Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 05/04/1998 All articles from this issue

Pet Parade, pancakes and paintings with panache await Mayfest visitors

printer friendly version

Town Crier Staff Report

For hundreds of pets and their owners, Saturday will be a prime opportunity for showing off.

That's when the Los Altos Kiwanis Club will hold its 51st annual pet parade, one of three civics club "Mayfest" activities planned for this weekend in downtown Los Altos.

The other two are the pancake breakfast, held Saturday and Sunday by the Los Altos Sertoma Club, and the "Fine Art in the Park" art show, also held both days, offered by the Los Altos Rotary Club.

The pet parade, scheduled for its usual 10 a.m. start along State and Main streets, will feature about 450 entries, according to Kiwanis president-elect Dana Johnston. Among this year's new features is an Elton John impersonator singing the "Circle of Life" from the movie, "The Lion King." Also featured will be a horse and carriage carrying physically challenged kids who otherwise would not be able to participate in the parade.

"For the Pet Parade, creativity rather outweighs precision," said Johnston, also the parade manager. "If we can get roughly 2,000 young pet-meisters, with their animals and their vehicles, all going down the road in the same direction, the parade will be a stupendous success."

Once again, Los Altos patriarch, Walter Chronert, will be the parade's official announcer, assisted by Los Altos' own "Mr. Personality," Joe Leal. "The wonderful thing about this parade," said Chronert, "is that it focuses on our kids. They are the center of attention."

This 51st parade, or 52nd if you count the pet parade held before the Los Altos Kiwanis was officially formed, has gone on for so long that it now spans generations, Johnston said.

"What's exciting is parents who walked in it - their kids are walking now," he said.

Marchers should arrive at 9:30 a.m., and report in at First and Main streets.

The Sertoma Club gets its start two hours earlier with its pancake breakfast in the Chamber of Commerce parking lot, corner of Main Street and Foothill Expressway.

Sertoma (Service to Mankind) members will be offering pancakes, sausages, orange juice and coffee 8 a.m. to noon, both Saturday and Sunday, to raise money for such club projects as the Jackson Hearing Center of Palo Alto, the Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf, the Los Altos Olde Towne Band, Grad Night and Los Altos Little League.

Price is $5 adults, $3 for children 6-12. Children under 5 will be admitted free.

The Sertoma flea market, a staple in past years, has been discontinued this year.

Right next door to the pancake flippers, in Lincoln Park, will be the fine arts exhibit from the Rotary Club. The 23rd annual event, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, will feature the works of more than 190 artists. A group of former Los Altos mayors will offer "Mayors Choice" awards of artwork.

For more information, call the Los Altos Rotary Show hotline at 562-1195.