How long been volunteering for PRIDE?
Scott: 9 Years. Rob: This is my 5th PRIDE as a volunteer, second as co-chair. Ed: This is my 6th year. Corey: A long, long time.... hmm… 6 or 7 years I think.
How did you first get involved in PRIDE?
Scott: About 9 years ago, while working at Waterworks Pub, we thought it would be a good idea to bring a Pop Act into the Club as a fundraiser for Capital PRIDE. To cover the cost of the Act, we needed some more corporate sponsors, so I brought in our first Liquor & Beer sponsors and raised enough money to have our first national artist not only at the Waterworks Fundraiser, but also as the featured act at the Capital PRIDE Festival. This went so well, it turned into years of securing corporate sponsorships to slowly grow the level of our entertainment and at the Capital PRIDE Festival.
Rob: I had just moved back to the area after briefly living with family in Ohio and wanted to get involved in the community. This seemed like a good first step.
WHAT STEERS THEIR PRIDE:
Ed: As a way to repay the Center for the support they gave our oldest daughter. Corey: A friend of mine suggested I become involved and I took her up on it.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to volunteer or otherwise help out the Community?
Scott: There is so much to do and so many different ways that people can help throughout the year, from small things that take up very little time, to larger long term volunteer commitments. Just take the time and reach out to see how best you can help. It’s definitely worth the effort and a great way to meet new people.
Rob: Think about what you like and what you’re good at, and use those skills or activities to give back. Not every volunteer activity is the same so don’t be discouraged if one type of volunteering activity doesn’t appeal to you - try something else!
Ed: Working with people gives you a great feeling about yourself, it can do wonders not only for yourself but for those around you.There are many ways you can and should become a volunteer for the Community. And you must realize that the “Community” includes you as well, be you LGBTQA. Corey: Jump right in, be yourself, have fun and pay it forward!
What is the best part of working on your aspect of PRIDE?
Scott: The best part of working on PRIDE for me is helping to organize a community to work together to not only secure enough funding for the Capital PRIDE Entertainment, but to see the result of all that effort in the faces of the tens of thousands of people cheering and singing along to songs they have heard on the radio for years.
Rob: Each event between the kickoff and parade is in essence its own little burst of PRIDE, with its own background and personality. Some are for celebration, others for reflection, and still others to bring us closer together to one another. The best part of chairing events is getting to see the forest and the trees - helping with each individual event and also making sure that we have a little bit of everything for everyone. Ed: I am a quite person by nature, PRIDE allows me to get out and meet and work with some great people. No pun intended...but.it keeps me off the streets. Corey: At 6 am in the morning on festival day meeting in the park, seeing the community come together, making new friends.
What does PRIDE mean to you?
Scott: PRIDE is important because it is a celebration about being our true selves. It’s a chance to recognize how far we have come and how far we still have to go in the hearts and minds of an ever shrinking few. It’s an opportunity to show our peers, our family and our friends that we are the same as everyone else while being wonderfully diverse community of equals.
Rob: PRIDE is about celebrating community, in the broadest sense possible. For me, it’s a community that saw me through times good and bad in my life, and one that has brought me together with friends and family in countless ways. Ed: Taking the time to show just how we feel about OURSELVES. Corey: Because the Center is a very important resource for the community. It is essential, particularly for the youth to have somewhere they can feel accepted and “normal”. It is also essential for us over the hill types to know we are not alone and that there are resources available to us.
Anything else you'd like to add about this year’s PRIDE?
Scott: This is the first PRIDE we are bringing in a Grammy Winning Artist to perform at the Festival, Thelma Houston, and the first PRIDE where we have 3 featured headlining acts in addition to our new tradition of a big party band to get things going. With the Parade and Festival being on a Saturday this year, it is sure to be one of our Biggest events yet.
Rob: I always say it’s going to be better than ever. But this year I really mean it - it’s going to be the best PRIDE yet! Ed: Last year we mixed up the Festival by having many smaller tents for vendors, and in the past we have had to move the starting point of the Parade, because it just grew bigger. You can never predict what you will find on the big day. But we can insure you that you will never go away disappointed. And rest assured that next year will even be better than this year. Corey: Well… “ Satur”gay” is gonna be special!!!
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