The 86th Macy’s Thanskgiving Day Parade Will Happen Despite Hurricane Sandy [VIDEO]

It seems Hurricane Sandy spared Kermit the Frog and Hello Kitty, even though Macy's in New York keeps the giant balloons, floats and costumes for its annual New York City Thanksgiving Day Parade across the Hudson River in hard-hit New Jersey. The studio where Macy's stores the giant balloons, floats and costumes in northern New Jersey, was overcome by flooding when a levee broke during Sandy, forcing mass evacuations. Somehow the building holding the Macy's balloons had no water. Nearby streets and buildings were not so lucky.

Here's a cool fact I came across:

 The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in NY has been a "Big Apple" tradition since 1924. Attracting more than 3.5 million people to the streets of New York City each year, as well 50 million TV viewers nationwide, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has become such a part of the Thanksgiving tradition.

Felix the Cat became the first giant balloon to ever take part in the Macy's Day Parade in   1927. The next year, Felix was inflated with helium, and with no plan to deflate the balloon, NYC parade organizers let Felix fly off into the sky. Unfortunately, he popped soon thereafter.

The Macy's Day Parade continued to let the balloons fly off for several more years, with these balloons having a return address written on them, and whoever found the balloon could return the balloon for a prize from Macy's. However, the results of this experiment weren't exactly successful.

Here's what executive producer of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Amy Kule, says we can expect from this year's parade:

The 86th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will again make history as it debuts three impressive giant balloons, six over-the-top floats, an amazing array of talent and the most remarkable high school, college and professional marching bands in the nation,” said Amy Kule, executive producer of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. She added, “As it has during turbulent times in our history, we hope the Macy’s Parade serves as a beacon of hope and renewal for all Americans who will gather with friends and family to give thanks this season and begin to heal from the devastating aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.”

I'll be watching, just like I have since I can remember. I used to always watch the parade with my precious two Grannies, but they are gone now. It doesn't keep from enjoying the parade. In fact, it brings back sweet memories. Happy Thanksgiving!

2011 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade