Once again dogs gussied up as tie-dyed canine hippies enjoyed a 5k walk with their loving owners at the 27th annual Woofstock Companion Walk Sept. 12 at Wilson Park in east St. Cloud.
It was the major fundraiser of the year for the Tri-County Humane Society, whose goal this year was to raise $55,000 in pledges and other forms of donations. The final pledged amount was not available by press time.
Hundreds of people attended the event, which began at 9 a.m. with owners and their dogs casually strolling the grounds by the Wilson Park shelter as they prepared for the walk through the residential streets above the park.
There were all kinds of fun activities for both people and pets: a doggy kissing booth, inflatables for children, a dog-paw paint-imprint project, food and refreshments and many exhibitor booths featuring pet-related items or services.
The staff of the humane society and its many volunteers milled among the crowd, meeting and greeting people and their pets. A joyful ambiance ruled at the event, made even more pleasant by beautiful sunny early-morning weather.
After the walk, participants returned to Wilson Park where they enjoyed more activities, conversation, food and fun time with their precious pets.
Dalman was born and raised in South St. Cloud, graduated from St. Cloud Tech High School, then graduated from St. Cloud State University with a degree in English (emphasis on American and British literature) and mass communications (emphasis on print journalism). He studied in London, England for a year (1980-81) where he concentrated on British literature, political science, the history of Great Britain and wrote a book-length study of the British writer V.S. Naipaul. Dalman has been a reporter and weekly columnist for more than 30 years and worked for 16 of those years for the Alexandria Echo Press.