On Wednesday of Pride Week in Williams Lake, despite hot temperatures and some smoke in the air, a half dozen brave stand up paddle (SUP) boarders launched their SUPs on Williams Lake.
The event was organized by SUP in the Puddle founder Natalie Swift, who wanted to show support for the LGBTQ2S+ in Williams Lake. While the event was threatened by poor air quality earlier in the day, the air improved as smoke cleared and the paddle went ahead.
Swift brought name tags so participants could share pronouns easily, decorated a table and gave out safety whistles.
She also created a massive DIY rainbow flag using colourful tablecloths sewn and taped together.
Some supporters also watched from shore as the paddle began and arrived back at shore.
Swift started the paddle off with some words of both acknowledgement and some personal notes on why showing support for the queer community is important to her.
The paddle launched shortly before 6:30 p.m. and returned to shore just before 7:30 p.m.
Today, Friday, Aug. 18, Williams Lake Pride Society is hosting Unified Pride events in Boitanio Park from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., including music, food vendors, information tables then leading into dancing and live DJs.
READ MORE: Unified Pride coming to Boitanio Park in Williams Lake
Do you have a comment about this story? email:
ruth.lloyd@wltribune.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
