bjarvis | Chesapeake Pride, Edgewater, MD

kent4str and I went out to Edgewater yesterday, a small town neighbouring the Maryland capital Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay. I had never been to Edgewater before: it's actually a small and very pleasant town very much like most other small towns across the US.

On a small stretch of waterfront, the town has preserved Londontown Park, a lovely green space with several historical buildings from the late 1700s when the municipality was a thriving port. In this park, the locals were hosting Chesapeake Pride, a small community-based LGBT pride festival.

I much prefer smaller festivals like this: a couple of dozen vendors and/or display booths, a small food & beverage area, a sound stage with a handful of performers and perhaps a total crowd of 500 people across the course of the day. IMHO, this is a vastly more comfortable and community-oriented event than the mega-spectacles of DC, New York City or Toronto.

Donning my square dance caller hat for a moment, Chesapeake Pride might be a suitable recruiting space for both Chesapeake Squares and DC Lambda Squares: it's about equal distance from each city although I suspect CS would have the shortest transit time advantage. Perhaps a joint table next year might be useful...

	Bread & Roses Feminist Singers Just wrapping up their 29th season, half of the chorus was available this weekend on short notice for this performance.
	Dan Furmansky & Paula Hollinger Dan is the coordinator of Equality Maryland. Paula is a Maryland Democratic state senator and candidate for congressional district 3.
	Patrick Representing the Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association (ASGRA)
	Renee Green Our financial advisor (Ameriprise)
	Waterfront of Londontown Park, Edgewater, MD A branch of the Chesapeake Bay
	Londontown Park, Edgewater, MD One of the historic buildings, early 1800s
	Waterfront of Londontown Park, Edgewater, MD
	Random Hottie 01 The taller one on the left is seriously cute. Couldn't get a clear picture of him though so this will have to do.
	Random Hottie #2 Mmm... beef...