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Mostly Cloudy Dogs have their day
Humans give new park high marks
See more photos from the event here.
An on-and-off rain last Saturday didn’t stop more than 100 dogs — and their owners — from inaugurating Valley Stream’s new dog park, which officially opened to the public that morning.
Many months in the making, the facility, near Village Hall, is the first of its kind in Valley Stream. Residents got to check out the park and visit with many pet-related vendors who set up shop in the adjoining parking lot during the five-hour celebration.
“I think this is a great event,” said Richard Infield, leader of the Friends of the Valley Stream Dog Park group, which planned the opening-day festivities along with village officials. “This is the kind of event I was hoping for when we first came up with the idea.”
Dog owners were ecstatic. “I’m so happy,” said Sandra Pachucho, of Valley Stream, who came with her family and their dog, Golden. “I’m so excited. My dog is so big, he needs to exercise more.”
Pachucho said that Golden was a little shy on the first day, but she expects him to eventually interact more with other dogs. She plans to bring him to the park on a regular basis.
Nia Dominguez came with her dogs, Diesel and Lola, a pair of German shepherds. “We love it,” she said. “We’ve been waiting for this. We have a nice-size yard but there’s nothing like coming to the park to socialize with other dogs.”
Dominguez said she liked the location of the park, and added that the layout was done very tastefully. The water fountain, benches and equipment for the dogs are all nice touches, she said.
Frank Vazquez, who came with his son, Joseph, and their dog, Trinket, said it’s good to have a dog park close to home, explaining that he used to have to take his dog to parks in Queens. Vazquez wants to make at least one trip to the Valley Stream park every week, he said, and likes the separate fenced-off areas for large and small dogs.
Several Boy Scouts from Troop 369 helped with the construction of the park, leading community service projects for their Eagle rank. Their projects included a shelter, benches, obstacles for the dogs to negotiate, a storage shed, informational kiosks and murals. The five Scouts who came up with the projects were recognized during the opening ceremony at noon, which concluded with a ribbon cutting.
