Woodstock’s first pride weekend was from all accounts a rousing success, capped off by what was probably one of the biggest parades in the town’s history. Many had wondered why Woodstock, of all places, hadn’t celebrated Pride Month until this year.
Wonder no longer. Some 200 joyous marchers walked the walk, and large and raucous crowds packed the sidelines of the parade route from the Comeau property to The Colony.
The morning’s torrential rain gave way just in time for the parade lineup at Comeau. “Is everyone ready to march?” asked Woodstock town supervisor Bill McKenna as he cut a rainbow ribbon marking the start of the parade.
Participants were in all sorts of costumes, including full drag.
The parade made its way down the hill on Comeau Drive, but once it turned onto Tinker Street a constant flow of additional people joined in the fun. Marchers from several businesses and support organizations walked behind banners. The audience along the parade route was as varied, colorful and engaged as the marchers. It was an extended moment of community celebration on behalf of tolerance and unbridled free expression.
Soon, the parade was so large and boisterous that it filled the width of the street. People lined the sidewalks to cheer.
Most business owners along the parade route decorated their storefront with pride-friendly decorations including rainbow bunting and flags.
A vintage Volkswagen bus with speakers on the roof blasted music for paradegoers. Artist Tracy Blevins drove her rainbow van in the parade. After the vehicle had been stolen and recovered, Blevins had taken steps to make sure that didn’t happen again. “I decided to paint it so no self-respecting thief would ever consider stealing it again,” she said.
The parade participants made their way to the large Colony beer garden, which was easily filled to capacity, Paradegoers were treated to an afternoon of special guests and music as the clouds gave way to sunshine for most of the afternoon.
“I just want to let you know right now that we see you, we hear you, we love you, and you are safe here,” said Colony emcee Julie Novak.
One of the special guests was Fredd Sequoia, who goes by “Tree.” Now 85 years old, he’s been a bartender at the historic Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in Manhattan for more than 25 years. Before that, he was a Stonewall regular. He was present on the infamous night of June 28, 1969, when a riot broke out after a police raid. The ensuing protests are credited with transforming the gay-rights movement.
“I always say I was at the right place at the wrong time or the wrong place at the right time,” Sequoia said. “Look how far we’ve come. “We’ve got officers enjoying the party like everyone else. Look at the allies we have.”
Sequoia said expressed amazement that a town like Woodstock “would come out with a crowd like this and everyone enjoying each other.” He wanted to tell the folks in New York City how much fun he had and make them all jealous.
Part of the parade and the afternoon’s festivities was a store-decorating contest, The winner was Jean Turmo Ltd., which went all-out with decorations and a window display featuring photos of Greenwich Village in the 1060s and 1970s. For owner Rebecca Turmo, decking out the store had been a personal mission. Her wife, Jolene Hill, died last August. Jolene had wished Woodstock had its own Pride weekend.
Honorable mention for store decoration went to Candlestock.
The parade and a pop-up Stonewall Inn at Pearl Moon capped off a weekend of festivities, including musical performances at venues throughout the town and film screenings at Tinker Street Cinema.
An incident the same morning failed to thwart anyone’s plans for a good time. Shortly before the parade kickoff, a Woodstock Public Library staffer received a bomb threat via email. Nearby police assisting with the parade, helped evacuate the library. Nothing suspicious was found.
McKenna expressed his gratitude that the parade was a success despite the threat at the library.
An hour after the parade, the number of rainbow-decorated denizens on the streets had diminished. The sun had brightened, the drugs had worn off, the euphoria had subsided, and the serious-minded shopping tourists had arrived to trudge from store to store.
All’s well that ends well
The outpouring of support following hate-filled comments about some cheeky Pride-Weekend specials gave one Woodstock eatery owner a new faith in humanity.
Sharkie’s Meatballs chef and owner Mark Rosenberg at 43 Tinker Street offered a basket of tiny wieners — nine mini beef and chicken hot dogs with a side of ketchup –for $4, or a tray of mini chicken and cheese tacos with roasted corn salsa for the same price.
Then the hateful comments came flooding in online.
“That night, I looked at our social-media accounts. One person was attacking ours as a ‘woke’ business who was supporting pride. So as a result of that, they were no longer going to support our business, and neither were any of their friends or family,” he said. “So I was like, Do you realize that I’m a gay business owner? And I’m not just a woke business supporting pride.”
Other commenters accused Sharkie’s of encouraging pedophiles to bring their children in to eat sexualized food.
Rosenberg said he blocked the comments that were negative and homophobic, but did not take down the post about the specials.
He did a post the next morning saying, “Hey, everybody, this is what’s happened. It’s a little hard for me as an individual to hear someone called me a pedophile, but I’m gonna let it go. I’m shaking it off. And this is good. This is all in good fun.”
Rosenberg got a call from a college friend in Massachusetts who had hadn’t spoken with him in 30 years. She offered to buy all the specials. Rosenberg declined, but the friend suggested she buy them and Sharkie’s give them away. He said yes,
“And then I did a post saying, Hey, everybody, this just happened. These are free until they’re sold out. And that got even more support because everybody’s like, This is love. This is what we’re supposed to be doing.”
The specials were given away, he said.
Rosenberg reported that he had “an amazing day” at the sire at 43 Tinker Street on Saturday, with people buying things just to show support. “It just kind of reminded me that there’s so many more of us that want to be supportive and show what good there is,” he said.
“There’s so many of us more than these few people who are just haters, and that’s what happened. It’s been a great couple of days. It’s been a great Pride weekend.”
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