11am. Margaret Wood and Jan Blomfield gathered themselves, their Pugs and their scattered wits and headed off to the Park armed with all the necessary accoutrements (they hoped) with which to stage the Sylvia Smith “Pugathon”

11.30am.  All set up and ready to go.  Big concern, only twenty Pugs around the Bandstand, it wasn’t going to be a very good “turnout” but then they realised it wasn’t due to start for another thirty minutes.

But then the Pugs just kept coming.  People had come a long way to support the event, many from the Midlands and the North of England, no North-South divide where Pugs are concerned.

12noon and the event got underway.  All the Pugs were given a satin ribbon tied in a bow around their necks in different colours to identify which category they had entered, these were:   

VIP - Very indolent Pug – Red Ribbon.
LAP - Loveable ancient Pug – Yellow Ribbon.
PUP - Participating under pressure Pug – Orange Ribbon.
YAP -Young active Pug - Blue Ribbon.
NAP – Nattily attired Pug – Green Ribbon.
They all looked very smart.

Rules were simple, cheating was actively encouraged on the day.

Susanne Day was mistress of ceremonies, the finest possible choice, full of enthusiasm, rallying and separating all in to their various events.  It has to be said that when organising the Pugathon Jan and Margaret envisaged a fairly sedate affair with Pugs and owners taking strolling around the bandstand at a leisurely pace.  The weather was ideal and what actually happened was quite incredible with the young Pugs and owners of all ages speeding around the bandstand leaving everyone helpless with laughter and casual passers by staring slack jawed in utter amazement.  One lady received a phone call from her husband in Geneva and could not talk to him for laughing.

All the other categories followed the blue ribbon start, the competitive spirit did not diminish.  The last event of the day was a freestyle with Pugs off leads, it was like the charge of the light brigade.

Diplomas were then awarded to participating Pugs, John Smith thanked everyone for their support and presented a bouquet of flowers to the organisers.

All Pugs went home with their own party bags generously donated by Candace Maher-Walsh of Pugs and Kisses, Kings Road.

The whole day was a perfect blend of ideal Pug weather, friendliness and hilarity.  What better way of celebrating Sylvia’s memory and the way she touched us all than with laughter and our darling Pugs.  It truly was a great day out.

M.W