The 30th annual Doo Dah Parade is scheduled to start at noon on Saturday, April 11 in Ocean City, NJ.
The parade route starts at Sixth Street and travels downtown Asbury Avenue to 12th Street, then turns to the Boardwalk at 12th Street and finishes at the Ocean City Music Pier (Boardwalk between Eighth and Ninth streets). There, the parade honors its grand marshal and holds the annual PieAsco that honors Soupy Sales. This event features folks sitting in grandstands and smooshing each other with shaving cream pies, the kind Soupy used on his syndicated TV Show.
Entry is free. It is advisable to bring a towel. Folk singer Scott Schell will introduce his Doo Dah song and there will be a remembrance of Joe Franklin the New York radio and TV legend, a former grand marshal of the parade.
The parade’s grand marshal this year is 90-year-old Momma Dietz, the CEO of Dietz and Watson, also the company’s endearing and popular spokesperson.
Ocean City honors Momma and her company because they have sponsored the parade since the beginning. The back of the Doo Dah T Shirts, which they provide, features a big Dietz and Watson logo with the slogan, “I was a Hotdog for a Day, In Ocean City, N.J.” These shirts are given to all participants in the event. This year there will be a photo of Momma Dietz on the front.
There will be 600 basset hounds in the parade plus a contingent of canines from the Ocean City Dog Park. Unusual Brigades such as the Shore Points Roller Derby gals and the Ghost Busters Contingent will entertain plus lots of humorous contingents, costumed characters, bands and floats. To join the Doo Dah Parade, call (609) 399-6111 or email msoifer@hotmail.com. All participants receive a souvenir T Shirt and Dietz & Watson hotdog lunch.
The hilarious Basset Hound Olympics were postponed on Friday and will be rescheduled to go off after the parade on Saturday. The event includes hounds competing in obstacle course, hurdling, sprinting and other events. The Games will be held on the practice field on the beach block of Sixth Street — between the boardwalk and Ocean City High School. It’s free to watch. Read more.
— News release from Ocean City Public Relations Director Mark Soifer
