The City of Beacon turned Main Street over to canines of all sizes and shapes today for the first annual Animal Shelter Appreciation Day's "Beacon Barks!" parade and street fair. Local merchants welcomed dogs and their owners into the shops and even provided water and treats.
Before the parade, dogs and their humans gathered at the base of Main Street. Kate got to meet several cute pups.
Willie (named after Willie Nelson), a 1-3/4-year-old cockapoo owned by Art Burns of Beacon.
Kate says hello to 9-year-old Molly O'Hamlin, a bearded collie with a summer haircut, and 14-year-old Sam Malone, a west highland terrier. They are owned by Suzanne Hamlin of Newburgh.
The parade kicked off shortly after 11 a.m. with Debbi Calabrese of the Dutchess County SPCA holding the banner and dancing to "Who Let the Dogs Out?" What would we do if that song hadn't been written?
During the parade, Boston, an 18-month-old black pug owned by Tamela Hayes of Wappingers Falls, had the right idea. Get in the shade and onto some cool asphalt as Kate looks on.
Walking alongside Kate and me was Roland, a 3-year-old terrier mix owned by the Journal's Assistant Local Desk Editor Maria Burnham, who said everyone who stopped her to ask what breed Roland was had a different idea of what made up his Roland-ness.
It was shoulder to shoulder and paw to paw inside The Beacon Barkery after the parade. The store, which co-sponsored the parade and street fair with the DCSPCA and the City of Beacon, was also filled with treats and collars and toys and food for dogs. I bought a few for Kate, but the icing didn't fair too well in 80+ temperatures. She didn't seem to mind, devouring the heart-shaped cookie first.
There were even dogs available for adoption. Here, Mary Ellen Mikula of East Fishkill volunteered to man the DCSPCA mobile adoption van.
The DCSPCA also had agility demonstrations and music throughout the afternoon. Kate, unwillingly, took advantage of the Dog Wash, the proceeds of which went to the DCSPCA. Attending to her highness was John Bier of Beacon and Isabel Rose of the City of Poughkeepsie, a DCSPCA volunteer.
A highlight of the day for Kate was getting her picture taken with Beacon Mayor Clara Lou Gould. After 18 years in office, Gould is not seeking re-election. She is ostensibly hanging up her hat, but probably not the one she is wearing.
Kate was plum tuckered out by the excitement of all those butts to sniff, not to mention those city lamp posts. While Burnham and I had some coffee at Muddy Cup, Kate did her impersonation of a rug, albeit a panting rug.
If anyone has any pictures they want to share from Saturday's Beacon Barks!, send them to me here.
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