U-B-U at Easton Park!
On Saturday, July 2th, the Easton Park Community Life Team partnered with Easton Park Pride to co-create our first Pride event: U-B-U!
Held at The Union from 2 – 6 p.m., this family friendly show kicked off with music from former Easton resident DJ Shmowzer, followed by a rousing performance from local drag legend Nadine Hughes. Her performance of Respect got the crowd on its feet, and she even rallied several hunky swimmers out of the pool for a photo op. We also enjoyed performances from Miz Roxanne, Alice Express, and Lala Uchis, who not only put on an amazing show but also read books to neighborhood kids during a special Easton Edition of Drag Queen Storytime. Things wound down with an excellent vocal performance from R&B singer Mychael B and delicious popsicles from Mom and Pops, a local LGBTQ+ company.
Mike Yager, a member of Easton Park Pride Committee, was thrilled with the turnout for the event, which attracted several hundred Easton Park residents and guests. “We were blown away to have that many people show up from the community,” Mike said. “Neighbors put out pride flags for support, and with everything that went on during COVID, just to know the neighborhood would come together and be so supportive was incredible.”
Thanks to the hard work of Mike and the team, the event also raised $1,400 for OutYouth, an Austin nonprofit that offers all youth a place where they are loved, acknowledged, and accepted for who they are. A generous cookie donation from The Bearded Baking Company, another local LGBTQ+ company, served as a sweet fundraiser. Each cookie purchased equaled a raffle entry to win one of the following prizes: a $1,000 CertaPro gift certificate, a collectible Laverne Cox doll, and a cake from The Bearded Baking Company.
“A lot of Pride events are targeted more toward adults, but we were able to do something family friendly,” Mike said. “As part of our planning, we did a survey to decide which charity to support, and we really wanted to focus on helping gay youth so they can have what we have.”
Easton Park Pride is already thinking of how to make next years’ event bigger and better! To stay in the know on this and other Easton Park events, come be our neighbor! Find your home online or come out to the community and tour the models for yourself.
