GREENDALE — When you turn on TMJ4 on Thanksgiving morning, you'll notice some familiar faces. The Greendale High School Marching Band is performing in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
"One of the things on my bucket list was to march in the Macy's parade. So it's a dream come true,” trumpet player Brady McCravens said.
Those dreams started at a young age for McCravens.
"Every year, I always watched it in the morning and then went to my grandma's house in the afternoon."
He is just one of the more than 200 band members heading to the Big Apple for the once in a lifetime performance.
"I'm excited, I'm nervous, but I am really looking forward to it,” McCravens explained.
The band has been practicing the two-and-a-half-mile long parade route, by making laps on the track.
"The hours pay off," Tom Reifenberg, the Band Director, said. "I don't even want to try to count the number of hours of practice. But it pays off in the end when you're marching down the streets of New York and there is 3.5 million people on the parade route itself and then 45 million people at home watching on TV," Reifenberg explained.
This is his second time in the Macy’s Parade with the Greendale Marching Band. He also led them during their performance in 2016.
"It's something you never take for granted because you never know if you get to do it again. And there are a lot of groups that would love to be able to do this. So its something we are really proud of.”
Greendale is one of six high school bands that were chosen out of about 150 applicants.
"The small village of Greendale being able to represent Wisconsin and marching bands and our passion for marching band really means a lot to us." Lauren Mabbott, a member of the color guard explained.
The band's final tune up before hitting the road is this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. It is at the Stephen J. Gavinski Stadium on the Greendale High School campus, 6801 Southway, Greendale. The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 12:30 p.m.
The 97th Anniversary Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade airs nationwide on NBC, from 8:30 a.m. to noon in all time zones on Thursday, November 23, 2023.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
