Bernese Mountain dogs, or Berners as they are affectionately called by their owners, are aesthetically beautiful dogs with delightfully calm personalities. Berner owners are passionate about their pets and often find companionship with other owners of
the breed.
Back in the early 90’s, a young Ridgfield couple, who lived on Main Street, often walked their Berner in town. They soon had a few other dogs join them and the idea of a Bernese Mountain Dog Parade was launched. A few years later, actor Giancarlo Esposito moved to Ridgefield with his wife at the time, Joy McManigal. As owners of Berners, they took over the Berner Parade and expanded the event to be a much larger and elaborate affair – at one time, even Martha Stewart attended!
When Patti Ballard and her husband became involved, the parade had grown to almost 350 dogs! Owners from Massachusetts to Maryland made the trip to Ridgefield to meet and walk with other Berners. “It was an absolute joy,” says Ballard. “All those beautiful dogs together in our town. The merchants of town loved the event as well.”
Ballard and her husband unfortunately lost their last Berner a few years ago and the parade fell by the wayside….until this year. Sarah Greve and Meredith Sibern, who resides in Ridgefield (and their Berners) became friends through the tri-state-berner meet-ups that Greve organized. They hatched the idea of bringing back the parade and spoke to Ballard for advice. “I told them to scale it down to make it easier,” says Ballard. “It should be all about the dogs.”
On Sunday, October 6th from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, Bernese Mountain dogs and the owners from all over are welcome to meet at St. Stephen’s courtyard at 353 Main Street. There will be a blessing of the dogs by Reverend Dr. Whitney Altopp and then the dogs will take a “short walk” because, “Berners don’t like to walk too far,” jokes Sibern.
For more information, please reach out on Instagram
@tristateberners
