ERIN – Organizers and town officials say the inaugural Erin Pride event at McMillan Park on June 22 was a remarkable success.
The event was hosted by the Erin Pride Committee and organized by members Tracey Wallace and Laura Bannayan.
Due to weather issues, the schedule was cut short by four hours, causing problems with the planned entertainment.
“The weather wasn’t super cooperative unfortunately … but everybody was really good sports about it,” Bannayan told the Advertiser.
Events like the cake decorating competition and story time with drag queen Sapphyre Poison were “so much fun”, Bannayan added.
“Poison read cute books to kids about different kinds of diverse families,” Bannayan said.
Many families showed up to the event with young children.
Bannayan is hopeful next year’s Erin Pride event will be “bigger and better”.
The committee is asking those who attended and those who did not, to fill out a survey at erinpride.com to help improve future events.
“We’re already getting good feedback,” said Bannayan.
“We definitely need to find a way to engage the teenager-to-young-adult crowd; we had a lot of things for younger kids.”
Bannayan is hoping to reach out to local high schools and “find out what pride means to the students”.
“I would love to stay on the committee and see many more Prides to come,” Bannayan added.
Mayor Michael Dehn attended the event, as did councillors Jamie Cheyne and John Brennan and county councillor Jeff Duncan.
“While I was there, people were very happy; there was no protestors and no hostilities,” said Dehn.
He thanked the organizers for doing a great job.
“I was really happy the community came together and that there was a lot of acceptance,” added Dehn.
Asked about the event coming back next year, Dehn noted staff and council would be “very supportive” of it.
Guest speaker chef Pam Fanjoy thanked organizer Tracey Wallace for her “unwavering perseverance and determination” in recent years to make Pride happen.
“There had been a lot of pushback from the previous town council,” said Bannayan.
“This year’s council was incredibly supportive; they were wonderful.”
