2005 POODLE PARADE will be Sunday July 17th!
Details at: http://frenchfestival.com/poodle.html
Poofy poodles, pals strut at parade
7/19/04
By ROB KUZNIA
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
What do a 107-pound Bernese Mountain Dog, a 'French' Chihuahua and a stuffed dog named Fifi have in common?
They all participated in the Poodle Parade at Santa Barbara's 17th annual French Festival Sunday afternoon.
Staying true to its tongue-in-muzzle form, the event turned a blind eye to some canines that looked suspiciously un-poodle.
The 'affaire' is as much about cracking jokes on stage with the emcee as it is about showcasing the cotton candy-like tufts and pinkish bald spots of a prize-winning standard poodle -- or the fancy scarf of a French Bulldog named Oreo.
"At least it has 'French' in the title," Santa Barbara resident Kari Lane said, defending the black-and-white dog, as he sniffed the backside of a bona-fide miniature. " 'Poodle' doesn't."
More than 40 dogs -- from as far away as Denver -- took to the stage in front of a camera-crazy crowd of about 200 people to strut their fur as their owners spun poodle yarns.
"They say poodles are supposed to be smart," said Allen Harrison of Burbank of a certain Winslow. "But he made several mistakes on my income taxes."
"Hopefully, he's not embezzling funds," replied the emcee, Steve Hoegerman, who doubles as the director of the French Festival, which this weekend drew about 20,000 people to Oak Park.
The wisecrack nature of the Poodle Parade perhaps stems from its jocular origin, in the late 1980s, when Mr. Hoegerman was interviewed about the first-ever French Festival.
"The radio announcer said, 'What's there going to be, a poodle parade?'" Mr. Hoegerman recalled. "I thought it was a brilliant idea."
Because the festival was about to begin, Mr. Hoegerman had to wait until the next year's event to kick off the pooch parade.
While past years have seen many poodle wannabes -- last year a Doberman pinscher named Fifi was a big hit -- this is the first in which a participant entered a stuffed animal, also named Fifi.
"He's from Paris, Nevada," said Fifi's proud owner, Lizon Dube.
Alan Fay -- the owner of last year's Doberman 'Fifi' -- this year entered his 'French' Chihuahua, ostensibly named de Gaulle, after the late French leader Charles de Gaulle.
"He has a lot of de Gaulle to get in this parade," Mr. Fay quipped.
The crowd went craziest for Gunther, a 107-pound Mountain Dog sporting a French racing cap and pulling a cartload of four tiny poodles.
"He's the hired help," gushed Glenda Peirce of Simi Valley.
All told, the 16th annual Poodle Parade wasn't any more or less crazy than past shows, Mr. Hoegerman said. "To me, it was all just one endless stream of canine topiary," he said. "It was the standard Poodle Parade."
Santa Barbara News-Press
Poodles Currently Available for Rescue
