Final preparations made ahead of Houston's Thanksgiving Day Parade in downtown

HOUSTON – With less than 12 hours to go before the H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade, the final dance rehearsals are done and so are the last-minute touches to all the floats.

For float creator Jonathan Bertuccelli, it's been a family affair since the 1980s.

Bertuccelli said, "This has been a tradition for me since I was 20 or 21 years old."

This year, he and his team are responsible for the three biggest floats in the parade, including the one carrying Santa and the grand marshals.

"Everything has curves, you know, it's all fantasy kind of Dr. Seuss-type stuff. All this has to be done, had (to be) made and created from scratch," said Bertuccelli.

While Bertuccelli has done it for decades, others taking part are just as excited.

Rose Toro, also an artist, explained, "I've been a professional artist for 30 years. I have a lot of work in Houston. But floats, (this is) my first float."

First-time float maker Toro spent over a month making the tree of life that'll also be in the parade.

"Super happy. I hope that when people see the tree, they will go like, 'Oh, beautiful,'" said Toro.

With months of hard work soon to be on full display for only an hour during the parade, those who helped to make it happen say in the end it's all worthwhile.

"When you see, like, anybody else, when you see little children, kids get all excited, you're like, 'Oh, yeah,' and that's what it feels like, and that's a good feeling," said Bertuccelli.

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