OUT and ABOUT with Seeker Chick Mai-Liis: Part 1 – Happy Pride!

In celebration of Pride Cornwall, I was happy to attend a Covid-safe gathering at the Cornwall Clock Tower this morning to watch the raising of the Pride Flag in Lamoureux Park.

As much as I believe I am ok not being around people, at events like this, I realize that I do miss seeing and talking to people in the community but hopefully in the near future we will be able to gather more like this than on virtual events via the Zoom platform and of course the Seeker will be happy to be able to promote Events and Happenings once again with the 4 page calendar of upcoming events for the month as the centrefold.!!!

After watching the raising of the flag and listening to some short speeches including acting Mayor Bennett and also Senator/Sénatrice Bernadette Clement, members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, elected officials, and community members added their handprint to the mural-in-progress, which is expected to be finished in time for Pride Week. Here are some pics of the fun event happening!

and of course after the placing of the handprints there was also the cleaning of the hands.

It was great to meet the ladies who are responsible for the mural, Kathleen Tuck (right in the red shorts) and her girlfriend Marine Weigert.

“I wanted to create a piece that shared my love and joy for the diversity within the Cornwall and SDG community,” said Tuck, who was chosen after the City issued a call for artists this spring. “The piece represents our individuality and the support found within community. It represents the community coming together and celebrating our differences as well as supporting each other.”

Tuck is a Cornwall resident who studied animation at Algonquin College and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Concordia University. She has been painting with her girlfriend Marine Weigert over the past week.

“Diversity Cornwall is so thrilled to a part of this collaborative project between the City of Cornwall, the incredibly talented artist Kathleen Tuck and our organization,” said President Elizabeth Quenneville. “We strive to create positive change in our community and to foster inclusion and acceptance for all members of Cornwall, Akwesasne and SD&G communities and we are grateful for the City of Cornwall’s support in those efforts. We hope that everyone in our community can see themselves reflected in this prominent and vibrant new mural.”

I was also so happy to visit with Marc Ladouceur (my wonderful boss when I worked at Astro Printing) and his mother Claudette who posed for me at the top of the stairs that are painted with the Pride colours. I haven’t seen either one of these people in over a year (except on Facebook of course!)

What a great celebration even though it was a hot one.!

I have to admit I was happy to get back to the office and my air conditioning! I guess this is one of the benefits of Zoom events – you get to visit them without leaving your computer and staying in the comfort of a cool air-conditioned office!

Wishing everyone a Happy Pride!

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 of my OUT and ABOUT…