Dressed in a bright red Santa suit and donning a long white beard, Bloomington Parks and Recreation Community Events Coordinator Bill Ream posed for photos with dozens of dogs on Sunday at Switchyard Park. The Yappy Howl-idays event gave Bloomington dog owners the opportunity to get the perfect Christmas card photo of their pups posed next to “Santa Paws.”
The fourth annual Yappy Howl-idays event is one of several holiday activities that Bloomington Parks and Recreation holds. It also hosts a holiday farmers market, Skate with Santa and Sensory-Friendly Photos with Santa, accommodated for children with sensory issues to meet Santa in a stress-free environment.
Out of the holiday events, Yappy Howl-idays is historically a success.
“In Bloomington, everybody loves their dogs, and the dog events are really well attended, so we’ve been doing it ever since,” Ream said. “There’s been a few years that it was pretty cold where we didn’t get a whole lot of people, but for the most part, we usually get that 25 (person) range.”
Although the event has been held for multiple years, this was attendee Gwen Fisher’s first time, and she brought along her Bernedoodle, Maple.
“We come to a lot of the park's events with her,” Fisher said. “I wanted to get her picture with Santa Claus so that we could put it on our Christmas cards and mail them out to all our loved ones.”
Fisher said that Bloomington is very dog-friendly and said that both Switchyard Park and Ferguson Dog Park are excellent facilities to bring furry friends.
“There’s so many trails, which I know is primarily because Bloomington is such a bike place, but it’s still really nice to be able to have so many easily accessible trails to take your dog on,” she said.
Non-resident Danielle Toner is in Bloomington often to spend time with family. Toner was unaware that the Yappy Howl-idays event was occurring; she was just going outside with her dog, Micky – named after Mick Jagger, when the pair stumbled across the event.
As well as dog parks, Toner also said she enjoys walking the biking trails and exploring Griffy Lake Nature Preserve and Jackson Creek Park.
“(Bloomington) has good infrastructure, and it’s always adding to the parks,” Toner said. “I’m a real outdoors person.”
The event kicked off at 1 p.m., with dogs sprinting into the park’s gates to greet a costumed Ream with excitement and slobber. Some dogs even leapt onto his lap in a flurry of fur, as if reuniting with an old friend.
After being made aware of the event, Toner went to check out the festive scene with Micky bounding in front of her. A few of the dogs were matching with Santa, sporting jingle bell collars and little Santa suits.
Ream has been working with Bloomington Parks for 15 years, with plenty of events and volunteer experience under his belt. He said he is glad he’s able to provide a little bit of holiday fun for Bloomington residents and visitors alike.
“I appreciate being with the parks, I appreciate how much it’s appreciated and how the park itself is trying to be ahead of the curve, so to speak, and trying to get trends and do fun things,” Ream said.
