The Fishers High School Marching Tiger Band capped off a successful season with the honor of performing Nov. 23 in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
The band not only marched in that traditional start to the Christmas season, they landed the coveted “Santa Band” spot, performing just ahead of the float carrying Santa Claus.
During a media event about a week before the parade, Band Director Chad Kohler said they were one of only six bands chosen for the honor of marching in the iconic parade — six out of about 1,000 that applied. They learned they’d been chosen in April, and Kohler said the band’s show for this year’s season was holiday-themed on purpose.
“The great thing about it is, the kids have been working on the same music since June,” he said, adding that performing in the Thanksgiving Day Parade is an honor. “I mean, they’ve been at the Disney parade, they’ve been in the Hollywood Christmas parade, Philadelphia parade, but the Macy’s Parade is like the parade to be accepted. To be accepted to that parade is a complete blessing.”
Kohler said the music, although holiday-themed, has a jazz base.
“A lot of these students hadn’t had that training,” he said. “And in fact, of our 260-piece band that’s going, 71 of them are juniors and seniors (and) 190-plus students are sophomore and below, and we actually have about 24 eighth-graders that are involved in the junior high. So it’s great training for the future.”
Those 260 students and their chaperones boarded six buses Nov. 19 for the trip to New York City. Another 140 supporters joined the group through a separate “family and friends” tour, bringing the Fishers contingent to about 450.
Todd Zimmerman and members of his family were among the families and friends that attended. He went to watch his son, Eli, a senior who plays bass clarinet. Zimmerman said his son has been part of marching band throughout high school.
“What was cool is my wife actually marched for Carmel back in high school,” he said. “But she never got to go to Macy’s. So this was a big deal for our family.”
Zimmerman said they were able to get spots near the end of the parade close to the Macy’s store where a stage was set up for cameras.
“We got to see them up close from the front row,” he said. “It was amazing weather I think it was like 50 degrees and sunny, so it was chilly but considering the time of the year and where we were, we were really blessed with that weather.”
Drum Major Hannah Schulz, 18, a senior, said the whole group woke up at 3 a.m. that morning to eat breakfast before heading to the parade’s starting point.
“Marching in the parade was unlike any other parade we’ve marched in,” she said a few days after getting back. “Knowing you’re on such a big stage really gets you going. The parade itself had amazing weather, but it was still pretty cold. That didn’t stop us from performing our very best, though. My favorite part of the parade was getting to wave at everyone around me while walking through the tall buildings of Manhattan.”
Zimmerman, who also is a member of the Fishers City Council, said marching in the parade was not only great for the kids and their families but the whole community, noting that he’s learned a new appreciation for the importance of the arts.
“Just the pride for our city to be represented (and) how the kids responded was amazing,” he said. “They really had an energy and they brought an energy to the point where when they were chosen as the Santa band, it was because of the energy they had. It was because of the excitement and their performance.”
He said the final lineup was established after a rehearsal before the big day, and that’s when the Fishers band was chosen to precede Santa Claus.
While the parade was the main event, Kohler said the group also attended performances of The Lion King and the Rockettes, and went to the Oculus, the American Experience, the 911 Memorial and other sights and sounds of New York City.
“The coolest thing that I’m most looking forward to is Thanksgiving dinner,” Kohler said during the pre-trip event. “We’ll be on a dinner boat cruise out on the water overlooking the New York skyline with 450 of our closest family and friends.”
Shulz said the cruise offered great views of the city throughout dinner and the dancing that followed.
“We all jumped and danced around for over an hour together on the top floor in our suits and dresses, knowing it was our last night there,” she said.
And at the end of the dinner cruise, Zimmerman said the students sang an a cappella rendition of Auld Lang Syne, with the glittering lights of New York City in the background.
How did the Macy’s parade become a tradition?
The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was Nov. 27, 1924, according to the History Channel website, but it was billed at that time as a Christmas parade. It was a long parade in terms of distance — 6 miles as opposed to the present-day’s 2 1/2-mile route — but short in terms of length — two blocks’ worth of floats.
According to the website, the floats matched the nursery-rhyme theme of that year’s Macy’s holiday window displays, with characters from Mother Goose rhymes. It also featured people in various costumes, animals from the Central Park Zoo, four bands and, of course, Santa Claus.
The parade was enough of a success that Macy’s decided to do it again the following year, although the zoo animals were replaced with character balloons, which are less messy and more cooperative. And it’s been a holiday tradition ever since.
For more, visit history.com/news/the-first-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade.
