4A Friday, November 23, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
NATION
Despite wind, balloons fly during
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade
ANDRES KUDACKII Associated Press
The Olaf balloon moves through Sixth Avenue during the 92nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade in New York, on Thursday, Nov. 22.
MARY ALTAFFER I Associated Press
Children watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from a
window facing Central Park South in New York.
STEVEN SENNE I Associated Press
Mashpee Wampanoag Phillip Wynne, of Sagamore,
Mass., pours water to control fire and temperatures
Thursday, Nov. 15, while making a mishoon, a type of
boat, from a tree at the Wampanoag Homesite at Plimoth
Plantation, in Plymouth, Mass.
Native Americans
mark Thanksgiving
with day of mourning
Associated Press
BY STEPHEN R. GROVES
AND MICHAEL R. SISAK
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Frigid
weather and blustery winds
didn’t chill the enthusiasm
at the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade, where specta
tors bundled up in blankets
and sleeping bags and the
giant character balloons flew
lower than usual.
SpongeBob, Charlie
Brown, the Grinch and other
big balloons were cleared
for takeoff just before Thurs
day’s parade, although some
floated at noticeably lower-
than-usual heights above the
people holding their tethers,
like the outstretched hand of
the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”
balloon that appeared to hit
some of his handlers on their
wool cap-covered heads.
The 21 degrees at the start
made it one of the coldest
Thanksgivings in the city
in decades, and the tem
perature warmed only a few
degrees as the parade rolled
along.
Officials were ready to
order the 16 helium-filled
balloons to a lower altitude
or removed entirely if sus
tained winds exceeded 23
mph and gusts exceeded 34
mph. There have been mis
haps in the past when gusts
blew them off course.
Bystanders refused to let
the cold put a damper on
watching the parade, break
ing out blankets and sleeping
bags to watch the balloons,
bands and floats go by.
Tony Stout had camped
out with his extended fam
ily since 2 a.m. to make sure
they got a good view of his
son, who was in the parade
with the Ohio State Univer
sity marching band.
“Ohhh, I’m freezing and
numb, but excited,” said
Stout, who had traveled from
Columbus, Ohio.
Dylan Mahoney, who has
come to the parade for the
las few years, said he stayed
warm by layering, including
several pairs of socks.
“It’s one of the coldest,” he
said, but “we’ve watched in
the rain before.”
He said he loves the tradi
tion of attending the parade,
driving from Leonia, New
Jersey, in the early hours to
see the bands and balloons
and racing for a good spot.
Entertainers including
Diana Ross, John Legend,
Martina McBride and the
Muppets from “Sesame
Street” performed in the
frigid cold.
Macy’s later apologized
for “technical difficulties”
after viewers ripped into
singer Rita Ora for what they
saw as awkward lip-syncing.
The British artist appeared
out of sync with the vocals
viewers heard during parts
of her televised performance
of “Let You Love Me,” and
the episode sparked a flurry
of online commentary.
Macy’s apologized via
Twitter, saying “several
recording artists experi
enced technical difficulties
that negatively impacted
their performance” and
were beyond the performers’
control.
Ora tweeted thanks to
Macy’s for “the honesty.”
In another moment that
got attention, a performance
from the Broadway musical
“The Prom” included a kiss
between two female cast
members. The producers
told Entertainment Weekly
it was the parade’s “first
LGBTQ kiss.”
Representatives for
Macy’s and broadcaster
NBCUniversal didn’t respond
to inquiries.
Thursday was one of New
York City’s coldest Thanks
givings, with National
Weather Service data show
ing the temperature peaked
at 27 degrees. The coldest
on record was in 1871, when
the warmest it got was 22
degrees.
The Macy’s parade didn’t
start until 1924.
Police Commissioner
James O’Neill said thousands
of officers were stationed
along the parade route. They
included counterterrorism
teams with long guns, plain
clothes officers mixed in
with the crowd and a new
squad of K-9 teams that can
sniff out explosives from a
few hundred feet away.
The parade runs 46 blocks
from the west side of Central
Park to Macy’s flagship store
in midtown Manhattan.
The event featured about
8,000 marchers, includ
ing high school bands from
across the country, and two
dozen floats, culminating
with the arrival of Santa
Claus.
PLYMOUTH, Mass. -
Thanksgiving is nothing to
celebrate for Native Amer
icans, who are gathering
in the town where the Pil
grims settled for a solemn
National Day of Mourning
observance.
Thursday’s noon gather
ing in downtown Plymouth,
Massachusetts, will recall
the disease, racism and
oppression that the Euro
pean settlers brought.
It’s the 49th year that the
United American Indians
of New England have orga
nized the event on Thanks
giving Day.
Moonanum James, a
co-leader of the group,
says: “Native people have
no reason to celebrate the
arrival of the Pilgrims.”
Participants will beat
drums, offer prayers and
make public speeches.
They’ll also express their
solidarity with refugees
from Latin America who
are being denied entry
to the U.S., and condemn
pipeline projects and frack
ing that they say needlessly
and recklessly degrade the
environment.
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•Balloons for all occasions
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