B-10 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE Pride Guide 2002

Dayton Pride continues with dinner, expo and picnic

by John Gantt

Dayton-Join the Dayton Pride Partnership on Saturday, June 15 for the 16th -Annual Gay Pride Dinner and Expo at the Dayton Convention Center, corner of 5th and Main.

The Expo will run from 5 pm 7 pm, and the dinner will start at 7 pm.

Entertainment this year will feature nationally recognized lesbian comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer. Emcees Rob Austin and Felicia Dalton and special guests Bonni Blake, Jeff Newton and Friends.

Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin will be a featured guest speaker.

Tickets may be purchased at: Q! gifts, Books

Company,

TG HEUER

www

The Stage Door and at Club Diva.

The event will be presented by the Dayton Pride Partnership and the Dayton Gay and Lesbian Center.

For more information, call 937-275-3059 or visit online at http://www.members .tripod.com/pridedayton.

The next day, on Sunday, June 16, visit the second annual LGBT Outdoor Family Pride Picnic in Carillon Park on Patterson Blvd across from NCR. The picnic will begin at 12 noon and go to 5 pm. Activities will include a speedball booth, music, children's activity area, groups and business information booths, raffle prize tickets passed out with park entry tickets, historical parks open to tours to all attendees with entry ticket, food and beverages available for a small fee..

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Don't forget the Pride Olympics competition games: Around the World Relay Drag Race, Relay Three Legged Race, Pass the Fruit, Threading the Needle and We are Family Feud.

For information or to register your team, call 937-429-1728 or E-mail radavis @dayton.net.

The Expo, Dinner and Picnic, however, are neither the beginning nor the end of Dayton Pride.

We kicked off the month with the city's first Pride parade on June 1, which also made it the first Pride parade of the year for the entire state. We will be sending marchers to the Cincinnati Pride Parade on June 9, as well as entering a float in the parade during the Stonewall Columbus Pride Holi-

day. For more information on participating in either of these two events, please call Dale at 937-275-4438.

John Gantt is the coordinator of the Dayton Pride Partnership.

Bring the kids to this family group

by Daria Schaffnit Griffith

Dayton-Rainbow Families is a social group for LGBT families in the Dayton area. Founded this year, Rainbow Families was started to fill a need in our own family, but also for other local families.

So much of "gay life" seems to be centered on the bars, but for people with children, going clubbing is often not feasible or even desirable. Getting together with a group specifically for families is a great way to have fun and get to connect with other gay parents.

My partner Jeannene and I have two boys

For people with children,

going clubbing is often not feasible or even desirable.

www.

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KIRIUM Chronograph

TAG Heuer

who are 7 and 9. We had been looking for a way to meet other gay parents and to get our kids together with kids who also have gay parents. We feel that it's helpful for our children to be around a diverse spectrum of people of various ethnicities, economic brackets, cultural and religious backgrounds, orientations, and other ways of living. We also thought they would enjoy meeting other kids with gay parents, so they don't feel that they're the only ones.

I had been familiar with the We Are Parents, Too group in Nashville, Tennessee. It seemed they were always having a wonderful time. I looked forward to getting involved with the Dayton equivalent, but only found one group, which turned out to be defunct. Since starting the group, we have heard from parents in the Dayton area, but also from as far away as Oxford, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis.

For further information or for directions to any gathering, contact Daria Schaffnit Griffith at 937-376-8060 or via e-mail at mahlidottir@hotmail.com.

Daria Schaffnit Griffith is the founder of Rainbow Families in Dayton.

MARLEN

FINE JEWELERS

19525 Detroit Rd. • Rocky River, OH 44116 • 440 331-9004 • Fax 440 331-7780

www.marlenjewelers.com

An authorized TAG Heuer dealer.

A Boutique for You and Your Pet Petalique

720 Literary Road, Cleveland

216.523.1390

Hours: Closed Monday, Tuesday-Saturday 11-8, Sunday, 10-4

Tremont's newest & only retail boutique for you and your pampered pet. Located 1⁄2 block from Lola's and MoJo's.

Unique gifts for you & your dog and/or cat.

* Pet supplies including hand crafted dog and cat bowls.

· Homemade, all-natural dog treats.

Artwork, sculptures and prints.

⚫ Pet cologne, shampoo and spritz. Leather collars & leashes, pet cards and stationary.