January 2026 Board Chair Letter

2025: A Year of Connection, Visibility, and Growth for Nevada County Pride

 Consistent with our Mission and Vision, Nevada County Pride continued to grow its programming, events, advocacy and visibility in 2025. 

We reaffirmed our commitment to growth: the board announced the launch of a new fundraising team — a concrete step toward long-term sustainability for the organization and a future community center. 

June Pride month was again the centerpiece of our community visibility. The month began on June 1 with the 5th Annual Pride Flag Raising in at Nevada City. Community members gathered as the Pride flag was raised in a moving ceremony highlighted by songs from the cast of “Fun Home”, followed by the hanging of rainbow flags donated by Yubanet, throughout downtown. On June 10, the Grass Valley City Council formally recognized LGBTQ+ Pride Month with an official Proclamation for the second year, affirming the city’s commitment to inclusion and equity. Two weeks prior to that on May 27th, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors made their first Pride Proclamation, joining Nevada City, Grass Valley and Town of Truckee.

Additionally, we launched a “Hate Has No Home in Nevada County” poster campaign, distributing more than 250 colorful posters to businesses and organizations throughout the area to proudly display in their windows as support for our community. 

A foundation of our 2025 activity was regular, grassroots gatherings that foster connection and belonging. Among these: Monthly potlucks, June Pride Family Picnic, Queer Movie nights at the Onyx Theatre Downtown at the Nevada Theatre, and the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. These recurring events helped maintain a steady foundation of community throughout the year.

Additional Events & Community Outreach

Beyond regular meetups, we also engaged in broader community-facing events and outreach. Notable highlights include:

• Presence at other community events offering resources, community info, and visibility — Briarpatch Pride on the Patio, Tri-County Diversity Center Pride in the Park, Placer Pride in the Park, 4th Annual Latino Family Festival, Sierra College Pride Days, Pride Block Party and Gay Day Dance, Color Me Human’s Juneteenth Celebration. 

• Participation in the Nevada County Fair and Grass Valley Thursday Night Markets — NC Pride maintained a booth at the Fair (Aug 6–10) and the GV Market (5 nights) giving us exposure to a wider regional audience. Volunteers staffed the booth in shifts, distributing information and community resources. 

• Speakers Bureau Panels at Nevada City Rotary, BriarPatch, Nevada City Methodist Church, and Nevada County Behavioral Health.

• We assisted other allied community groups in getting the word out about their events: Youth Support Groups at the Caldron, Monthly Dyke nights, Queer Reads Book Club, LGBTQ+ Thursday Happy Hour, Lyric Rose Theatre events, Drag Brunch and Queer Bingo at The National, and more.  

• We participated in Nevada County’s United Against Hate Week (October 19–25, 2025) — A community-oriented initiative responding to rising expressions of hate, designed to foster solidarity, respect, and diversity 

Through these activities, we not only deepened internal community bonds but also expanded visibility and outreach to the broader county population.

What These Highlights Tell Us: Themes & Strengths

From the 2025 events calendar and public messaging, a few overarching patterns stand out:

• Sustained grassroots community building: The regular potlucks, book club, happy hours, and teen-oriented events show a commitment to consistent, inclusive spaces for connection.

• Cultural celebration and visibility: The drag brunch, fair booth, and community festival participation demonstrate our role in affirming LGBTQ+ pride in public and cultural contexts.

• Outreach beyond “the usual crowd”: By showing up at the Nevada county fair, partnering with local libraries, movie events, our June Pride posted campaign and participating in broader community events, NC Pride expands awareness beyond central queer communities to our allies and others.

• Organizational growth and sustainability: The formation of a fundraising team signals an investment in long-term viability — perhaps to support more events, outreach, and community services in the years ahead.

How you Can Support us in 2026

• Check our calendar regularly and sign-up for our newsletter — keep an eye on updates for potlucks, youth events, pride gatherings, and more.

• Consider volunteering or donating — we can’t do the work we do without your on-going support.

• Add your gay owned or gay friendly business to our Business Directory

• Invite our speakers’ bureau to come to speak at your workplace or another community organization.

• Propose new initiatives — given our open, inclusive structure, new ideas for events (recreation, shows, workshops, community forums, support groups) are always welcome

And lastly and most importantly, we would not be able to do the important work we do without our dedicated team of volunteers and donors - we cannot thank you enough for showing up and supporting us! We could not have done all this without other community organizations who partner with us to make all this happen. 

And to our all-volunteer Board of Directors who lead this effort, and I am grateful for their dedication and commitment. Thanks to Charlie Landau, Laura Lapointe and  Debbie Denise (deceased) for their service, who resigned from the Board this year.

Our board meetings are open to the public and normally occur monthly on the third Friday at 10:30 AM. We meet in the community room at the Madelyn Helling Library at the NC Rood Government Center. Please check our website calendar to confirm date, time and place.

Happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you throughout the year! 

Rick Partridge