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find everything you need to make your next picnic great.

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Between Pearl and College 

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Pride Parade

banners affirrning that the glbtq
community is welcome in their
congregations. Two out-of-state
marching bands, the Freedom
Trails band from Massachusetts
and the Big Apple Corps from
New York, strutted crisply in the
middle and near the end of the
parade.

A couple of bars spon-
sored floats in the parade, one
from Plattsburgh, another com-
plete with disco-go-go dancing
cage. In bigger, more commercial
markets, bar floats have come to
dominate Pride parades.

Among the few politi-
cians to march in the rain in
search of glbtq votes were two
Democrats and a Progressive:
Auditor Elizabeth Ready, state
treasurer candidate Jeb
Spaulding, and lieutenant gover-
nor candidate Anthony Pollina.
State treasurer candidate Ed

1 Flanagan stood on the sidelines

as the parade went by. State
Senator Jim Leddy marched.

With 1500 or more peo-
ple, according to one organizer’s
estimate, the Burlington parade
was an unqualified success,
unlike a turnout for Montpelier’s
“Pride Kickoff Parade” on June 1
characterized as “tiny” by one
observer.

Returning paraders
thronged the festival grounds for
an hour or two after the parade,
then melted away as the rain pelt-
ed down. Entertainment went on,
heedless of weather or audience.

Million_ Dollar Insurance
Snafu

e one major glitch in the
festival arrangements
failed-to derail the gather-

ing. The city of Burlington
infonned the Pride Committee
just a week before the Festival
that it would require every indi-
vidual “vendor” — whether the
“vendor” was a nonprofit organi-
zation offering information or a
bar selling beer — to show proof
of liability insurance in the
amount of $1 million.
According to Pride

Committee member Ken
Hirschmann, that was new.

. Previously it was assumed that

Pride Vermont’s liability policy
would cover non-food vendors.
According to city officials, the
vendor insurance policy is not
new, it has always been in the
contract, but the strict enforce-
ment level is new and due entire-
ly to liability concerns stimulated
by the terrorist attacks of last
September.

Contacted a few days
before the festival, City Hall
troubleshooter Bill Mitchell

continued from page 1

insisted,4“The insurance require-
ment didn’t change, the insurance
companies jacked up their rates.
It’s been there all along, but sud-
denly the estimates were l0‘times
what they were a year ago. Part
of it is price gouging and profi-
teering by the insurance compa-
nies. I understand that the city
has waived the requirement for
this year, except for the food ven-
dors.” Mitchell denied that the
policy is based on homophobia or
a desire to shut down the festival.

According to. Burlington
Parks and Recreation Director
Wayne Gross, “The city has to
rethink its policy for events and
functions — how much risk the
city will accept. Since September
11, insurance is harder to find
and more expensive.” He claimed
that all of the festivals on city
property have to comply with the
new level of enforcement, includ-
ing the Jazz Fest and, of course
the Chew Chew, which is entirely
food vendors.

Vermonters for Civil
Unions gave away slices of cake
at their booth. Organizer Mitzi
Johnson said she made sure that
their overall insurance policy
mentioned the cake, so that if
something untoward happened,
the organization would be cov-
ered. Mountain Pride Media can-
celed their plans for a cake in the
face of the insurance uncertainty.

“It’s ridiculous to expect
every organization to have its
own insurance,” declared Pride
Vennont Committee co-chair Ken
Hirschmann. “And no vendor can
have any food that’s not pre-
approved. It’s ridiculous.”
According to Hirschmann, Pride
Vermont paid about $1400 for a
million dollars worth of coverage
for a year — not just for the Pride
Fest. That amount, he said, is
about $400 more than last year.

Hirschmann asked,
“Why now? l’ve never heard of
any lawsuit coming out of any
festival or activity on city proper-
ty. We can’t have Frisbee, soft-
ball, volleyball, anything where
anybody could potentially get

. hurt. What I don’t understand,”

he reiterated, “is why now, why
our overall insurance doesn’t
cover it.”

With the city waiving
the strict enforcement of the ven-
dor insurance provision this year,
no vendors who were confirmed
pulled out of the festival. One
vendor who wasn’t confirmed
didn’t show up, said Hirschmann.

Overall, Hirschmann .
said, the festival was a success,
despite the weather. Rain just
can’t dampen our spirits. V