AUBURN – She must have made a good impression at the buffet.

Back in July, Sharon Millett asked her 14-year-old granddaughter, Katherine, if she wanted to help the catering staff at a big summer lobsterbake for Realtors across the country, just for the experience. Katherine said sure.

Within the week, the president of the National Association of Realtors asked Katherine to be one of four kids to ride on the association’s first-ever Rose Bowl Parade entry.

On Monday, she found out she’ll spend four hours in a swing aloft on the Swiss Family Robinson-theme float with a whimsical tree house, 20,000 purple orchids and 30,000 neon pink roses.

“I’m probably going to be smiling the whole time,” said Katherine. “It’s going to be crazy.”

She and her grandparents leave Sunday for Pasadena, Calif.

Sharon Millett, an NAR past president and owner of Coldwell Banker Millett Realty, said she and her husband, Jerry, had been tempted to join in on the parade route.

“We actually thought about walking – it’s 5.5 miles over four hours – but we had to be in costume in order to do that,” she said. It would have been something shipwreck-ish.

They decided seats near the judging station for the New Year’s Day parade were just fine.

Katherine, a freshman at North Yarmouth Academy, said she knows about the parade from the “Bee Movie” (bees go on a pollinating strike, putting the parade roses at risk) but has never seen it on TV. She’s been watching Web clips online as the float comes together.

It’ll measure 55 feet long, be decorated with ironed corn husks, white coconut flakes and seeds, and feature a pool and water wheel. The NAR made the float to celebrate its centennial. Eight adults, all NAR officers, will also be on board.

Next week, Katherine will have a fitting for her costume, and they’ll all get to help decorate, likely applying some of the famous roses on the float.

Her parents, AnneMarie and Tim Millett, will have a Rose Bowl party back home in Auburn, recording the parade and watching for their daughter.

“I think it was a really good life lesson. I think a lot of girls might have said, ‘Gee, I don’t know. Everyone’s older than I am,'” when her grandmother asked about waitressing the lobsterbake, Sharon Millett said.

Katherine didn’t hesitate, carrying trays, working the buffet and letting a proud grandmother introduce her around.

“If she hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t have met the NAR leadership.” And there wouldn’t have been an invite.