Time for a Parade at Southdown School

It was time for a parade at Southdown Primary School after students completed a reading of the book, “Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade” by illustrator Melissa Sweet. The youngsters marched through hallways and all around the school in an impressive display.

“More than 40 million people worldwide watch the Macy's Parade each year, enchanted by the huge balloons that travel through New York City's canyons, nodding, smiling and engaging the audience,” according to an online overview of the book on the James Patterson website. “Do any of us wonder who came up with the idea for those balloons?  Curious children can now have the answer: Tony Sarg, artist, puppeteer, inventor, created the giant balloons and changed the way we all greet the holiday season.”

Although he passed away 82 years ago, Mr. Sarg remains a fascinating figure in history. “As a boy, Tony was determined to figure out how to make things move,” according to the James Patterson website. “When his father asked him to feed the chickens very early every morning, Tony noodled the problem: how could he feed them without getting out of bed? He spread feed outside the coop, and then, with pulleys and ropes, rigged up a way to open the chicken coop door from his bedroom. When the alarm rang, he pulled the rope that opened the door, and the chickens emerged to eat their breakfast. Tony went back to bed. His father was so impressed, he never asked Tony to do another chore. And Tony's future was decided. He would become a marionette man.”

Mr. Sarg went about producing marionettes and performing shows for children both in the US and Europe. Macy’s picked up on his popularity and hired him to dress up their windows for the holidays with his marionettes. He even developed mechanical ones that were able to act out beloved nursery rhymes.

“In 1924, he orchestrated Macy's first Thanksgiving Day parade,” according to the James Patterson website. “The successful event grew and grew, and soon Tony had to figure out how to make huge balloons that people could see from the back of the crowds.  His solution was clever and simple and did the trick. It still does.”

Southdown students thoroughly enjoyed the book and loved learning about the history of the famous parade and what makes it so special.

Students and staff at Southdown engaged in a variety of activities using the book as their guide. Students had to imagine, plan, and create a balloon or float for a school-wide parade.

“It was a fun-filled parade that everyone enjoyed,” Principal Jill Amott-Erwig said.