WVU band chosen for 2016 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in
New York City
“Country Roads” is coming to New York, New York.
The WVU Marching band, The Pride of West Virginia, will
march in the Nov. 24, 2016 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New
York City for the first time. The Pride has almost 400 members who
will need nine charter buses and 120 hotel rooms for the trip.
There
will be 10 bands, but so far only WVU and Harrison High School
Marching Band of Kennesaw, Georgia have been announced by the Macy’s web site.
“The WVU Marching Band knows how to
put on a show and they know how to entertain,” said Wesley Whatley, the
creative director of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“As soon as we saw the
halftime show from last fall, the committee responded to the energy and
responded to the crowd response. The band is there to entertain the crowd and
we know that will translate to the New York streets for us.”
Known for its signature performance
of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” in the form of a medley arranged
by WVU professor of piano James Miltenberger, the band often draws cheers — and
a singing assist — from fans as members march into the formation of the outline
of the state of West Virginia.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,
which began in 1924 — there were cancellations during World War II — is an
internationally known Thanksgiving morning tradition televised on NBC.
Parade participants march a 2.5-mile
route that begins at Central Park West and goes south to Columbus Circle, east
to Sixth Avenue and south to the front of the flagship Macy’s department store on
34th Street in Herald Square.
3.5 million along the streets and 50 million
on television witness the event.
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