I Know a Village Where the Pets Parade:
On May 3 at the 1st Annual Larchmont
Pet Parade
by Judy Silberstein
(April 24, 2003) On Saturday, May 3 at 3:00 pm, dogs (but
not pit bulls), cats, turtles, lizards, fish, bunnies, hamsters
and
other
creatures are invited to stroll down Larchmont Avenue in
the 1st Annual Larchmont Pet Parade.
Putting together the parade has required perseverance.
 The idea sprouted after a Larchmont empty nester acquired
Louis, a beagle-basset hound, from Pet Rescue. It blossomed
into a Pet Parade for grateful pet owners to support their
local humane societies. Organizers Betty Comerford, Michelle
Daum, Pat Melrose, Penny Langone and Melanie Rush brain-stormed
and came up with the details.
Pets and owners will meet at Fountain Square to:
- register
(speed up the process by downloading the forms
here);
and
- pay the $10 fee (proceeds go to Pet Rescue and the
New
Rochelle and Westchester Human Societies).
Participants – with
adults in firm control of leashed pets - will line
up and travel down Linden to Larchmont Avenue to Constitution
Park
next to the Firehouse for awards and treats.
“There was historical precedent for the event,” said
Daum. “Our own Larchmont resident Alan Parter paraded
his dog in a backyard dog show in the summer of 1959. Memorialized
on the July 8, 1959 cover of the Saturday Evening Post by
artist Amos Sewell, the dog show provided further inspiration
for the pet paraders.
Parter remembers the show. He and his dog Freckles were unwitting
models for the Sewell portrait depicting the scene in the
Hazel Avenue backyard of renowned poet Phyllis McGinley, appreciated
locally for her paean to Larchmont, “I Know a Village.”
Back in the ‘50’s, a few kids could organize
a show in a few hours. Today, it takes a Village: lawyers,
police chiefs, pet experts, churches, schools, and the Board
of Trustees.
“It would have been hard to muddle through the logistics
without the support of the Mayor and the Board,” said
Daum. “Chief Rubeo was wonderful and we’ve already
received postcards and phone calls from people who want to
help. Manor Park Society was a big help by letting us start
the parade at Fountain Square.”
With assorted assistance, the organizers have developed registration
and waiver forms and the following rules:
- All animals must be walked by an adult and may be accompanied
by a child.
- Each pet must be leashed, caged, or otherwise
suitably restrained, and no frayed leashed allowed.
- Pets
must have a current rabies tag.
- No aggressive animals
are allowed and do not bring animals in heat.
- Owners are
responsible for poop clean-up.
- The pet’s behavior
is the responsibility of the owner. Control of animals
must be maintained at all times. Owners
of misbehaving or menacing pets may be asked to leave gracefully.
- No
pit bulls will be permitted in the parade, in accordance
with the Larchmont Village Code.
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