Mardi Gras: Move Over

Text by Janet Gokay Mead
Photos by Sonja Zinke

New Orleans may have its Mardi Gras parade. New York City can boast about its Macy’s Day—or its Gay Pride—parade. But, really, do any of them compare to the spectacle that the Norfolk Library inspired on Friday, June 12? 

More than 30 pets (and their owners) gathered on the green, the children playing lawn games and pets and their owners hobnobbing for half an hour. The contestants then paraded the circumference of the green, led by Dodger Mermann, a 12-year-old border collie, and his walker, Kelly Kandra Hughes. Hughes, who also works as the Library’s Community Engagement Coordinator, streamed a collection of John Phillips Sousa’s marches (in the public domain) through a Bluetooth speaker connected to her phone. The weather was clement, atmospherically and interpersonally. 

Their goal? To run the gauntlet of a panel of three judges: Hilary VanWright, a local artist and pet lover; Annie Gill, a Norfolk native now living in Ireland; and Daniel Vandiver, brother of Norfolk Library intern, Mattie. Eileen Fitzgibbons, the children’s librarian, served as Mistress of Ceremonies, welcoming everyone and keeping the procession moving apace. This was, after all, the formal kickoff of the library’s summer reading program for kids, called “Tails and Tales.”

There were no reports of adverse developments. And, clearly, the judges had their work cut out for them. The competition was close to Olympic, and the decision-making fraught.

Hughes summed it up this way: “We were so overwhelmed—in the best way—by the turnout. Everyone seemed to have such a cheerful attitude. Everyone’s been waiting for events like this to happen…I mean, even if you don’t have kids, everyone loves dogs…It was just good family entertainment.”