The Spark: Taking a Gander at the Goose

By Liz Gill
Fri, November 21, 2008, 12:01 am PST

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 2006
(Photo by Ellie)

Next Thursday, millions of televisions will be tuned to the 82nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Between helpings of yams and stuffing, folks will glance up to see an unnaturally large frog or other frightening figure float across their screens. As much as I enjoy the homely traditions of the holiday season, I must say that this whole phenomenon of watching a parade on television, rather than in person, is a supreme copout.

A parade isn't meant to be viewed on a screen, but experienced! The parade attendee is a hearty breed, braving the blistering sun of summer or the punishing cold of winter with a smile on her face or a march in his heart.

Some of paradedom's most enthusiastic fans are those who attend the annual Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon, California, which will mark its 62nd celebration on Sunday. Its debut in 1947 attracted over 25,000 people to a town with a population of less than 1,500. In its fourth year, even though the parade was delayed until Thanksgiving night due to rains that were so heavy a float crashed, over 100,000 people still attended. Even in the "sophisticated" 21st century, Mother Goose and her parade hold their own against such better-known events as the Macy’s parade by including community programs and celebrity hosts.

Sure, the parade will be televised on a local broadcast, but if you're yearning to park a folding chair on a curb among thousands of your friends and neighbors to watch decorated pickups and marching bands, poke around the Yahoo! Directory's Events category a bit and find a parade, event, or festival that will get you out into the elements.

And if you can't find anything local, and your town is just starving for some organized (or disorganized) revelry, as El Cajon was before 1947, go out and make some of your own!