The Day After
Hello all. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I had a BLAST in the parade. It was amazing how appreciative people were for my just simply stopping and shaking their hands and wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving.
At the beginning of the parade, there was an announcer who called out each group as they were invited to join the parade. Apparently Sid talked to the organizers because when they invited the Pirate Planksters (my group) to join the parade, the announcer said that there was a “special guy” in our group and he called out my name. It was very cool.
I was, after all was said and done, incredibly tired. My throat was (and still is) pretty sore. I guess spending 3+ hours yelling, “Arrrrrr” takes a toll on one’s throat. While we were waiting for the parade to start, there were several news crews doing remotes from the starting area. Being a ham, I started calling out to the news folks. my clown posse and I were on Fox News channel and Fox 5 in Philly and I think Orlando. I was also interviewed on CW11 here in NY. What can I say, I had a blast and I’m a media hog! 
I did have several pictures taken yesterday to share. Also, Sid copied the parade and there is a clip that shows me on screened for a bit longer and bit more clearly than the clip that Karen put up. I hope to have it posted later today or tomorrow.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
Merle
This first picture is just me without my facial hair. In the instructions for parade participants, it said that men with facial hair will only get minimal makeup. I wanted the whole Monty, so I shaved off my facial hair for the first time in over 20 years. It feels very odd and, according to MaryBeth, I look funny!
Once I got my costume, I went to get my makeup on. I was expecting them to put clown white on me and the whole works, but instead, the person who put my makeup on, drew on … FACIAL HAIR. Everyone around thought it was very funny that I had shaved off my facial hair just to have it painted back on.
I spent a lot of time with a family of clowns (Lynn, Brooke, Eric, and Adam). We were the original Insane Clown Posse. We walked all around the starting area. We were the clowns that were interviewed on Fox News and the Fox5 channel, etc. In case you cannot tell, I’m the one on the right.
Finally, I went and found Sid and had to show my appreciation for getting me into the parade.
