Nathan Adams, Wayves Moncton Bureau Chief • 2012-07-17
Some big changes have taken place with River of Pride Inc. in Moncton. With pride week less than a month away, the majority of the executive committee has resigned, including the president/chair of the board, leaving only 2 members to take the reins and make this Pride season a success. The remaining executive members, Wayne Richard and Jon Chaisson, have informed me that, "even though some executive members have resigned from the comittee, the show will still go on. Most of the Pride events were planned months in advance and everything is on schedule."
River of Pride held an open meeting on Sunday July 15th to recruit new members and volunteers to help out with this year's festivities. Greg Deborne, LGBT Activist and past board member, said that he would first like to start by thanking those who had to leave for whatever reasons for the hard work they have done to help our community this year. "I know from my own experience that working for an extended period of time on the committee can at times be very rewarding, and at other times be very difficult and draining. Having said that, I don't think we should judge anyone involved, and that the show must go on."
Stella Fougere of Triangles bar reiterated the sentiment that "being a volunteer for Pride can be draining …and that's because there's only been 5-6 people doing all the work year round, and they get no thanks for it. Yes, the bar looks great at the colour parties, and everyone comments on it, but how many customers actually think about the time involved to decorate? We need volunteers to keep Pride going, and really it's just a few hours a year, if we can get enough people." Pride is all about our LGBTQ community, and before starting something else, let's volunteer and try to keep Pride going, and then move on to more things."
And that is what happened! A new interim board was elected. "We had an amazing turnout with standing room only, with community members competing for positions, and we are are very excited to have young, fresh, new faces getting involved," said interim Committee Chair Jon Chaisson.
The new committee thanked the LGBT Community of Moncton for gathering together to help make this year's pride celebration a success. For information on this year's Pride events in Moncton, click here or visit Moncton's River of Pride on facebook. Hope to see you all in Moncton this year!
River of Pride Interm Board: Chairperson, Jon Chaisson; Vice- Chair, Wayne Richard; Vice-Chair, Ryan Leger; Secretary, Stephane Mazerolle; Treasurer, Caitlin Furlong; Media Co Ordinator, Sebastien Bezeau.
