April 9, 2009 — Haul out your best finery, find a way to display it on your head, and you'll be ready to hop out to Oceana Restaurant at Villa Olga for the third annual Humane Society Easter Bonnet Parade and brunch at noon Sunday.
Of course, you don't really have to come adorned in your most silly or elegant headgear — you can simply enjoy the fabled, luscious three-course brunch prepared by Patricia La Corte and her staff, and carefully observe the entrants as they parade by your table.
It's a wonderful and very Caribbean way to spend Easter Sunday in the warmth of the sun, while sipping on Domaine Ste. Michelle champagne, and thinking of all those poor folks in New York City shivering on Fifth Avenue, just for a glance at a bonnet or two.
Until it was revived last year, the local Easter parade had fallen by the wayside since its salad days in the 1980s at the pool at Blackbeard's Hotel. "We're happy to revive it," Joe Aubain, Humane Society board president, said a couple years ago. "The community missed it. It's something we needed to bring back."
The community has agreed, turning out in numbers the past two years wearing everything up top from a virtual flower garden, weighing about 10 pounds, to a stylish veiled number reflective of 1950s design, which took last year's glamor prize.
Aubain said the event is less a fund-raiser than an opportunity for public awareness of the society's capital campaign for its animal campus on Weymouth-Rhymer Highway. For more information on the new campus, go to the Humane Society website.
Aubain said the new campaign, "Almost There," is actually almost there. "We're hoping in a couple of months," he said.
First, second and third place prizes will be given out to the winners in the following categories: Originality, Humor and Glamour. There will also be an Original category with prizes for children 12 and under.
There will be a raffle featuring hotel stays, dinners and a day sail and more. Aubain said the prizes are still coming in.
The brunch starts at noon, followed by the parade at 2:30 p.m. Reservations are required. Call 774-4262. Cost is $55 plus 20% gratuity, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Humane Society. Registration is from noon until 1 p.,m for all contestants.
Back Talk
Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
