Have a Gay Midsummer: r/Dayton Meetup
On Saturday, June 20th we're taking over Troll Pub for Have A Gay Midsummer – an r/Dayton Pride month meetup and a fundraiser for Have A Gay Day.
It falls on the summer solstice, so we're stepping into a midsummer night's dream: flower crowns, a fairy court, and a room full of Dayton's weirdos. Lovers, dreamers, allies, and everyone in between. The forest is open.
What to expect:
A Fairy Court costume contest. Prizes from Troll Pub for best individual and best team costume, crowned at 3pm. Got a flower crown? Wear it. Titania regalia? Even better. Full on Bottom the Weaver donkey-head cosplay? You're already our favorite person in the room.
Three themed mocktails, made by the Troll Pub bar (all non-alcoholic, all spikeable if you want them boozy):
🍓 Trolled – strawberry and passion fruit shaken with lemonade, sugar rim. (+ spike with rum)
💜 Love-in-Idleness – lemon, orange, and pineapple with grenadine and ginger ale, named for the love potion in the play. (+ spike with vodka)
🌅 Solstice Sunrise – grenadine, orange juice, and soda, garnished with cherry and orange. (+spike with tequila)
🍑 Puck's Peach Tea Shot - vodka, peach schnapps, blue curacao, sour mix
Half priced appetizers – and a special Enchanted Forest Picnic sampler platter just for the evening.
Plus the full Troll Pub bar and food menu.
Cornhole inside and out on the patio, and more activities TBD.
A pantry drive for Have A Gay Day. Bring a non-perishable item (canned soup, pasta, rice, oatmeal) or a personal care item (shampoo, toilet paper, laundry detergent), and drop it off when you arrive, or scan the QR code at your table to give. Have A Gay Day runs a food pantry for the community – this is the part that makes the day matter.
Parking:
The lot right next to Troll Pub is a paid AirGarage lot, starting around $2.50/hour. Pay as soon as you park (scan the sign, use AirGarage.com or the AirGarage app). Don't wait until you're inside. Troll Pub does not own this lot, so they don't control charges or enforcement. Just a heads up there.
Rather not pay? There's a bunch of free street parking all along 4th and Wayne, plus the side streets in the neighborhood just south of 5th Street / the Oregon District.
There's also a few more lots a short walk away: one at 18 Gates St, plus the lots behind Lily's and the bigger one behind Omega Music.
Checkin:
When you get there, head to the welcome table out front and we'll check you in.
Costumes:
There's a Fairy Court costume contest with prizes from Troll Pub, best individual and best team, judged at 3pm. If you're up for dressing up, lean into the midsummer spirit. Fairy, fawn, elf, flower crowns, pagan garb, whatever reads woodland to you. Puck it up. Totally optional though, just dress up if it sounds like fun.
The pantry drive:
This is a fundraiser for Have A Gay Day, and their food pantry is real, year-round work. They moved over 450k pounds of food and did 10k+ deliveries to local families last year. They need:
Non-perishables (canned soup, pasta, rice, oatmeal, etc)
Personal care items (shampoo, toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc) and drop it when you walk in
Or to donate directly, you can scan the QR we'll have at tables around to give. Whatever you've got.
And if you're not in a spot to donate, that's completely fine. Showing up is support. We just want to give back to the Have a Gay Day crew that do so much for our community.
A few things to know:
Add your phone number when you RSVP if you want optional text updates for this event and early notifications to future ones.
Troll Pub is handicap accessible, though heads up that there are stairs down to the main dining area.
We'll have our photographer Jacinto shooting photos and video throughout the night. A lot of people tell us they're nervous to show up not knowing what to expect, so we want to show future attendees what these meetups actually look like. So expect to appear in crowd shots. Want a specific shot with friends or a solo? Just find him and ask.
One more thing:
This will be our last big "official" one until the fall. Putting these on is a ton of work, and honestly y'all have been crushing it with so many of your own meetups in the Discord that we're gonna let you all drive through the summer and come back in the fall with more. Us mods wanna enjoy our summer too lol.
A lot of people tell us they almost didn't come, then end up staying way past when they planned. If Saturday-you feels any hesitation, trust the version of you that already RSVP'd. Just show up. This is the one to make.
See you Saturday ✨
PS: If you haven't joined the Discord yet, that's where everyone hangs between meetups and plans their own. We've got over 10 meetups on the calendar right now that you all set up yourselves. Over 2,200 members atm. It's awesome to see.
When you join, say hey in #introduce-yourself – drop your name, neighborhood, and what you're into. Then hit up the chat for this event under #planned-meetups.