Maple Ridge wants to mark the installation of the rainbow crosswalk downtown with a community barbecue and get-together in the park next week.
Everyone’s welcome to the Community BBQ on Thursday, July 28, from noon to 3 p.m., in Memorial Peace Park.
The event is being hosted by PLEA Community Services Society of B.C., in collaboration with the City of Maple Ridge.
After the barbecues get fired up, the city will hold a rainbow crosswalk dedication ceremony at about 1 p.m., to mark its installation on 224th Street, at the gateway to Memorial Peace Park.
City council approved the crosswalk, which could cost up to $6,000, earlier this year after the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. on June 12.
The Maple Ridge event will simply be a barbecue and won’t have any entertainment. Next year, the event could turn into more of festival, said Wilf Leung, with PLEA.
The event is for everyone who supports the LGBTQ community, said Leung, who added that the city contacted PLEA with the idea.
The counselling agency initially was known as the Pacific Legal Education Association.
The drag group the Vancouver Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will host a candlelight vigil at the bandstand in the park, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. The vigil will be for any marginalized group that’s suffering in the community, but particularly for the LGBTQ community, said Dan Wurzer, who organized the event.
• More details will be posted online next week. For more information on the Community BBQ or candlelight vigil, contact Leung at 604-476-2820 or via email at wleung@plea.bc.ca.