The bar on Milwaukee celebrities must be set pretty low, because I was asked to be, and obliged to serve, as a "celebrity judge" at Sunday's Dog Day Afternoon. Along with the Cactus Club's Eric Uecke and Jose the "super barber," we had the pleasure of picking the winners of the doggie costume contest. And let me tell you, there's nothing funnier (or cuter) than dogs in costumes.
Since I figured my own dog was ineligible to win -- though she had plenty of fun prancing around as a princess -- I felt little pressure to pick the winners. The dogs competed in small, medium and large classes, and the most creative costume belonged to the tiny Chihuahua dressed as a flower garden (see above). But in my book, any dog that wore a Halloween costume was a winner. Even if they were more interested in sniffing butts than showing off to the judges.
Despite the heat, many turned out for the fourth annual Dog Day Afternoon. It's good to see the neighborhood participate in the doggy blessing, the free cups of puppy custard from Bella's Fat Cat, and of course the costume contest -- all for a worthy charity called Best Friends Animal Society. It was yet another brainchild of my friend, the "civilian alderman" of Bay View, Bill Rouleau. With the help of his detail-oriented and dedicated girlfriend, Kate, the event went off without a hitch.
If I'm a celebrity, you know they're dredging the bottom of the barrel -- but I hope to be asked back next year.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
