Related News
Americans give thanks, see parades, feast in space
Source: Agencies |
November 27, 2009, Friday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
GIANT balloons, floats, marching bands and clowns with confetti brought smiles to hundreds of thousands of revelers eager to catch a glimpse of a parade as steeped in the American Thanksgiving Day tradition as turkey and pumpkin pie.
Crowds six to seven people deep lined the streets of Manhattan yesterday for the 83rd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as merrymakers gathered around the United States for massive parades in cities such as Detroit and Philadelphia.
Soldiers in war zones received phone calls of appreciation from President Barack Obama, while astronauts hovering above the Earth's surface feasted on turkey smuggled aboard the space shuttle Atlantis.
In New York City, Miss America Katie Stam waved to crowds from a Statue of Liberty float she shared with Meb Keflezighi, the first American in 27 years to win the New York City Marathon.
Shailesh Dighe and his family came to the fabled parade to snap pictures of celebrities including rapper Jay Sean and singer-actress Keke Palmer. Despite the crowds, Dighe said the parade is "totally worth it."
For the first time, the parade route bypassed Broadway, which cuts a diagonal slice through Manhattan, as it made its way south from the Upper West Side to the finish at Macy's flagship store in Herald Square.
The new route traverses the grid of the city's streets and avenues, includes turns around five corners, and is slightly longer than in previous years - 2.65 miles (4.26 kilometers) compared with 2.5 miles (4 kilometers).
Celebrity entertainment included Italian tenor Andrea Boccelli, comedian Jimmy Fallon, former "American Idol" star Katharine McPhee and singers Gloria Gaynor and Carly Simon.
Elsewhere, tens of thousands gathered in the streets of downtown Detroit for the 83rd annual America's Thanksgiving Parade. The country's longest-run Thanksgiving Day parade was held in Philadelphia for its 90th year.
In Detroit, where the September unemployment rate was 17.3 percent, parade organizers set up three locations where revelers could drop off donations of canned food for the area food bank.
Aboard the NASA shuttle Atlantis, astronauts expecting to give thanks with pantry leftovers were surprised by turkey dinners with candied yams, freeze-dried cornbread stuffing and green beans - just add water. NASA suspected the station's new skipper was responsible for the Thanksgiving feast.
Obama enjoyed a quiet holiday at the White House with his family and telephoned 10 members of the US military stationed in war zones to thank them for their service.
As daylight faded in Afghanistan, soldiers huddled inside a crude wooden hut to tuck into Thanksgiving turkeys the unit itself had fattened and to give thanks for having survived a year of combat.
Dense fog delayed some flights yesterday for Thanksgiving travelers headed to the Washington and Baltimore areas.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the fog prompted a ground stop for flights arriving Thursday morning at all three Washington-area airports. Departing flights were apparently not affected. The FAA lifted its ground stop by 10:30 am EST (1530 GMT).
Crowds six to seven people deep lined the streets of Manhattan yesterday for the 83rd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as merrymakers gathered around the United States for massive parades in cities such as Detroit and Philadelphia.
Soldiers in war zones received phone calls of appreciation from President Barack Obama, while astronauts hovering above the Earth's surface feasted on turkey smuggled aboard the space shuttle Atlantis.
In New York City, Miss America Katie Stam waved to crowds from a Statue of Liberty float she shared with Meb Keflezighi, the first American in 27 years to win the New York City Marathon.
Shailesh Dighe and his family came to the fabled parade to snap pictures of celebrities including rapper Jay Sean and singer-actress Keke Palmer. Despite the crowds, Dighe said the parade is "totally worth it."
For the first time, the parade route bypassed Broadway, which cuts a diagonal slice through Manhattan, as it made its way south from the Upper West Side to the finish at Macy's flagship store in Herald Square.
The new route traverses the grid of the city's streets and avenues, includes turns around five corners, and is slightly longer than in previous years - 2.65 miles (4.26 kilometers) compared with 2.5 miles (4 kilometers).
Celebrity entertainment included Italian tenor Andrea Boccelli, comedian Jimmy Fallon, former "American Idol" star Katharine McPhee and singers Gloria Gaynor and Carly Simon.
Elsewhere, tens of thousands gathered in the streets of downtown Detroit for the 83rd annual America's Thanksgiving Parade. The country's longest-run Thanksgiving Day parade was held in Philadelphia for its 90th year.
In Detroit, where the September unemployment rate was 17.3 percent, parade organizers set up three locations where revelers could drop off donations of canned food for the area food bank.
Aboard the NASA shuttle Atlantis, astronauts expecting to give thanks with pantry leftovers were surprised by turkey dinners with candied yams, freeze-dried cornbread stuffing and green beans - just add water. NASA suspected the station's new skipper was responsible for the Thanksgiving feast.
Obama enjoyed a quiet holiday at the White House with his family and telephoned 10 members of the US military stationed in war zones to thank them for their service.
As daylight faded in Afghanistan, soldiers huddled inside a crude wooden hut to tuck into Thanksgiving turkeys the unit itself had fattened and to give thanks for having survived a year of combat.
Dense fog delayed some flights yesterday for Thanksgiving travelers headed to the Washington and Baltimore areas.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the fog prompted a ground stop for flights arriving Thursday morning at all three Washington-area airports. Departing flights were apparently not affected. The FAA lifted its ground stop by 10:30 am EST (1530 GMT).
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
