Havurah has marched in Portland’s annual Pride Parade for decades. Last year, for the first time, Havurah joined with other Jewish organizations to participate in the parade. Since this was a new process for everyone, we had a few logistical snafus.

In the interest of making Pride 2018 a great experience, we are starting to organize and prepare early. Through the Jewish Federation and the Jewish Pride organization that has emerged here in Portland, there are many new opportunities to get involved. Please reach out to Rachel Nelson at rachelr@jewishportland.org or 503-892-7415 if you would like to more information about Jewish Pride Greater PDX. They have issued the following invitation:

“Participate in PRIDE Weekend Festivities: We hope all organizations and congregations will participate by walking together, as a community, in the PRIDE parade. Note that each organization is encouraged to bring their own banners, t-shirts and other marketing pieces so that each institution can maintain their individual organizational identities while marching together as one: Jewish Pride Greater Portland. We also hope all organizations will either host, participate in or cross promote at least one other event during Pride weekend. An example of such events includes Pride Shabbat dinners.”

I am happy to be the point person for Havurah this year, although I also hope others may wish to step up and take this on. Please contact me by phone or email if you're interested. Meanwhile, we are planning to join the larger organization for the parade. We will bring our own banner and any signs, beads, hats or other decorations folks wish to bring.

If this is your first time to walk with us, the process is quite simple. We will send out our unit number and parade details closer to the actual date, which is June 17 this year. Other Pride-related events could also occur if anyone wishes to take the lead on planning them or coordinating with Rachel Nelson. There is also the possibility of a pre-parade brunch at the Oregon Jewish Museum, which is located in the center of the Parade staging area.

-Sandy Ramirez, sandylou29@yahoo.com, 503-730-3702