Pagan Pride Day 2007

Over 220-240 people from all over came for Erie's 3rd
Annual Pagan Pride Day on September 8 at St. Nick's Grove, Erie PA. This was
close to the number of people attending last year. There was rain in nearby areas,
which probably kept attendance down. As in years past, the event was sponsored
by the United NeoPagan Council of Lake Erie (U-N-C-L-E)

There were a number of classes and workshops
presented, including Candle Magic by Ruth Sprague; Hoof and Horn, Tooth and
Talon: Animal Lore in the Northern Tradition by Groa; Wheel of the Year by
Dylan; Introduction to Belly Dancing by Vicky; Fundamentals of Food Magic by JR
Otter; Introduction to Tarot by Lisa and Drop Spindle by Maggie
Fry-Manross.

We had a number of rituals as well. The opening
ritual was by Groa and other members of the Heathen community from the region. The main harvest ritual was
by Wolf Moon Circle (featuring a blessing of the items collected for the Erie
Zoo) and the closing ritual was by Swanscove. There was some rain just before
the closing ritual.

In addition, Margo set up a meditative labyrinth
walk, as she did last year.

There was a very popular panel discussion entitled
Celebrating a Diversity of Traditions. Participants included a representative from the Spiritualist Church, TJ from Covenant of Brighidshaven
representing Eclectic Wicca, Raven from Whispering Lake Grove representing
Druidism, Groa representing Heathenism, and
Dylan from Swanscove representing Gardnerian Wicca.

Area comedian Joe Dante performed in the evening as
well. There was a fair amount of drumming throughout the day.

Vendors included Mohr & More,
Touch of Salem, The Genetic Druid, Julie - Massages, ice cream by James Armagost, Dean and
Konkol Welding.

As you might expect from such a large event, we had
many volunteers! Thanks go out to Jeremy, Eld Na(d)r, and Grey for running the kitchen. Security was staffed by Konkol
Welding. Emmy, Shelby, Livvy, Mo, and Serene helped with the registration area. Several of the volunteers were members of Erie Pagan Moot.

We took a group portrait again this year! The photo gallery is here. You can see local TV coverage of the event here. The raw footage from the event is here.

Area pagans gave generously, and we were able to
collect $200.50 for the Erie Zoo, as well as several large items.

There were U-N-C-L-E flasks for sale. There are a
limited number of flasks still left for sale at $25 each.

If you would like to be involved with next year's
event, please email PPDCoordinator@u-n-c-l-e.org.

We would also like to thank all of the wonderful
folks who filled out the feedback survey forms online! This gave us valuable
information for planning next year's event.