Dayton and Miami Valley Pride Activities 2010

April 2010/Dayton-OH. The Dayton Pride Partnership has finalized its schedule of events for 2010. Pride Nite on the Quad is scheduled for May 1, 2010. It is a Monte Carlo fundraiser that opens at 6 PM at the New Center located in the Gay Quad adjacent to MJ’s Café. Cost $5.00. Doors open at 6 PM.

June Pride events will begin June 5, 2010 with a full day of great events. The morning will begin with the third annual Pride Breakfast hosted and served by the owners and staff of MJ’s Café at 9 AM.  There will be a free will donation to help offset the costs of the Pride parade to follow. The Greater Dayton PrideFest Parade begins at 11 AM with lineup on St. Clair between Second and Third Streets. Registration is in Cooper Park by the Natalie Barney Memorial. Step off for the parade is at Noon. The parade will wind through the Dayton streets to Courthouse Square where the day will continue with a festival featuring entertainment, dancing, vendors with many things for sale, food vendors and a beer garden. There is no charge but donations will be accepted to help offset the costs. The festival continues until 6 PM. To participate, visit www.pridedayton.com to look for parade and exposition forms.

The Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus will cap-off Dayton’s PrideFest Day activities with their final concert of the season, “Yankee Doodle Dandies”, at 8 PM at the Victoria Theatre.  This concert features time-honored American Anthems/Ballads, which celebrate our country’s diverse cultural heritage.  Artistic Director, Jason Schuler, has crafted an inspiring choral program, which gives voice to the idea that “America is in all of us”. For tickets contact Ticket Center Stage at www.ticketcenterstage.com or call 937-228-3630.


The following week the Dayton Pride Dinner returns to the Ponitz Center on June 12, 2010 with a business expo with cocktails at 5 PM followed by a dinner show and a raffle featuring men’s and women’s diamond rings. Dayton Judge Mary Wiseman and Seattle singer/comedian, Lisa Koch (“Coke”) will headline the Dayton Pride Dinner. In both serious and light hearted ways, these two women will help the Pride Dinner celebrate the 2010 Pride theme: We Are Here! Bound for Equality. Tickets are $40.00 per person until May 5 and then they are $45.00 per person. They can be purchased at www.daytonlgbtcenter.com or through Q-Gifts at 1904 North Main and 464 on 5th. To participate in the exposition, look at “forms” at www.pridedayton.com.


The next Dayton Pride event will be the screening of the film festival favorite PATRIK, AGE 1.5 on Thursday, June 17 at 7:00 and 9:40 at THE NEON in downtown Dayton.  Tickets will cost just $6.00 and will be available at THE NEON box office beginning May 21. These 2 special screenings are sponsored through a special collaboration between The Dayton Pride Partnership and the Downtown Dayton LGBT Film Festival. Synopsis: “Goran and Sven are the perfect gay couple; newly approved for adoption, they believe that baby Patrik, age 1.5, is on his way. One tiny decimal mistake later, they find themselves saddled with a 15-year-old homophobe….who may have a criminal past.”


Last the Miami Valley Pride Picnic will be on June 27th beginning at 2 PM at Irelan Park in Kettering located at the intersections of 4532 Marshall Road at East David Road. The hosting organizations will provide burgers and hot dogs, beverages and table ware. Attendees should bring a side dish or dessert to share. There will be a free donation taken up to help offset the costs.