Americans give thanks, see parades, feast in space

Friday 27th November, 06:14 AM JST

NEW YORK —

Giant balloons, floats, marching bands and clowns with confetti brought smiles to hundreds of thousands of revelers eager to catch a glimpse of a parade as steeped in Thanksgiving Day tradition as turkey and pumpkin pie.

Crowds six to seven people deep lined the streets of Manhattan on Thursday for the 83rd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as merrymakers gathered nationwide for massive parades in cities such as Detroit and Philadelphia.

Soldiers in war zones received phone calls of appreciation from President Barack Obama, while astronauts hovering above the Earth’s surface feasted on turkey smuggled aboard the space shuttle Atlantis.

In New York City, Miss America Katie Stam waved to crowds from a Statue of Liberty float she shared with Meb Keflezighi, the first American in 11 years to win the New York City Marathon.

Shailesh Dighe and his family came to the fabled parade to snap pictures of celebrities including rapper Jay Sean and singer-actress Keke Palmer. Despite the crowds, Dighe said the parade is “totally worth it.”

“When you watch it on TV, you don’t get that feeling,” said Dighe, who splits his time between Manhattan and Princeton, NJ.

For the first time, the parade route bypassed Broadway, which cuts a diagonal slice through Manhattan, as it made its way south from the Upper West Side to the finish at Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square.

The new route traverses the grid of the city’s streets and avenues, includes turns around five corners, and is slightly longer than in previous years — 2.65 miles compared with 2.5 miles.

Johanna Castillo, 38, of Guttenberg, NJ, said the new route seemed to better accommodate the crowds.

“I was very blessed to get here at the time I did and find a spot” a half-hour before parade time, said Castillo, who arrived with her two children.

Maryann Alonzo, 48, of Queens, NY, has been coming to the parade since she was a baby. She showed up Thursday with her daughter and friends to cheer on her father, who’s been performing in the parade for 25 years as a clown.

“This is our Thanksgiving,” Alonzo said. “More than the food.”

Celebrity entertainment included Italian tenor Andrea Boccelli, comedian Jimmy Fallon, former “American Idol” star Katharine McPhee and singers Gloria Gaynor and Carly Simon.

Elsewhere, tens of thousands gathered in the streets of downtown Detroit for the 83rd annual America’s Thanksgiving Parade. The country’s longest-run Thanksgiving Day parade was held in Philadelphia for its 90th year.

In Detroit, where the September unemployment rate was 17.3%, parade organizers set up three locations where revelers could drop off donations of canned food for the area food bank.

Eugene Peterson, 35, an unemployed construction worker from Detroit, said he had plenty to be thankful for.

“I’m thankful we have a president who understands we’re going through a hard time,” Peterson said. “I’m thankful they extended unemployment (benefits) because there ain’t no jobs around here. It’s kind of like government showing yeah, they care.”

Aboard Atlantis, astronauts expecting to give thanks with pantry leftovers were surprised by turkey dinners with candied yams, freeze-dried cornbread stuffing and green beans — just add water. NASA suspected the station’s new skipper was responsible for the Thanksgiving feast.

Obama enjoyed a quiet holiday at the White House with his family and telephoned 10 members of the U.S. military stationed in war zones to thank them for their service.

As daylight faded in Afghanistan, soldiers huddled inside a crude wooden hut to tuck into Thanksgiving turkeys the unit itself had fattened and to give thanks for having survived a year of combat.

Dense fog delayed some flights Thursday for Thanksgiving travelers headed to the Washington and Baltimore areas.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the fog prompted a ground stop for flights arriving Thursday morning at all three Washington-area airports. Departing flights were apparently not affected. The FAA lifted its ground stop by 10:30 a.m.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Irwin in Detroit and Denis D. Gray in Baraki-Barak, Afghanistan, contributed to this report. AP Aerospace Writer Marcia Dunn contributed from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

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Latest 15 of 24 Total Comments Show All

GW at 02:04 PM JST - 27th November

Hey gobble these!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNf9t8R-ZWo
Sarge at 02:11 PM JST - 27th November

GW - I won't be gobbling them, thanks.
JACKY1289 at 02:40 PM JST - 27th November

Happy thanks giving and God bless america.
WayneRooney10 at 03:04 PM JST - 27th November

God Bless America
nandakandamanda at 05:20 PM JST - 27th November

How do you smuggle turkey onto a space shuttle, and where do you put the bones?
Sarge at 05:23 PM JST - 27th November

There's no need to smuggle turkeys onto the space shuttle. The station has a replicator. Well, it will. I hope.
victimcrat at 05:46 PM JST - 27th November

Like sushisake3 I thank God daily for America's presence and preeminence in this world.
RomeoRamenII at 06:13 PM JST - 27th November

I, too, have to agree with Sake3. Everyday is Thanksgiving Day when America protects the world. It's a job we'll gladly continue to do.
RomeoRamenII at 06:17 PM JST - 27th November

Obama ... telephoned 10 members of the U.S. military stationed in war zones to thank them for their service.

Shame he didn't hop onto AF-1 and make a surprise visit to thank our warriors personally.
sctaber56 at 06:24 PM JST - 27th November

As for the Macy's Parade, besides the huge balloons, I like getting a sneak peak at what the hit musicals are currently on Broadway. I live in CA and it always looks so very cold in NYC on Thanksgiving Day! Brrrrrr!
Sarge at 06:30 PM JST - 27th November

Ramen - Hey, the troops were lucky just to get the phone calls!

Remember when Bush paid a visit to the troops in Iraq?
RomeoRamenII at 06:39 PM JST - 27th November

Sarge - Yeah, probably not a good photo op for Obama to seen explaining to our servicemen and women in Afghanistan why he's dithering on sending more troops there; hence the phone calls. This story doesn't mention if he called them collect. ;-)
Madverts at 09:24 PM JST - 27th November

Happy Thanks-giving American people. Heh, even those individuals who continue to pat themselves on the back for other's peoples achievments!
USAFdude at 01:15 AM JST - 28th November

Thanks, Madverts!
JHansen at 03:45 AM JST - 28th November

Yes sarge I do remember Bush showing up in Iraq on Thanksgiving for an hour or so. He held a big fake eight leg turkey up for the cameras and then jumped back on the jet and was gone.

Of course I bet the good soldiers only had to clean and get ready for the "surprise" visit for a day or two outside of doing their normal duties. I always loved it when the brass showed up, you had to clean clean clean and then stand back as they walked through in 20 seconds without even saying a word to you.