Setup area: Dirt lot on the corner of Olive & Palm Avenues (see Location link above)
Once there, check in with our staff in our official Pride t-shirts, they are coordinating that area. They will give you a pre-assigned number for the Parade.
Olive will be closed at 9am, Parade starts 10am. You can set up the float earlier than 9am, of course, but we're not sure how early the coordinators will be there.
Parade ends at Maroa, you must left turn at Maroa to exit. Please contact the other Parade participants in your contingent and share this information.

There are prizes for Parade entries, $100 each for 1) Largest Contingent, 2) Best Float/Decorated Vehicle, and 3) Most Festive entry.

Parade Entries MUST return the QUESTIONARIE below by Friday 06/06/08. This must be in our possession by 5pm on 06/06/08. The information will be used to highlight and promote your organization at the grand stand area. The parade is being covered in its entirety by Comcast and the information you will provide will be broadcast throughout the year on Comcast on Demand or Channel 14. Don't miss this opportunity to promote your group or services.

All venders; informational, merchandise or food booths will be provided with 2 (two) entry passes for your staff that will be working the booth. These passes are non transferrable from one person to another. Please plan accordingly for any additional staff that will be working your booth. The COVER CHARGE IS $5 PER PERSON.

Setup starts at 7am. The entrance is where Wishon and Fulton merge (just south of Olive Ave.), vehicles must be out of the area by 9am, but it is best if you drop off your stuff inside and take the vehicle out ASAP.

IMPORTANT: Olive Ave will be closed at 9am, and that's the only way to get onto Wishon, which is a one-way street! Be on site BEFORE 9am!

Once there, Kirk & Kevin in our official maroon Pride t-shirts will direct you to your site and show you where to get your table(s) / chair(s). After the festival is over (3pm), you need to clean up your area, return the tables /chairs to the designated area, take all trash and litter to the trash dumpsters, and then find Kirk & Kevin to inspect the site and they will return the cleaning deposit. THE DEPOSITS WILL ONLY BE GIVEN OUT AT THE FESTIVAL. If you leave without seeing Kirk & Kevin, you will NOT receive your cleaning deposit back.

Questions? Call Kirk & Kevin at (h) 559-225-1077 up to June 6th. On the day of the event call either Kevin's cell at 559-213-7718 or Kirk's cell 209-769-9398.

It is not possible to receive the deposit before 3pm. Please don't break down the booths early.

Thank you! See you on Saturday!

For general inquiries please e-mail clinkinc@aol.com

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PARADE ENTRANTS

Information will be used to highlight and promote your organization at the Grand Stand area and for the broadcast of the 2008 Pride Parade by Comcast's "On Demand". THIS QUESTIONNAIRE MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN MAY 31, 2008.

Official name of the group?

Why was your group formed? OR What is your Mission Statement/Statement of Purpose?

What service do you offer/provide?

When were you founded?

Where are you located/where do you meet?

Meeting times and Dates?

How many members do you have? OR How many individuals do you serve?

Goals for your future?

An interesting fact about your group:

Description of your parade entry and anything else you would like the commentators to say about your group:

Will you have a booth at the festival? YES NO

What upcoming events do you have planned?

What is your groups' greatest accomplishment?

VIP Program

We have created a VIP program for Pride Partners who have made a donation of $50 or more to the Pride event. These special Pride Partners will receive two VIP passes that will entitle him or her and a guest to use of the special VIP gate at the festival entrance, VIP seating in the entertainment pavilion, and an outdoor area where VIPs can relax in comfort in the shade. To become a VIP send in your tax-deductible donation of $50 or more to Community Link, P.O. Box 4959, Fresno, CA 93744 with note "Pride" - or click on "$$$ NEEDED" above and then on DONATE button

Quick Tickets

Presale tickets to the Festival will be available through our website www.fresnorainbowpride.com. These presale tickets are $10 each, plus a small PayPal fee, which allows you to use the VIP gate at the festival for quick and hassle free entry into the festival. You won’t have to wait in a long line at the start of the festival and you can present your Pride Quick Ticket at the beer garden for a $1 off each beer for the first hour ONLY of the festival (till noon). Pride Quick Tickets are only available on line and will need to be paid through PayPal. They will be available for a limited time only - until Friday, May 30, 2008.

Purchase Quick Ticket now! ($10.61 includes PayPal processing fee)

DON'T FORGET!

PRINT PAYPAL's PAYMENT CONFIRMATION PAGE and BRING IT WITH YOU TO THE FESTIVAL GATE!

Upcoming Pride 2008 meetings:

Tuesdays 5/13, 5/20, 5/27, 6/3 at 6:30pm, GSA Office @ 928 N Van Ness

A Free Float Building and Parade Workshop

Thursday Evening, May 8^th 6-7:30pm

At the Living Room of West Care

603 E. Belmont (there is secure parking in the back parking lot)

This is a free workshop and is open to ALL potential float and parade participants.

The workshop presenter is Ray Pulver of Upbeat Parade Productions, who has worked on floats in the San Francisco Pride Parade. Upbeat has designed and built more than 40 award-winning floats for businesses, organizations and cities in California and Massachusetts.

This Workshop will help you with:

Design Concept
Construction
Decorative Materials
Parade Day Appearance

The float-building workshop is geared for amateurs. If you have a community organization or business wanting to participate in the parade with a float, here is a workshop that can help you build a great entry. This workshop provides ideas for all aspects of float building including design concept, vehicles to use for a float, building and decorating materials to use, and how to present a float on parade day. Upbeat Parade Productions has presented this workshop for parades and conferences in cities across the country including; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Boise, ID; and El Paso, TX.

Doing business as Upbeat Parade Productions, Ray Pulver is an event producer and consultant with over 25 years of experience, having worked with many different types of parades from small town and ethnic parades, to regionally and nationally televised parades. In addition to parades, he has coordinated drum and bugle corps competitions, marching band shows, street festivals, craft shows, and worked as a Special Events Coordinator for the City of San Jose, California.

Mr. Pulver has been a speaker on the topic of parades and related events, Ray has spoke at Universities, IFEA, CalFest, DCI, and Pacific Coast Judges Association classes, seminars and conventions in cities throughout the country including; New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Las Vegas, Omaha, Boise, San Jose and other cities throughout Northern California. He has had the honor of serving as a parade float judge for several parades on both the west and east coasts, including for the nationally renowned Portland Rose Festival, Grand Floral Parade in Portland, Oregon, the second largest all floral parade in the United States and the renown Carnaval Parade in San Francisco.

This workshop is being underwritten by James Offen of http://www.Valleydecorating.com

Applications are now available!

Fresno Rainbow Pride, the Central Valley’s Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) Pride Parade and Festival is now accepting applications for vendor booths. Individuals, groups and businesses that are supportive of the GLBT community and would like to market to this loyal and unique community are encouraged to apply.

The Pride Festival is Saturday, June 7, 2008. The Pride Festival will open at the conclusion of the Pride Parade roughly around 11 am and close at 3 pm. The coverage charge for entry into the Pride Festival is $5.

Information, Merchandise, and Food spaces are currently available and very reasonably priced. Payments made be made via the PayPal feature on our website or by check or money order made payable to Community Link.

Information and Merchandise Booth space is $30 plus a $20 refundable cleaning deposit. This low price includes a 10x10 space, one table, two chairs, and two non-transferrable festival passes for your vendor staff.

Applications may be accessed at the "Applications" link above.

All applications must be downloaded and printed off. Please complete, sign and mail to Community Link, P.O. Box 4959, Fresno, CA 93744

Community Link, Inc.’s Fresno Rainbow Pride reserves the right to refuse applications that are negative, hostile, or otherwise inappropriate towards the GLBT community and our supporters.

For more information contact the Fresno Rainbow Pride Event Coordinator, Jeffery Robinson.

Jeffery Robinson, P.O. Box 4959, Fresno, CA 93744, (w) 559-495-3732, (c) 559-978-2524, (h) 559-486-3464, Clinkinc@aol.com

TIGHT TIMES IN CHARITABLE GIVING

Thanks go out to our sponsors for a quick response to our urgent financial needs. Because of them and our Donors, the Pride Partners, we have been able to contract for our billboard advertising and the installation of the Olive Avenue Pride banners. But there is still more to be done and covered. Here are the estimated costs of this year’s Pride Parade and Festival.

A Scaled Down Pride Budget 2008

City Permit $378.00

Beer License $15.99

Insurance $1,200.00

Trailer Truck Rental $650.00

Logo Contest $100.00

Rentals $2,500.00 (Entertainment Canopy, tables, chairs, stage)

Generator Rental $700.00

Fencing $1,500.00

Street barriers $1,000.00

Security $700.00

Port-A-Potties $450.00

Trash/Waste services $200.00

Storage $700.00

Supplies $500.00

Postage $300.00

Programs $1,000.00

Street Banners $1,200.00

Bill Board $450.00

Door Step $350.00

Posters/Banners $300.00

Promotional/Decors $500.00

Sound- Equipment $1,100.00

Entertainment $2,300.00

T-shirts $900.00

Children’s activities $500.00

Beer & Supplies $700.00

Concession Supplies $300.00

Grand Prizes $400.00

Grand Marshal Plaques $400.00

Total $21293.99

Can you help with any of these costs?

Get Involved!

Your help and input is needed to make Pride a smooth and successful event. Volunteers are needed for a variety of tasks in organizing the Pride. Join us in putting on a grand event for the whole community.
At our next planning meetings we will be brainstorming possible entertainment acts, choosing the Grand Marshals, choosing the children’s activities, and making other creative decisions at will make this the event of the year. Our planning meetings are on Tuesday evenings (see below) at 6:30 and are about an hour to an hour and half in length.
The meetings are held at the GSA Office at 928 N. Van Ness Ave. The place can be hard to find. The office is on the second floor of the two story building (the one on the south side of the complex). The stairs are located at the east end of the building near the alley. This office complex is on the east side of Van Ness and is between Belmont and Olive. If you go over the canal you have gone too far north. We are sharing the office with Equality for All and they may also be having a meeting at the same time as us. Just ask which room the Pride meeting is in.

Meeting Dates: April 29th, May 6th,13th,20th, & 27th and our last meeting before the Pride Parade is June 3rd.

Saddle Up!

Fresno Rainbow Pride is looking to bring together a group of mounted riders to participate in the Gay Pride Parade. If you own horses and would like to bring another aspect to the Pride event we are encouraging you to saddle up and contact your friends who also ride...

Call Jeff at (559) 486-3464 for more info.

Support our upcoming fundraisers.

Tacos Marquitos Dining Out For Pride - daily until May 31st

Ellos Latinos and EZ & sIEZ Productionz Show - Friday, May 2nd

Xotica & Deja Vu Nightclub Party & Show - Saturday, May 17th

Knights of Malta Fundraiser - Friday, May 30th

See more under "Events" link on top of the page

ATTENTION! All GLBT Military Veterans! RECRUITING ...

... Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines...

... That happen to be gay!

The Gay & Lesbian Pride Parade is coming up already - so soon! A few years ago, Mayor Autry was quoted as saying that there are no Gay & Lesbian Veterans... HELLO!!! Well, we have marched in the last two Parades! Want to be a part of it?

We could carry our respective military flags and be a part of a society he denies exists. Some may not want to march, so we can stroll down Olive Ave.

Call Bill Robinson for information, share your ideas and to schedule a planning meeting.

Home: (559) 268-4015, cell: (559) 681-4497.

CHOOSE FRESNO!

After months of planning and organizing, preparations for the 2008 Pride Parade and Festival have been going on since July 2007; Fresno Rainbow Pride was thrown for a loop when it learned this week that West Hollywood/L.A. Pride organizers, Christopher Street West, had moved their pride celebration forward by two weeks. The West Hollywood/L.A. Pride celebration is now the same weekend as our own.

Traditionally, West Hollywood/L.A. Pride is the weekend before San Francisco’s Pride parade.

For the past 18 years Fresno has had their Pride Celebration on the first full weekend in June. In the early days the Pride Parade and Festival were held on Sundays, but in 2001 the event switched to being held on Saturdays.

West Hollywood/L.A. Pride’s switch came as a shock to organizers. They only found out about it when they started to distribute the CAPI (Consolidated Association of Pride) annual flyers and posters announcing the Pride celebration throughout the west. West Hollywood/L.A. Pride was listed on the flyers as the same weekend Fresno Rainbow Pride.

Fresno Rainbow Pride is a member of both CAPI and Interpride, organizations that deal with coordinating and promoting pride celebrations, and there had been no “chatter” among the members about the scheduling change. Especially one this big should have been accompanied by press releases or some kind of official announcements.

The reason for the change is not known. Is this a one time occurrence or planned move to stretch out the pride celebrations in California with its two largest events taking opposite ends of the month?

In either case this places Community Link’s Fresno Rainbow Pride in a very difficult situation. Plans have moved along to the point that is not possible for Fresno to make scheduling changes.

The local community needs to stand by its Pride by staying in Fresno and supporting an event that has made major gains and improvements.

Fresno Rainbow Pride’s mission is to make our local pride event a showcase for the local GLBT cultural, raise visibility and awareness, and to put on a Pride Celebration that the community can be proud of.

This year choose Fresno and make a strong and supportive statement that having a Pride Parade is important to you and to the community.

Wordsmiths (writers) Needed

Writers are needed to write and edit the Grand Marshals’ short bios or life stories for the Pride Program. The write ups are short and usually about a page in length. Some of the bios could involve an interview and others will be to edit or rewrite what the Grand marshals have submitted. This is not a massive undertaking and the time commitment will be limited. The editors of News Link will assist in editing. It would be a great opportunity to do some volunteer work for your community. Contact us at Clinkinc@aol.com or call Jeffery Robinson at (559) 486-3464

Sponsors make our parade go around, our parade go around…

Yes we are barrowing from the ever so gay musical “Cabaret’s” signature song “Money” Organizing has been going along nicely and many contracts have been signed. Reservations for equipment and services have been made. Unfortunately the economy has not been going as smoothly. We have lost a few business sponsors due to the economic down turn and are exploring other possible alternatives to replace this lost revenue. Should you or your business be looking to make in roads into the GLBT community this would be a fantastic chance. Sponsorships are very affordable and will reach an estimated 3,000 people in a 6 hour period. Not to mention the exposure from being on the website and other promotional materials for the next three months. For more information go to our website www.fresnorainbowpride.com

Other inquiries should be made at Clinkinc@aol.com or by contacting Jeffery Robinson at (559) 486-3464

Donations

As mentioned in the above article, the economy has tanked some what and Fresno Rainbow Pride is looking at making up some lost funding. Organizers have made wonderful progress at connecting with business and corporations that have been happy to support the Fresno GLBT Pride Celebration in the past 6 years. A few have been unhappy to inform us that they will not be able to support us this year as they have in the past.

New sponsorship opportunities are being sought out, but have been difficult to find. One resource are individuals like your self that could make small contributions to Pride. $5, $10, $15, $25, … donations by supportive individual could make all the difference in the world this year. Your donation would be a tax deductible item on next year’s taxes. Fresno Rainbow Pride is a program of Community Link, Inc., which is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization.

Donations made be sent to Fresno Rainbow Pride, P.O. Box 4959, Fresno, CA 93744. Donations may also be made through Pay Pal on our website www.fresnorainbowpride.com

Whom would you like to see?

Entertainment ideas are being requested from the community. What up and coming GLBT performer would you like to see perform in Fresno. The organizing committee usually attempts to get a new face in the GLBT performing community to make an appearance at Fresno Pride. Although we would love to have a mega star come wow everyone this is not possible due to cost of bring such star power. Even older favorites that are making their comeback tours are financially impossible for us to bring. But new artist are always a possibility. So who have you heard has some what of a buzz about them?

Local artist are always needed to make a good balanced program. Know of any local folks that would like to showcase their talent? Contact us with your suggestions and the artist contact information should you have it. Email Clinkinc@aol.com or call 486-3464

Help

Fresno Rainbow Pride is in real need of bodies. Warm bodies. Live bodies. Bodies like yours. We need folks to make plans, get things organized, send out mailers, lick envoples, take minutes, get coffee, and the like. NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED. We’ll provide the training as we go along. All you have to have is commitment, follow through and be a team player. There are all kinds of work that needs to be done in the months before the parade, the day of the event, and the days following the celebration. Donate what time you can. Our meetings are scheduled March 18^th, April 1^st, 15^th, & 29^th, May 6^th, 13^th, 20^th, & 27^th and June 3^rd.

Meetings are held at the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Office at 928 N. Van Ness. The office is in a two story office complex on the east side of the street. It is between Belmont and Olive Avenues. If you cross the canal you have just passed the driveway of the complex and will need to go back around again. The GSA office is upstairs on the south building. The entrance is at the east end of the building. We really could use your help. We hope to see you at one of our next meetings.

Banner carriers

The day of the parade we need four banner carriers that will carry our two banners in the Pride Parade. Lots of fun. Lots of Cheers. Contact us at 486-3464 or at Clinkinc@aol.com

New requirements for food booths

More difficult news. California has instituted new health requirements for food vendors, that Fresno County has stated that they will enforce. All food vendors must have screened in canopies/booth with a very specific food pass through opening and a three sink hand washing station. The hand washing station might be able to be shared by several food vendors. Questions should be taken to the Fresno County Community Health Department’s Environment Health at (559) 445-3357

Wal-Mart Grants

Community Link has received two grants from Wal-Mart. One a community grant of $1,000 and a matching grant of $750. These grants will help fund programs for the GLBT youth and seniors through the Youth Alliance and the Gray Alliance and assist in making improvements to the Fresno Pride Parade and Festival. Community Link would like to thank Wal-Mart for its support of the GLBT community.

Three years ago, a backlash mounted against Comcast for sponsoring our Pride Parade & Festival.

Their offices, both local and state, were deluged with angry phone calls, letters and emails from those protesting Comcast's support of GLBT community. This nearly caused Comcast to pull out of their sponsorship last year, a move that would have no doubt been followed by other "mainstream" corporations and businesses.

In fact, all your letters of support were instrumental in Comcast's decision to offer LOGO network in the Valley!
This year, once again, please take action and let all of our sponsors know how you appreciate their support of this and other GLBT events. It will only take a minute of your time, and the effect can be enormous.