LEXINGTON, Ohio – For two Lexington High School students, the Big Apple was on their Thanksgiving Day menu.
Freshman Nic Haynes and senior Logan Pelphrey, both French horn players in Lexington’s Band of Gold, performed last month with the Macy’s Great American Marching Band during the 89th annual Thanksgiving Parade in New York City.
The Great American Marching Band takes no more than four band members from each state, which makes half of Ohio’s representatives from Lexington.
“It was definitely neat that two people from our school got in, and I was glad Logan got in because it was nice to have someone I knew there,” said Haynes.
“I grew up watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,” Pelphrey told Richland Source in a Nov. 15 article. “It’s been a dream of mine to be in the Macy’s Parade.”
Hayes and Pelphrey submitted video auditions to be part of the band, and were notified of their acceptance into the band last spring. Haynes gave credit to the Lexington Band of Gold’s staff and to his former teacher Cindy Heidlebaugh for helping him get where he is today.
Lexington band director Kevin Taylor said the entire band was excited for both Haynes and Pelphrey.
“It’s a great opportunity, we thought it was a really cool thing to do with a talented group of students,” said Taylor. “It’s always a great band and a fun group to watch.”
Haynes said he and his family arrived in New York City the Saturday before the parade for a week of rehearsals and exploring the city. The band practiced Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for the first half of the day, and Sunday was reserved for activities throughout the Big Apple.
“The week was a blast, but it was intense,” said Haynes. “I guess when you’re preparing for a performance on national television it’s always intense.”
The day of the parade, Haynes was up at midnight for the 1 a.m. bus departure into the city. Shortly after 2 a.m. the band arrived in the city for “camera rehearsal,” then had time for a quick breakfast before heading to the parade staging area.
“That was really just a couple hours of standing around and waiting,” said Haynes. “But if you’re on time for the Macy’s Parade you’re late, and if you’re early you’re on time.”
Macy’s Great American Marching Band stepped off as the official start of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade after a number of Broadway acts performed in Macy’s Herald Square.
“It was definitely nerve-wracking when you hear the four taps from the snare drum, and then you start off and look all around you and there are millions of people lined up on the sidewalks, people on rooftops, and every window with a view of the street was filled with families,” said Haynes. “All the eyes of New York are on you.”
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade route is 2.5 miles winding through the streets of New York, and Haynes said the band was constantly being rushed along by volunteers along the parade route. The band got to the Macy’s Herald Square portion of the parade for their performance with only a minute to spare.
Haynes said the biggest lesson he learned from his experience marching in the parade was how live television really works.
“It was definitely a new experience seeing it from a different perspective, all the cameras and all the detail and preparation. It’s not half of what you see on TV,” said Haynes. “One of the things that surprised me the most was there was so much noise around Herald Square, but you don’t hear that on TV.”
After the band’s performance at Herald Square, confetti rained down on the entire band.
“There were people just throwing barrels and barrels of confetti into launching machines, you could even see the confetti covering the camera,” said Haynes. “I actually caught a few pieces on my tongue that I saved as souvenirs.”
Haynes and the rest of the band ended their Thanksgiving with a catered meal at their hotel, where Haynes had what he called the best Thanksgiving food of his life.
Though the experience was thrilling, Haynes said he’s happy to be back to his normal routine. And he did admit to one thought running through his mind over and over as he marched in the parade.
“I was thinking I’m going to go back to my hotel room and sleep for 24 hours after this is over,” he said with a laugh.
