DETROIT (WXYZ) — Up and down Woodward Avenue Wednesday night, there was a parade at a standstill. With floats lined up and ready to go, families got a firsthand look of America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit the night before.
“It's really nice to have this behind-the-scenes view to what's going on,” Kylie Baker of Detroit said.
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“We just love coming down as a family," Aliah Davis of West Bloomfield said. "It's a great chance to get up close and take some pictures, which you normally can't do during the parade itself.”
"We started coming down the night before to see the floats and things and we loved it," Leah Vanbelle of Detroit said. "Then we added to it. We started making cocoa and homemade cookies and bringing them.”
Vanbelle started coming when her son was in preschool. Still today, their family tradition continues.
“It feels really special to me,” her son Langston Vanbelle said.
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“I just feel it brings back a lot of memories for our childhood,” Emma Repay added.
They’re not the only families making this a tradition. Lnda Chupp and her son DeVon have also made this night a tradition before getting up bright and early to be downtown for the parade.
“It's always enjoyable to come here and have a tradition with your parents,” DeVon Chupp said.
“I just love it," Linda Chupp added. "It’s a traditional thing, time I get to spend with my son.”
It’s one of many Thanksgiving traditions for families around Detroit. The Turkey Trot has been running through the streets of Detroit for more than 40 years and the Detroit Lions have been playing their traditional Thanksgiving Day game for nearly 80 years. Along with the parade itself, decades of memories have been made.
“I grew up in Clare and every Thanksgiving, the big thing was to come down and go to the parade, go to Hudson's, see Santa Claus,” U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow said.
Stabenow came out to see the floats with her kids and grandchildren. She’s serving as grand marshal in the parade, but Wednesday night was about family
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“My mom loved the parade," Stabenow said. "She’s no longer with us, so we’re kind of all here in her honor to celebrate tomorrow.”
While everyone has their holiday favorites, Thanksgiving in Detroit is about community. Whether friends, neighbors or family, the city comes together.
“We're neighbors who care for each other," Baker said. "That's part of what I was saying before about me moving to Detroit, looking for community, and this is what it looks like.”
