Throw Your Dog A Royal Bone—

Newtown Bee Has Brought Back The King & Queen Dog Contest

Who will be the canine grand marshal of this year’s Newtown Labor Day Parade?

For the last three weekends, owners of dogs registered in Newtown have been visiting the offices of The Bee Publishing Co., to have photographs taken of their dogs. Nearly 200 dogs have been entered into the 2004 Newtown Bee King & Queen Dog Contest. The grand prize is a chauffeured ride in the parade on Monday, September 6, second only to 2004 Grand Marshal Gordon Williams.

There are 193 contestants: 111 king candidates, and 83 queen candidates.

Dogs belonging to Bee employees were not entered into the contest.

The public is now invited to vote for their choice of King and/or Queen.

Votes are 25 cents each. Voters will have the opportunity to not only select the dogs of their choice for king and queen, they will also decide which local nonprofit organization will receive their donation.

This year’s contest will benefit Canine Advocates of Newtown Inc, The Newtown Fund, The Newtown Tercentennial Commission, and Spay and Neuter Association of Newtown (SNAN).

Voting will begin on Thursday, August 12.

The first round of voting will run until noon on Wednesday, August 25. This round includes all 193 dogs.

After 12 pm on August 25, the top ten male and top ten female contestants will be determined. The names and photographs of those dogs will be announced at that time. The second round — the “finals” — will then run until noon on Wednesday, September 1.

The Newtown Bee King & Queen Dogs will be announced in the September 3 issue of The Newtown Bee.

Ballots and accompanying donations can be mailed to or dropped off at The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470. There is a drop slot on the front door of the office, so votes can be dropped off at any hour.

Canine Advocates of Newtown, Inc is an organization whose members volunteer to further the quality of life, safety, and health of the dogs at the Newtown dog pound; assists in the adoption process through advertising, screening, and education; and promotes rescue referrals.

The Newtown Fund is also operated totally by volunteers and funded through donations. The fund gives money to the town’s social services director to provide emergency assistance (heating oil, electricity, kerosene) to Newtown residents; food/clothing vouchers; a perpetual fund for displaced homemakers; and an annual holiday basket program that provides food and gifts for needy local families. The fund also serves as a repository for money collected in fundraising events held by other organizations to benefit individuals in need of medical and other assistance.

The Newtown Tercentennial Commission was established this year to promote the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the town, which will occur in 2005. The commission has been organizing special events to celebrate the purchase of the town’s land in 1705 from the Pohtatuck tribe. The commission is organizing a series of celebratory events that will begin in January with a return of the town’s original deed from Hartford and a formal ball. The tercentennial will be highlighted midyear by a weekend of activities including a fireworks display, a townwide picnic, an old-fashioned baseball game, and more.

The Spay and Neuter Association of Newtown has provided spay and neuter help for cats and dogs in Newtown and surrounding towns for 20 years. The group provides information and/or financial assistance, including required shots. It also has an educational program on the value of spaying and neutering pets.

In 1994, the last time The Bee presented this contest, more than 86,000 votes were received. At 10 cents each, that meant voting raised more than $8,600 for the contest’s sole beneficiary, SNAN.

“It’s been ten years and this was one of the most popular things we’ve ever done,” Bee Publishing Co. publisher R. Scudder Smith said recently. “It involved a tremendous amount of people — those who brought their dogs in for the contest, the staff members who took the photos and kept everything organized, and the people in town who voted for their favorite contestants.

“It was a big thing the last time around. People were rushing in to vote at the last minute,” Mr Smith added.

A total of 175 dogs participated in 1994. The winners that year were an 18-month-old purebred AKC registered Basset hound named Buster and a 14-year-old mixed breed named Cindy.

“People seemed to enjoy seeing the dogs in the parade, so we thought it was time to do this again,” said Mr Smith. “It also gives us an opportunity to raise money for some local organizations.”

This year, in addition to having the King and Queen Dogs ride in the Labor Day Parade (with their owners), the Bee will also honor the dogs who reach the finals. Those dogs and their owners will be invited to walk in the parade behind the King and Queen, creating a royal canine court.