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This year's Thanksgiving Day Parade was not an event for amateur spectators.

Only the hardiest parade-goers lined the cold, wet Philadelphia streets for the 87th annual event yesterday. Only the seasoned endured the biting wind long enough to see Santa and Mrs. Claus bringing up the rear.

Libby Magness is no amateur. The 79-year-old Cherry Hill woman has been standing on the sidelines of the Thanksgiving Day, Mummers and Miss America parades for as long as she can remember. That changed yesterday, when Magness, formerly of Northeast Philadelphia, climbed aboard a safari float as part of a Twilight Wish Foundation dream come true.

The organization, which grants the wishes of senior citizens, arranged for Magness to be in the parade. She drew almost as much attention as American Idol star Ace Young and Extreme Makeover designer Paul DiMeo, who rode with her.

"If I wasn't on the float, if I was watching it from the sidelines, I'd be jealous of me," Magness said, as the crowd - coached by her daughter, Ruth Weisberg - chanted "Libby, Libby."

"I said to Ace, 'You're used to this,' " Magness said. "My moment of glory will last only as long as the parade. After that, it's back to the bleachers."

With a hot chocolate in one gloved hand and a wooden tambourine in the other, Magness, dressed as a big-game hunter, weathered the parade like a Mummer.

"She's layered like a lasagna under that outfit," said Weisberg, who requested the wish on her mother's behalf. "She's loving this."

What a sweet story! :)

I love it! That is so sweet! I wonder what she really thought of our ACE?