Pride Erie Picnic - June 10, 2006

Saturday, June 10th Pride Erie Picnic Once again, the Pride Erie Picnic will be held at Presque Isle State Park at the Rotary Pavilion.We are back to having the Picnic on the traditional 2nd Saturday in June (June 10) and we will run from 1 PM to 6 PM (starts 1 hour earlier)

You can now register online before the event and not have to fill out the paper registration form when you arrive! We will have a hard copy of everyone who registered online, so all that you have to do is give us your name. Easy!

We are again at the nifty Rotary Pavilion, which is close to the 3 cabins near the Waterworks Beach. Photos of the site are here. There will be signs at the park for the location.

The location has electricity, a small kitchen with a cooler, a large dining area, restrooms in the same building, and a lovely floating pier nearby.

Please stop at the check in table when you arrive! (Note: this will be quicker if you register online before the event, but you still need to stop at the check in table so that we know that you have arrived.) We will have labels/dots so that we can count how many people attend. This helps us plan for the following year, and helps us answer how many people attended. We will have name tags to wear rather than a dot, if you like. You can use your first name, full name and/or screen name if you choose to wear a name tag. If you have friends that you know in chat rooms, etc, this is a good way to connect faces to online names.

Hot dogs, hamburgers and beverages will be provided. Please bring a dish to pass. Paper plates and plastic silverware will be available. Donations gratefully accepted. Food will be served from 2 to 4 PM.

We will also have door prizes, so be sure to fill out the registration form at the check in table to be in the drawing. This was very popular last year.

In addition to the Family Portrait and other photos of those enjoying the day (for those who wish to be photographed - just fine if you don't!), we will also have an area set up where you can have a face photo taken for the Friends and Supporters page at this website. This is purely voluntary. We do think it makes a powerful statement to see the smiling faces of so many people. 2005 was the first year that we did this, and we had about 60-70 people who wanted to have their photos taken for the Friends and Supporters page.

As always, straight friends and families are most heartily welcome. Feel free to bring your children or parents, but parents are responsible for taking care of their kids. (There is playground equipment near the pavilion.)

We'll begin at 1 PM with games (including the perennial favorite, volleyball.) We will have a photographer who will be taking photos. You can be in photos or not, as you choose. If you would like to have your picture taken, please don't be shy about asking! If you do not want your photo taken, please raise a hand or tell the photographer. We are trying to balance those who enjoy being included in photos and those who prefer not to be included. We will be including the photos on Erie Gay News' home page and in an upcoming print edition. The previous year's info is here. All Pride events for which we have photos is here.

Bring lawn chairs, blankets, rollerblades and sunscreen. Volunteers are asked to help with clean up, cooking and set up. If you would like to volunteer, contact Michael Mahler at (814) 456-9833 or email info@eriegaynews.com or Brian Skelly at (814) 452-6228 or email imcw97@hotmail.com.

If you want to be on the Pride Picnic Organizing Committee, sign up here. We'd love to have you involved!

We will also have several thank you cards for our sponsors on the info table. Please sign all cards so that the people and businesses who help us know how much they are appreciated.

If you are not on the email list or want further information, we also ask that you use the sign up sheets that are also at the info table. We want you to help keep everyone informed!

Because of state law, alcohol and sales by outside vendors are not permitted. Please respect this. If you bring alcohol, or are obviously drunk, you will be asked to leave the picnic.

Food Bank Donations

As we did last year, in addition to the potluck buffet, we will also be collecting nonperishable items for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania. Last year generous GLBT people and their supporters collectd 99 pounds of food. Let's see if we can top that!

Below is a list of the most needed items. Please no home-canned foods, glass containers, unsealed or opened packages, outdated baby food or formula, or bulging or severely dented cans.

Protein Group: Canned Meat (ham, meat spread, beef stew), Canned Fish, Canned Nuts, Peanut Butter, Macaroni & Cheese, Dry Beans

Breads & Cereals: Cake Mixes, Bisquick, Muffin Mix, Cornbread Mix, Dry Cereal, Oatmeal, Rice, Rice Cakes, Pasta

Milk Products: Evaporated Milk, Powdered Milk

Fruits & Vegetables: Canned Fruits, Canned Vegetables, Canned Juices, Canned Soup, Canned Spaghetti Sauce, Dried Fruits (raisins, apricots, prunes)

Other Needed Items: Coffee, Baby Products (diapers, baby wipes, powder, lotion), Household Supplies (dish soap, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies), Paper Products (toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissue, napkins), Health and Beauty Aids (toothpaste & brushes, shampoo, bar soap)

Getting there and other area attractions and resources

by Deb

To see a general map to the park, and get driving directions, browse here. For more info on Presque Isle State Park, visit their site. You can see a specific map of the park, browse here. If you want to check the current weather or forecast, visit GoErie.com's weather section.

For general info about Erie PA area, visit either GoErie.com or the Erie PA Chamber of Commerce. And, of course, if you are looking for GLBT resources in the area, look at our Resources section.

Non-auto Transit

EMTA bus service onto the peninsula is always a question mark from one summer to the next. To find out what their plans are, call them around Memorial Day at (814) 452-3515 or visit their website.

Bicyclists probably already know that Presque Isle presents a comfortable riding environment, and there is a bike path continuously from 6th and Plum to and around the peninsula.

The Water Taxi leaves from Dobbins Landing, Liberty Park, and East Avenue Boat Launch and lands at the Presque Isle Waterworks Ferry Landing. If you're a cyclist, you can take your bike onto the Water Taxi. Cost is $5 round trip, $3 children under 12, $3 one way for children and adults. For more information you can call (814)881-2502. When they start running, they run 7 days a week, and the last trip is at 6 PM.

EMTA's Rack and Roll program combines biking with transit, with bike racks on the fronts of most buses. Route 1 is the best choice for this purpose (get off on Peninsula Drive).

Picnic site accessibility

Accessibility of Erie Pride

By Deb Spilko

Great news for people with mobility impairments!

The Pride Picnic will be held at the Rotary Pavilion. This is the most accessible area of Presque Isle State Park. The Pavilion was built in 2000, and provides the highest level of accessibility for an outdoor facility. That goes for areas around the facility as well.

There are a half-dozen handicapped parking spaces close to the Pavilion. New, wide pavement connects the parking spaces to all areas. If you need to be left off right at the building’s entrance, there is a driveway up to the building that will allow that.

The Pavilion has a very spacious and accessible dining and food preparation building on one side, with three wheelchair-accessible picnic tables located in areas that make it easiest to move around. In the back, there is a large paved patio with more wheelchair-accessible tables.

Accessible restrooms are just across the hall from the kitchen—no need to travel over gravel and sand to answer nature’s call!

Right behind the Pavilion is a floating dock that sits over the pond. Lots of room for wheelchairs to move around in or to just sit and enjoy the water. By the way, the floating dock and the bridge that connects it are stationary and do not rock.

Want to check out the accessible beach? Well, right across the road is the wheelchair-accessible Beach 7 ( Waterworks Beach). The wide, wooden ramp (over five feet wide) has handrails at 36” and two sets at lower heights. There’s a wheelchair accessible table area on the side of the ramp.And Check out the ramp’s deck area to enjoy the view of the beach or to watch one of Presque Isle’s famous sunsets. The ramp ends at about 50 paces from the water’s edge (measured in May 2004; distance may change because of sand shifting). If you want to get closer to the water, but find traveling over sand to be a bit daunting, you might consider a little improvising with wide, grooved rubber hall mats (best to bring a friend along to keep you steady).

Feel like exploring a little? The new, smooth wide sidewalks (most of them over 8 feet wide) can lead you to the bay side, where you’ll find the Ferry Dock, Cookhouse, Karl Boyes Multi-Purpose Trail, bike surrey rental and more.

Photos at the photoblog will let you look over the area for yourself.

If you have any further questions, or need special arrangements, contact us at (814) 456-9833.

Please send comments, suggestions and other feedback to dspilko@velocity.net

Deb Spilko researched and wrote the Access Erie guide, published by Steady Strivers in 1980.

Comment via Facebook

---

Shortened link for this page is http://is.gd/dHeEA

Erie Gay News
1115 W 7th St
Erie PA 16502
(814) 456-9833
info@eriegaynews.com
Co-editors Michael Mahler and Deb Spilko