Q: Where are the balloons made for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? I know a majority of them used to be made in Georgia, near Cartersville.
—Eddie Webster Douglasville
A: The balloons and floats used in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, for the most part, are constructed and assembled at the Macy's Parade Studio in Moonachie, N.J.
“There are some exceptions on the fabrication of the largest balloons, which can also take place at partner facilities in the Midwest, depending on the scale and complexity of that particular design,” a Macy’s spokesman told Q&A on the News in an email.
Parade balloons have never been designed or constructed in Georgia, he wrote.
The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in 1924.
Q: I read in an article about celebrities who passed away in 2016. I read that the entertainer Lady Chablis of Savannah passed away. Do you have any information on her illness and when she died?
—Sharon Greenwood, Stone Mountain
A: The Lady Chablis died from pneumonia in Savannah's St. Joseph's/Candler Hospital in September.
Lady Chablis was a transgender performer who played herself in the 1997 movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” based on John Berendt’s bestseller of the same name.
She performed at Savannah’s Club One until Aug. 6, club owner Cale Hall told the Associated Press.
Lady Chablis was born Benjamin Edward Knox in 1957. She legally changed her name to The Lady Chablis.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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