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At a sustained 25 mph, the wind kept the balloons off the parade route and many spectators off the streets. But for many, going to the pre-Thanksgiving Day parade was a tradition that they didn’t want to break.
Elyse Burke came with two families from Hamden to see the parade for the third year in a row, “even though the balloons won’t be here.”
They got to the parade route before 10:30 a.m., “to get the best spot on the sunny side of the street!” Burke said in the shivering cold. “Our notes from last year said to leave at 9 a.m.”
To combat the cold, Burke said she and the children were wearing four layers of clothing. “And it’s still not warm enough,” she said. The temperature at the start of the parade was about 25 degrees, and the gusting wind made it feel much colder, in the single digits.
Carl and Lisa Navarro brought their two children from Danbury for the parade.
“It’s disappointing,” Lisa said of missing out on the balloons this year. “But a parade is a parade. This holds [the kids'] interest.”
This is the fourth year the Navarro’s have come to the parade, and both Lisa and Carl agreed they like the Stamford parade better than the Macy’s parade on Thanksgiving. “You’re up close and in person to it,” Carl said.
“You’re not fighting for a seat,” Lisa said.
But the winds and cold cut down visibly cut on the attendance from last year, when parade officials said about 200,000 people came out to watch the bands, dancers and troupes making their way down the nearly 1-mile route.
Other than the balloons, however, every other group that was slated to perform in the parade stepped off despite the cold.
At the grandstand on Federal Street, Master of Ceremonies and "Late Show" personality Alan Kalter was joined by Gov. Dannel Malloy in announcing the performers as they made their way to the finish line.
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