Golden Jubilee to mark 11th year in Dewey Beach

The 11th Annual Golden Jubilee will be held in Dewey Beach Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27 and 28, to celebrate golden retrievers and support the Morris Animal Foundation’s Golden Retriever Lifetime Study.

Hundreds of golden retrievers and their families will enjoy a weekend gathering that kicks off at 6:30 p.m., Friday, with a Gold Rush Parade through Rehoboth that begins at Lake Gerar, winds past downtown shops, galleries, and eateries, then ends up at Salty Paws on Rehoboth Avenue for an ice cream social at 7:30 p.m.

Participants will meet for the Golden Beach Romp at 10 a.m., Saturday, on VanDyke Avenue oceanside. Fundraiser T-shirts will be available for purchase and pickup. Grooming demonstrations will begin at 9 a.m. To sign up for mini photo sessions and other activities and attractions, golden owners can find Dewey's Golden Jubilee on Facebook.

Mama Maria's in Dewey Beach will host a yappy hour from 4 to 7 p.m., Saturday, followed by a memorial bonfire at 7 p.m. on Van Dyke Avenue beach where members can honor their pups who have gone to the Rainbow Bridge. All events are free and open to all friendly pups and their families.

The event supports a great cause, the Morris Foundation’s Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, one of the largest, most comprehensive prospective canine health studies in the United States. The study’s purpose is to identify the nutritional, environmental, lifestyle and genetic risk factors for cancer and other diseases in dogs. Each year, with the help of veterinarians and dog owners, the foundation collects health, environmental and behavioral data on more than 3,000 enrolled golden retrievers.

For more information, go to deweysgoldenjubilee.com.