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Pride in Manchester Week and Heritage Day
Click here for the 2013 brochure with all the Pride Week activities
PRIDE WEEK, JUNE 1 TO JUNE 8, 2013
2013 marks the twenty-second anniversary of Pride In Manchester, a week full of free activities for all ages. Pride Celebrates our town's heritage - past, present, and future.
The entries in the Pride photo contest will be on display at First Niagara Bank, Downtown Main Street on Thursday, June 6 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Winners will be announced during opening ceremonies on Heritage Day, June 8 at 10:30 a.m. at Cheney Hall, with prizes for first, second, and third place. Kathleen Wilkie won in 2011 and Richard Sylvester won in 2012.
Pride week kicks off with the FREE Concert in the Park
on Saturday, June 1 in Downtown's Center Memorial Park with Orange Crush, New England's premier 80s dance party band, playing from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and opening act, the Shaded Soul Band, with music ranging from the 40s big-bands to the top 40 of today, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Food available from vendors throughout the evening. More about this fabulous outdoor concert at
Pride and Heritage Events. Rain date: June 2, same time. Check web site for updates
The Pride Week committee organizes a Senior Dance on Tuesday, June 4, a Downtown event Strollin' on Main Street -- a part of Imagine Main Street -- in Downtown Manchester on Thursday, June 6, and Heritage Day, Saturday, June 8. Throughout the week there are also a dozen independently sponsored events, including an art show in the park, a family hike, a history walk, a children's bike rodeo, and
the New England Fiddle Contest.
Heritage Day is celebrated all around town. The day begins at Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road.
A bit of history about Manchester's Pride week: The late Joseph Negri, a former member of the Board of Directors,
started Pride In Manchester Week as a one-day event. Residents volunteered their time cleaning up the streets of
Manchester. The program grew each year, adding a senior dance, roller-skating party, and a concert. Our programs have now
expanded to a week-long celebration of Manchester, culminating in Heritage Day. Today's Heritage Day - the final Saturday
of Pride week - began in 1991 and is based on "Homeland Day," a day set aside in 1914 by Cheney Brothers to recognize and
celebrate the many ethnic backgrounds of those who immigrated to Manchester to work in the silk mills.
Since 2011, the Pride Committee has honored "Hometown Heroes" each June, "to recognize people in our community who have
supported, served, volunteered, and given their time and talents without the recognition they deserve." Joyce Hodgson,
chairperson of Pride Week in 2011, 2012, and 2013, organized the program in 2011 to celebrate Pride’s 20th Anniversary.
She said, "Hometown Heroes have served the community over long periods. These people awe and inspire us to do better, be
better, and give back to Manchester all that it’s given to us." On Heritage Day, the second Saturday in June, the award is
given at Cheney Hall. A tree has been planted for each Hometown Hero, through the Town's tree program. The Committee
welcomes comments or nominations from the public. Click
Hometown Heroes to read
about the award winners.
The Pride In Manchester committee is comprised of volunteers from the community committed to providing interesting
cultural, social, educational and recreational activities. Some of our members have been serving on the committee since
its inception. Pride activities are funded by generous donations from local businesses and individuals, as well as by the
Town of Manchester and the SBM Charitable Foundation.
• To contact the Pride webmaster, click
Pride & Heritage webmaster.
• To email the Pride committee chairperson, click
Joyce Hodgson, or phone (daytime) 860-647-9824.
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