The second annual gathering to celebrate differences will be held tomorrow at Soldotna Creek Park. Disability Pride Day will be held from noon to four p.m. at the park, and as organizer Maggie Winston tells us, it'll be packed with activities for all.
"There's going to be lots of activities, free food, live music and all the activities are made accessible to any individual of any ability," she said. "So we're going to have a bounce house that's going to be made accessible to any individual with a disability. We're going to have a giant accessible slip and slide, which we had last year. It is really fun. I'll tell you that much."
Winston, who uses a motorized wheelchair after becoming paralyzed in her 20s, said she rode the waterslide last year with friends.
"I went down actually with my friend, my best friend Rick Nelson, who is another wheelchair user and Senator Micciche," Winston said. "So the three of us got into a large inflatable and slid to the end of the park."
Winston says that while Disability Pride Day just made it to Alaska and the Central Peninsula last year, as a movement, it's been around a little longer.
"So Disability Pride has been around for 15 or 20 years or so it's been a national movement and Alaska adopted this last year with the passing of SB 174. So this is a bill that was sponsored by Senator Micciche's office actually," she said. "And it's like aspirational language for a shared vision of flexible services in the state of Alaska. It's called the DD shared vision stands for Developmental Disabilities. So individuals that receive services in their home and in the community want a flexible system that that helps live a life of meaning supported by families and supported by DSP is and by agencies and by the state of Alaska division of SR and Disability Services."
Disability Pride Day is tomorrow, Saturday, at Soldotna Creek Park from noon to 4 p.m.
