This year’s BG Pride Parade took place under sunny skies with breezy temperatures in the 80-degree range along the Buffalo Grove residential neighborhood leading to Mike Rylko Community Park on June 7.
The eighth annual family-friendly parade featured a Sunday lineup of 100 parade entries. Community tables and vendors were set up along the parade route, too. The BG Pride Parade is also known as the Buffalo Grove Pride Parade.
“We are so excited to bring some much-needed joy during very difficult times,” said Carolyn Pinta of Prairie View, BG Pride Parade co-founder and director of The Pinta Pride Project.
Years ago, Carolyn Pinta and her husband Bob Pinta supported their middle school-aged child Molly Pinta, now an adult, in starting a pride parade in their former hometown of Buffalo Grove. See https://buffalogrovepride.com/.
“This year’s theme is ‘Flower Power- Let Love Bloom’ and we encourage everyone to be spreading thoughts of love and peace to all humans,” Carolyn Pinta said.
“It has been an especially difficult year for so many people and our family is no exception,” Pinta added. “Having the parade to plan and execute has been a bright light.”
Molly Pinta appeared in this year’s parade driving a golf cart, waving at supporters.
“I’m so happy to see everyone’s smiling face today; everybody looks fantastic,” Molly Pinta said with a smile. “I’m so glad we got such beautiful weather so we can see everybody out here today.
“And we need it more than ever and I’m so happy to see such a great turnout.”
Molly Pinta answered a question about the state of the country.
The United States as a country is doing, “not fantastic,” Molly Pinta said. “But days like today, we can just be happy being out here, celebrating together.”
This year’s parade grand marshals were Susan Goedke and spouse Christine (Chris) Woodard of Mundelein, founders of Mundelein Pride. They were driven in a decorated convertible.
Speaking on the route, “It’s like the greatest honor,” Woodard said of being a grand marshal.
“I’m speechless, I have no words,” Goedke said, but, “It’s just amazing to be here.”
Carolyn Pinta said about Woodard and Goedke, “They have been with us since day one.
“They could never do enough; they’re amazing human beings, and they adopt every cause, and they fit our mission statement perfectly,” Carolyn Pinta said.
Alex Sebastian Versage of Highwood, who walked the parade route with Highwood Pride, said about Woodard and Goedke as being parade grand marshals, “I love it, they deserve it, they’ve been fighting so hard for us, we love them.”
Aiyana Emsun of McHenry, program manager of prevention education at A Safe Place of Zion and Lake Forest, said the organization was encouraged to staff a community table, so they did on the Deerfield Parkway parade route in the shade of a parkway tree. People could access literature and giveaways like lip balm.
“Domestic violence happens in every neighborhood,” Emsun said. “There’s so much more to abuse than the physical aspect, emotional, financial, verbal.”
Emsun added, “And it’s great because we always don’t get invited everywhere because people still want to be like, ‘Oh, the domestic violence agency, we don’t need that, hush, hush.’
“So they reached out to us which was really nice,” Emsun said about the Pinta BG Pride organizers. See https://asafeplaceforhelp.org/.
Michelle Butler of Libertyville was along the Deerfield Parkway parade route as spectators with children Grace, 9, a rising fifth-grader, and David, 7, a rising second-grader.
The children’s mother hoped for David and Grace, “just that they learn to accept everybody and include everybody.
“I think inclusivity for all people is important,” Michelle Butler said. “We just love everybody.”
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press
