Christiansted’s boardwalk was a dog lover’s delight, with all breeds, colors and sizes of St. Croix’s canines as Krewe de Croix held its 13th annual doggie parade, bringing out crowds of children and adults to fill the boardwalk from noon through late afternoon Saturday.
The annual fundraiser for the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center drew its largest participation, 60 entries, for this year’s parade. It is advertised as a fun competition in the adult and children’s categories, with judging for best costume and best theme.
The parade theme this year was Dr. Seuss, the late author of many children’s classics. Participants were not required to follow the theme, but many did.
Many of the entries were personal pets, like Auggie the dinosaur, owned by Beverly and Wayne, here since 2015 from St. Augustine, Florida. Others were shelter dogs ready for adoption, like the Red Fish, Blue Fish twin doggies, sporting a Dr. Seuss theme and brought by Sarah, Brandi and Diane, three shelter volunteers.
Washable dye transformed some dogs with blue hair, another with black stripes.
They wore dresses and T-shirts with logos, top hats, glittered gypsy dresses. There were six-month-old triplet poodles dressed simply in their au natural fluffy.
A beautiful theme that was apparent throughout the afternoon was the dedication and support and love for the animal shelter and their furry friends. A person in the crowd who lived for 15 years on another island said the community there was not so supportive of their four-legged friends as the community of St. Croix.
Kyla Morrell, 10, and her dog Croix moved from San Diego to St. Croix three and a half years ago. This was their first time in the parade and they were first-place winners. Frazer and Zoe were second place winners, and Alelia Williams, 11, and her dog Ayla came in third.
Tamara Psurny and her dog, Kasper, were the adult first-place winners. They have been in the contest four times and this is their second first-place win.
“This is fun for me. This dog is my child, my kid. I like to take him to events,” Psurny said. “I am so in favor of supporting the animal shelter.”
Miles and Fritz, who wore Thing 1 and Thing 2 outfits from Dr. Seuss and are owned by Chris Sublet, came in second place for adults. Irene Homa dressed her dog Lucky Lucy as the Lorax who saved the trees. They placed third three times before and placed third this time. Lucky Lucy has been competing for nine years.
Psurny was serious about winning again and researched for a month to prepare the winning costume for Kasper.
“I’m really surprised that not many people observed the Dr. Seuss theme. It’s surely a winner,” Psurny said.
The winning costume was Sam I Am from Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham.” It also won Best of Show. Psurny bought the yellow shirt and red top hat outfit from the animal shelter flea market and added green eggs and ham on a tray, as in the book.
Jan Mitchell created the glass trophies awarded to all the winners. The proceeds from raffles benefited the animal shelter.
Parade marshal Jelly Bean the Clown and Cupcake entertained the young with balloons and face painting.