While everyone was home with family and friends on Thanksgiving, Liberty Cheer was in the Big Apple in the Macy’s Parade. The Macy’s Day Parade is held every Thanksgiving it starts at 77th Street and Central Park West and goes until it reaches 34th Street to Macy’s Herald Square. This parade debuted in 1920 first as a radio show so you had to use your visual imagination unless you were there. It was first televised in 1946 in New York and then nationally on NBC. This year, Liberty High School got to take our varsity cheerleaders to be a part of the 97th annual Macy’s Day parade. The parade took place early in the morning on the 23rd.

Many people around the nation don’t know that the Macy’s Parade began as a Christmas Parade which was organized by employees as a celebration. Many of those employees were European immigrants who were homesick. They had the brilliant idea to celebrate Thanksgiving with a celebration that they hold dear back home. Not only was it a celebration but also a way to boost holiday sales. The first-ever race was held in 1924, when many European immigrants dressed up as clowns, knights, sheiks, and cowboys, with many live animals.

Throughout the years and this year specifically, thousands and thousands of participants were honored to be in the parade and countless breathtaking floats. LHS cheer was accompanied by 550 other cheerleaders from all around the nation who were also given the same opportunity to perform.

This opportunity for LHS cheer was a surprise for them. Hence, Mrs. Schrank applied a year ago on the day after Thanksgiving and forgot about it. 

“We were watching the Macy’s Parade last year and I saw the cheerleaders and I started to search up how to apply because I knew we had a good team. We placed 3rd in the state, so I knew the girls were capable and had the potential,” said the special education teacher and coach. Mrs. Schrank.  “I submitted a 2-minute audition tape to the Spirit of America productions, I didn’t get the approval until the end of January which by the time, I had forgotten,”.

When the news came that their application was approved Mrs. Schranks claimed she was home that day and was super excited, and she started to call the other coaches. But they couldn’t answer due to the fact of them being at school working. The following day, they told the cheerleaders that they were going to New York for the Thanksgiving Macy’s Parade. Only eighteen cheerleaders had the opportunity to travel up North to the Big Apple to perform.

During practice, cheerleaders and coaches put all their might into hard work. They began working hard a month before, having two-hour practices in the morning and two-hour practices in the afternoon. 

They left for New York on November 18. During their time there they wanted to have a bit of fun and visit numerous tourist attractions. Not only did they visit tourist attractions but they also went to see a Broadway show and to watch the famous Jimmy Fallon show. “But when we got there it was an incredible experience since as a team, we traveled to many tourist sites,” said junior, Kallyn Odom.

During that time, they also had practice. When they arrived at their first practice in New York, many claimed they were surprised and excited since they were gonna be on the stunt team. “Some of us were on the stunt team and the other half had to learn a new dance,” said junior Kallyn Odom  “But we were all super excited,”.

On the day of the parade, they were all super excited and a little anxious. The parade started early at 8:30 am. However, that didn’t stop the team from bonding or creating memories.  “Parade day was the most memorable part of the trip and we bonded as a team,” said junior Christina Dovell. 

The Macy’s Parade was streamed online and through TV where many Fauquier County families got to see LHS cheer representing their county. \“It was a cool experience as a team and it was a great honor for us to be in the parade representing Liberty High School,” said senior Kaydance Wren.

As the parade ended LHS cheer made their way back to Liberty. “It was a life-changing experience,” said senior, Caitlyn Chaney “It was cool to be in the parade and to see people on the side cheering for us.”