Here We Come A...

Here We Come a…

by Drew Bankston

I’ve mentioned it a million times already, or at least a few, but in three weeks I get to leave for New York to prepare for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!  I’ve also mentioned that every week Macy’s does something to make this dream seem more real! This past week was no exception and I’m excited to share a few things with you.

Last week we received our schedule for rehearsals, meetings, and activities. Seeing it in writing was a real thrill and puts dreams in my head of what will be realities soon enough!

This week was even more exciting when we were sent our music and our songs for the parade. How exciting! I’ve already started practicing.

So now I’ll be in the parade and I know what I’ll be singing. I’ll also be taking time to go and watch the balloons being inflated. I’m pretty sure that I won’t stay for the entire thing. I’m not even sure how many balloons there are, but it’s going to be a thrill to see those characters come to life.

I’m not certain what the weather will be like on Thanksgiving Day. It might be cold and snowy or it could be one of those years where it’s comfortable. I don’t know. But we will be wearing an outfit fit for a Thanksgiving Day parade. It’s all quite storybook-like and is still not quite real in my mind, but in three weeks I’ll be living out this storybook dream!

Now, I’m pretty sure that after reading this you have questions. What will you be singing? What will you be wearing? These things, dear reader, will be my present to you, and like all good presents, they will be a surprise for you when you watch the parade on Thanksgiving morning. During the first few days in New You, however, I will be taking lots of photos and even doing a few Facebook Live segments, so I encourage all of you to watch for those. In the meantime, be excited and just like you would on Christmas morning, anticipate the pageantry and tradition of this wonderful parade in addition to seeing what our chorus of 150 singers will present to you! I don’t know what’s coming this next week, but I’m as excited as ever to share more with you. 

It’s going to be incredible, I believe. Here it comes!

Miracle on...

Miracle on…

By Drew Bankston

When you’re looking forward to something that’s a month or more away, it’s easy to forget about the event until a week or so before it happens.

Four weeks from tomorrow I leave for New York City to begin my adventure of marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. You would think that the reality of this has settled into my brain and that the excitement would have waned somewhat, but let me tell you, that’s not at all the case.

This has been something that I’ve thought about all of my life. From as far back as I can remember I’ve watched the parade every Thanksgiving. It’s not just a tradition, but also a total joy to experience every year. I look forward to it beginning September 1 each year. To know that I’m going to be in it is more exciting than I can express. In addition to being excited about this, the fine folks at Macy’s continue to keep that excitement building by sending us little bits of information each week. This week, however, I received the most amazing news yet. I received our schedule for the week!

At this point, I don’t think that I can share every detail of the week, but I can say that at some particular point in time, I will get to visit the place that one of my favorite Christmas movies revolve around, “Miracle on 34^th Street”. Yes, I get to visit Macy’s, Herald Square.

Now, some of you might wonder how I can be so excited about visiting Macy’s in New York. Yes, it’s true that I work at Macy’s but for some reason this store, which is one of the largest retail stores in the world, is magical. I will have to opportunity to be a part of that magic. Not only that but once upon a time, Macy’s actually had a choir. They recorded an album. I get to be a part of a group that hasn’t existed for 60 years. So being able to visit the flagship store and actually shop there, see the holiday decorations and see the Magic of Macy’s in person is beyond words. I can’t wait, and yet I have to.

I honestly can’t wait to see what is coming next week and hopefully, I’ll have a little more guidance as to what all I can share with you about my trip. In the meantime know that I’ll be rehearsing, taking lots of photos and a few live broadcasts, and having the time of my life. I want to take each of you along on this journey, so come back next week for more, tell your friends to join you, and let’s have a great time together.

Another Week of...

Another week of…

By Drew Bankston

Continuing on the news from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, I have heard more this week, and with every bit of new news, the forthcoming trip becomes more and more exciting!

I think about this every day and really can’t wait for the day to arrive when I’m ready to board that plane and head out on this adventure. I’ll be posting lots of photos and will do a few live broadcasts while in the Big Apple, so watch for it all to join in the fun

This week they sent out the list of people who would be attending the rehearsals and the parade. This is exciting because it’s becoming more real seeing the names of the one hundred and fifty people from all around the country, who will be singing with me to bring joy and happiness to not only the people in New York watching the parade but those who will be viewing the parade from all around the world!

I’ve always enjoyed the holidays. At home, I bake up a storm, decorate as much as possible, blast holiday music and generally spread the holiday cheer wherever I go. I am a big part of the holidays at home, but this year I feel as if I’ll be even a bigger part of the holidays to many around the world. What an incredible thought! Now, as much as I would love to, don’t expect cookies or holiday cakes and candies from me. I would really love to be in a position to bake those for you, but unless you live close, it’s not going to happen… this year.

I’m working on many projects, one of which at least I hope will give me a little more freedom and a little more money to help me make the holidays wonderful for many more people. I’ll tell you more about that in a future blog. In the meantime, I’m excited to sing for you this Thanksgiving Day and hope that not only will each if you watch but that you’ll spread the word and ask your friends to follow my blog and watch the fun as well.  Check back next week for more information on this fun adventure!

Time Marches...

by Drew Bankston

Time marches and I will be soon! This week has been pretty incredible. We’ve had some warm days near eighty degrees, and today it’s snowing. Life is a constant surprise. I used to think that life was filled with surprises, but then I realized that it’s just one big surprise that keeps getting better each day that I open my eyes and smile.

It’s important that we cherish every wonderful moment that we can. Last week, I told you about an upcoming event that is, for me, a childhood dream come true. Being chosen to be in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is an excitement that I can only compare to going to Disneyland.One piece of advice that the committee has given us is to “Get in your Steps” while stating that each parade participant will be taking around 5,000 steps during the course of the parade. I walk a great deal during each of my days, and so I thought that I was prepared. Lately, I’ve thought more about getting in shape all over and about what I need to do to get there. Now, I’m the kind of person that many people envy. I can eat just about anything and not gain weight. It’s a genetic thing, I think. Because of that, I just assume that I’m always in good shape, but the other night when I decided to begin a workout routine, I received a startling realization. I couldn’t do those 100 push-ups and sit-ups that used to come so easy. It was at that point I decided that I needed to have my expectations of myself come face-to-face with my realities. It was an ego bruiser to realize that I was no longer the fit and trim person I thought myself to be and that I needed to throttle back my work-outs to reflect where I am now. I’m starting slow and working my way back to where I remember being, and what a joy it will be when I get there!

So working toward that 5,000 steps in addition to regaining the core strength that I used to be so proud of is a priority in my life now.

The parade committee sent an Email this week talking to us about the credentials that we’ll need for getting into the parade, which made the excitement of the upcoming event even more real. I am picturing myself as fit and trim for the event, and I know that I’ll reach that goal. At least, I’ll be more fit and trim than I am now and much more pleased with myself, which is the overall goal.We can’t just reminisce about the old days and about how we used to do this and that. That’s not good enough for me. I want to be able to say, “This is what I can do now” and be proud of whatever that is. When I talk about what I used to do, I want that to be a stepping stone to where I am today and not a point of bragging about past glories. Our lives need to progress and get better, no matter what our circumstances. Our current events need to be things that we can talk about while holding our heads high. I’m getting there and I know that you all can as well. Strive to make your life better each day and down the road, you can brag about each day’s accomplishments with pride, and maybe even march in a parade without tiring out!

Marching to the Beat of...

Marching to the Beat of…

By Drew Bankston

As many of you know I have a family. I care for my family by working. I wish that the way I earned all of my money was through book sales, but that’s not happening right now, so instead, I work for Macy’s.  I’m actually glad that I do because an amazing opportunity has presented itself to me and I want to share that with all of you.

A few weeks ago, Macy’s held auditions and I entered. It was pretty fun entering. The audition was for a singing part in the famed Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Here’s what they are doing.

Macy’s was looking for 150 employees from around the country to participate in a first. They are creating a singing Christmas Tree in the parade. 50 employees are coming from New York and the other 100 are to be employees from outside of New York. So they held singing auditions. If you wanted a shot at it you had to upload a video of yourself, singing one verse of a song from a list that they provided, answer a couple of questions on camera, and wait.

So I thought, “What the heck,” and I did. Much to my amazement and surprise, I was one of two people chosen to go! What a fun surprise that was. First of all, I’ve never really been to New York. Well, I drove through it once, hauling horses from Virginia to Vermont. Didn’t get to see anything except a lot of traffic. Now, however, I get to go to New York and Macy’s is paying my way.

As a child, I watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade every Thanksgiving morning. Even as an adult I’ve made it a tradition to watch the parade every Thanksgiving morning. Miracle on 34^th Street was one of my favorite Christmas movies. Macy’s and the Thanksgiving Day parade was an amazing, wonder-filled event.

To me, this is an incredible opportunity and I’m very grateful that this is in the works. What fun it will be!

I leave the Monday morning before Thanksgiving and arrive in New York around 12:30PM. Over the next few days, I’ll be involved with rehearsals and social events. I’m so excited to be living this childhood dream of being a part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and plan on blogging more about it each week as I find out more details.

I hope that you all will join me on this magical adventure and be sure to watch the parade Thanksgiving morning. You might see me there singing away!