Most of us have heard that ancient joke which goes “'Scuse me, could you tell me how I get to Carnegie Hall?” Answer: “Practice, practice, practice.”

     Okay, here’s a new version: “Scuse me, could you tell me how I get in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?” Answer: “Contact Holly McPeak, 'cause now she knows all the angles!”

     Alright, maybe the two jokes don’t exactly mesh. But the overall message of the second version is accurate, and now here’s the story behind the story on how McPeak was able to get five USDA 'celebrity characters’ to appear in the 74^th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City on November 23.

     McPeak is a public affairs specialist with the Food Safety and Inspection Service. She had recently talked with Eva Cuevas, director of the Design Center in the Office of Communications. “Eva had suggested to me that it would be neat if some of USDA’s 'celebrity characters’ could march in New York’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, sponsored annually by Macy’s Department Store.”

     “It then struck me that that would be a prime venue to spotlight several USDA 'celebrity characters’ who could participate in the parade as 'walking characters’ to convey particular messages for the Department.”

     Those 'celebrity characters’ or 'educational messengers,’ which are all trademarked, include Thermy, BAC, Power Panther, Woodsy Owl, and Smokey Bear.

"Okay, all you five USDA 'celebrity characters,’ it’s time to line up, stand up straight, and smile--or whatever--for the camera, before the parade begins. That includes all five of you--BAC, Power Panther, Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl, and Thermy!" Those were the marching orders--literally--to these five USDA 'celebrity characters,’ as they got ready to participate in the 74th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. By participating, they helped spread their 'USDA messages.’ --Photo by Bill Tarpenning

     FSIS created Thermy, who encourages consumers to use food thermometers to ensure that foods are cooked to safe internal temperatures. Thermy’s message is “It’s Safe to Bite When the Temperature Is Right!”

     “Fight BAC” is a partnership of a number of organizations, including FSIS. Its symbol is BAC, an ugly green bacteria, and its purpose is to educate the public about safe food handling and preparation to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness. Its message is “Fight BAC! Keep Food Safe from Bacteria.”

     The Food and Nutrition Service created Power Panther, a purple panther wearing a T-shirt who encourages youngsters to make healthy food choices and be physically active. Its message is “Eat Smart. Play Hard.”

     The Forest Service created the 29-year-old Woodsy Owl, as well as the 56-year-old Smokey Bear. Woodsy Owl inspires kids to care for the environment with the message “Lend a Hand--Care for the Land!” Smokey’s message is “Remember, Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.” Smokey’s giant helium-filled balloon previously appeared in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

     “So, once I got this idea in my head,” McPeak recounted, “and made three phone calls to Macy’s, I finally heard someone say 'Hello, Macy’s Annual Events, can I help you?’”

     “And now it was my chance to convince Macy’s to consider including USDA’s five costumed characters as walkers in its parade.”

     McPeak quickly made her pitch to Macy’s Creative Director. There was a slight silence—and then the individual said “Well, I’ve always liked Smokey Bear—so if you send me pictures of all the characters, I’ll take a look.”

     “And, by the way,” he continued, “there’s a participation fee of $500—one fee for all the characters--plus we require professional actors to wear the costumes and be able to walk the entire route unassisted, and you’d have to arrange for that, but we’ll send you instructions, plus a contract—if we agree to the participation.”

     McPeak thanked him, hung up, and said to herself, “$500?!” But then she assessed the visibility of all five USDA characters, with their respective USDA messages, in front of two million spectators lining the 2.5-mile parade route, plus more than 60 million television viewers worldwide. And then she said to herself, “That amount of publicity and exposure is priceless.”

     Armed with that conclusion, the next day McPeak scrambled to track down digital images of the five USDA characters, which she then e-mailed to Macy’s. Then, on October 13, three days after her initial phone contact, she received a call from the store’s Creative Director. “He said that he would like the five USDA costumed characters to walk the parade route,” she affirmed, “and that now it was time for me to get the contract signed and provide the participation fee.”

     McPeak then shifted into higher gear, as she faxed copies of the contract, for signature, to appropriate personnel in the USDA agencies represented in this effort, and made arrangements for FSIS to pay the participation fee for the five characters.

     While FSIS administrative officer Mary Sirk immediately processed the contract, McPeak tackled the next requirement, which was to track down 8" x 10" color photos of the five USDA characters, as part of the contract. In the process she interacted with Alice Welch, a visual information specialist with OC’s Photography Center, and Photography Center Director Bill Tarpenning.

     “It turns out that Bill’s family has a tradition in which they attend an Arlo Guthrie concert in New York during Thanksgiving weekend nearly every year,” McPeak recounted. “So Bill said that, as long as he was headed in that direction anyway, he’d be happy to take some photos of USDA’s five 'celebrity characters’ walking in the parade.”

     “Did we luck out, or what?!” she laughed.

     McPeak’s next contact was to a company of professional actors to wear the five appropriate costumes, plus coordinate the logistics of getting them at the proper spot at 7:30 a.m., in costume and ready to start walking.

     McPeak quipped that her next move was to “tell absolutely everyone I know” to be watching the parade at precisely 10:15 a.m., when three of the five-member 'USDA celebrity character entourage’ were scheduled to walk by the TV cameras.

     “Then I—and the rest of the viewing public—were able to see about 30 long seconds of our USDA characters, live on TV.”

     So, what might be the next stop for these five USDA 'celebrity characters’?

     “You know, the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade is in Washington, DC next March,” McPeak said. “Maybe I’ll march in it, wearing the Thermy costume!”