Russian River Pride event canceled

The digital countdown to the inaugural Russian River Pride Parade still stood at 11 days on the event’s website Tuesday afternoon. But word around town was sadly up-to-date: the planned Pride weekend will not take place after all.

The Aug. 25-26 celebration will be held in early 2019 instead, according to producer Rodger Jensen. A date has not been chosen.

It’s a huge disappointment after seven months of effort, Jensen and others said. It follows the cancellation just days earlier of the Russian River Jazz Festival, traditionally held at Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville the weekend after Labor Day.

The music event’s producer hopes to stage separate Russian River Blues and Jazz shows at the beach venue next year, in June and September respectively, said Dan Poirier, co-owner of Johnson’s Beach.

But this year, “the jazz festival is a loss,” he said.

“Just tragic,” said Elise VanDyne, executive director of the Russian River of Chamber of Commerce, expressing particular regret for Jensen, who spearheaded Russian River Pride and invested seven months of time in the event.

Jensen, event coordinator at the popular R3 Hotel and a well-known community figure, created Russian River Pride early this year after Sonoma County Pride moved its annual June celebration of LGBTQ culture - a signature event in Guerneville for nine years - to Santa Rosa.

Jensen said he wanted to continue honoring Guerneville’s long embrace of diversity and the unique offerings of the lower Russian River, as well, through a local celebration.

But a volunteer who was supposed to obtain the appropriate permits months ago failed to get them in time, Jensen and VanDyne said. While a scramble to obtain them at the last minute was mostly successful, the CHP was unable to supply officers to monitor the parade and fair, which involved the extended closure of Fourth Street downtown. The CHP already had committed available resources to other events, VanDyne said.

“Everybody is really, really sad - heartbroken about it,” said Sister Sparkle Plenty, also known as Jim Longacre, a member of the nonprofit Sisters of the Perpetual Indulgence, which is among the sponsors of Russian River Pride.

“Everybody that I know locally, Russian River area, they really wanted to keep a gay pride event in Guerneville, and keep it local,” Longacre said. “It meant a lot to everybody.

“It was a family-friendly kind of event, and it was about bringing various aspects of our community together - gay people, straight people, old people, young people - all of that. We were really looking forward to a celebration.”

The jazz festival, a production of Omega Events, had for years been joined each September with the Russian River Blues Festival, this year held separately in June. The jazz show was canceled Aug. 6, though producers did not give a reason.

VanDyne said she has heard of some limited lodging cancellations around the area, but “I’m not hearing a huge amount of concern that they won’t be filled up again.”

She also said that local venues still will be hosting events along the theme of the canceled weekend celebrations.

Both the R3 and the nearby Woods Resort will be hosting special parties and a drag show, for instance, Jensen and Woods manager Michael Preaseau said.

VanDyne said she understood the Main Street Bistro, a local jazz venue, was adding to its lineups for Sept. 8 and 9, as well.

“They’re more diffuse, but they’re not gone,” Van Dyne said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.