40 years ago! On Thanksgiving Day in 1982 (November 25), Laura made a GRAND appearance throughout New York City in the 56th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which was televised on NBC. At that time, "Gloria" was all over radio and riding high on the charts, just a couple days shy from peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #1 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles charts! Just as Laura was riding up high on the charts, she rode up high atop a wooden rocking horse performing "Gloria".
As Laura later remarked in an interview, it was both a big thrill and an honor for her to be a part of the parade, particularly as she grew up watching it each year on television, and then to actually be a participant. In an article published a few weeks after the parade, on December 18, 1982, in the Yonkers Herald-Statesman newspaper, Laura stated, "They sat me up in a rocking horse and I got a dose of New York like I never saw. The beauty of that parade is that the people are so sincere, there's such an innocence on their faces and they're so enthusiastic and in awe of the beautiful floats that go by." Pondering Laura's words, I think they also relate to her that day at the parade - sincere, an innocence on her face, so enthusiastic, and in awe of being a part of that great New York Thanksgiving holiday tradition on the streets of Manhattan.
You can hear Laura talk more about being in the parade during her 1990 interview on late-night's "Night After Night," hosted by Allan Havey, on Laura's official YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/K9pz3wdAJmk