Woodstock teacher performs in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and at 9/11 memorial

Katy Holub of Northwood Middle School in Woodstock performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

It wasn’t the teacher’s first time participating in a nationally televised parade, as she performed in the Rose Bowl parade two years ago.

Holub was part of the cymbal line in both parades.

While she was in New York City, she had a jam-packed schedule but had a little time to explore the city.

She said she had to be in the New York area by the Sunday evening before the parade, and then had a rehearsal after arriving.

The following day, the band directors rehearsed again but also performed at the 9/11 memorial, which Holub said was “a beautiful and humbling experience.”

The week featured more rehearsals, but Holub said she had some down time and got to see the Rockettes the day before the parade.

On the day of the parade, Holub said she had to be there at 1 a.m. and was rehearsing for the parade by 3 a.m.

During the early Thanksgiving morning rehearsal, Holub said some of the neighbors near the rehearsal waved and wished the band a Happy Thanksgiving.

She said the parade route was packed with people. She added the band directors were behind the Bluey balloon in the parade and that she saw Jimmy Fallon.

She didn’t get to stay long after the parade, though. She had to get to the airport for her flight home.

“It was so much fun,” Holub said.

She performed alongside about 400 other band directors, ranging from college students studying music education to retired directors, from across the country in the parade, and said she’s in a group chat with some of the other band directors she’s met through the parades.

“We all come together for the same cause and reason,” Holub said.

Holub, who graduated from Woodstock High School in 2016, tries to emphasize how music can have a strong impact on students’ lives in her work.

“I show them how music leads you to so many places. You’re able to meet so many connections and do so many great, positive things in your life with it. That is the big concept that I bring home to them,” Holub said in a press release sent out by the school district.