ValleyPride

e"Tired of the bar scene?" was how Heather wrote the announcement for "Connections," a bimonthly newsletter for women in Nova Scotia. That was in June of 1996. The first coffee-house officially began when Meg and Heather tipped their java mugs in hopes that other women would find the announcement and respond. After all, summer was upon us!

Summer arrived . . . and so did the women! Those who responded to the announcement went tubing on the Gaspereau River, swam, ate great BBQ, took a hike to Cape Split, and planned women's dances with great turnouts.

October arrived, and a new twist to the group began. About 13 women and 3 men gathered informally at a cafe in Wolfville to sip hot drinks and chat about ways to bring our lesbian and gay community together without the "bar scene." A coffee house seemed the perfect idea since winter was edging in. Regular social hours and days were established by the group, a safe and public space was located for gathering, and posters were placed in various locations in the province. Word spread quickly. Within weeks, there were more than 30 men and women at

ValleyPRIDE? coffee-house, doin' coffee and tea and talking, creating a buzz that hasn't stopped since...a buzz that continues to draw folks from around the valley and province.

From: "Mike Giffin" <bluenose64@hotmail.com>

Subject: Apple Blossom Dance Cancelled/valleyPRIDE disbanded

Date: Wed, 01 May 2002 12:17:32 +0000

Dear Members:

It's sad, but the valleyPRIDE Social Club no longer has sufficient support from its members to continue in operation.

Accordingly, I have put an announcement in Wayves that the Apple Blossom Dance is cancelled.

I will check the Society's Act for the rules about how to deal with the little cash remaining, and then close the valleyPRIDE account in the Credit Union.

I will delete your names from the two computer files which contain the master list of members and email addresses.

For those of you who maintain other web sites, please delete the links to our site. For Bill Nickerson (or Paul?) please shut down the valleyPRIDE web site.

Mike

Halifax PrideAmbassador II RyanStevens writes in Feb 2004: I'm not sure if they are calling themselves Valley Pride or not, but DavinaDq?/DevinaDq and her magician friend David are responsible for regular dances and the occassional drag show at different valley locations. I went up with Vicki and Breanna to do a show there around Christmastime and had a blast.

This page is part of the HistoryProject.

That group is called The Gay Men's Coffee House and the contact information is published in the Wayves magazine. -Erin.