A 95-year Philly tradition marches on

Clad in roller skates, knee pads, and a helmet, Maggie Garrity also had a winter coat on under her blue T-shirt.

In other words, the 7-year-old Roxborough resident was ready to march - or skate, rather - in her first Thanksgiving Day parade.

By 9 a.m., she summed up the experience as "good - except they won't let us go!" she shouted over the strains of the 6ABC Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia as she waited for her turn to begin the 1.4-mile route. "We've been waiting for, like, an hour."

Moments later, she and the Philly Roller Girls were off. Waved on by a parade coordinator, they held a banner and skated down JFK Boulevard between two marching bands.

Maggie seemed one of few newcomers to a 95-year-old tradition, the nation's oldest Turkey Day parade. Braving cold temperatures and cloudy skies, thousands of spectators lined Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

They came early, wrapped in blankets and clutching cups of coffee - and sometimes something with a little more kick.

They clapped to the rhythm of marching bands and cheered for balloon handlers, enduring slight winds with temperatures in the 30s.

They stayed put along the chilly route until the celebrity the little ones - and not so little ones - cared most about glided by on his sleigh.

The best part is "Santa, of course," said Anne Marie O'Shea, 53, of Garnet Valley, as she handed Rice Krispies treats to family members marching down the Parkway in clown costumes.

O'Shea has spent every Thanksgiving on the Parkway for as long as she can remember.

"It's not the same day without coming to the parade," she said.

Many simply stood along the route. Others were there more elaborately, setting up tents and tables - sometimes very early.

"We were actually late today - we got here at 7:15," said Justine Ocelus.

Wearing turkey hats and eating pizza, she and her sisters, cousins, and friends, a group of more than 20, huddled under a canopy they had erected.

Ocelus brings her four children to the parade every year, even though it means leaving her sister to cook the turkey and her husband to oversee the Christmas-tree delivery on their family farm in Worcester.

"I'm telling you, it is the best time down here," she said.

Gregory Wilkerson of Philadelphia brought his 11-year-old son, Silas, to stand in the cold at Logan Circle.

"This is what we do," he said of their father-son Thanksgiving tradition.

The Wilkersons used to come to see Santa. But this year, Silas, now in sixth grade, was most interested in the drummers. He kept busy recording the marching bands on his smartphone.

Others make a tradition of being in the parade. Paula Tansey proudly wore eight pins on her jumpsuit Thursday – one for each year as a balloon handler. The 54-year-old Media resident clutched a rope attached to a giant version of that famous fat and sarcastic cartoon cat, Garfield, dressed as Santa Claus as he hovered over Tansey.

This year, her husband, Dave, was the balloon's captain.

"For the first time, he gets to tell me where to go," she joked.

Dave Tansey took his captain's job seriously.

"We've got to keep it straight and keep all the handlers underneath their point on the balloon," he said.

Tansey has seen balloon mishaps in the last eight years. His pig balloon, the fictional Olivia, partially deflated along the route a few years ago. Last year was too windy to allow any balloons to go aloft.

But Thursday, the Garfield balloon appeared to have a smooth journey with both Tanseys as its guide.

When prompted by shouts from the crowd, Dave Tansey instructed his wife and the other handlers to spin Garfield in a circle.

Spinning balloons are a highlight of the parade, said spectator Ken Serembus of Marlton, because "it's the little things that amuse everyone."

lmccrystal@phillynews.com