CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The sound of West Virginia will be among the branches of the 38-foot-tall Singing Christmas Tree.
Those who watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade may be able to spy Jennifer Greenlief, assistant commissioner for the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, belting out carols from up in a moving evergreen.
“I’m incredibly excited about this,” Greenlief, 35, of Charleston said last week as she was getting ready to depart for a week of preparation and performance.
“This is my second year participating in it. To be a part of something with such tradition was super exciting, but also this is the second year that I’ve had a chance to represent the state of West Virginia in the parade.”
She’s among four West Virginians singing in the tree.
The others are Corray LaFleur, Allie Richardson and Sara Todd, all employees of Macy’s stores. Besides her day job at Agriculture, Greenlief sells jewelry at Macy’s in Charleston.
“It will be an incredibly busy, exciting hectic week of rehearsals and preparations so that we can sing for three hours as part of the 92nd annual parade,” Greenlief said.
The Christmas tree float is toward the end of the parade, right before Santa Claus comes. It looks like a big Christmas tree with layers that include about 100 singers.
As the three moves through the streets of New York, the singers will perform classics like “Jingle Bells” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”
Listeners will also hear a brand new song, written just for this year’s parade, called “We Believe.”
Greenlief started working at Macy’s as a young lawyer, new to town. “I needed the money, and I needed something to do,” she recalled.
Last year, when her day job was as counsel for state Senate committees, Greenlief was working a shift at Macy’s and noticed an application form lying beside a cash register.
“I thought it was too good to pass up and decided to give it a shot,” she said.
Intrigued, she put together her application, which included video interviews and samples of her singing. The tune she volunteered was “The Turkey Song,” a family favorite from the turkey’s point of view.
Greenlief has been an enthusiastic, committed singer since age 8 when her family was living in Nashville and she joined a children’s choir.
When her family moved to Florida, she remained involved with church and middle- and high school choirs. She took four years of voice lessons.
In college at Princeton, she participated in four years of glee club. And in law school at University of Virginia, she also took part in an a cappella group.
In Charleston, she has continued to participate in church choir and solo performances.
Despite all that background, she was surprised to be chosen last year among the many Macy’s employees who tried out for the Singing Christmas Tree.
Last year, like this year, was a whirlwind of New York activity. Participants arrive several days early for a reception and then several rounds of practice.
Thanksgiving Day itself means arriving early — 5 a.m. — for breakfast and costumes. There’s practice to get on and off the float. Then, shortly after 8 a.m., the singers move into position on the tree.
The parade is broadcast from 9 a.m. to noon on Thanksgiving on NBC.
As the tree moves slowly down the streets, the singers have three or four hours of cutting loose “Deck the Halls” or “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
It’s enough to get hoarse.
“You want to give every single thing on every single song every time,” Greenlief said.
From the vantage point of the tree, Greenlief is reminded not only to look down at those along the parade route, but also to look up. Sometimes she would see children in pajamas on the 10th floor, waving like mad.
Last year, Greenlief did a very West Virginia thing.
She tried to spot people wearing West Virginia blue and gold or those adorned with the Flying WV. She saw about 10 fitting that description and tried to yell, “but it was really loud and I don’t think they heard me.”
After last year’s parade, Greenlief and a few more participants had their own Thanksgiving dinner in New York. She also checked out some tourist spots and a show.
Now and then, it just happened to slip that she and the others had been in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“It was like being a little mini celebrity in New York,” she said.
Back home in West Virginia, Greenlief will have some fairly high-profile fans.
“There’s not a better person to represent West Virginia on national stage,” said her boss, state Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt.
“We are all so proud of Jennifer and look forward to trying to spot her during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.”
A former boss, Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Trump, also expressed pride.
“I’m a huge fan of Jennifer Greenlief, and I will be very excited to see her in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. We’re very proud of her,” said Trump, R-Morgan.
“She has a wonderful voice, and I think it’s great that she will be representing West Virginia at the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.”
Greenlief is thankful to be back and singing, but for the second year in a row Greenlief will miss her own family’s own annual gathering. They’ll be in Talcott, Summers County, in her absence.
“They’ll be stuffing their faces with sugar cookies, playing games and, hopefully, watching for me on TV,” Greenlief said.