Pets strut stuff in downtown Burlingame (by Aaron in San Mateo Times)
ALL HAIL "Claw-opatra," read a sign that hung from a wire cage adorned with four gold-colored handles protruding from each corner. Four handlers carried Mia, a black cat, up Broadway Avenue in the fourth annual Burlingame Pet Parade on Saturday. "I was kind of into the whole Egyptian theme and thought it would be neat," said Anastasia Campos, who came up with the idea. She and her friends Emily Grandcola, Madison O'Nan and Christine Williams, all 13, and students at Burlingame Intermediate School, were finalists for best-dressed group.
An estimated 1,200 spectators showed up to view the nearly 600 parade participants and their 300 pets, more than last year, Brian Probst of the Peninsula Humane Society said. Parade participants showed off their unique pets: costumed dogs, caged cats and rabbits, turtles, mice, a lizard named Spencer and a Missouri fox-trotting horse.
The parade, led by a miniature train, began at Chula Vista and Broadway avenues and made its way up Broadway, circled around Capuchino Avenue to Paloma Avenue and moved back down Broadway, stopping briefly at the judge's booth.
A group of Burlingame Intermediate School students took this year's grand prize for their pirate-themed float, "Pets of the Caribbean." Kevin Allan, Danielle Laurin, Stephanie Lee, Vivian Lee (no relation to Stephanie) and Robin Ngai, all 13, and Lulu Li, 12, said it took them three weeks to build the float. Their 8-foot-long brown pirate ship was made with
two-by-twos and thin plywood sheeting. Draped in fishnets, decorated with skeleton skulls and fitted with two steaming cannons, the ship carried two mice in the crow's nest, two rabbits named Stevie and Claudia on the main deck, a hermit crab and a dog named Rosie. "I think (we won) because we had the most decoration," Laurin said. She borrowed many of the ship's props from her grandmother and from her own house. Li said her father, a chemist, loaned the group the dry ice for the steaming cannons. "We decided to build a bigger float," Allan said. "Last year was a luau theme, which didn't work out so well." The group of eighth-graders said they had no idea what they will do next year.
Entertainment at this year's parade included marching music provided by the Los Trancos Woods Community Band, the San Mateo Elks Concert Band and Mr. Buddy, a clown who made free balloon animals for children.
The Burlingame Pet Parade was started in 2004 by residents wanting to create an event that would bring the community together, Burlingame Mayor Terry Nagel said. This year's procession was sponsored by the Peninsula Humane Society, Wells Fargo Bank and the Broadway Merchants' Association, among others.
###
This is one heckuva fun-filled community event for people and pets of all ages. See photos on the Pet Parade website.
ALL HAIL "Claw-opatra," read a sign that hung from a wire cage adorned with four gold-colored handles protruding from each corner. Four handlers carried Mia, a black cat, up Broadway Avenue in the fourth annual Burlingame Pet Parade on Saturday. "I was kind of into the whole Egyptian theme and thought it would be neat," said Anastasia Campos, who came up with the idea. She and her friends Emily Grandcola, Madison O'Nan and Christine Williams, all 13, and students at Burlingame Intermediate School, were finalists for best-dressed group.
An estimated 1,200 spectators showed up to view the nearly 600 parade participants and their 300 pets, more than last year, Brian Probst of the Peninsula Humane Society said. Parade participants showed off their unique pets: costumed dogs, caged cats and rabbits, turtles, mice, a lizard named Spencer and a Missouri fox-trotting horse.
The parade, led by a miniature train, began at Chula Vista and Broadway avenues and made its way up Broadway, circled around Capuchino Avenue to Paloma Avenue and moved back down Broadway, stopping briefly at the judge's booth.
A group of Burlingame Intermediate School students took this year's grand prize for their pirate-themed float, "Pets of the Caribbean." Kevin Allan, Danielle Laurin, Stephanie Lee, Vivian Lee (no relation to Stephanie) and Robin Ngai, all 13, and Lulu Li, 12, said it took them three weeks to build the float. Their 8-foot-long brown pirate ship was made with
two-by-twos and thin plywood sheeting. Draped in fishnets, decorated with skeleton skulls and fitted with two steaming cannons, the ship carried two mice in the crow's nest, two rabbits named Stevie and Claudia on the main deck, a hermit crab and a dog named Rosie. "I think (we won) because we had the most decoration," Laurin said. She borrowed many of the ship's props from her grandmother and from her own house. Li said her father, a chemist, loaned the group the dry ice for the steaming cannons. "We decided to build a bigger float," Allan said. "Last year was a luau theme, which didn't work out so well." The group of eighth-graders said they had no idea what they will do next year.
Entertainment at this year's parade included marching music provided by the Los Trancos Woods Community Band, the San Mateo Elks Concert Band and Mr. Buddy, a clown who made free balloon animals for children.
The Burlingame Pet Parade was started in 2004 by residents wanting to create an event that would bring the community together, Burlingame Mayor Terry Nagel said. This year's procession was sponsored by the Peninsula Humane Society, Wells Fargo Bank and the Broadway Merchants' Association, among others.
###
This is one heckuva fun-filled community event for people and pets of all ages. See photos on the Pet Parade website.
- Written by Fiona
Comments