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Pride Picnic set for July

Salmon Arm Council approves family friendly event at Canoe Beach.
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Salmon Arm will hold its first community Pride event this summer. -File photo

Salmon Arm will hold its first community Pride event this summer.

City council unanimously approved a request Monday for a Pride Picnic, to be held at Canoe Beach on Saturday, July 29.

Patrick Ryley explained to council he was told the Gender Sexuality Alliance at Salmon Arm Secondary had requested a Pride event.

“Further discussion with yourself (Mayor Nancy Cooper) and others, led to the collective brain trust coming up with the possibility of a picnic in the park, all-inclusive, family and friends… welcome to everyone.”

Council also received a letter from Ryley and Patricia Thurston with the Shuswap Family Resource Centre requesting approval for the picnic.

“We ask that this be considered – family-style, games, no protests, no speeches, family and friends coming together to the park – under the umbrella of the family resource centre.”

The event will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. under the banner of ‘Pride does not divide.’

To end the evening, he said, it’s hoped a dance can be held at Canoe Victory Hall from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Proceeds would go to the resource centre as well as the SAFE Society.

Ryley also invited council to be part of the first Pride event at SAS, which was held on Wednesday, June 14.

Ryley noted he had hoped to speak to council earlier, but his request was bumped to Monday, June 12 – which turned out to be one year to the day of the Orlando shooting, where 49 people were killed inside a gay nightclub in Florida.

Following the approval, Coun. Tim Lavery made a notice of motion that he would like a cost estimate of a rainbow crosswalk to be included in Salmon Arm’s fall budget deliberations.



Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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