Olympia, get ready to show off your pets

ROLF BOONE; The Olympian | • Published August 14, 2009

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OLYMPIA — Move over, drivers. Portions of downtown Olympia this Saturday will belong to dogs, cats and other pets of all shapes, sizes and colors as part of The Olympian’s 80th annual pet parade.

No registration is required. Kids 16 and younger just need to bring their pet to Heritage Park and line up for the parade at 8 a.m. Pet judging takes place from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. and the parade starts at 10 a.m.

The parade starts at Heritage Park near Capitol Lake and ends at Sylvester Park across from the Governor Hotel.

The parade is expected to take 40 to 45 minutes, although some streets will be closed longer than that, city of Olympia spokeswoman Cathie Butler said Thursday.

Starting sometime between 6 and 6:30 a.m. Saturday, Water Street from Fifth Avenue to just west of the Olympia Supply parking lot will be closed, as well as a portion of Legion Way between Water Street and Columbia Street, Butler said.

Those streets are closed because they are used as a staging area for the parade, she said.

About 9:30 a.m. the north and south streets that intersect with Fifth Avenue and other intersections along the parade route also will be closed.

The streets will be reopened to traffic immediately after the parade, Butler said.

Rolf Boone, 360-754-5403

rboone@theolympian.com

ONLINE: Experience previous Pet Parades through photos and videos at www.theolympian.com.