[il-talk] Disability Pride Parade next Saturday

[Glenn Moore III]

Hi Everyone on IL-Talk, this is Glenn Moore from the Chicago chapter.

You probably have heard by now that the 8th annual Disability Pride Parade will be taking place in downtown Chicago in a little over a week from today, and the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois will be taking part in it. We would love for you to come join us!

We will have a banner, and possibly some NFBI literature to hand out, feel free to wear any NFBI paraphanalia that you have.

If you want to come out to downtown Chicago and find out what Disability Pride is all about, then here is the info, in a convenient calendar/schedule style:



Registration is the first step, but if you are coming with the NFB I, then we've already taken care of that for you, but if you want to participate separately, check out this page:
http://www.disabilityprideparade.org/volunteer.php to register

There is a phone and in-person volunteers meeting
on Tuesday, July 19, from 6:15 - 8:15 p.m.
at Access Living: 115 West Chicago Avenue, chicago, IL
or call in at +1(866) 305-2467  (use PIN 649117)
the website says this is a 'mandatory meeting', I don't think we need to call in, but there may be some useful things to learn at the meeting.

The Disability Pride Parade Open Mic is 
on Friday, July 22nd, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
at First United Methodist Church:
at the Chicago Temple
at 77 West Washington, Chicago, IL 
there will be poetry, music and a lot of fun. I did not see it written on the website, but i imagine there will be food and refreshments for sale

the Pre-Parade Staging is
on Saturday July 23rd, starting around 10:15 a.m.
at 401 South Plymouth Court, Chicago (paratransit info at the bottom of this paragraph)
   this will be 2 whole blocks, located 
behind (west) of the Harold Washington / Chicago Public Library; 
bordered on the north by Jackson Boulevard, 
on the south by the Congress Parkway
and cut in the middle by Van Buren Street
(Paratransit drop-off address is 401 South Plymouth, at roughly 10:15 a.m. and
pickup is at Daley Plaza: 50 West Washington, at roughly 12:30 or later, whenever you like)
For public transit info, follow this link: http://www.disabilityprideparade.org/travelguide.php
or see the Frequently Asked Questions page, question 11: http://www.disabilityprideparade.org/faq2011.php
or call the Chicago Transit Authority Travel Information Center
at 312-836-7000
or visit http://www.rtachicago.com

The Parade Route is as follows:
Step off is at 11 a.m., at Plymouth court and Van Buren
we will march west, about 1 block to Dearborn,
turn right (north) and march north on Dearborn for 5 or six blocks (depends how you count) to Daley Plaza, located at the North West corner of Washington and Dearborn

The Daley Plaza events begin at 12:30 p.m.
at Daley Plaza (at the end of the parade route).
there will be music, dance, performances, people, and a lot of fun I bet!

Whew, that was long. I hope i said everything, if you are interested, don't forget to tweet, 'blog, update your facebook status, or just drop a dime, spin the rotor-dial and phone a friend about this.

Hope you can join me there!
oh yeah, also, you can explore the parade website at:

http://www.disabilityprideparade.org/index.php

Until next time, 

-Glenn III
glennmooreiii at yahoo.com

P.S.: