Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the people and rescues making a difference in the lives of animals. Today's guest is Robin Beaulieu. She's on the board of directors for the Mystic Krewe of Barkus, and she's also their volunteer coordinator. Hi Robin, how are you?

Hey, Dixie. How are you?

I'm great. I'm ready to talk about Barkus.

Well, I'm excited to talk about Barkus, one of my favorite topics ever. This is like my 25th year with them. So, we got a lot of history there.

So what can you tell us for people who don't know what Barkus is? Tell us what Barkus is.

Start at the beginning. Okay, about 33 years ago Tom Wood who is the owner of Wood's enterprises Was with a couple of his workers and friends Ken French and a couple of other gentlemen I'll have to get you their names in a minute and They had started a margaret orr fan club. She was a brand new weather lady here in new orleans She was a fan Unlike anything anyone had seen in the weather before, she was very vivacious, she had this red hair, and super charming. So she had a fan club, and the fan club would meet at the Queen's Pub, which is upstairs at Good Friends, a bar down on Dauphine and St. Anne in the French Quarter. Every week Tom Wood would bring his little mixed terrier named Jojo, female Jojo McWood, and Jojo did not like a lot of people other than Tom. She was known to be a barker, A growler and an ankle biter. So as you can imagine the other people in the club were always really Not very happy to see Jojo and one day they were just complaining and complaining about Jojo and Tom Why do you bring this dog? She's a terror and he said I am going to fix all of you I am starting a dog parade in the french quarter and Jojo is going to be the captain of that parade for life and Barkus was born the year after they got the permit from the city and at first it was a very ragtag group. And it quickly grew and grew the first year they said, okay, we can charge people for this. So they really set it up as a nonprofit and they shared a portion of the profits with the Louisiana SPCA, which. Okay. This was 32 years ago, so this was pre animal rescue, pre, you know, pre all of that. So they were pretty much the only game in town, and since then the parade has grown from about 20 participants to over a thousand if you count people and dogs. We usually have about 700 dogs, 10 brass bands, 5 marching krewes, 2 school bands, and we parade 16 blocks in the French Quarter. The Sunday, which is the Sunday prior to Bacchus Sunday, is Bacchus Sunday, and we roll rain or shine, always. Generally, our themes have to do with movies, but we don't usually do, after some big rain outs with Titanic themes and things like that, we don't really do boat or water based themes. Anymore. So that's the beginning. And here, 32 years later, we are bigger than ever, really exploded post COVID. And we've given out, oh, probably about 1. 7 million to animal rescue shelters and animal related. Causes through the Gulf South region.

Now you do have a king and queen of Barkus too, right?

Yes. So, generally the king is very well to do parents. They can be any breed, mixed breed, purebred. We don't discriminate based on anything. Color, race, creed, where you came from. We don't care. It's the king's largest. That actually funds many of the parade activities and our donations. And the queen is usually a rescue. We like to have a good story. They don't necessarily need to be as wealthy, let's say, as the king. The king, as we said, the king's largesse is really the, helps us to put on the parade. It's quite an undertaking, costs a lot of money. And, of course, it's really important for us that, that. The maximum amount of profits can go to support animal rescue in any shape or form

now for choosing the queen. Can people, submit a rescue story the queen or how do y'all pick the queen?

Yes, they can nominate. It can be nominated from the general public. The board generally gets together and we have several meetings about it. We look at stories, we look at history. There's a lot of factors that go into it. So that's generally how the queen is chosen.

And what is the theme for this year's parade?

This year is vanity fur. Barkus does the runway.

With these themes when you have people signing up their dog to go in the parade you encourage them to dress as the theme?

Well, we try to make our themes very general and as broad as we possibly can A lot of people do dress with the theme a lot of people will dress with current events, you know, post Katrina, we had a lot of FEMA and Blue Roof parody costumes, just like you'd expect in the city of like New Orleans.

I can only imagine Do you have any kind of prizes? People compete for like best costume or?

We don't currently but that is something we're thinking of bringing to the party out on Armstrong Park I don't know that it'll be this year. But there was at one time many years ago a costume contest, where they would get a small prize really but post covid The parade has just gotten so big that we just haven't been able To fit that in, but I think we're going to start doing some additional programming at Armstrong Park. You know, we have from 10:30 a. m. to 2 p. m. That's when the parade rolls and it seems like a long time, but it really gets quite crowded at the park and there's a lot of people walking around. So it's something we're going to consider in the future.

Now, as far as walking the parade, you said it's 16 blocks. How long does it take to pretty much complete the parade?

Once you roll out, if you're at the beginning of the parade finishes in about an hour and 20 minutes. The end of the parade, once they clear the park, it takes them, so let's say the parade starts at 2. The front people will finish about 3: 30. It takes us about an hour and 20 minutes to completely clear the park. Those people at the very back, once they get out, it will take them about an hour and 20 minutes as well. The But we usually wrap up the parade by 4:30 starts at 2 promptly at 2 PM. We usually finish up about 4:30-4:45.

And they do have like food vendors and stuff too at the event?

Yes, we have food vendors We have animal related products. We have pet cetera there. We have jefferson feed there there have been years where we've had some of the Clydesdale horses at the event we've had pigs We've had a cat who was a grand marshal one year a lot of people don't realize it, but For many years, we had cats actually in the parade. The gentleman who used to bring his cats would have them on a float. It's been a few years since he's been, but our membership is open to any type of animal, believe it or not.

Man, we need to bring back a cat float.

Hey, bring it back. Dixie We'll find room for you,

So how do people sign up if they wanna get their dog in the parade

they go to www.keweofbarcus.org and I'll spell that www.keweofbarkus.org. And I do want to talk about a few things on the route. So when we leave the park generally the king and queen and some of the royalty are toasted at our VIP reviewing stand, which is at the corner. It's actually at Good Friends. We have the setup upstairs in Queen's Pub, which is where Barkis was born and germinated. And we generally used to have Angela Hill. She's retired. But we still have our Margaret or she is our grand Dam of Barkus and always will be, and she is usually on the street with a microphone, talking to people, talking about the costumes. Again, they do toast and different presentations at that location.

And rescues, they do bring in some of their volunteers, right. To help work the parade route. Yes.

So to run the parade, it takes 200 or more volunteers. It's an enormous production. And what we do is, we learned a long time ago that we needed these volunteers. So how can we get such a massive amount of volunteers? So we actually tie our donations in to the furnishing of those volunteers. So any rescue Provided that they furnish us some volunteers, it can be as many as 1 to 80 and they will receive a donation based on that participation.

And some of the things that these, volunteers do because I was there a couple of years, right? Yes. So, they tend to,, Yeah, I know, right? Well, I was there one year when it was a storm and raining.

Yeah, but it was fun. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

But they can expect to, It was a lot of fun. to do things hold corners, hold traffic at corners, So, I remember one year I was doing that.

Actually, I think it's going to be a little different this year. We're going to have some heightened security, so there shouldn't be any need for our volunteers to be holding corners. That is something we pay the police very well to do. And I believe that this year where it's going to be different, but some of the things the volunteers do and what our greatest need is as krewe marshals. And so they actually walk along the parade. They walk with our participants. They try to encourage our participants to keep up. And at a steady pace, and they also try to keep the crowds on the street clear so that our parade can proceed. Normally people don't realize just how many. Viewers we get it can in some places, the viewing crowd can be 8 people deep. So it does get quite crowded. We do have barricades up at certain areas. But I do think security is. It's definitely going to be a whole lot different from this year forward. And I think I'd be remiss if I didn't say you know, we were supposed to be announcing our king in early January, and of course we took a pause. And push back the announcement of our king due to the attack and the tragedy that was suffered by you know the city of new orleans and Our hearts went out to all of the families and friends and everyone affected by that And I think we're going to have some element in the parade this year that is going to acknowledge and honor That particular event and that loss. But back to the volunteers, I apologize. Got off topic But so they essentially walk they will sometimes push the floats. We do have a very small amount of floats Five to seven we try to put four strong boys We do have a football team from country day that has been really great about helping us with that You We have banners, we have signs, we have lots of elements in the parade, so the volunteers are really our lifeblood. And They receive a t shirt which can only be received get gotten by volunteering for the parade

now when the teenagers volunteer to are they able to get like volunteer credit for school.

Yes, we are 501 C3 and we are we do offer those service hours and a lot of the schools have been really great. We work with several different schools country day being the biggest one. But we're really very happy. I think that the teenagers just bring a joy and a spirit to our parade that just adds a tremendous amount.

Now, all traditional Mardi Gras krewes do have a ball. So does Barkus have a ball?

Barkus does have a ball. We have our ball at the Windsor Court Hotel, so it's quite a nice ball. We take over the top floor and just as in a regular Mardi Gras krewe, that is when our king and queen Have a promenade into the room a couple of hours into the big party. We arrange for the King and Queen to come in. We do some presentations. We talk about the King and Queen and generally as of late we've had a nice video that gives a little more in depth history on the King and Queen. We found that people sometimes have a lot of questions. They want to know what's your favorite thing. What do you like to do? So we think that brings an element to the ball where the people can feel even closer to their royalty.

Now, can anybody attend the ball?

Anyone can attend the ball. We, you can purchase tickets on our website. Generally, it's only a human event. We will have a very few animals there, and they're all going to be royalty. We might have a duke or a duchess, and definitely, as I said, it will be the presentation of the king and queen. They're only seen, this is their first real public coming out, is at the ball. We do a small event, On the Friday before, which is at Galatoire's where the king and queen are toasted and fed lamb chops and some very special water. But that is a small private media event. We also unveil our poster at that time. And the public coming out will be the night of the ball, which is that night, always the Friday night before the Sunday parade.

Rescue groups also participate in the parade they build floats and those kind of things as well.

In lots of ways, we have the rescue groups participate any rescue group that has given us volunteers the year before will receive a donation at the ball. We do provide two free tickets for each rescue that will be donating to so that they get to attend and really be celebrated. It's one of the times they will be celebrated in public. Also, in the parade, we allow for different rescue groups to March. They can bring up to 10 dogs and they in addition to providing us volunteers will also have that opportunity to bring adoptable dogs and many of the rescues have really used it. As a marketing tool and they'll make little business cards and hand them out and lots of dogs will get adopted just from being seen at Barkas. So we're happy to support that aspect as well.

Can you list some of the rescues that are involved?

Sure. I do want to say it's not just dogs. We also support cat groups. We support. a bird rescue, birds of prey and other types of birds. We support not just shelters locally, but as I said in the gulf region, there have been times when we've supported shelters out of north Louisiana, Mississippi. It just depends. I mean, sometimes these small shelters might come into the a big case where they're not going to have enough resources. And it will come to our attention and we'll make donations to those groups. We also do support a bunny group as well. And so I'm gonna, I'll go in alphabetical order. That's how I have them. Animal Rescue New Orleans, Humane Society of Louisiana, Jefferson SPCA, Louisiana SPCA, Gulf Coast Doberman Rescue, Zeus' Rescue, Gulf South Golden Retriever Rescue, Country Day, Take Paws, Big Easy Animal Rescue, The Inner Pop, Trampled Rose Rescue, Kismet Pet Adoptions Magic Happens Bunny Rescue, Spay Mart Kitten Program, and Wings of Hope. That's just some, that's a partial list.

If a rescue reached out to you, would new rescues be able to participate as well?

Yes, they can participate. This is the year they would furnish us with volunteers and then they will be invited to next year's ball and receive a donation at that time.

Okay, now the rescues that do bring the dogs in the parade, do they have good success with adoptions?

Yes there was a time when I was heavily involved with the Jefferson Parish Animal Shelter, and I will tell you, we've done so many adoptions the week after because they met the dog at that event, and they just fell in love and so they followed up the week after, and yes, it's a great adoption event.

So now you went through the history of Barkus. How is it that you became involved in Barkus?

I my first official involvement the first couple of years was through my mentor and one of the animal, a long time animal activist, Charlotte Bass Lily And I used to go and help her stuff envelopes and stuff. It was when we did things a whole different way than we do today. But after a couple of years, she said, I think you really need to be on the board. So she nominated me to be on the board and then post Katrina is really when. I became most active because we lost several board members. So, you know, they lost everything. They were not in New Orleans. We had a parade to put on. So that's when I jumped into a many different roles. And currently, although I'm the official volunteer coordinator On day of I'm also the captain of the parade separate from Tom Woods and Jojo McWood who although the first Jojo is long gone there is a Jojo McWood every year leading the parade. I am the on the ground captain putting the elements together and ensuring that everything is in its proper place and the lineup is followed and the parade gets out of the park.

You know, you said that for the attendance to have Barkus that it'll be like eight people deep. Usually, do you know about how many people that is that would attend,

you know, with the police have not given us any numbers, but I can tell you it's many thousands that attend the parade and they are there for Barkus It's the highlight of their year. There are certain residents that have huge parties. There are certain water stations. It's the bars. I mean, it's really an event that has to be seen to an experience to be believed.

I totally agree If you're going to come to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, you have to go to Barkus

We are the largest dog parade, I would say, in the universe. And although there may be pretenders, we are the original. And I believe because of our location and our history and the different elements like Margaret, or the school bands, the brass bands. I just really, I'm so proud every year of the product that we're putting out on this parade. And one thing I also. We've seen this parade have Such an impact. A lot of times our kings and queens come in and the families, for whatever reason, may have just really built this bond with their dog. And sometimes the king's family are very wealthy people. And for them, They start out, they can be a bit stiff, little stiff upper lip, but by the time they get to parade day, after living through the preceding week and all of the events and the ball, and then these people screaming for their dog, it just can really completely change their life. And we have seen it and we have some very loyal people to us We like to say that once you participate in Barkus, it's hard to get away just because it's such a special event And it has really meant a lot to past royalty and past participants People prepare all year long for their costumes their homemade floats, etc And of course this year is a huge year for us we're super excited about our king. Our queen has not been named yet. She will be named shortly before the parade, the week leading up to the parade. But our king, much like Rex, our king has been announced and it's Master P. D. Benson, the dog of Gale and Tom Benson. So we're super excited to have that type of Involvement with someone who is so many philanthropic and now she, to see how she is really supporting us and supporting the animals is really a special thing for our city, I think.

Well, I can tell you, having been to many Barkus parades, yes, I can agree with you that people will come outta their shells, right? So you see 'em come out in their costumes and it is, it's just something you have to see, you know, you have to be there. You have to see it. But not just people, so I noticed like some of the dogs that are for adoption that are walking the route, you know, you get to see the animals personality, right? So rather than being, in a kennel somewhere for adoption, and you see them on the parade route, you know, that's when you get to really see. How the animal reacts from other animals and I think you can really see what animal you want, you know That's just my opinion.

I agree phil that's a really great point and one of the things I like to say is like When a dog has been through something like that a parade like that and has had that experience It's such a great experience for those shelter animals that it's impacting them. And like you said, you really do get to see a different side of them. It's a very happy event. They're not behind, you know, in a cage and they're really able to be a dog for that day. So that's really special.

Yeah, and the dogs definitely get excited, too.

They do and you know, it's really amazing to me that we can have that literally Thousands of dogs when you include all the dogs that are lining the streets to watch the parade as well, and it's very rare that we have any issues between any dogs very rare. I think they everyone gets swept up in this amazing day of food Fun and love and support. It's really something very special.

Now, do you ever have any kind of issues with dogs getting lost?

There have been a couple of times where some dogs were running around and the great thing is that we always have shelter people there and they know exactly what to do. It's nothing but animal people and we're always able to reunite. A couple of times it had to be on the Monday instead of that day but yeah we've had a few get lost, not many. You'd be surprised considering the number of dogs that are out there.

Now, do you still have a need for volunteers for this year? Always.

Always. Because we are all volunteer run group, we are, we just opened up the volunteer roles. So we sign up our volunteers. This is about the time we start 3 to 4 weeks before the parade. And we actually allow volunteers to sign up day of we prefer. That they sign up through the website early, but we do allow them to sign up as late as day of our krewe marshal position, which, again, is the most 1 in demand. We have now moved up the time we used to have it from 1 to 5, but this year we're asking them to get there just a little bit earlier at 12:30.

Okay, and is the only volunteer position is that the krewe marshal, or could you use anybody working in Armstrong park as well?

Well, we used to have a greater need in Armstrong Park, but what we found is we have the same people that return year after year. So we do ask that people sign up for the Krewe Marshall and if they want to note somewhere in their form that the. A earlier time would suit them. I'll try to set that up with something, but many of those positions are filled by the same people, year after year. And because we're dealing with merchandise and registration packets, et cetera, it does help to have those volunteers who have a level of familiarity with it.

Okay, and is there anything else you would like to share about Barkus the rescue efforts or anything else related to the event?

Well, yes, I would like to talk about something we're going to do that we've never done before. We haven't even released any media on it, but that'll come next week. On Saturday, February 15th, at the Dat Dog location on Ferrett Street, we are going to do a public event. Meet the Royals. We will have the Barcus 2024 King and Queen and a few of our Dukes and Duchesses. We're going to have a DJ with some music, a performance by the Weather Girls, and it's a fundraiser, all food and drink that's sold. Between 1 p. m. and 4 p. m. and actually I think that dog's doing it the whole day. They're going to make a nice donation to Barkus and it's an opportunity for people to come and meet our kings and queens and dukes and duchesses and get a closer look and a few sniffs and pets maybe a kiss or two.

That's great.

We are asking. Yes, and we are asking that people not bring their dogs unless it's a service animal, just because this is a restaurant and there will be food and drink being consumed and served.

Can you give us the website again?

Yes. Well, why don't I go over all the details. The parade is Sunday, February 23rd. Party at Armstrong Park starts at. 10 30 a. m. There are many ways you can participate. You don't have to walk the parade if your dog is older You can just sit up in our vip tent If you purchase that you can go to our reviewing stand And you're welcome to just come enjoy the music and the sites that we will have in the park The website is www. kreweofbarkus org We do spell Krewe New Orleans baby. It's www.kreweofbarkus.org. Okay,

thank you. And I'm gonna include your volunteer link too in the description. Okay, so that way, in case anybody wants to volunteer the link will be there so they can go ahead and sign up.

Okay. Awesome. Sounds great.

And I want to add, I just looked at the website and I'm looking at a photo of the Barkus poster. So, I like to collect things, right? So, anyone that wants to. Buy one of these posters. I would definitely jump on the website. Take a look at it because it's a good looking poster this year So I really like it well,

i'm glad you brought that up philip our posters are one of a kind done by Matt Renard through the renard gallery He is also the vice president of our group and has been a huge supporter from almost from day one Also this year we don't have our merchandise up yet but It will be coming up soon. We're offering a lot of different merchandise that we haven't offered before. Instead of just our parade day t shirt, we're going to be doing a Barkas Sunday t shirt. We're going to be selling flags. We are working on cups and special Barkas logo beads that are going to be really cute. A whole different type of bead than we've done before and we're super excited about the new additions.

Well, we're going to be there. We love walking the parade as Krewe marshals.

Okay, great. Sign up the girl. I'm gonna go sign up. We'll be looking for those Spaymart kitten foster volunteers. We need them.

Okay, yeah, and then we actually started a rescue too, so we have a rescue. We're building a sanctuary. Yeah. So we're the unwanted feline organization. So, but we still work with Spaymart as well. So,

okay. Well, that's okay. Put your name in girl.

We're looking forward Barkus. Like it is the best Mardi Gras parade. Definitely the best.

Okay. I love it. Thank you so much. Really, this was wonderful to catch up with you guys, and I'm looking forward to seeing you in just a couple of weeks.

Yep. Looking forward to seeing you too.

Okay. We'll see you then. Thank you all so much. All

right. Goodbye.

All right. Bye bye.

And that's all the time we have for today's episode. If you are in animal rescue, or if you know someone that has a story that should be told, please contact us. We would love to have you or them on the show Thanks for listening, and please join us next week as we continue to explore the world of animal rescue.