Pets (and people) brave first snow for costume parade

Hot dogs were in short supply as snow and high winds whipped through Saturday's Randhurst Village Fall Festival Pet Parade in Mount Prospect.

In costumes running the gamut from superheroes and movie characters to firefighters and spiders, dozens of pooches and their human companions marched through the shopping center hoping to win first prize.

That award eventually went to Palatine couple Jay Nagle and Lindsay Schubel Nagle, who along with Lindsay's parents, Pat and Linda Schubel, and their combined five dogs - Rose, Daisy, Emma, Duncan and Spritz - were decked out as characters from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

"It's hard to keep hold of all our golden tickets in this wind," lamented Schubel Nagle before the parade. "It'll be worth it."

The pet parade was sponsored by the Daily Herald and the winner received a grooming package from PetSmart.

Daily Herald Vice President of Marketing Eileen Brown was one of three judges. She also helped hand out some of the goody bags to early arrivals and got a sneak peek at some of the contestants.

"I'm looking for imagination obviously, and I like it when the pet owners and their charges are coordinated," she said. "I like it when the whole family is in on the fun."

Nearly 100 pets participated in the parade that snaked through Randhurst Village's sidewalks.

Lori Hilgendorf of Wheeling said the two young boys she nannies, 8-year-old Vivek Mydam and 3-year-old Avan Mydam of Buffalo Grove, asked a few days ago if they could dress her dog up and wear their own Halloween costumes when she watched them Saturday. Her 10-year-old cattle dog Ace was sporting a Robin costume.

"We went through several websites and saw lots of costumes, but eventually settled on Robin because they guaranteed overnight delivery," she said. "I kind of liked the striped jailbird costume we could have gotten the most though. There were surprisingly a lot of options."