In Minneapolis, hundreds gather every year for the Wedge Cat Tour, a walking tour where crowds view neighborhood cats as they sit in their windows or on their front porches. It’s been an exercise in community, bringing people out for a day of cat watching, strangers taking joy in cat moms and dads propping up their pets like Simba in The Lion King. Walkers even make signs: “Show Us Your Cats.” It’s a bit ridiculous, but it’s a simple, fun event that’s gone viral enough to spread to Memphis. Indeed, inspired by the Minnesotans, this year, the Cooper-Young Community Association (CYCA) will put on their very first Cooper-Young Cat Walk.
Amanda Yarbro-Dill, executive director of the CYCA, says the Cooper-Young Cat Walk has been about a year in the making. A few months ago, she put out a neighborhood-wide request for people who would be interested in showing off their cats. “Something like 30 people responded to it, which for me is pretty good engagement,” she says. “In the last week, I’ve had to look at all of all of those houses, see where they are, and then kind of plan a route to hit up as many as possible in the space of about an hour-long walk.”
Yarbro-Dill will be leading the tour. “Some people will bring their cats out if their cats have that kind of temperament,” she says. “Everybody submitted facts about their cat.”
Some cats have been described as “attention whores [who] would love it if people came to see them,” and then there’s Pom Pom who “loves all the ladies.”
“I’m hoping along the route we happen to come across some random cats, and that would be just the extra cherry on top of the Sunday of the Cat Walk,” Yarbro-Dill adds.
Overall, she says, “It’s supposed to be a light-hearted day, free, and a way for people to come out with their friends. And I don’t know, if two people end up meeting at this Cat Walk and go on to build a friendship, I feel like my work here is done. …
“There’s always something going on in Cooper-Young. The CYCA always has something going on, and people can just follow us on social media [@cooperyoungassociation] to see what that is.”
Cooper-Young Cat Walk, Cooper-Young Gazebo, 959 South Cooper Street, Sunday, June 1, 2 p.m., Free.