Pride in the Park: Payne County Pride returns with family-friendly festival
Jun. 19—Payne County Pride is hosting Pride in the Park on Tuesday. The event will be held at Shelter #1 at Couch Park from 6-8 p.m. While the organization is having a small event this next week, it hopes to have a larger event in the fall. Cassie Herndon has been the organization's vice-president since 2019 and she was available for a Q&A about the upcoming event.
What's going? What events do you all have planned for the evening?
"We wanted to do a get together in the community from 6 to 8 at Couch Park ... we felt it was necessary to have an event in June. Even though it's not our grand parade and festival we're hoping to have in the fall, but something to show up for the Stillwater community and say 'come hang out with us' ... We'll have water, games prizes, more information for our fall event ... just wanting to connect with the community and provide an opportunity for families to come and play games and participate."
What's the planning process like?
"The planning was relatively easy. Reserving a shelter from the city of Stillwater was a piece of cake. They made that process really accessible, easy and pretty affordable. We chose a date that ... all of our executive members could be there and took off running ... I think it's been one of the easier events we've planned just in terms of simplicity and not having a lot of hoops to jump through ... We're excited."
What does family-friendly mean?
"We advertise it as such because we want all members of Stillwater to feel like they can come to this event. All ages. We want the community to know that all ages are welcomed, infants to elderly."
There was a year hiatus because of the pandemic. What are you hoping for through this event?
"We're hoping for this event to show the community that there is a presence of inclusion and support through our organization Payne County Pride Association... and we want to celebrate Pride in a public place for this event. We're hoping to have a larger scale celebration in the fall with a parade down Main street with some events that follow that parade."
Why is it important to celebrate Pride in small places like Stillwater?
"It's important to celebrate Pride in our communities so that everyone knows that they have a place and that there are people who support and love them... that they belong in our community ... It's a celebration for who you are and we want people to know that ... when we have events like this, we are intending to make a space that is safe to celebrate who you are in our community."
