The 19th Annual Canine Costume Parade was an enormous success, thanks to the many people who volunteered, sponsored, and supported our event! On Saturday, October 28, 2023, costumed pooches and their owners paraded down Centre Street to the red carpet at Loring Greenough House. They showed their stuff on the red carpet to a crowd of hundreds. After much deliberation, our five judges (pictured below) awarded prizes for the most appealing, original, and cute costumes. First Prize goes to Beetlejuice, 2nd prize for Frida Kahlo, and 3rd prize for Ken & Barbie (see post below)! Thanks to Deborah Karson (@deborahjkarsonphotography) for the photos!
We raised over $1300 in registration fees and donations to give to the City of Boston Animal Shelter. Donations are used to purchase gift cards to local businesses and then given directly to the city shelter for use. (This allows them to use the cards for much needed supplies immediately, and supports our local businesses as well!)
Many thanks to all of the volunteers who came out to support the parade and help us keep the canines in line down Centre St. Thanks to E-13 for helping to direct traffic and keep our pooches and pedestrians safe. Our music makers – JP Honk and DJ Soul Kore – provided the music and the mood for our mutts. Deborah J. Karson (@deborahjkarsonphotography) provided photos of all the Fidos. We would like to thank both First Baptist Church and Loring Greenough House for the use of your lawns – we hope there were not too many doggy accidents.
Pawsitive Pantry was on hand to give out free toys for participants, the great table at Loring Greenough, and the water bowls.
Our judges were (pictured above left to right):
- Ken Sazama of Sazama Real Estate;
- Miranda Schweisberg of Polkadog Bakery (who also provided prizes!);
- State Rep. Sam Montaño;
- Melissa Beltran of the Office of Neighborhood Services (Mayor’s Office); and
- Jonathan Levine of JP Animal Clinic.
THANK YOU to our sponsors, Sazama Real Estate and TCB – The Cooperative Bank. (Ken Sazama also served as one of our judges!) Their support of this and the last few years is greatly appreciated and we look forward to continuing this great puppership, er, partnership!
Finally, THANK YOU to Brad Brown and Michael Reiskind who have been organizing and promoting this event for the last 19 years and keeping this awesome tradition alive in Jamaica Plain.
Next year will be the 20th Annual Canine Costume Parade, and we intend to make it a GRAND PARADE! We hope you will join us again next year.
