Niece of the Week: DJ Phoenyx Von Black
A St. Petersburg native, Phoenyx had donated countless hours to the LGBT community here. She has just started a Monday night event at GBar.
You Just Can’t Make This Stuff Up!
It was the week before St. Pete Pride and we were at our store, MC Film at the Suncoast Resort.
The phone rings and it’s an AIDS organization that we had never heard of before. They were asking for a donation for a basket that they were going to raffle off at the Pride vendor show. We said, “Sure, stop by the store and pick up a gift certificate.”
They asked if we could just mail it to them because they were too busy to pick it up. We said that we would like to meet the people that we were giving it to.
Hesitantly she said, “OK.” The little lady walked in and said, “My car is running outside. Where is the gift certificate?”
We laughed and gave it to her. The next year, our phone rings and it’s her again. This time she asks if we could replace the gift certificate from last year. The one we gave her last year had expired. We asked why it was not used. She told us that they never got around to giving out the basket and were going to raffle it off again this year.
We asked her, “So the people who bought raffle tickets last year were lied to?” The basket was not given out. She then told us, “They didn’t tell them what year the basket was going to be given out.” We said “NO!”
Then we were called every name in the ‘not so nice book’ by these two crafty old con artists. Their little thieving game was over because we told all the other shop owners at Suncoast Resort and in our newsletter back then! Sorry we don’t have their pictures.
So many con artists even in the GLBT community! Be aware!
St. Pete Pride…SUPER!
Congratulations to a very successful St. Pete Pride Weekend. Eric Skains, St. Pete Pride’s executive board director; St Pete Pride’s Board of Directors; and all the hundreds of PRIDE
volunteers get a high community foot stomping. “SUPER Kudos!”
The new additions and changes to this year’s Pride event worked out well. First, the Saturday
afternoon pre-Pride Parade party atmosphere was contagious, strong and super fun. The entertainment in the fenced in area around Georgie’s Alibi had thousands revving up for the
forthcoming night parade with high libatious energy.
The parade was a change from past years with another Pride first: St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman led the parade! Also, two GLBT St. Petersburg City Council members were also in the parade: Councilwomen Amy Foster and Darden Rice. Past St. Petersburg mayors Rick Baker and Bill Foster both refused to be part of the very profitable city event in the past 10 years. Last year, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn walked in the rainy Pride Parade.
The 2014 Grand Marshals Jay Aller, Councilwoman Darden Rice and PFLAG Tampa organizational directors John and Nancy Desmond started the parade right after the hundreds of “Dykes on Bikes.”
A very special guest in the Pride Parade was Grandma Ruth, the 97 year old owner of the Pro Shop Pub in Clearwater. She has been in past St. Pete Pride parades. There were over 300
parade entrants, from political candidates, organizations, walking drill teams, STP and ROTC, businesses, bank and life insurance companies, call centers, and of course Wells Fargo’s team of horses and stagecoach wagon in this year’s Pride Parade.
The estimated crowd was over 85,000 for the beautiful night parade and the new Sunday Pride Vendor Show on Central Ave. attracted another 50,000, commented St. Pete Pride officials.
That estimated to a bottom line profit for St. Petersburg of $12 to $14 million, positive impact dollars for the city from this Pride weekend.
All in all, the long gay pride weekend went off without a hitch. There were great, rain free skies, plenty of cooler night air, and a sense of ‘Pride’ from young to old GLBT revelers, and lots of diversity from our GLBT community.
