Haines Marching Band founder Sue Waterhouse said she had the “thrill of a lifetime” when she marched and played alto saxophone in the Second Time Arounders Marching Band at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
The Florida band’s mission is to provide opportunity for former high school, college and military band members to continue playing music. “It’s for band geeks that really want an opportunity to do it one more time,” Waterhouse said. “I just wanted to go to New York City.”
Waterhouse applied for a spot in the band last year after seeing an article in the Tampa Bay Times soliciting new members to march in the annual holiday parade.
Waterhouse was one of 450 band members who traveled to New York. The musicians met at their hotel at 1:30 a.m. the morning of the parade and boarded busses at 3 a.m. for rehearsal in front of the Macy’s department store.
“After that we went to a 450-member breakfast at Planet Hollywood,” Waterhouse said. “From there we got back to the parade start at 7 in the morning. We officially took off at 9:30 in the morning. I did not get any sleep all Wednesday night, and all day Thursday.”
Waterhouse, who’s in her early 60s, said 25-mile-per-hour winds, cool temperatures and a 2.25-mile march was difficult for some band members, many of whom are in their 70s and 80s.
“I’m not a spring chicken, but I think I was one of the younger ones,” Waterhouse said.
While the band had six musicians ready to fill in, it wasn’t enough to compensate for the 19 members who dropped out during the march. “I had two in my row, right next to me, say ‘Oh I can’t keep up anymore,’” Waterhouse said. “The guy playing the bass drum, he fell over. He went down, hit the pavement, came back up, hit the bass drum a couple times and keeled back over.”
The band marched on while Waterhouse appealed to nearby police officers to help the winded man. “I’m sure he recovered,” she said. “I didn’t hear of any deaths or fatalities.”
Waterhouse said the streets, rooftops and office building windows were lined and packed with people watching the parade. “It was unbelievable to be marching down Sixth Avenue in New York City. It was the thrill of a lifetime.”
Still, for Waterhouse, the throngs of people and walls of skyscrapers don’t compare to marching with the Haines Marching Band down Main Street, lined with friendly faces.
“I like Haines because there you know people and they’re waving and cheering,” she said. “(In New York,) I didn’t know anybody on the sides of the streets. I’ll take Haines.”
Waterhouse’s sister, Kathy Nelson, and two cousins, Katie and Lori Pfaff, joined her in New York City from Wisconsin. They ate Thanksgiving dinner at the Liberty House Restaurant in New Jersey. that evening.