A Northern California physician who is an expert on aging and a UC Berkeley engineering student on the Golden Bears track team enjoyed New Years Day riding the Kaiser Permanente float in the 2025 Rose Parade.

The 2 women — Wynnelena Canio, MD, and member Zoe Lahanas — were selected to ride the float as Northern California representatives who embodied the theme of this year’s float entry, More Healthy Days for More Healthy Years, which won for outstanding float design, floral presentation, and entertainment.

“I’m grateful Kaiser Permanente included me as a representative of older adults, because sometimes people think older, frail people can’t live their best lives,” said Dr. Canio, chief of Geriatric Medicine at the San Rafael Medical Center. “There are ways people can live their best lives even if they have a lot of medical conditions and other challenges.”

With its marching bands and floats, the parade was broadcast live nationwide and streamed online. The float featured a sun on one end and a moon on the other, with depictions of healthy activity in between. Eleven Kaiser Permanente members and caregivers road the float while Special Olympics Southern California athletes, a Kaiser Permanente physician, and a Kaiser Permanente member services representative walked alongside.

A successful sports-injury recovery

As an up-and-coming track powerhouse in high school, Lahanas tore her knee ligament. Kaiser Permanente physicians at the Diablo Sports Medicine Department repaired it in 2021. The surgery was considered a new technique at the time. The surgery was so successful that afterward Lahanas continue to excel in track and field. She was then recruited to the Division 1 team at Cal.

“They called me a poster child for this surgery at the time,” said Lahanas who this spring plans to compete in the 400-meter, the 800-meter, and the 400-meter relay. “Being an athlete and staying active allows me to do pretty much anything I want physically. I was out so long recovering from that surgery in high school, I now appreciate how important staying healthy is every day.”

Both Lahanas and Dr. Canio were excited to represent Kaiser Permanente on the float in front of a national television audience.

“I’d always heard about the Rose Parade or saw it on TV, but now I was able to be a part of it, and that’s really exciting,” said Lahanas, who travelled to Pasadena with her mother for the event.

Dr. Canio, who grew up in the Bay Area with “16 boy football-fan cousins” recalled that she and her family have been long-time viewers of the Rosebowl game on television. Her mother always wanted to attend the parade in person one day.

With her family watching her on the float from the grandstand, she described her experience as “unforgettable.”

“Despite my usually reserved nature, I found myself comfortably smiling and waving to the thousands of spectators in Pasadena and the millions watching worldwide.” said Dr. Canio. “It was a deeply emotional moment, and I even shed a few tears of joy thinking about my grandparents smiling and waving at me from heaven.”

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