WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town is going all out and all month for its first celebration of Pride Month.

 

The festivities kick off with a program at the Clark Art Institute and community picnic on Sunday and run through a trans clothing swap on June 28 with something happening every weekend in between.

 

An ad hoc committee of nine residents has been planning the events since the start of the year, and the Select Board earlier this month allocated $5,000 to support the festivities.

 

One member of the committee, Susan Briggs, said the group considered whether to focus on one big event or a series that would run throughout the month and decided the latter was more appropriate.

 

"We definitely looked at it both ways, and people had opinions about both options," Briggs said. "We landed on wanting as many people to participate as possible.

 

"Having it all in a big splash on one day might limit that if people are out of town, for example. The goal was to make it as inclusive and accessible as possible. Having multiple events on multiple days allows people to create their own adventures."

 

It also helped that the planners were able to find community partners to co-sponsor events.

 

"That was part of the committee’s goal to make sure there were alliances across those pathways," Briggs said. "You don’t want to recreate the wheel. If someone is already doing some of these events, let’s include them in the marketing and branding process."

 

That is an approach Briggs has found useful in her "day job" as executive director of the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce, which uses multiple partners to stage its two signature events: the Independence Day holiday and the early December Holiday Walk weekend.

 

Briggs credited the town’s Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee and the Select Board, and, specifically, former Select Board member Randal Fippinger, who also served on DIRE, with providing the impetus to drive the town events.

 

"As we looked at the Comprehensive Plan and looked at the CARES study, one of the things that was loud and clear was that the community wants more opportunities to get together," Briggs said. "That was a takeaway that drove this process: How can we bring people together and get neighbors to chat with neighbors. To have another Holiday Walk, July 4th type gathering was important to the community.

 

"And being able to celebrate diversity and inclusivity was another takeaway."

 

Events on the schedule for Williamstown's Pride Month are: