Float builder amps up for APS’ light parade
At this time of year, northeast Phoenix resident Keif Martin’s backyard begins to fill with holiday lights and decorations.
This year, just like every year since 2002, Martin will begin constructing a float for the APS Electric Light Parade.
Lights — everything from rope lights and tiny twinklers to huge bulbs and even some dismantled lights — cover a nearby table.
Two larger-than-life nutcrackers he made from different-size plant pots stand guard by the house. And a wooden covered wagon sits by the pool.
Martin will use the wagon for this year’s float to coincide with the “Wild West Holiday Roundup” theme.
The parade, which takes place Dec. 7, travels through central Phoenix with illuminated floats, parade balloons and performance groups. The Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department puts on the parade with financial assistance from Arizona Public Service.
“It’s addictive once you get down there in that crowd and people are cheering you on. It’s something else,” Martin said.
Before moving to Arizona in 1997, Martin honed his skill of creative building in California. Martin worked for Pageantry Productions, a company that produces parade and festival functions, according to its website. Martin also did decorations for the TV show “Beverly Hills 90210.”
Martin said he does not know exactly how many lights he uses on a typical float, but he estimated it is between 20,000 and 40,000.
With that many lights, getting the wiring to work can pose a challenge.
“The float is wired just like a house,” Martin said.
He described the floor of the float as a giant electrical conduit. He said everything runs through the floor because one year he used extension cords and they melted during the parade.
Martin recalled a parade a few years ago when it rained, and he could not get the float to light up. He borrowed a generator from another float and eventually got a few of his lights to work. He said the float still won “best use of lights” even though the float never fully lit up to its potential.
Martin said one of the hardest parts of the process is time management. He said Phoenix resident Sam West helps him construct the float.
West said Martin conceives all the ideas, but that can pose its own problems because Martin does not do any sketches or other physical planning. “He has it all in his head,” West said. “As we go along, we just add more to make it better and then we start hitting the time crunch,” Martin said.
Martin estimated it takes about 400 hours to build a float.
“The day before the parade, you are sitting there thinking, ‘I’m never doing this again,’ ” Martin said, but once the parade starts, everything is great. Martin said he never wants to stop. “For about a month after (the parade), you are just sitting around thinking ‘ Man, I need something to do,’ ” he said.