Prehistoric beasts — and other critters — roam downtown Olympia for Pet Parade
On a cool and crisp Saturday morning, hundreds of costumed people and their decorated pets walked through downtown Olympia as part of the 89th annual Pet Parade. The theme this year was Dawn of the Dinosaurs.
“I’ve been doing this parade since I was a kid,” Sage Cowsert said. “It means a lot to me to be passing on the tradition.”
With Cowsert were his two sons, Riley, 12, and Brayden, 10, who both dressed up as expedition rangers like the character Dr. Alan Grant from “Jurassic Park.” The family brought their two rescue cats, Ollie and Colle, in a cage with wheels that was decorated with lush vegetation bought from a local Hobby Lobby.
In all, the Cowserts spent a week putting together their creation.
Officials estimated over 1,000 people participated or attended the parade, which began at Heritage Park with costume judging and finished at Sylvester Park with ice cream and goody bags for the participants.
At the end of the parade, five grand prize winners were announced: Poppy and Betsy Bowerman (entry by a child), Cloey and Kaidence Yancey (entry by a girl), Aislin Noel and Elisa Lyles (entry by a group), Colin Quebedeaux (entry by a boy), and Enlow, Phillips and Whitehouse (entry by a family) all took home awards.
From a curly brown labradoodle named Gus with a sign that read “Last-Known Specimen: Woolly Doodlesaurus” dressed up as a stegosaurus, to a small white pug riding in a red wagon marked “Jurassic Pug,” Olympia’s creativity was on display.
One family of four, the Armijos, wore matching lime green shirts and hand-crafted cardboard and tape dinosaurs heads. Another family, the Boyds, were dressed as cavemen and cavewomen with their dog, Kirby, a black Border Collie Spaniel Mix.
It wasn’t just dogs and cats that walked the streets of Olympia. Goats (pygmy and otherwise), mini horses and even a chicken — who was towed by a Jurassic Park-inspired play Jeep Wrangler in a makeshift red Radio Flier — joined the parade.
Judging took place, which gave out honors for small dogs, big dogs, cats, horses, floats, impersonations, wheels and pets. Here are the winners:Small dogs
- Ellie Mark, Olympia
- Ella and Makayla Leon, Olympia
- Joanna Shore, Yelm
- Amber Wex and Nicole Mannquze, Centralia
- Lucy and Ellie Armijo, Olympia
- Anna Merrifield, Olympia
- Jeff Kup, Olympia
Big dogs
- Alexis and Baylee Miller, Tumwater
- Wyatt Nicholas, Olympia
- Julia Crane-Jacobs, Olympia
- Katelyn Cleland, Lacey
- Makenna Wilson, Lacey
- Elyse Dumont, Olympia
Cats
- Poppy and Betsy Bowerman, Olympia
Horses
- Peyton Newcomb, Olympia, and Daphne Green, Gig Harbor
Floats
- Olivia Marty, Morrison and Mason Ball, and Roslyn Tobeck, Olympia
Impersonations
- Lindsey Soderquist, Olympia
- Fantasia, Olympia
- Luke Hansen, Olympia
- Addie Murphy, Olympia
- Fiona Boyd, Olympia
- Adeline Turnbully, Olympia
Pets
- Madeline and Orion Biehler, Lacey
- Sophie and Maci Yerger, Lacey
- Fiona Boyd, Olympia
- Aleah Dumont, Olympia
- Parker Smith, Tumwater
Wheels
- Colin Quebedeaux, Olympia
- Cooper Jones, Olympia
- Riley and Russ Soderquist, Olympia
- Ava Bryant and Amy Leigh, Olympia
- Riley, Brayden, Lucia, Sage, Jenni and Monica Cowserts, Olympia
- The Miller Mattran Clan, Aberdeen and Tacoma
- Casey Slinkard; Maverick and Erica Cronin; Freijda, Scarlet and Tala Santi, Olympia
Logan Stanley: 360-754-5433, @LSscribe
This story was originally published August 18, 2018 at 12:00 AM.