Views from the Shore
By Brian Cahill
A few weeks ago, Somers Point-Community First and the Somers Point Business Association joined together to present Community day, highlighted by the return of the Show Us Your Paws parade and the third annual Beauty & the Leash pageant. Beauty was on full display. The weather was beautiful, and of course, each of the contestants was beautiful in their own way.
There was a moment that perfectly captured the feel of the day. There was a radio remote set up by 96.9FM and their morning show host Eddie Davis. Davis (who did an awesome job as the event emcee) needed a power source to plug into. It took a little longer to find one than we wanted to, and the music was delayed past the scheduled start time of 10 am. A friend of mine turned to me with some folks around and said “Brian, you are calm. Why aren’t you stressing about the music not starting yet? I turned to him and said, it’s ok. The dogs, who are the stars of our event, can’t tell time.” People laughed, and soon the power hook up happened and the parade began as “Who let the dogs out?” played on the speakers.
I think the true beauty of the Beauty & the Leash pageant was realized in the simple nature of the event: no agenda, nothing to monetize or produce, no tweets, no speeches. It was just members of the community getting together to spend a morning sharing their love for their dogs. Everyone was talking, laughing, smiling, and enjoying a moment away from social media and the constant on-the-go stress we all feel in our daily lives. It was the kind of moment that most of us don’t take the time to experience much anymore. I’m glad I did and I know that everyone who was there did too.
Somers Point-Community First and the Somers Point Business Association thank the generous owners of the Grilled Cheese & Crabcake Company in Somers Point for donating the prizes to both winners, and the volunteers at Beacon Animal Rescue for their help and participation.
Brian Cahill is the Director of Marketing for Shore Medical Center. He is also on the Board of the Somers Point Business Association, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at Stockton University, and is a founding member of Somers Point-Community First, a local volunteer organization
