Basset Hounds waddle in Ocean City's Doo Dah Parade

Hundreds of Basset Hounds waddled down the Ocean City, N.J., boardwalk on Saturday, where a thousand or so spectators gathered to watch the Doo Dah Parade, a springtime tradition.

Some of the hounds were stuffed into pink tutus, while others wore polka dots, stripes, silvery capes and assorted straw hats.

Still others were au naturel, looking adorable enough with their pensive eyes and dangling ears on a warm, sunny day that had lured visitors to the Shore way ahead of the season.

"The dogs are a bonus," said Kristy DeSanto, a school psychologist from Moorestown, whose three children were sitting cross-legged on the boardwalk, eye-level with the hounds as they passed by, sniffing the salty air and investigating the crowd. Adeline, 3, Emelia, 5, and Lea, 6, couldn't resist petting a few and even planted a kiss on one Basset who had particularly beseeching eyes. Kristy DeSanto said the family already has two English Sheepdogs but predicted the girls would lobby her on the drive home about the virtues of adding a Basset to the mix.

The hounds are a distinctly Jersey feature of the Doo Dah Parade, a wild and wacky anything-goes event that was created 38 years ago in Pasadena, Calif., as an alternative to the staid Tournament of Roses Parade on New Years Day.

Ocean City's public relations guru Mark Soifer established the parade in the shore town 31 years ago along with a line-up of other events that "celebrate silliness" to attract tourists. Soifer, who is retiring after 45 years, was honored as grand marshal this year.

Everyone is invited to participate in these parades, and since they have no theme, the goal is pure fun, according to the brochures.

There was one proviso, however, which said the costumes had to be "within the parameters of propriety" since Ocean City is "a family oriented resort."

Six friends who graduated from West Chester College in 1983 (before it became a University) decided they would jump in this year as the "Real Housewives of Ocean City."

For many years, the group of mostly teachers has visited Ocean City for a "Girls Weekend," said Maureen Foley, a reading specialist from Ambler. One friend, Mary Ann Gosnell, a teacher from Doylestown, mentioned that marching in a parade was on "her bucket list" and Foley said "Why not?"

The friends put on matching pink shirts and straw hats and carried neon-green signs. One said "We Drink At Home," a poke at Ocean City's longtime status as a dry town. Another said "DiOrios's or Circle?" a reference to the liquor stores across the township border that deliver.

Pitman's Original Hobo Band and the Atlantic City Fire Department Sand Pipers Pipe and Drum Band also livened up the parade. A lone "Lion Dog" and his master also walked the route, which began in the downtown and ended on the boardwalk. Spectators debated whether it was a shaggy Golden Retriever with a mane and a shaven back, or a Labrador Retriever wearing a fake mane.

About an hour before the parade was to start, Deborah Ciervo, staked out a spot on the boardwalk and then planted her beachchair in front of a fudge shop and waited. "The Doo Dah Parade is very stupid, the dumbest thing you could ever see," she said, shaking her head as she recalled a marcher who wore a red bat costume and flapped red batwings at a previous parade. "I guess she thought she was gorgeous," Ciervo, a nursing supervisor, said, chuckling.

"The main reason I come is to see the Bassets. They are in every color, size and shape," she said. Another incentive, she said, was her beagle, Roger. "I wanted him to see the hounds - they are his cousins," she said. "This will be his first Doo Dah Parade."

jhefler@phillynews.com

856-779-3224 @JanHefler

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