Over the past 40 years I have often dreamed of being in the Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day Parade. I made application to do so with my pickup band, The
Stragglers, many times. And a form rejection letter explained I should be associated with
either Disney or Macy’s.
My musicians, mostly from the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, were disappointed and they joined me in playing jazz and Dixieland at the Saugatuck Congregational Church, in Westport, CT, when a free Thanksgiving Day Feast was available.
After 25 submissions to perform in the Macy’s parade, all refused, I finally had a plan for 1988. We would create a float and all dress up as Pilgrims and Indians. Then our caravan could just enter the parade at Columbus Circle in Manhattan and perform all the way down Broadway to Macy’s Grandstand and NBC-TV cameras.
I had 15 in our entourage and this scheme worked like a charm. We played Indian music with tom-toms in a march tempo and were greeted with applause and cheers by the thousands watching on a beautiful November day, all the way from 59th Street to 34th Street.
Nobody challenged us. That is until we approached Macy’s store. Then the uniformed handlers with clipboards ran around like cockroaches, checking with dismay to one another. Who were these Pilgrims and Indians? Too late to be evicted, followed by a camera, we coasted to an empty area and were interviewed on NBC-TV.
As a dozen angry handlers surrounded us, I explained on television that “Pilgrims and Indians represent the heart and soul of Thanks giving. Thus our presence was to honor those historic orphans in a hallowed parade that has often been conspicuous by its absence of Pilgrims and Indians over the years. Until now.”
We ended the charade by moving the caravan over to 34th Street and held a jam session for half-an-hour that attracted a large crowd of well wishers. A Pilgrim hat passed around ended up with several hundred dollars; that paid for an enjoyable lunch for my musician friends.
NBC-TV decided to scrap the interview from being aired. I wonder who made that decision?
