Union County is inviting LGBT families to lace up your sneakers for a full day of events at the County’s Family Pride Community Picnic. The event will be celebrating marriage equality in the Garden State on Saturday, June 17 at Rahway River Park in Rahway from Noon until 4pm with a family-friendly field day competition starting at pm.
“All families are invited to join LGBTQ family equality advocates and allies from throughout the state to come out to the park and celebrate family and marriage equality,” said Freeholder Chairman Bruce H. Bergen. “The Freeholder Board is proud to include activities for family members of all ages to join in the day of fun and celebration.”
The picnic will include music, arts and crafts, bounce house fun, bubble fun, and field competition. Family groups will be taking over the outfield at Rahway River Park by forming the colors of the rainbow with red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple family teams competing.
Organizers stressed it would be a fun and friendly LGBT family festival. It will be a great place to make new friends and share a ton of laughs with others. Registration for the family-friendly field day team competition is open through Monday, June 5, 2017 with the day of events all planned for June 17. Registration is at http://ucnj.org/pride.
Teams will be announced on the day of the event. Participating families will be grouped by color and teams will be made up of several families. Each team will participate in each activity, such as the three-legged race and the egg relay. Ranked first through sixth, the team with the lowest score at the end of the day will bring home the rainbow.
Registration is not required to attend the picnic. Registration is requested if your family wishes to participate in the field day competition so that teams may be formed early.
Union County is inviting the LGBT community and family equality advocates and allies from all over the Garden State say organizers in an email, “come out to the park and celebrate the strength of our diversity, and to honor the great strides we’ve made in the movement for equality.”
A family equality rally will kick off at 1 pm with special guest speakers and performances. Esteemed children’s music band, Michael and the Rockness Monsters will close out the day with a live family concert in the park. “As a band our goal is to spread love and write music that celebrates diversity and equality,” said Michael Napolitano of Michael & the Rockness Monsters. “We support one reoccurring message: Be yourself, be good to others and most of all, have fun! We can not wait to rock at the Family Pride Community Picnic!”
Organizers say you should pack for a picnic and head out to the park early. Attendees are invited to visit the vendor and resource tables for giveaways and information where advocacy organizations will set up tables alongside the Freeholder Board Information van with general information, support and networking resources.
For more information visit http://ucnj.org/Pride, or find the UC Family PRIDE CommUNITY Picnic event page at http://Facebook.com/CountyOfUnion, or call the Union County Office of Parks and Recreation at 908-527-4900.
