Lochlan Glass, 10, confidently flexed his overstuffed arms as the judges approached.
He wouldn’t be a convincing Popeye impersonator without bulging biceps.
Lochlan was one of several Popeye look-alikes at Saturday’s 83rd annual Pet Parade, sponsored by The Olympian.
Hundreds of children, pets and parents flocked to Heritage Park early to be judged before parading down the streets showing off their interpretations of the “cartoon crazy” theme to the sounds of drums and bagpipes.
Attendance was “a little bit down, but it’s still a good crowd,” said Evelyne Lloyd, pet parade project manager.
The smaller number of entries made things easier for judges, according to Greg Carras, who said there was one-third the number of participants from when he judged the parade two years ago.
Late arrivals were an issue, he said.
“The best thing to do is to be here earlier,” Carras said. “There were a lot more (dressed) in theme this year than there have ever been.”
Lochlan won a bicycle as the grand prize Saturday. A set of DVDs he received for Christmas inspired his classic-cartoon selection.
“I first thought about Looney Toons, but there are a lot of Looney Toons in one cartoon,” he said with a corncob pipe in his mouth.
Lochlan pulled a wagon filled with free cans of spinach and his 5-year-old silky terrier, Pookie, both dressed in white sailor suits.
It was his family’s fourth time participating in the parade.
The tradition began when his 14-year-old sister, Vivian, marched in the parade with the family cat, Princess Poopers.
Jennifer Ervin drove to Olympia from Rochester with her three children and the family duck for their third parade.
The duck, Mr. Fluffy, was wearing a blue T-shirt and a beaver tail, making him a platypus for their cartoon theme.
“They really like ‘Phineas and Ferb,’” Ervin said. “The show has a big sister and two little brothers, as well as the duck-billed platypus.”
The duck, along with five others at home, was raised from a duckling four years ago.
“They used to follow the kids around the yard,” Ervin said.
Rosalyn Tobeck, 9, and her mother, Cindy, built a float for the parade out of plywood and a refrigerator box, creating a scene from “Alice and Wonderland.”
The family’s basset hound, Angel, had yellow flower petals around its head. Rosalyn, dressed as Alice, had her pet turtle “Trd” in her lap.
She’s been in every parade since she was about 2 years old.
“I like seeing my dog being happy,” Rosalyn said. “Usually she’s really happy in the parade. I also like seeing the costumes.”
There was no shortage of costumes.
Fifth Avenue filled with characters from Disney movies, the Flintstones and a few mainstream shows.
A little boy wearing a loincloth swung a blue plastic bat around, hitting the ground and yelling “Bam Bam!” toward the front of the parade.
A dog was dressed like Mickey Mouse, wearing red pants and black balloon ears.
Joan Wubbena of Olympia attends the parade “every chance” she gets, and reminiscences about when her children participated.
Her eldest is now 45 and moved away from town.
“I love watching the kids, and that they get to show off whatever it is they’ve got to show off,” Wubbena said.
ckrotzer@theolympian.com
360-754-5476
theolympian.com/thisjustin
@chelseakrotzer
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