Parade Day!

It was the annual "Opening of the Beaches" parade today here. The weather couldn't have been better, with a slight cool-down from our recent spring heat wave bringing temps into the high 70s. The theme for this year's parade was "Rock Star", and for the second time in my life, I was involved in making a float for it.

I'd spent the last two weeks building two large cats to go on the back of the float for Friends of Jacksonville Animals (FOJA). They're a group that helps find homes for animals at the county's animal shelter. As are most government-run shelters, it's a kill shelter, so if they get too crowded, more animals have to be euthanized to make room for the steady intake. The founders of FOJA saw the euthanasia rate and decided something must be done to lower it. FOJA helps by fostering animals with colds or heartworms, giving them time away from the shelter to recuperate. FOJA volunteers also spend time at the shelter taking dogs outside for walks, or cats into the play rooms for a little stimulation and human interaction. It keeps them better socialized for potential adopters and helps their mental health by giving them some time out of the cages. They also have a "Down to Zero" campaign to get euthanasias at the county shelter completely eliminated.

So why did FOJA have a float in the parade? They've recently formed a beaches chapter, to help animals from the beaches, and to find more beaches-area homes for shelter animals. We wanted to draw attention to the cause and make people aware of the shelter animals available for adoption. Most of the folks involved with the beaches chapter are dog-centric; I'm the one who's constantly saying, "What about the cats?" Six fostered dogs rode on the float with their handlers, but you can't have live cats on a parade float. Not much about a terrified cat huddling in a carrier would say, "Adopt me!" So I volunteered to make two large cat cut-outs to be mounted onto the back of the float.

I say "cut-outs" because that was honestly how they originally popped into my imagination. But as the project developed, soon they were full-fledged cats, with fabric coats, 3-D noses, arms, legs, and tails. I also made a sign for them to hold that said, "MEOW if you kitties!" The backdrop of the float for the dogs was a panel painted to look like a stage, with spotlights above. So the cats would look like they were backstage, saying, "Don't forget about us!" It turned out even better than I'd envisioned...see what you think! The video below shows the end result.