In November of 2020, Alex and Tidbit picked up the pieces of the defunct Small Dog Social group on Meetup, and rebranded it the Victoria Small Dog Walk and Play Group.
Our first event was held on Feb 6, 2021 in the wake of COVID and attracted a grand total of 2 people, including me and Tidbit! Attendance languished in the single digits until July, when we broke through with 11 attendees. Woo hoo! Our Hallowe'en walk that year garnered 20 attendees, and after a year - in Feb 2022 - we broke the 30 attendees barrier. Our attendance since then has been steady, occasionally flirting with 50 walkers, which would end up being the maximum our group could handle.
And now, 4 and a half years after we began, the Victoria Small Dog Walk and Play group hosts our 100th walk (!!!) - an event I'm calling our "100th Anniversary". And we'll be celebrating our 100th Anniversary with a new, and I hope very cool, walk from the Ogden Point Breakwater to Fisherman's Wharf.
I'm still working on all the details, but this much I know...
We'll be meeting at the Ogden Point Sundial, just off the corner of Dallas Road and Dock Street. Look for the purple, lavender, and white dog paw print balloons! (If you have some kids who would like a few of the balloons, see me after the walk.)
Everyone in attendance will receive a commemorative gift bag, provided my printer can get my order completed in time. Fingers crossed!
For all members of the Purple Paw Donors Circle, there will be a draw for a lovely purple "pee-proof" blanket. If you are not a Purple Paw member, you may join the Donors Circle with a minimum $15 donation and then you'll be included in the draw. The draw will be made AFTER the walk, and you'll need to be in attendance to win.
The walk itself includes an out-and-back walk on the breakwater. Then we'll swing around the Breakwater district, where the Holland America "Westerdam" should be docked prior to its trip out to Honolulu. If you've never seen a cruise ship up close, this is your chance as we'll be walking right by it!
We'll continue along Dallas Road up to Fisherman's Wharf. Our route will have us looping around Fisherman's Wharf Park, but we won't actually go down on to the dock as it will be too busy and, I think, not exactly appropriate to go marching through there with dozens of dogs.
Then we'll retrace our steps back to the Ogden Point Sundial, skipping the Breakwater District this time. All in all, it's a 4.49 km walk, suitable for all abilities, flat with no stairs.
If you only wish to take in part of this walk, that's fine. You might consider just doing the breakwater. Or maybe arrive a little later than 10:00 and join up with us as we're exiting the breakwater. I do want to get this walk started pretty much on time though, as I'm estimating it will take us 90 mins to do the full 4.49 km. So only 5 minutes grace this time, folks, then we'll get going.
Be sure to give yourself time to find parking. There is lots of angle parking along Dallas Road - this is the best place to park - but it tends to fill up. So I've attached a map showing where you can park on Dock St, Pilot St, Oswego St, and further along Dallas Road.
After the walk, you're invited to stick around, get a coffee from the Breakwater Cafe and Bar, and pull up a log on the beach next to the sundial.
I've have more later, folks, but I wanted to get this posted so you can start to sign up.