98th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade; Cold, Wet and Wonderful!

By 6:30 AM the advance crew, Jamie, Sean, David (orange poncho, no face showing) and I had our place staked out. Even at that hour our 6 little folding camp chairs were in the second tier. It was a long cold wait. We learned that the folks in front of us were from Fort Smith, Arkansas, here to watch their dance team march by. There were also a couple of Mom’s of University of South Carolina Marching Band players just behind us. Of course this morning it was in the forties and raining off and on hard enough to count.

David’s wife, Renee, came later after walking quite a ways to get across to the other side of 6th Avenue, where we were.

Terry, Tia and Jacey came down at eight o’clock. They could not find a place to cross and so set up opposite us. Unfortunately, we had all the camp chairs and Jamie had the clear rain ponchos.

Finally, at just after 9, the parade made it to us. We cheered deliriously…for everything!

We cheered the floats.

We cheered the balloons.

We cheered the dance teams, cold and wet in their skimpy outfits.

We cheered the bands, especially the bands. This is the East Tennessee University Band that played for us at the Regional Band Competition in Johnson City. When the University of South Carolina band came by we let those mom’s in front of us.

We cheered the mounted police. We even cheered the sanitation workers who came along behind with shovels and waste bins on wheels to pick up the horse poop…and they deserved it.

And then, finally, at 10:45, the second to the last band, along came Lake Hamilton. The folks from Fort Smith, having already cheered their cold wet dancers, let Jamie and I up into the front row. There was a pause in the parade, maybe because of the protest we heard happened, but in any case, they played in front of us for six minutes.

Here’s one minute I took from that. I will try to send the full video Jamie took via email to anyone who wants it.

We couldn’t see Adler while they were playing because the reeds walk behind the horns and drums, but as they marched past we called him and got this smile. I asked him afterwards if he’d heard us cheering earlier. “Oh yes,” he said “you have a loud voice.” The kid next to him asked who that was cheering, “That’s my Gramma.” He may have been a bit embarrassed, but he was also very pleased.

Fifteen minutes later it was all over.

And there we were, soggy but happy.

And there was Tia, completely soaked and all alone on the other side. Terry and Jacey had gone back to the hotel about an hour into it, not being able to manage without a poncho or chair, but Tia stuck it out. “It was the whole reason for the trip,” she said. She gets the Toughest Fan award.

As soon as we could we started back…

as we crossed 6th Avenue we saw the parade marching away from us.

Jacey and Terry had it on the TV in the room and just as Tia and I got our soggy bodies back Lake Hamilton came on, so we saw their performance, too.

After we got warm and dry we took the subway down to Lower Manhattan.

We waited in a block long line…

to have lunch at Katz’s.

We walked over to Chinatown and took the subway back from there.

That evening we had a Thanksgiving banquet with the kids.

The “Friends and Family” group were all seated together when the band arrived. As they walked in and past us we all spontaneously rose and applauded.

A couple of minutes later, when the band director came we repeated the standing ovation.

I know I thought they did great, but one of the kids found this posting on a band site about the high school bands in the parade.

I couldn’t be more proud!

What a wonderful day.