By Fondly remembering past pet parades

This is a reprint of an Ellen Shaw “Pages of the Past” column that ran in the May 6, 1998 Town Crier.

28 years ago in the Town Crier: According to the May 9, 1973, edition of the Town Crier, more then 3,000 children and their pets of every description were expected to march or ride in the Los Altos Pet Parade in the 26th annual occurrence of this event.

Shane Gould, the 16-year-old Australian swimmer who had won three gold medals plus one silver and one bronze medal at the 1972 Olympics, served as general marshal. Gould lived in Los Altos Hills while attending St. Francis High School in Mountain View.

Parade chairman police Capt. Richard G. Brannan observed that “from grasshopper and turtle to llamas and goats, the animals in the parade make it a walking zoo … strictly non-commercial and each year it is the biggest single happening in downtown Los Altos.”

The local Kiwanis Club sponsored the pet parade as part of its community service program.

George Seidman was named president of Los Altos Whitecliff Realty replacing Thomas L. Branham who had served as president for 17 years. Seidman had been vice president and a principal of Whitecliff since 1965. He had entered the real estate profession in 1963 after a career in electrical engineering. Now retired, he and his wife Mary still resided in Los Altos Hills.

53 years ago in the Los Altos News: As reported in the May 6, 1948, issue of the Los Altos News, the first Los Altos Pet Parade, under the sponsorship of the Kiwanis Club was a resounding success with 386 children participating.

The parade started at about 11 a.m., and the line of marchers was led by a Los Altos Fire Department truck. Next came the grammar school band, followed by uniformed units of Boy and Girl Scouts. After that, it was a little of everything - pets of all kinds, doll buggies, tricycles, bicycles, wagons and “MacDonald’s Farm” wagon with several pens containing a baby pig, two calves, baby chicks and other young farm animals.

The very first local pet parade was held in 1947 and was organized by a few active and enthusiastic Los Altans who later that year launched the local Kiwanis Club. The club adopted the idea of a pet parade as a community project. The delightful annual event became a resounding success.

Note: Aiko Hill’s “Looking Back, Moving Forward” column will return next week in this space.