A Volunteer's Perspective (NYC Pride 2014)

It definitely brings a huge smile to my face when I think about how The March and Heritage of Pride's membership and events have grown over the last decade. I was quite nostalgic last month thinking about my involvement with Heritage of Pride and all the events that happen throughout June - aka Pride month. I remember getting the Montclair High School's Gay Straight Alliance back to an active status taking on the president role and within the same year I got a huge turnout of students and friends to join me in The March (2006). Year later while at college I was active with their GSA of sorts, Spectrum. Fast forward to May of this year I was filling out a volunteer form and attending three separate training sessions for The Rally, Teaze, The March and Dance on the Pier - of which I was volunteering for ALL of them. Yep I'm crazy but I'm also a super proud ally of the LGBTQIA community :) especially with the increasingly A class list of entertainers and performances (this year Laverne Cox - Orange is the New Black, Demi Lovato, Susan Sarandon, and Johnathan Groff - Spring Awakening; Glee)

View of Pier 26 Saturday

Orange is the New Black represent - Thanks to Lavrene

Volunteers made this abstract masterpiece

Long story short, as much as I knew it would be an intense commitment, I honestly had NO IDEA! However, I did meet some awesome volunteers that since we've kept in touch via social media. Also it was a true learning experience for me both with the internal staff relationships, roles, and organization but also as a volunteer. I don't think its wise to push oneself beyond the minimum because let's be real here, its not like I'm getting paid for this gig. Secondly, I advise volunteers to value their time - its all you have and if an organization doesn't appreciate that (because they should, they should be giving you gratitude forever!) than what are you doing it for and with that, is it really worth it?

Of course there are those people that volunteer to get free access to the action. And of course there are people who are extremely rude and nasty to other volunteers and staff while on/off their "volunteer shifts". But we win some and lose some. The hope is that you are setting aside your valuable time for something you believe in and want to be a part of. Despite all of the things that went wrong throughout the weekend, I did have a memorable and fun time!

 

Fellow volunteers at check-in tent for The March

View from Fifth Avenue

Thanks Bret, Julian, Michelle, Elizabeth and everyone on the Heritage of Pride staff and all of the volunteers I met who could not have been more hospitable and friendly!

Moments in History

Its definitely been a rollercoaster these last months of spring especially to do with my job...but I'm not even going there. What I will say is that despite the bumps rather walls I've had to climb I have had some good experiences.

Meggan, one of my second cousins on my Dad's side of the family (Valero) invited me to come with her and her friend Alli to go to the Boston Calling Music Festival. This was perfect timing considering I didn't make plans for Memorial Day weekend. Top it all off, we stayed with Meggan's sister Erin - who's apartment was REALLY spacious, clean and modern - and met up with their brother Justin, who flew in from DC. I was so thankful for the beautiful weather during the daytime and parts of the evenings throughout the weekend - with the exception of Saturday night when it poured for about an hour before I decided 'eh I've had enough of this' and go back to Erin's place. Sunday was 'walk in Erin's shoes' day, met her friends at this french restaurant, walked around the SoWa market and bringing some food truck meals back to Erin's apartment. I really appreciated the bonding moments between the cousins - Erin, Justin, Meggan and I - like Saturday morning breakfast :) I hope to repeat this again soon in the near future!

Meggan (flamming purple hair), me and Alli

Boston Calling Festival at City Hall - scenes from The Departed were filmed here :)

The crew heading to the SoWa market

SoWa Food Trucks

Street art (SoWa)

One of two stages - Boston Calling (every fall and spring)

Fast forward a week later, I went out with my JC Gang and the Downtown Jersey City Meetup peeps on the annual Bar Hawral/Birthday Party for Rachel. I met up with everyone at the first dive/irish pub called Bobby Dee's near Journal Square. The bartender and old patrons couldn't have been sweeter. Rachel got some rounds of free shots and a pound cake with a candle - as we sand "Happy Birthday". It was a get way to kick off the Hawral! Fifth bar in - Journal Square Pub next to Loews Theater - I said my goodbyes and heading home to make a quick change for the Sundree and Tie event at The W Hotel via NJ Young Professionals group. I met some more lovely single ladies who gave me all the dish on other events and groups to check out for a young, single, professional like myself. It couldn't have been a more pleasant evening.

Happy Birthday Rachel cheers

After a hellish week, I took off part of the first Friday in June to head into the city with my Mom to get massages and facials. It was the right amount of pampering I needed to diffuse my stress. We made it back to Jersey City just in time to catch some of the cultural/artsy events in The Heights for JC Fridays (first Friday every quarter).

View from The Heights 

 

  Madouche Bag - plays live every Thursday at Madam Claude Cafe

Live at the Lumberyard (Palisade Ave) - once a month throughout the summer 

 

The next day I was heading into the city with all the yuppies to make my way to the Belmont Stakes in the hope that California Chrome would win. I met up with my cousin Kerry, whom I hadn't seen since Christmas. We spent the rest of the day hanging out, rehashing our college days as we watched all the preppy kids take over the grounds outside the racetrack. Two hot dogs, a couple of bets, and one, two, three beers in we picked out our spots to get the best "front row" seats we could find. Unfortunately but expected, California Chrome didn't take the gold but lucky Kerry #11 did! She bet on him thanks to a family member's tip. $95 winning ticket - cursing that I didn't follow her lead but none the less it was a fun time.

Craziness inside

Craziness outside - mainly tailgating yuppies

 

 Our view of the track

 My cuz and I

To bring you up to the most recent events...the last few weeks I've been hard working after work hours. I've gone to a few volunteer training sessions for this years NYC Pride events, The Rally (6/27), Teaze (6/28), The March & Dance on the Pier (6/29). I know this is going to be a super rewarding volunteer effort - plus I'll meet more friends in the LGBTQIA community so WIN for me. I also started the summer Zogsports leagues - Social Sampler (again) and Soccer. I recruited a few guy friends from the JC Gang which is awesome especially since we're on the same team. Downside is that Zogsports Soccer League - at least the team I was assigned to - is way too competitive for me. I pretty confident I won't be returning...which sucks because my friend Dan is on my team but at least he'll meet some new people :)

This past Friday I went to the Yankees vs Orioles game. Unfortunately I left at the top of the 9th inning due to expected commuter traffic getting back to NJ. However, I heard that Beltran made a homer that won the game - went from 2-1 Orioles to 5-3 Yankees takes it! Sunday my Mom and I went into the city to see our friend Donald perform with Rev. Billy & Shop Stopper Choir at Joe's Pub in the village. I had some time to kill before and went to a hipster coffee shop near the 9th St PATH station called Joe The Art of Coffee - Disclaimer: creepy single guys make small talk and stare at young women from the street while smoking ICK! Walked to Washington Square Park before and after the show where everyone and their families were out including a wedding party. We were witnesses to this lovely couple getting married in the park - great and cheap idea!

Lastly, I we went back to the car in downtown Jersey City only to find the battery was dead. AAA is a godsend and was there in no time - good for me since I was super pissed that I might miss the USAvPOR game. Listened to the ESPN radio announcers in the car while it was running (leave it on for 30mins minimum) and then inside our house. I was screaming and on edge the whole time - reading Twitter feed, browsing the Internet for updates...and then Rolando kicked the goal making it a 2-2 final call. Ugh. But overall it was a pretty decent weekend!

Next week...PRIDE! Till then ;)