Thanksgiving Day Parade

We really are going to have a Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. After 56 days of suspense, Channel 6 (WPVI-TV) has emerged as a leading sponsor of the parade, sources said. Without a major sponsor, there'd be no parade this year. Mayor Goode is expected to make an official announcement today, with only four days left to the Aug. 15 deadline set by the city. The city's Thanksgiving Day parade is the oldest of its kind in the country, and is perhaps the oldest corporate-sponsored special event going.

Chris Wilhelm, 62, of Delaware County, came prepared for yesterday's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia. He brought his two sons, his two daughters-in-law, several grandchildren and . . . two tall ladders and one piece of plywood. Why would anyone bring ladders and plywood to a parade? To see the thing, of course. Wilhelm, father of six and grandfather of 10, placed the plywood between the two ladders, creating a mini-grandstand for the five grandchildren he brought with him. The children, hoisted high above the crowd, easily watched the floats - including the anniversary float with its dancing cheerleaders - marching bands, TV stars and Santa Claus as they made their way along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway toward the Art Museum.

The floats were snazzier, the clowns friskier, the route more picturesque and the finale choreographed to a fare-thee-well. But the big news at yesterday's Thanksgiving Day Parade - a parade that had nearly been canceled after losing its longtime sponsor - was the unseasonably warm weather, which delighted dancing candy canes, scantily attired drum majorettes and veteran paradegoers alike. "It's the first time we've been to a Thanksgiving Day Parade where you could get a sunburn," joked Cliff Mercer of Northeast Philadelphia, who was there with his children, Kelly, 12, and Michael, 9. "This is nice, real nice.

A balloon version of Raggedy Ann, familiar grin and all, rests on the Art Museum steps yesterday before a launch to promote the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Eight giant balloons will join the march.

Having made the trip all the way from Brownsburg, Ind., members of the Brownsburg High School Marching Band at least got a chance to check out the Art Museum area while rehearsing yesterday. The band will be among the participants in Philadelphia's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.

December is a time for contemplation, but not because of Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. December is the midpoint between two of Philadelphia's biggest events of the holiday season: the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Mummers Parade. I have been attending both for 35 years. Recently, I have ushered a whole new generation of parade-goers into the November and January rituals. I have a rare family focus group to assess the majesty of both events - four kids. My two oldest sons, 5-year-old Kameron and 3-year-old Josh, have been braving winter temperatures to watch big balloons and string bands almost from the moment they left the womb.

Center City Philadelphia will be awash in color and pulsating with the rhythms of 20 marching bands as the nation's oldest Thanksgiving Day Parade steps off from 20th and Market Streets today at 9 a.m. Organizers promise that this year's parade will be an hour longer, feature more units and showcase musical performances along the route. It will end at noon with a finale at the Art Museum replete with 15,000 balloons. Incorporating the theme "We Love a Parade," the program will feature 18 fantasy-theme floats, clowns, roller-skaters, horse riders, eight bobbing helium-filled balloons and characters drawn from the Disney Studios and Sesame Street.

What would Thanksgiving be without a parade? Just turkey and trimmings. This year's Thanksgiving Day Parade has all the trimmings, and no turkeys that we could see. Count 'em: Fifteen spectacular floats. Thirteen high school marching bands and the Marine Corps Band. Eighteen giant helium balloons. Five choirs. Five dance groups. Four sets of cheerleaders - the Philadelphia Eagles', the University of Delaware's, the Universal Cheerleaders, and the Keystone Comet All-Stars. Plus: Susan Spafford, Miss Pennsylvania 1999; Kama Boland, Miss Delaware 1999; and Victoria Paige, Miss New Jersey 1999.

  Zion Spearman tried not to laugh as a costume artist smeared white makeup over his face and painted his lips gold. The 10-year-old noticed a box of red foam clown noses on a table at the Sheraton Hotel in Center City, where participants in the annual Thanksgiving Day parade gathered in the predawn hours to prepare for their march. "Do we get the ones that squeak?" he asked. Zion was one of 22 children who led the first crew of clowns in the city's 92d annual parade Thursday.

They had front-row seats for the best show in town Thursday. Thousands of spectators bundled up against chilly conditions and even a brief snow flurry, sipped hot chocolate, and oohed and aahed as the long line of floats and marching bands in the 91st annual Thanksgiving Day Parade moved through Center City. Crowds lined the entire parade route from JFK Boulevard and 20th Street to the Parkway and Art Museum, taking in the giant turkey, the cornucopia, and the Bugs Bunny balloons.

After a 12-hour bus ride and a night full of the usual teenage prank calls and ice cube fights in the hotel hallway, the York Comprehensive High School Band approached yesterday's parade with the seriousness only teenagers can muster. Sleep-deprived and a little mortified, the 142 South Carolina teens played "Eye of the Tiger" with no trace of irony on their faces as they marched along the Ben Franklin Parkway in the city's 90th annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. That was until the teens met the Gilman family of Plymouth Meeting, who have "interacted" with the parade participants for nearly three decades.

Drawn by clear morning skies and remarkably balmy weather, a huge crowd turned out for Philadelphia's 88th annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, cheering the passing caravan of marching bands, massive balloons and floats. With the temperature approaching 70 degrees, spectators in heavy coats quickly shed them, and more than a few folks lining the parade route wore shorts. "We've never seen weather this good," said Barbara Farnsworth of Moorestown, who has taken her children to the parade for 10 years.

London safer than Philly? Could be the guns Having recently returned from spending eight months abroad, I occasionally feel as if I'm seeing my home with an entirely new set of eyes. I've gained a new appreciation for things I took for granted, and discovered that some things I accepted as commonplace are rather strange local or national quirks. For example: I spent six months in London, relying entirely on public transportation, and never once felt remotely unsafe while travelling by subway or bus. Any time I saw someone carrying a weapon, the carrier was a police officer.

December is a time for contemplation, but not because of Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. December is the midpoint between two of Philadelphia's biggest events of the holiday season: the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Mummers Parade. I have been attending both for 35 years. Recently, I have ushered a whole new generation of parade-goers into the November and January rituals. I have a rare family focus group to assess the majesty of both events - four kids. My two oldest sons, 5-year-old Kameron and 3-year-old Josh, have been braving winter temperatures to watch big balloons and string bands almost from the moment they left the womb.

What would Thanksgiving be without a parade? Just turkey and trimmings. This year's Thanksgiving Day Parade has all the trimmings, and no turkeys that we could see. Count 'em: Fifteen spectacular floats. Thirteen high school marching bands and the Marine Corps Band. Eighteen giant helium balloons. Five choirs. Five dance groups. Four sets of cheerleaders - the Philadelphia Eagles', the University of Delaware's, the Universal Cheerleaders, and the Keystone Comet All-Stars. Plus: Susan Spafford, Miss Pennsylvania 1999; Kama Boland, Miss Delaware 1999; and Victoria Paige, Miss New Jersey 1999.

Staying home from the nation's oldest Thanksgiving Day Parade was never an option for the Conte family of Cherry Hill. For 13 years, no amount of rain, wind or bone-chilling cold has kept the Contes from catching a clear view of the floats, helium balloons and marching bands from their favorite corner of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. So it should come as no surprise that the on-and-off rain that kept many people home from yesterday's parade didn't force the Contes to settle for watching on television.

At the Art Museum, Justin Hughs of Old City pauses during his volunteer work to watch students from the High School for Creative and Performing Arts practice for the Thanksgiving Day parade. Hughs taped colored strips on the steps to form the Liberty Bell.

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving and all through Manhattan's Upper West Side, dozens of creatures were stirring . . . including a hedgehog, a rabbit, an aardvark and a pig. OK, maybe Thanksgiving's not quite the holiday you associate with the traditional ditty, so we'll explain. Last Thanksgiving eve, quite by accident, we stumbled upon New York's biggest "block party" - the coming to life of the giant balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In contrast to the next day's parade, which draws two million onlookers, this annual happening - when the balloons are inflated on the night before Thanksgiving - has more the feel of a private performance, a backstage, behind-the-scenes look.