AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) - Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a time-honored tradition on Thanksgiving Day. The parade features over 50 floats, several performers and a dozen high school bands. One of the featured bands will be the Macy's Great American Marching Band, featuring 224 high schoolers from around the country and directed by Auburn University's Director of Bands, Rick Good.
Good first began directing the band when it began in 2006. "They wanted young energy and I was right around the middle of my career then," he said.
Good says the band is a great recruiting tool for Auburn, as over two million people see the parade live and 55 million watch on TV. "These high schoolers get a taste of what being in a college band is like," he said.
The musicians arrived in New York on Saturday and have been practicing and touring the city all week. The days are long for both the students and the directors, but it's the once-in-a-lifetime experience that keeps students there all week. "Students have married from the band so it's quite a family atmosphere," Good said. Good's family has also gotten to be a part of the show, with his wife and daughters dressing up as Mother Goose, Mary Contrary and Little Bo Peep a few years ago.
Good also took a group of musicians on the Today show earlier this week.
The parade begins at 9:00 am EST on Thanksgiving Day, but the Macy's Great American Marching Band will be up early, with their practice beginning at 4:40 am.
