Haole, Ventura’s surfing dog, will ride with Grand Marshal Mary Osborne, champion long boarder and professional surfer, when the annual County Ventura St. Patrick’s Day Parade marches up Main Street for the 29th time in downtown Ventura on Saturday, March 11.

The theme of this year’s parade, which begins in front of Mission San Buenaventura at 10 a.m., is “The Sporting Life: The Games We Play.”

Haole, an 8-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, wowed hundreds of thousands attending the 2017 Rose Parade as well as millions more watching on television with his surfing skills on a float equipped with a wave machine. Haole, whose name is pronounced “Howl-ie” and is owned by John and Kim Murphy, will join Osborne, a Ventura resident, who in addition to being a professional surfer and long boarder, is a women’s sports advocate, environmentalist, writer, model, TV personality and businesswoman.

The whole county will be turning out in green on Main Street. Last year’s parade drew over 90 entries, including floats sponsored by civic groups, nonprofits and local businesses and restaurants; marching bands; car clubs; horses; clowns and the Biggest Green Pig in the World. There also will be high school pep bands, youth groups and fun-loving adult groups entered in the parade.

In the spirit of this year’s parade theme, the organizing committee also encourages Ventura County teams from all sports and from every age group to join in the parade. That includes school teams, Little League and adult league baseball teams, football, softball, soccer and basketball teams. Individual sports enthusiasts such as skateboarders, golfers, bowlers and swimmers also are invited.

This year’s parade judges are: Michael Babbs, superintendent of the Ventura Unified School District; Connie Sthal, representative of Ventura Elks Lodge #1430; Erika Beck, president of California State University Channel Islands; Richard Rush, former president of CSUCI; Sue Georgino of Georgino Development; and James Lockwood, public relations director for the Ventura County Fair and St. Patrick’s Day Parade committee representative.

The County Ventura St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which ends at Laurel Street, is presented by the Ventura Elks Lodge #1430. The event’s committee is accepting entries for the parade. For entry forms or more information about the parade, visit www.venturastpatricksdayparade.com, email Jim Monahan at jim.monahan@att.net or email Nan Drake at nanodrake@aol.com.