A heartfelt thank you to our community for a hugely successful First Annual Carbondale Pridefest
I want to share with you how this started for the sake of posterity as well as clarity. I became acquainted with Julie Schurr through a mutual friend who repeatedly told me, you have to have Julie come to Carbondale to perform because she is phenomenal. So when the final approval happened, I feared that she would not gain the audience that she deserved due to time constraints.
After seeing that Belleville had started its very own Pridefest, I thought perhaps we could give it a shot and make Julie the headliner. Todd was intrigued by the idea and went to Dan for approval who agreed it was time. However, we only had 17 days to plan, which meant we had to get the word out quickly. That’s where you as patrons came into the picture!
Within 24 hours nearly 100 people responded to the Facebook invite and word of mouth spread this fledgling event. It was at that instance that I knew people were hungry for their very own Pridefest.
I am very proud of how our community embraced the idea, especially with such short notice. In 17 days we were able to draw nearly 1000 people for the entire weekend. Imagine what next year will bring. The overall goal from this weekend was to show Carbondale that there truly is enough community support for the city of Carbondale host a parade. However, garnering city participation is going to take some assistance from the entire community through grassroots organizing. Additionally, the event should not solely be tied to a bar; it should include outside sources so that the youngest members of our community can participate. Ideally, next year’s Pridefest will include committees that organize a festival that the entire Carbondale community can be proud of. Please inquire if you are interested, since organizing an event that size takes time. I hope that within the next three months we can gather enough volunteers that preparation would start in October and Pridefest will become something that people from miles around will come and attend.
Now I have to show my gratitude to everyone directly involved. Without Julie Schurr, this event would not have started and it would not have been as much fun. She is an incredible person with a ton of talent, I cannot think of a better headliner. Even though she ran into some of the most treacherous weather that So. Ill. has to offer, she thoroughly enjoyed her time in Carbondale and wants to come back! Yay!
Next, Party City, the corporation, was the first outside vendor to declare that they backed the event. That meant so much, because it is a nationally recognized business that added legitimacy to the cause. Party City has declared that they want to fully participate next year and offer sponsorship; we will be in contact with them soon to find out how to make this event bigger and better. Everyone give them a shout out.
We need to thank Steven St. Julian at the Jackson County Health Department for providing the event with free condoms and AIDS testing. Steven was so helpful and numerous people stepped up and got tested! Knowledge is power in fighting this disease. I want to thank Alex Ambrose from St. Andrews Animal Shelter for conducting the doggy wash on Sunday. It was a lot of fun to see everyone’s pooch. Remember St. Andrews’s shelter when you think you are ready for a new pet. We have a shout out to Eman El-Ayins and Martha Wallis for the give-away’s a games.
Thanks to our vendors Jeniflower’s Jewlery and Hippie Child Creation for setting up a great Pride gear display. They offered some quality pride merchandise at reasonable prices.
At this time, I have to move directly to the immediate Club Traz family and offer my sincerest gratitude. I am going to discuss each night and those that made each night flow with so few glitches that I am extremely proud of our teamwork. We deemed Friday night NOH8, which was based on the national campaign and a rash of hate crimes that have happened in Carbondale over the last year. Parrish did such a wonderful job face painting; I had goose bumps from all of the love that flowed through the crowds. We took a number of photos that are all over everyone’s Facebook page. It is one step closer to eliminating hate crimes that are committed in this community. Of course, Blanche DuBois hosted a fantastic drag show that offered the audience both Drag Queens, Club Kidz, and Drag Kings. Thank you to Blanche, Ryder Sweet, Issis, Electra, Paige, Alexandria, Titan, and Mistique for the opening processions. The show was hot and the performers energized the crowds for the weekend.
Saturday night was themed the Glitterfest offering a nice variety of entertainment including Julie Schurr, the So.IL.D Kings, and a ton of glitter. The show was the best that the Kings have performed thus far. Ryder is a great emcee coming into his own and kept the audience entertained while organizing the Kings. Thank you so much, while you are a young group, you are blazing a name for yourselves in the region! People are taking notice and the response is growing with each show. Individually, thank you Ryder, Dirty D., Rodrick, Jon, TC, Jermaine, Rick, and Ryan! I am so very proud of what you are accomplishing in such a short amount of time. I feel like I am at a rock concert! Take pride in the fact that Saturday was packed to the gills!
Sunday was the closing ceremonies with the Doggy wash on the Patio.
Again thanks to Alex for his hard work. The finale was Primetime Cabaret with Blanche DuBois and Jodie Santana. They brought us Veronica Headley and Sasha Moore who embraced Pridefest with zeal. Blanche adorned herself in her prideful outfits of glamour and sheen. Jodie Santana looked marvelous as always and both ladies are Carbondale’s legacy; it would not have been Pridefest without them. Veronica Headley represents the next generation; she’s beautiful and very talented and Carbondale is beginning to embrace her as their own. Sasha Moore had a wonderful rainbow gown and danced her heart out for the crowds. It was a great way to end our very first Pridefest.
Behind the scenes, there are so many names starting with Dan Terry and Shawn Williams for giving the space for the event. If Traz of Carbondale did not exist, I am not sure this would have jettisoned itself so quickly. They are great to work for and I am so happy that they allow us to create new and different venues for the community. Thank you to Todd Taylor for running all of the intricate details and making sure the employees have what they need. It is not easy to corral queens, kings, bartenders, dj’s, and everybody else…including Ricky. ;-) Thank you Kent Keen for spinning some very good music all weekend; the crowds danced almost all weekend long! Thanks to Ricky Cheatham, Tyler Myers, Michael Oliver, and the girl that kept stealing my hat for building the balloon arches, which was not an easy task with short notice. Thanks to Papa Tim for turning on the water and getting the things that were needed for the patio. Thankd you Traci Burchell and family for offering up the Beer Pong table and supplies, it was great to play yesterday. You are all wonderful.
I hope that I have not missed anyone, but if I have I say thank you! I want to say one more time, Thank you to the Southern Illinois Community; you came through in a big way, which means we are going to work even harder to give you a better Second Annual Pridefest Carbondale. Keep showing your support and offering suggestions throughout the year, and we will keep your ideas front and center as we plan. You have been so wonderful and we at Traz love all of you!
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- First Carbondale Pride Event Makes History for Southern Illinois - Monday, June 20, 2011
