Cave Creek resident to perform in Thanksgiving Day Parade

MARC BUCKHOUT ~ MANAGING EDITOR~ 11/23/2011

Before sitting down to a meal with loved ones, many will begin their Thursday by tuning into the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City.
Cave Creek resident Jordan Page remembers that experience from her childhood, but is confident this year’s 85th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be viewed as her favorite.
Page, a junior at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, will participate in the parade as a member of the RedHawks marching band.
“We’re all excited about it,” she said. “You don’t know how many thousands are there to attend the parade in person and then you have millions watching on television. It’s going to be fun.”
Of more than 100 bands that applied to participate in the parade the Redhawks were one of 10 to receive the honor.
“We have a couple different songs we’re playing,” she said. “We’ve been working on them. We’ll play our fight song, but also Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That, as well as some Christmas songs.”
The RedHawks will have more than 250 members of their band and its alumni performing during the two mile-long parade route, which begins at 77th St. and Central Park West before ending at 34th St. and 7th Ave.
They also have been selected to introduce Santa Claus in Herald Square following the parade.
“We’ve been working on the song, ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ for quite a while now,” Page said.
While she grew up in Cave Creek, Page attended North Canyon High School, where she played the flute in the school’s band.
When it came time to make a college selection, she said she was looking for somewhere in the Midwest, where her parents had grown up.
“They’re from Indiana, but when I visited Miami I fell in love with the campus,” she said.
The family studies major, who has visions of becoming a pastor and possibly getting a Masters Degree in social work, decided to continue performing in the band at Miami. Instead of the flute, though, she chose to play the cymbals.
The Cave Creek native and her fellow band members were scheduled to fly to New York on Tuesday. Following a rehearsal on Wednesday they were set to have a guided tour.
“I’ve never been to New York before,” she said. “Everybody is making lists of what they want to do. Some people want to go see shows. Others are talking about where they want to go shopping. We don’t leave to come home until Saturday so hopefully we’ll get to see and do a lot.”
The parade will be on television beginning at 9 a.m., Thursday