RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - A double-float, the Million Dreams Express with caboose will be the swan song for Float Master Wayne Harmer and family at the Rancho Cordova 4^th of July parade. 

After creating 13 floats since 2004 including “Train the Stars” in 2017, and “Charlie Brown and Friends” in 2022, Harmer has announced there will be no other large multi-functional floats. His Million Dreams Express honoring the 20^th anniversary of Rancho Cordova is 60 feet long, 12 feet high, and 10 feet wide. When fully animated as it travels slowly down Coloma Avenue viewers will see and hear the usual signature bells and whistles, see a water feature and lots of things turning and moving above the dozen wheels.

The Express was the bell of the ball in the Folsom parade June 24 and will make its second and final appearance at the Rancho Cordova parade.

Harmer says one goal has always been to create “the next big thing” in parade floats each year, more elaborate than the last, leaving viewers of all ages wondering, “How did they do that,” with little or no evidence of how it was done.  There have been no wires: all working elements, even ladders, are hidden with every moving part controlled by remote control.  

Harmer’s second goal has been the simple fun and joy of bringing his entire family together to work on one project at the same time. 

That joy was enhanced in 2014, the first year that brought three generations of Harmers together to create the 12-foot-high Eagle Mountain float. The float featured an 8-foot running waterfall, smoke, an ‘active’ volcano, complete with (safe) smoke and a five-ton winch/pulley built to move a mother eagle performer up the mountain to her eaglets’ nest to feed her young (three young performers).  A confetti (biodegradable) air cannon was shot off towards the judge’s station, another signature feature of Harmer’s floats.

Harmer has faced dozens of obstacles throughout his parade, float-building career. Besides the satisfaction of working beside his family, another of his motivations for creating new and innovative floats has been hearing, “you can’t do that”, when planning his next creation. The wrong thing to say to an inventor. Harmer’s mantra has always been, “Never say, I can’t do that.”  There’s always a way to overcome an obstacle, even in life. “We may not be able to do it one way, that doesn’t mean it can’t be done, you just don’t know the way yet. Thirteen floats and 19 years later, Harmer has proven his point.

Harmer emphasizes how he could not have produced any of his creations without Nickey, his wife of 46 years. They have two sons and two daughters.  Nickey is his inspiration.  When he is stumped by an element of a project, a brief discussion with Nickey always gives him clarity.  She says, “his brain is always going.” 

Following completion of his float Harmer spends the next week at Hagen Park helping put on the two-day celebration the 3^rd and 4^th. New this year will be a drone show at 9:30 on both nights.

For Harmer, this year marks 20 years working throughout the year with the Cordova Community Council on many events. Not ready to hang up his volunteer hat, he will continue this position for at least another five years, completing 25 years of service to the city he loves.