HELLO, and HAPPY PRIDE!

Hope you are enjoying all the video updates and Pride blogs on our new website. What’s been going on in Pride World, you wonder? Well, this past month has been filled with securing sponsors, registering vendors for booth space, registering parade entrants, planning our growing number of events, and signing up volunteer after volunteer after volunteer.

If you are interested in participating in Stonewall Columbus Pride 2008 “Our Power,” please submit your information to me here at Stonewall. Our website is very user-friendly and just about every form you will need can be found online and submitted directly to me. You can also download, print, and fill out the various forms, too. The most important thing is to just get your papers in to me! I am eager to sign everyone up for anything and everything!

Our “Events” link contains all the various “Pride Happenings” throughout the month of June. You will be pleased to see many new events listed. One exciting event is the extension of our outdoor concert festival kick-off for Pride. “Our Power Weekend” will be held on June 6 & 7. Many outstanding artists and performers will be at Stonewall Columbus that weekend, so go to our “EVENTS” link and check it all out for yourself! Tickets will be available soon, so keep posted.

Another new event this year is “Fore! Pride,” the inaugural golf outing being held at Raymond Memorial Golf Course. Gather your foursome now and get ready to sign up for what we are sure will be a very popular new event. Door prizes, golf contests, auction items, SCHMIDT’S catering, and an all-around good time are in store for this event. Stay tuned to our website for information on registering your foursome.

The traditional Pride events also return, including the Art Show, “An Exhibit of Pride,” which will open on June 5 at Stonewall. This exhibit will remain up for viewing throughout the month of June, something new for the show this year. “An Exhibit of Pride” is a juried event with a “Call for Submissions” currently being advertised. Contact me for further details.

The Pride Poker Run also has an exciting change this year. Registration will take place at Pickerington’s own “Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum.” Participants can register for the Poker Run and then tour the site for free while awaiting the start of the event. The Poker Run will end at Club Diversity, the popular ending point for many years.

Also, the “Run for Pride 5K” is returning this year. It will once again be held at Goodale Park and promises to be as fun as it has always been in years past. Kelly Jaeger and Company are working on putting together some rather nice “goody bags” for you, so look for the registration link in the next few weeks.

The History Panels truly kick off the Pride events. Tuesday, June 3, is the date set for the first panel of the month. This panel will discuss “The History of Aids.” Stay tuned to our “Events” link for further details on participants.

That’s about it for now. I will try to stay more update on communicating to you all that you wish to know. Feel free to contact me to discuss anything Pride-related. I will be glad to help you out and continue to promote Stonewall Columbus Pride 2008 – “OUR POWER.”

Happy Pride!

Commercial Exhibitor/Booth, Non-Profit Exhibitor/Booth, Food Vendor/Booth, Parade Float/Vehicle Entrants Applications are Now Available. Click here for more information.

Click here to view the video update.

Pride Question of the Week:  What exactly is the 3000 Steps Fund Raising Campaign for Stonewall Columbus Pride?

Last year (or sometime thereabouts), a brilliant local businessman conceptualized the idea of a fund raising campaign for Stonewall Columbus Pride.  And why not? People often raise money for very worthy organizations, charities, and causes through “Walk-A-Thons” and such (e.g. March of Dimes, Multiple Sclerosis, American Cancer Society, various local schools, etc.). Certainly one such fund raiser should be tied together with Stonewall Columbus Pride, right? I agree with all of you out there: the answer is “right.”

With this thinking in mind came the appropriately named 3000 Steps campaign.  “Why is this name appropriate, you ask?” Well, readers, this fabulous title signifies the number of steps one takes from Pride Parade Step-Off at Goodale Park to the end of the Pride Parade route into Bicentennial Park.  I told you this businessman’s thinking was brilliant, didn’t I?!

And just in case you are as truly detail-oriented and fact curious and/or skeptical as I am (seriously, ask anyone who knows me!), you can rest assured. I recently used my supreme Scientific Method skills and walked this route twelve times to make sure the number 3,000 was an accurate count of the steps. Take my word for it. The walk took 3,000 Steps exactly. Well, it did eleven times anyway. Today when I did my final test (I wanted to be completely accurate before posting this information), it actually only took me 2,917 steps. But one must factor in the -43 degrees windchill for today’s discrepancy, as I took bigger steps in this frosty mess. Sorry. And on that note, ”Welcome back to sunny Ohio, Linda and Karla!”

Now, if you still aren’t feeling rest assured at this number 3000 as being “official,” my expert advice to you is to go try it out for yourself. Once finished with your 3000 Steps test, you will feel proud, strong, and accomplished. But save your own research for another day, please. Pride is extremely important, we all agree. But sacrificing yourself to the elements of that brisk wind on the walkways and overpasses along High Street toward Civic Center Drive in the February weather won’t win you any special Commemorative Dog Tags or Pride Merchandise. Save your own personal Pride March for March.  

Now that you have the somewhat verbose, yet factual history of the 3000 Steps Fund Raising Campaign, you certainly want to know more, don’t you? I know that you are having the following conversation in your head right this very second:

“Thanks for this informative, witty, and very scientific historical presentation, Jan. But what do I do now? What exactly is my next step toward the 3,000 if I want to be involved? How do I sign up? How much does it cost to get started? How do I set a fund raising target goal? How do I recruit both team members and campaign donors? And most important, will I have a date for Pride?”

No need to consult your Magic 8 Ball® with your questions.  My sources say, “Come to Union Bar + Food on Tuesday, February 19, from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. to get all your answers.” Stonewall Columbus will be doing a special 3000 Steps presentation that very night. This night you can join in on the complimentary appetizers and cash bar, get all your information, and actually sign up for 3000 Steps and receive both your 3000 Steps and Commemorative 2008 Pride Dog Tags! You will also learn how to monitor your progress on the website, and so on and so forth. We certainly hope you are interested in attending! I know I will be there!

Please let me know if you have any questions or thoughts. I am always here!

Happy Pride!

Hi, All! Jan, here. I am going to try to do weekly updates so you can keep track of the planning for Stonewall Columbus Pride 2008. Let’s hope this works! If not, hey, I meant well!! Today is January 29, 2008 . . . and here’s what’s shakin’ in the Pride World . . .