Ridgefield Pride Group to Bring LGBTQ Celebration to Ballard Park

RIDGEFIELD, CT — The town is getting its very own LGBTQ celebration, spearheaded by an 8th grade teacher.

Ridgefield Pride in the Park, a live event set for Ballard Park on June 15, is the brainchild of Ridgefield CT Pride, a new group formed around the efforts of Maureen Tyra, a social studies teacher at East Ridge Middle School in Ridgefield.

Tyra also organized the school's new Gay Straight Alliance Club. When she reached out to other GSAs at Scotts Ridge Middle School and Ridgefield High School, to form an alliance of Alliances, she learned that the now-annual LGBTQ parade begun three years ago by a schoolgirl in Bethel was a great source of inspiration for the students. The groups decided they wanted to provide the same experience, in Ridgefield.

Tyra ran with the ball, and got none of the interference she feared.

"I spoke with (Ridgefield First Selectman) Rudy Marconi back in December," she told Patch. "I said 'this is something we'd like to do, is this something we have your approval for?' And he said, 'Absolutely!'"

The original plan for a parade changed, as plans do, because the organizers did not want the festivities to conclude at parade's end, and, really, how long can you march down Main Street in Ridgefield?

"So we talked to Parks and Rec, and they said we could use Ballard Park, we got some event insurance, and now we are talking to local businesses to help offset some of these expenses," Tyra said.

Those expenses include sound equipment, of course, and also face-painting supplies.

"It's going to be kid-friendly, it's not going to be pushing an agenda," Tyra said. "It's just, 'let's co-exist!'" Health organizations will be represented, as will the library, which is presenting a story hour with an LGBTQ focus.

Up to now, Ridgefield CT Pride has been raising money for those expenses the old-fashioned way: by collecting bottles and cans, redeeming them for a nickel each. Word got out when they sold refreshments at the high school musical, and a few families have sent them unsolicited donations. But businesses can sign up online through the group's website to sponsor tables at the event itself, to help pay for that sound equipment and those face painting supplies, among other bits.

Tyra's goal is to make the event, and LGBTQ+ pride in general, a "part of the natural fabric of the community, that we are all accepted, that we can all celebrate each other and take a moment each year to come together in that celebration."

To that end, the group hopes to make Ridgefield Pride in the Park an annual event, like Bethel's parade. Tyra says she will measure its success and growth not by dollar donations, but by increased awareness and support.

"Especially in the middle schools, where it is really hard for kids who may be confused, wondering if they are part of (the LGBTQ) community," Tyra said. "We want people to see this is everyday life. It's in our literature, in our movies, it's in our songs, TV shows. Let it be real in our world, in our schools, and in our town!"

The first annual Ridgefield Pride in the Park will be held June 15 in Ballard Park, 485 Main Street in Ridgefield, from noon to 3 p.m. Admission is free.