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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2001)
july 20,2001 • f u s t o«rt 15 Lmm lividi mews early 50,CX)0 people gathered together last month to celebrate Pride 2001 in Portland. T h at’s a whole lot o f folks who did a whole lot o f celebrating. The annual event has grown incredibly since its inception and has weaved itself into the fab ric of Portland life. W ith its endless booths, top- notch entertainm ent and oh-so-enjoyable parade, Pride has distinguished itself as a one-of- a-kind event for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans population in not only the metro area but throughout the Pacific Northwest. And don’t forget the thousands of other “friends” who also gather each Father’s Day weekend to join the party. The fact that Pride comes together each year is something o f a miracle when one considers not a single paid staff member works on it. For an event of its size to have an all-volunteer crew organizing it means some folks are donating a whole lot o f time. It truly is a yearlong undertak ing that never has enough volunteers and always struggles to put together a workable budget. Have you ever wondered how it all comes together? Have you ever really looked at how Riverfront Park majestically is turned into a per fect pink paradise? Do you have any idea how hard it is to plan and coordinate a parade in downtown Portland? Just Out recently sat down with festival chairwoman Linda W illiams to talk about how Pride 2001 cam e to be, to find out what the board learned and to gain a smorgasbord of other information. Tom Stevenson: W hy is Pride alw ays held during Father’s D ay weekend? Linda Williams: T he third weekend in June is the only weekend during the summer when we are able to both rent space in Waterfront Park and have a parade through downtown Portland. We have the right to that weekend because we have produced the event for many years at that specific time. All o f the other events which hap pen in the city also have the right to their specif ic weekends. We could move the event to early spring or late fall, which we have considered on several occasions, but in the end it has seemed too far removed from Stonewall, and the weath er becomes a very big concern. T S : W hy is the parade alw ays held Sunday afternoon? LW: We could move the parade back to S a t urday. T he Pride Northwest board chose to move the parade to Sunday afternoon several years ago because practicing Jews cannot march on Saturday. We found that many people pre ferred the march on Sunday, including people who work on Saturday. We continue to exam ine these decisions each year with the goal of making the event accessible to the greatest number o f people. Please continue to send us your comments. T S : So, when does the planning for Pride actually start each year? LW: Oh, before we even talk about Pride week end, you have to understand that from the first of the year on, the Pride Northwest board meets every other week for two hours in a full-force planning/action mode. The board also puts in an average of 40 hours per week during the last few weeks to make sure it comes together— and that’s not including all of the other volunteers’ efforts. Starting in March, applications are made and sent out for the festival booths and the board. Solicitations are also sent out for entertainers and artists for the stages and Art Tent. A nd even before that, the process o f getting sponsors and other fund-raising activities have started. A ll of that with 10 volunteer board members— a gal lant, hardworking, creating, sincerely caring were ready, and people were already arriving. The mini-doughnut ladies had already been filling us with coffee and luscious doughnuts for hours. A nd then the festival begins. On Sunday, while most of the board, volunteers and security were working on the parade, 1 was on the Waterfront, minding the house, so to speak. We had wonderful spiritual music by a trio, and Sis- terSpirit welcomed the spirit and blessed the event. By noon things at the festival were hopping. Thousands of people were at Waterfront Park. T h e music was going on the stages. And when the parade arrived it was so wonderful, with the color and tens and thousands of people flooding the festival. T he police estimated the parade had 50,000 participants and watchers. A lso on Sunday, the teardown is not a pop ular volunteer slot, but we had a special, special gift this year. M embers o f the Northwest G en der A llian ce showed up in their gorgeous gowns and sparkling shoes and put on plastic gloves and started throwing away trash with the rest o f us. It made me cry. W hile we were picking up the trash— there was so much trash— the tent people swarmed in and started m oving things out. It was sunset when we final ly gave each other a last hug and headed home. P ride Q&A Board member explains how the (estival comes together every year by T o m S te v e n so n Board member Linda W illiams has high praise for the hard w orking people who volunteer with Pride N orthw est group. We are gays, lesbians, leather people, seniors, transgenders, Hispanics, drag queens, handicapped, bean counters and artists, people with structured jobs and people who are retired. It really is quite a team. T S : W hy do you keep asking us for money, and w ho exactly pays for Pride? LW: It costs a lot of money to put Pride on. Our picnic in the park costs about $65,000 each year. Som e o f our big expenses are for the fol lowing items: 1. Permits for the parade and Waterfront Park, which are close to $10,000. 2. Renting tents, tables and chairs, which costs more than $7,000. 3. R enting Porta-Pottys and Dumpsters, which is over $3,000. 4. Insurance, which is about $3,000. 5. Printing, which costs over $5,000. 6. Security for the sound equipment and the artwork, which is over $2,000. 7. Electricity, sound and staging equipment for the two stages, which costs about $10,000. You can see why money continues to be a worry. M oney com es from sponsorships, grants, donations from individuals, fund raising by the bars, the Royal Court, groups who do events for us, booth rentals, the beer garden and the buck et brigade. Money is really scary, as we never know what will be coming in, and we could sure use some help with fund raising. We’re so busy doing the event, and most o f us aren’t very good at asking for money. We did make a little this year, which will help if we need it next year. A s for the booth rentals, some people worry about the cost. We offer them a hig discount if they sign up by May 1 and a smaller one if they sign up between May 1 and June 1. We also offer a $30 discount if one member of the group/business is willing to volunteer four hours of time. We try to make it affordable, and we also try to make sure that everyone can get a space, but there are limits. T S : O K , so let’s talk about the actual event. LW: The week before Pride, on Thursday morning at 5 a.m., seven volunteers armed with bio-friendly paint, 300-foot tape measure, a map and lots of caffeine started at one end of Water front Park, pounded in a stake and started mea suring. By the time we were through, we outlined and numbered all 120 booths, the beer garden and all tent locations. This year it only took two hours because a friend who is a former surveyor helped us and a friend who is a computer design person did a computerized layout diagram. I was amazed. Oh, and [board member] Raphael [Arellano-Bar- rera] had painted his beautiful black boots yellow with the spray paint— that’s my one regret. Oh, I almost forgot. We also got a hold of the park people minutes before they turned on the sprinklers, which would have erased all our work. Then, Friday morning, the whole thing came together: Electricity, stages and sound are put in. The tent people, the food booth people, the Porta- Potty people and the garbage people all come in and do their thing. It’s quite a flurry of activity. There were probably 50 to 60 people tripping over each other getting their festival tasks done. Saturday morning we were up bright and early at 6 a.m. with an army of volunteers arriving at 8 a.m. to pass out tables and chairs, garbage cans or to do whatever else is needed. Then the ven dors start arriving, and we had volunteers there ready to help unload their merchandise and equipment. By 11 a.m. 95 percent of the booths T S : D id you run into any special problems this year? LW: T h e “Jesus people" were there on Su n day, trying to show us the errors o f our ways and condem n us to points south. We just brought a speaker from the beer garden for them so they could hear the music better. T h e police kept them silent during SisterSpirit’s ceremony, for which we’re grateful. A s we have a permit to be on the park, we have rights. T h e Jesus people, except for one incident, stayed out o f our permit area and away from the stage, again with the help o f the police. Because we ignored them, they drifted away and did not return. T h at was the only interference we had, and there were not protesters at Pioneer Square, either. T h e only other real problem is that we didn’t have enough volunteers, especially on Sunday. But again, when the Northwest G ender A l liance showed up it just, well, it m eant so much to all o f us. T S : N o w that you have rested a little bit and hopefully regained your energy, tell us the three things on top o f your wish list for Pride 2002 . LW: Well, the first thing would be that all of the local clubs and groups that make up our com munity would take a piece o f Pride and he respon sible for it. We need that kind o f dedicated help. My second wish would be that we could get a paid part-time staff person. A ll o f the mailings, processing o f permits, etc. could be handled by that person. We are big enough now, and that is som ething we really need. I guess my third wish would be that we could afford to expand the festival to include a whole bunch o f new things. W e would like to have a health fair. It would be nice for all o f the groups that m ake up the Rural Organizing Pro je c t...t o have a space where they could set up and talk about what they’re doing. But right now it is just too cost-prohibitive to expand. You w ouldn’t believe how m uch it costs. For us to expand just a little would cost about $3,000 because o f the fees we have to pay the city. T h ere are just endless rules that apply that we have to follow if we want to keep the event. S o there you have it, a brief rundown on how Pride 2001 actually came to be. Anyone who would like to help put Pride 2002 together is more than welcome to join in the fun. For more information about PRIDE NORTHWEST visit the Internet site www.pridenuf.org.
