Howl-o-Ween parade in West Toluca Lake helps residents get to know each other

At the dog parade “Howl-o-Ween” on Sunday in the West Toluca Lake neighborhood, prizes were awarded for best pet costumes in small, medium and large dog categories, and ensembles. And more than a neighborhood parade, it drew the community together.

Tess Taylor, president of West Toluca Lake Residents Association, said, “With social media, e-mail and text so dominant in daily life, and isolation increasing, the West Toluca Lake Residents Association’s Howl-o-Ween Dog Costume Parade helps residents get to know each other, brings us closer together, and from there to accomplish things collectively like working to preserve our quality of life and our neighborhood environment.”

Jennifer Byrd, dressed as a beekeeper with her dog Rex costumed as a bumble bee, said the parade “gives the residents of West Toluca Lake a chance to … be silly. I think it helps deepen our commitment to each other as neighbors.”

“I’m already thinking about what Carter’s costume for next year will be,” said Tim Micsko, who went to the parade dressed as Chief Martin Brody from the movie Jaws, and his little dog Carter was dressed as the Great White Shark itself. “It was more fun than I could have imagined,” Micsko said.

As Taylor summarized the event, “One of the shortest parades in the history of mankind, it was roughly 2.5 blocks total, but full of fun.”