CHICAGO (CBS) – The weather was a big hit at the Thanksgiving Day Parade on State Street this morning. Thousands of parade-goers came out to the 79th annual parade.

CBS 2’s Susanna Song reports 11-year-old Alex Teng was among the bright-eyed kids taking it all in at the parade.

“It’s really nice to be here,” he said.

His grandmother brought him to the parade to pass down one of her favorite holiday memories.

“I remember being here as a kid on top of my father’s shoulders, freezing and seeing Santa Claus,” Louise Olson of Oak Park said.

There were plenty of new sights and sounds, from Tom and Jerry to high school bands and dance troupes.

Some lifelong Chicagoans have avoided the parade in past years because of frigid temperatures, but Thursday’s mild weather made it the perfect day to be a first timer.

“The weather is fantastic, that’s why we are here,” 60-year-old Cindy Oliver said. “Lived in Chicago my whole life; first parade because of the weather.”

Warren Zelenski said, he was “thankful for the nice weather, thankful for Chicago.
While it was balmy enough to keep the gloves off, Joseph Kawalski kept his on.

“I still want the red gloves, because it’s part of our tradition,” he said.

Dina Plimmer said it was her idea to get everyone in the family identical red gloves.

“Eight years ago, the kids were little. Couldn’t get Santa to wave at them,” Plimmer said.

“Once we put on the gloves, caught his attention, so we had to keep continuing,” her daughter Brittany said.

With or without gloves, some families have started a tradition here.