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New York - Purdue band members are on their way to New York City, where they will be in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. The band will do a little sight-seeing before taking center stage on Thursday.
Purdue is this year's lead band and also the first Big Ten band to ever appear in the parade.
Live coverage of the parade starts at 9:00 am on Thanksgiving on Channel 13.
Rochelle and Sara Zou are two of Purdue's featured baton twirlers. (Twitter: PURDUEslvrtwns) The twins are blogging about their experience in New York this week. Latest entry:
Going on 23 hours for the day!
All loaded up on the bus and making our last drive through Times Square.
Bitter sweet moment to drive through Lincoln tunnel and come out on the other side to see our last view of the skyline. The consensus on bus 5 is mostly that we want to stay in NYC, but on the other hand, we are ready to get back to support our Boilers at the Old Oaken Bucket game this Saturday.
Definitely enjoyed going to the Rockettes show in Radio City Music Hall! It was a nice finale to this exciting day. Also, it was interesting to hear from two alums who were in the Purdue band that played an entire summer in Radio City Music Hall in 1963. They received a lifetime free pass to Radio City Music Hall and he used it for the first time today and found out that is the first band member from that summer to use it. Cool connection and a great story!
One of the last things we did was run and buy some 99 cent pizza to eat on the bus as we left the city. Nothing like good, cheap, New York pizza. The trip was great. Marching in the parade was even better!!
The band is exhausted but you can tell there is a sense of accomplishment among us. We did it. We are and forever will be known as the "Macy*s" band.
~Sara and Chellie
Happy Thanksgiving!!
After the parade, we made our way back to the hotel. As soon as we got back to our room, we turned on NBC just in time to see Santa finish up the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade!
Still feeling as though the whole was a dream, we pack up and take in the last couple hours that we have in the city!
Thanksgiving dinner. Great turkey dinner with all the fixings with our wonderful band family. Just scanning the room, the fellowship and bonding is felt! Our director comments "this band will be known as the 'Macy's Band!'" A round of applause takes over the room! Thanksgiving, happiness and pride fill the room of 373 band members and family! This will be a hoilday to remember!
We then took an hour to rest up and are now sitting in Radio City Music Hall!
~Sara and Chellie
Good Morning! Three of five of the ballrooms are booming with the sounds of the Purdue All-American Marching Band! The guests of the Grand Hyatt are getting a sneak peak of our performance for Thanksgiving morning. Duck tape mark yard lines. Chandeliers are our sky.
From the stories we've heard, the band members have probably covered everything there is to do in NYC last night. Anything from meeting up with family, eating in Chinatown, hanging out with old friends, taking in Times Square, stopping by Greenwich Village, or going to the Lower East Side. Purdue AAMB probably covered the whole city on our time off last night. We are definitely making the most of every minute of this great trip.
Guest blogger: MerrieBeth Cox, THE Golden Girl!
Right now I am in a grand ballroom practicing for the parade and it still feels so surreal! I can't believe I am going to be apart of something so incredible! I can't describe how I am feeling at this moment but I know that this is something that will remain apart of me forever!
~Sara and Chellie
Purdue Silver Twins
Woke up to the sunrise over the rolling hills of New Jersey. First stop, Parsippany, New Jersey! We stopped by a Hilton to eat breakfast and freshen up. They had multiple ballrooms blocked off for our 400+ group with a huge buffet of delicious hot breakfast foods! In and out in about one hour. Despite the little sleep, the buses are buzzing again! We're about a half hour out from the Statue of Liberty.
~Sara and Chellie
WE'RE LEAVING!! WE'RE LEAVING!! On the buses, ready to go! Rounding up the last few studious band members-finishing up an exam-to load the buses and head to NYC.
First decision to make: what movie to watch. It takes about 15 minutes to come to the consensus of The Blindside. We'll see what's up next when we're about 3 hours in to the drive.
We are also stocked up with candy in the shape of a sleigh and homemade cookies from friends sending us off! Bus 5 is buzzing :) Everyone is excited. We're in an "Empire State of Mind" (inspired by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' song!) Settling in with many of the auxilary groups on bus 5 and with the 'Bandinage'-an edition of inside jokes for the band from the season put together by the senior class. Sitting next to the Girl-in-Black, Meg Merdian, the Golden Girl, MerrieBeth Cox, one of our lovely drum majors, Cherrie Lemon, the big bass drum (BBD) crew, the Golden Silks color guard, and the enthusiastic Golduster Dance team!
Look out New York, here we come! Boiler Up!
The evening before our departure, all Purdue AAMB members gather for the end of semester banquet. Honoring the hard work and efforts of students this year and celebrating the accomplishments so far! However the real finale of our season will happen in less than 4 days on a national stage. Within 24 hours, we will be on nine coach buses en route to NYC! Final preparations are being made and checklists are being doubled checked. Extra rhinestones are added to costumes, pants are hemmed, and instruments are shined.
It's exciting to think that the Big Bass Drum is already on the road for NYC. Also, in just 4 days all 373 band members will be taking over the streets of New York, heading for Macy's in Herald Square.
Currently, we're feeling excitement and anticipation. We've tried to prepare for everything to the fullest but won't know what to expect till we get there.
~Sara and Chellie
Purdue Silver Twins (Twitter: PURDUEslvrtwns)
