2016: 23rd Annual Rescue Parade – Two Parades in One!

When our ‘I love my OES’ parade was rain delayed by three months and our 23rd Annual OES Rescue parade was moved up by three months, the only solution was to have two parades in one!

On Sunday, June 26, at 11 AM our combined parades led off the festivities with 40 OES at the ‘Woofstock 90210’ event in Beverly Hills, CA. The morning started with many of our participants arriving two hours early. We had a large area with shade trees next to our booths for everyone to gather. The early arrivals had lots of time to visit. Each owner picked up a goodie bag filled with doggie items (thanks to At Your Service Pet Supply) and their number for the parade.

Woofstock 90210 MC Brad announced each of the dogs as they walked across in front of the stage. He added quite a few impromptu comments which made the spectators roar with laughter. All the dogs and owners looked great.

Our vet, Dr. Richard Martin passed out the ribbons and posed for photos with each owner and dog. Brentwood Animal Hospital decided to have a booth next to us this year and all the staff enjoyed seeing the many dogs who have gone through the rescue program. Most of the staff at the vet’s office interact with the rescue dogs when they come into rescue but never get to see them again. Seeing the dogs with their owners in a park setting was definitely an eye opener for them.

We could not have asked for better weather. The crowd was over 4,000 people strong and only one of our rescues missed the parade due to traffic. Big thanks to OESCA members Roger and Joanne Lundquist, Kristi and Marilyn Marshall, Diane Reynolds and Florence Narron for their help with the event.

There is lots to see and do at Woofstock 90210 – many people stayed all day and made sure they went to every booth at Woofstock. We dedicated our parade to the memory of our volunteer and OESCA member, Sharon Thralls who passed away in April.

We missed our friends at the Burbank Kennel Club Dog Show during the parade but we had a wonderful fundraising booth (a big thank you to New Age Pet) for two days the next weekend at their new site with the Ventura County Dog Fanciers in Ventura, CA. Big thanks to both clubs!