One Week & Counting

Another year of magic kicks off next Thursday morning at the 87th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, with its signature giant balloons, whimsical floats and performers taking over the streets of New York City.  From its modest beginnings in 1924, the annual parade has become a holiday tradition featuring some of the world's most beloved characters and attractions.

 In all, more than 50 balloons -- including Christmas SpongeBob Squarepants, Finn and Jake from "Adventure Time" and Toothless from "How to Train Your Dragon" -- and nearly 40 floats will roll down the streets, with new additions from Cirque Du Soleil, "Despicable Me," Royal Caribbean, Lindt Chocolate, and SeaWorld.

Over the years I have gotten to see the parade both on TV as well as live.  In fact, there were two years I lived in New York City and volunteered to work on the parade.  One year I got to oversee the dressing of the Pink Panther balloon and the next year was Garfield.  Then you walk the entire parade unit in reverse (without the balloon as it is already up at Central Park West) at 4am!  The second year I worked the parade was amusing in that it was snowing and so we had to sit there in the snow and pull on the ropes to keep the snow off the balloons.