Visitors to the Safe Space Summer Splash at Strathcona Island Park on Monday.--News Photo Anna Smith
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
While the weather held at a more agreeable 28 degrees, the Prairie Pride Guild of Medicine Hat & District invited its rapidly-growing community out for a little fun in the sun.
The Safe Space Summer Splash was held Monday afternoon in Strathcona Island Park, hosting a variety of activities and opportunities for connection over the course of two hours beside the splash pad.
“We basically just wanted to come out and host a small community event,” said Kimberly Large, a member of the Prairie Pride Guild board of directors. “We have free freezies and water, we have stickers. We got to borrow the Community Neighbourhood Association’s giant yard games, which were a big hit at pride on the 29th of June. We’re grateful to be able to borrow those again.”
The hill beside the splash park hosted a variety of activities, from giant Jenga to cornhole, as youth and adult residents of the city alike gathered to socialize and get to know their neighbours a little better.
The guild was pleased with the turnout for the event, with Large saying, “It’s fun for us to get together and hang out. If we meet anybody new, and now they know who we are and what is available in town for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, that’s a success.”
While it was not intentional for the meetup to be held on Heritage Day, Large did note that it certainly worked out in their favour.
This event came together fairly quickly, said Large, with only a month of turnaround time. But they’re very pleased with the result and having everyone together, including perhaps the smallest member of the guild, a young tortoise named Daisy.
“Our treasurer has a tortoise, and since we did have an alpaca come through at our last event, we thought it might be fun to have Daisy here. She just came to brighten some people’s days, and probably eat some blueberries,” said Large.
The rest of the summer still holds a few more events for the guild, said Large, as they gear up for College Pride Week once classes are back in full swing.
“On Aug. 17, we’re at the block party. The theme of that is heritage and so we will have Jenni Barrientos there, who is our president and an archivist at the Esplanade. She’s done a lot of research, and collection of local pride history. So we’ll be focusing on that,” said Large.
The guild will also be present at the Overdose Awareness Day Barbecue at the Medicine Hat Public Library on Aug. 31, and is currently planning a Pride Walk with PRISM Medicine hat, with more details to come.
