By Clyde Noel

Walking around in her blue Kiwanis T-shirt, Peggy McKleroy is trying to organize groups into marching order. The pets and their owners just keep coming, because it’s getting close to marching time. McKleroy is getting the Girl Scouts together and calls for help.

Heidi Aronson of Girl Scout Troop 615 is trying to calm her hidden 8-month-old pet called Peanut Butter. It eventually comes out of hiding, and it turns out to be a hamster. Others in the staging area are putting the final touches on costumes and breaking out the dog’s brush for the last time.

When the parade starts — for the 56th year — dogs arrive from all directions wearing bandannas, baseball hats and fluffy rings around their bodies. The event becomes a street forum for parakeets, cats, snakes, a lizard, a rat in a box and the Dixie Chicks, followed by horses and ponies leaving their calling cards.

On Main Street, Peter Bergsman and Peter Liesenfeld are putting up the reviewing stand. Between the two they have more than 20 years of Kiwanis Club Pet Parade experience. This year the reviewing stand is DeMartini’s 1936 International flatbed truck. They are pleased the sound system works.

Parade Chairman Howard Bischoff is running from plaza to plaza with his clipboard, checking on his volunteers. He literally doesn’t want to see this show go to the dogs.

By 9:45 a.m., blankets are spread all over Main and State street sidewalk curbs so spectators have an advantageous spot when the activity starts. Most have a dog with them.

Gary and Karen Campi are standing on the curb waiting for the parade to start. With them are their pets Lily, a Jack Russell terrier, and Tuson, a young Great Dane. Both dogs are checking out the field looking for friends from the neighborhood.

Andrew Longaker and Riley McDonnell are lying in their baby coaches, happy and satisfied. Their mothers have brought them to their first pet parade because both have older kids in the parade and didn’t want to miss it.

Finally, the parade starts. Gerry, the Los Altos police dog, is the grand marshal. He sits on the back of a 1966 Lincoln Continental convertible, confused but checking out the crowd. His partner, John Korges, is sitting before him. This will be Gerry’s last pet parade in an official capacity. He is retiring from the police department because of poor health.

Excitement starts to build on the sidewalk. It’s the Los Trancos Woods Community Marching Band, clad in every type of costume imaginable, strutting to “Wait Till the Sun Shines Nelly.”

Kiwanis Club member Alex Myers walks with a large contingent of dog lovers. His grandfather, Paul Myers, helped initiate the pet parade in 1947.

Another convertible goes by with Los Altos School District Superintendent Marge Gratiot, followed by the elementary schools in separate segments.

The Loyola Elementary School Lions are first, with their blue balloons swinging in the air. Some have dogs, and one of the signs says, “Bark if you like my dog.”

The Santa Rita Bobcats are close behind, waving their red and white balloons for the crowd.

Bullis-Purissima School marches by with more parents than pets. They want to make a statement, but they seem disorganized, with no marching orders.

Helen Mueller, 9, and Lucia Mu, 4, have come from San Jose to see the parade. It is their first time here. Lucia says she will be back to march next year because she wants people to see her four rabbits.

Two girls pull a little red wagon down the street. Inside are three chickens, and on the side of the wagon are the words “Dixie Chicks.” They attract a lot of interest from spectators. Chickens have taken home more awards from the parade than any other pet in the last 12 years, according to Town Crier records. Rabbits and dogs follow next in line.

More excitement builds up with the South Bay Traditional Jazz Society marching down Main Street, accompanied by the flappers in their 1920s costumes strutting their stuff to “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey.”

Girl Scout Unit 8 walks by fast, with animals from the Silicon Valley Humane Society shelter in Santa Clara. Each Scout handles a pet that is available for adoption. All the dogs are well disciplined and on their best behavior looking for a home.

Bischoff says if anyone sees a dog they like they may go to the shelter and make arrangements for adoption.

Greyhound Friends For Life march by with 30 different colored greyhounds in their sleek walking and trotting style. Signs read “Adopt a Greyhound and Make a Best Friend” and “Race Cars, Not Dogs.” The friends from Greyhound are also looking for good friends to adopt a greyhound.

Attending the pet parade is an annual tradition for some residents. Bea Andrews has seen 40 pet parades. She and her husband, Andy, moved to Los Altos in 1962.

“I think there are more pets this year than usual,” Bea says. “There’s also a lot of other things.”

Andy says it’s obvious the children are having a good time and so are the parents.

Last Saturday’s pet parade started at 10 a.m. sharp and ended at 11:02 a.m., when the last horse trotted by. Police estimated the event drew 5,000 people, with more participants than spectators.

With the wonderful weather, the pet parade provided 62 minutes of excitement and fun for a lot of people.