in the parking lot of the Embassy Suites on Firestone Blvd. where it is on display. Go by to see it up close. You can even buy roses off the float.