Four-year-old Bubba May, left, and his brother Bradley, 3, and their mom, Debbie, work on crafts at the Chesapeake Pride Festival at Mayo Beach Park last Saturday. Photo by Mitchelle Stephenson.
The Chesapeake Pride Festival hosted its ''Gay by the Bay'' party Saturday at Mayo Beach Park.
The annual event is spearheaded by the Metropolitan Community Church of the Chesapeake, a nondenominational Protestant church that operates out of the Friends Meeting House in Annapolis. The Rev. Wayne Schwandt founded the church in 1998.
The pride festival has been an annual event for 10 years, but for the first six years, it was basically a church picnic at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis.
Four years ago, Schwandt and his crew decided to make it a real festival. They decided to expand the offerings and venue. The first year of the larger festival happened at Historic Londontown and Gardens in Edgewater; then the next two years it was held at the county fairgrounds in Crownsville. This year it was held during the day on the banks of the bay in Mayo.
At this year's festival, they were happy to have received a special proclamation from Gov. Martin O'Malley declaring Aug. 1, "Chesapeake Pride Day."
Adri Eathorne sits on the organizing committee for the event. She's been involved for all ten years, both while it was a picnic, and now that it is a festival.
In all, the festival lures over 500 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender participants from Annapolis and the surrounding area. They come to enjoy a day of music, dance and family fun.
"Our goal is to create a safe space for just one day,'' Adri said. "Here in Anne Arundel County, the gay community is so invisible - the festival is a way to have a day of community," she said.
The party was split amongst two sound stages, the Beach Stage and the Pavilion Stage. On the stage near the beach, bands and single musicians played family-friendly rock and acoustic music. Inside the pavilion, where entrance was only for those over 18, female impersonators were presided over by Miss Chesapeake Pride, "Stormy Vain" who acted as master of ceremonies.
A mix of couples and families wandered the grounds, listening to music, and letting the children play.
Cynthia and Cynthia Thomas, who recently married, brought their daughter Tori, 8. The three of them ran the children's activities booth. They had crayons, markers, craft foam and velvet crosses that children could color. Both Cynthias are members of MCC, and have run the children's activities at the pride festival for the past two years. Tori found families with small children and recruited them to play at the children's table.
Tori brought Debbie May and Jan Cottrell's three boys, Ethan, 5, Bubba, 4, and Bradley, 3, to the table to color. Debbie and Jan came down from Harper's Ferry, W.Va., for the day - they have family in the area. Ethan and Bubba were interested in coloring, but Bradley only had eyes for the play structure. Debbie sat coloring with the older two while Jan chased the youngest around.
"I like to meet people and find friends that I haven't seen in years," Jan said. "Sometimes I meet up with people I didn't even know were gay," she said.
Others sunned on the beach or swam. Visitors to the exhibits picked up information and bought items from the over three dozen vendors on site. There were bead and fabric crafters, a landscaper selling plants and several political booths.
Among those handing out literature were Zina Pierre, an Annapolis mayoral candidate, and the young Democrats and the Anne Arundel Green Party.
In the parking lot, twodozen cars sat parked at a cruise-in car show, hosted by the "Straight 8s" of the Lambda Car Club. Earlier in the day, they rallied in Crofton, then caravanned to the site. In all, there are about 175 members in the club - whose main commonality is a special interest in cars.
"They don't even have to have a car," said Milton Stern, president of the club.
Throughout the day, the organizers handed out gift certificates to the Metro Diner as door prizes. At 6 p.m., the festival wound to a close. Now organizers have a month to rest before they begin planning next year's event.
The South County Dance Conservatory got back from the New Prague Dance Festival in Prague, Czech Republic. The festival took place from July 1-7, and included over 400 dancers from around the world.
The company won several awards at the festival, including the Dancing Hand Award, and third prize for Dance Costume. Travis Peck received recognition for Extraordinary Junior Talent and Lianne Clark received a Talent of Dance Award.
Other local dancers on the trip included Susan Ahmuty, Allison Bobby, Eva Brent, Charlene Ferensic and Susan Savage. School directors Ken Armstrong and J.Davis Hobdy traveled along with faculty members Heidi Menocal and Cathy Oliver.
All of the dancers in the company live in south county or on the Eastern Shore and rehearse at the Conservatory in Deale.
Today join the West/Rhode Riverkeeper for free kayaking, beginning at 5 p.m. at Discover Village, 4800 Atwell Road in Shady Side. They provide PFDs, kayaks and paddles. For more information, visit www.westrhoderiverkeeper.org.
The Davidsonville United Methodist Church's 2009 Peach Festival is this Saturday from 11 am to 2 pm, at the church on Central Avenue. They will have peach pies, jam, cobbler, peaches and ice cream, fresh peaches in bags and baskets and more. BBQ food and drinks will also be available. For more information, visit www.dumc.net.
Mayo United Methodist Church is sponsoring a soccer camp at Commodore Mayo Kiwanis Hall, 1133 Carrs Wharf Road, Edgewater. Camp begins Monday at 6 pm and runs for two hours each night of the week for one week. $30 per child, middle school-aged children only.
Camp is led by Tim Williams, the JV Boys soccer coach at South River High School. The camp is being sponsored by the church. To enroll, call 410-798-6110.
In a story about the National Night Out last week, it was reported that LeRoy Battle was the recipient of a Congressional Gold Medal. To clarify, he was one of 16,000 to 19,000 men who participated in the "Tuskegee Experience" and received the medal as a collective award. In addition, the Anne Arundel County Police Department brought the helicopter to the event, not the Maryland State Police.
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