Parades, Charitable Meals Abundant on Thanksgiving

Traditional Thanksgiving parades in New York, Philadelphia and Detroit drew tens of thousands of spectators bundled up against rain and chilly temperatures Thursday.

The Macy’s parade in New York featured an array of 25 huge balloons, including a giant Snoopy.

In Philadelphia, 3-year-old Wolf Trumbauer was initially scared by a towering Cat in the Hat balloon, but by the time a giant Garfield the cat balloon passed, he was happily watching from a lawn chair on the curb.

For those far from home and those without homes on the holiday, charities and restaurants opened their doors and hearts.

Around the country, an estimated 10,000 volunteers served 62 tons of turkey, 28 tons of potatoes and 41 tons of stuffing for the homeless and poor at some 265 rescue missions, according to the International Union of Gospel Missions.

In Portland, Maine, restaurateur Natasha Carleton invited in the homeless, students and families with nowhere to go. Volunteers and restaurant employees worked through the night to prepare a festive meal.

“Lots of people walk by my restaurant every day, collecting bottles and pushing carts, and they always look in the window. Now they get to come in and be waited on,” Carleton said.

President Clinton had a quiet family dinner with wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea at Camp David.