Mark & Carrie Celebrate 38 Years of Bliss
We want to thank everyone for your kind wishes, emails and cards. 38 years, who would have thought! We want your honeymoons to be as long as ours.
Nephew of the Week: Evan Wajgel
Evan is from Wisconsin so of course we LOVE him for that alone! Currently he calls St. Petersburg his home. When he’s not busy working and studying, he can be found in GaYBOR with his friends. His motto for life is “Be Brave!” We are sure he is!
You Just Can’t Make This Stuff Up!
One day I was serving four older lesbians on the Hamburger Mary’s balcony. The day was superbly nice and warm, and the fans were blowing on the patio. They were a lot of fun and we were joking back and forth, laughing a lot.
Then they said, “I bet you can’t guess what we are celebrating today!” I smiled and guessed…just got married? On vacation together? New job? Graduation? New baby? Just got divorced? The sky is blue?
They all smiled and said, “No. We were all in prison together many many years ago. Every year during Gasparilla we all try to get together.”
Two of the ladies were lovers and met in prison. The other two were single. They all had matching prison tattoos of a black star. They told me that when they were young they were all stupid. Now they’re back in each other’s lives again. WOW!
Parade Season in Tampa!
This is the time of year that gets you out of your house and onto the streets. In the next two months, Tampa will be showcasing many huge, colorful marching events. This is the time to get engaged to the area if you are a newcomer. For the well seasoned “Tampa-istas”, this is the time for outrageous costuming like you won’t see anywhere else.
The Sant’ Yago Knight Parade (February 14) proceeds down 7th Avenue and is geared toward community social groups. In March, the Roughrider’s St Patrick’s Day Parade (March 14) is all the Irish flair with a large brigade of soldiers dressed like Teddy Roosevelt, marching and securing the famed 7th Avenue. One hundred other area krewes add dimension and sheer party flavor.
The newest addition this year is of course the county’s re-invented Tampa Pride Parade (March 28), returning after 13 years. It will also have a procession down historic 7th Avenue during the sunny daytime festivities, with an important emphasis on the countywide acceptance of diversity. Maybe this is the time for you to explore 7th Avenue for yourself and join in on the rebirth of Tampa Pride!
These are just the springtime parade festivities, but there are other huge exciting area events coming up, including Ybor City’s Fiesta Day, the Florida State Fair, Centennial Park’s Annual Flan Festival, the GLBT Gasparilla Softball Classic in Tampa, the start of area spring MLB (baseball) season, the Great Festa Italiana, the Gasparilla Art Festival and the Florida Strawberry Festival.
Tampa Pride 2015 Rainbow Sponsorship Flags
The Tampa Pride 2015 Rainbow Sponsorship Flags for the upcoming Tampa Pride events being held in GaYBOR/Ybor City are popping up all over Tampa and St. Petersburg. The colorful 3′ x 5′ rainbow flags have the Tampa Pride pirate ship with the huge anchor on them, announcing that the business is “a proud sponsor,” printed in the lower 1/3 part of the flag.
The Tampa Pride 2015 rainbow flags are being sold to benefit the upcoming Tampa Pride celebration. Support the businesses that support the Tampa Bay GLBT community. Tampa Pride rainbow flags are available at MC FILM and are $100 each.
Be a part of Tampa Pride by volunteering, sponsoring, donating or just getting involved by telling your friends, neighbors and associates. For more information, go to tampapride.org.
