Somerville’s own Koni as a duckling and her husband Frank as “Captain Guido” lead the “Make Way for Ducklings Parade” Sunday. – Photo by William Tauro

By William Tauro

Frank and Koni Palmisano of Somerville’s Winter Hill Yacht Club, were chosen to lead this year’s “Make way for Ducklings Parade” on Mother’s Day in the Boston Public Garden.

Somerville’s own Koni as a duckling and her husband Frank as “Captain Guido” held hands the entire route of the parade being applauded by hundreds of spectators enjoying a sunny Mothers Day.

Both Palmisanos are employees of Boston Duck Tours and enjoy the annual event and have participated in it for many years.

The Friends of the Public Garden host the annual Duckling Day Parade, based on the children’s classic Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey about a pair of mallard ducks who decide to raise their family on the island of the Boston Public Garden lagoon and the family’s adventures getting there.

Duckling Day is an annual Mothers Day event where each year over a thousand children dressed as their favorite characters from the story gather on the Common to enjoy face painting, music making, clowns, and other entertainment before marching through Beacon Hill behind the Harvard Band to the Public Garden.