Olean’s “Pride in the Park”
Olean’s “Pride in the Park”
6th Annual Event Comes to War Veterans Park on June 29th
OLEAN - Show your true colors this year as Cattaraugus County Pride Coalition (CCPC) celebrates our sixth Pride event with Pride in the Park! This is a family-friendly event, and everyone is welcome! It will be a fun time for all with music, entertainment featuring our very own local Veronyca's Showgirls, food trucks and vendors (food, educational, LGBTQ+ owned businesses, artists, and allies), and so much more! Pride is celebrated in the month of June, as that was the month when the Stonewall riots took place. The Stonewall riots were important protests that took place in 1969 in New York that changed gay rights for a lot of people here in Western New York, in America, and around the world.
Cattaraugus County Pride Coalition is a collective of individuals working to bring resources and solidarity to the LGBTQ+ community in Cattaraugus County, NY. The CCPC Community group is a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community and allies to talk openly and respectfully about our lives and what we want for our area. This is a place for open-minded people to come together to form a more unified community.
As we work on preparing for Pride in the Park on June 29th, we are looking for local individuals who would be interested in volunteering their time, energy and experience to help make Pride a great day. Responsibilities will be light to start with and increase as the date of the event gets closer. We need volunteers to help on the day of the event. Anyone interested in being on the committee, please send a private message or email Pride@cattpride.org and let us know how you would like to help.
Are you saving your items for the Pride in the Park Home-Goods SWAP? Please save your surplus, gently-used clothing, books, and household items and bring them to the event. Items will be available for free on the day of Pride, bags will be available and no contribution is necessary to participate. Anything remaining at the end of the event will be donated to local agencies. We are also seeking gift basket donations or individual items that we can raffle at Pride in the Park. If anyone is interested in donating, please email us at pride@cattpride.org. Many thanks to everyone who fulfilled our Wish List of items needed for the upcoming event, and special thanks to Karen Ash and Tina Bell for their kind donation! If you missed giving your support to our Wish List, please, see the link to our PayPal account (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=NNHZVG9TLBM2C). People can make personal donations through the link, and as a non-for-profit we can write a receipt to anyone who contributes a tax-deductible in-kind donation.
Shout out to Enchanted Mountain Roller Derby (EMRD) for supporting Cattaraugus County Pride Coalition at their June 8th bout! EMRD Derby has a proud history of choosing non-for-profit local organizations to share the at the door profit for their Home Bouts. The CCPC is so glad to have the ongoing support of the Derby girls and are proud that they chose the local queer community to support in this way. Let’s show up to support EMRD wearing our pride true colors and most fabulous EMRD gear to show our supporters how loud and proud our community is.
We trust that everyone in our community, if you consider yourself queer or straight, will “come out” and enjoy Pride in the Park. After all the festivities are over, consider that the CCPC Board Elections is looking for Individuals, queer or straight, to be CCPC Board Officers. You may not think that this is you, but consider being a part of making Pride happen all year long. We are looking for people who are interested in any position, including a Development Officer, Community Outreach Officer, and Financial Officer, as well as a Communications Officer, Treasurer and Vice President, and of course, a President. If you are interested or would like more information, send and inquiry to pride@cattpride.org and let us know.
On a final note, on this year’s Pride Festival, some people may know that there was difficulty at last year’s Pride in the Park. After CCPC had rented out the park, the city pool closed earlier than the advertised season and our access to the bathroom facilities were denied on the day of Pride in the Park. We want everyone to know that the CCPC has had talks and assurances from city officials and is paying a restroom-access fee to the city to ensure access to handicaps and safely accessible bathroom facilities.
Sadie Jay~Edwards , CCPC Board Member