The countdown begins, and we all hope it's a "count down" to a quiet Halloween night. This past Saturday -- the traditional pre-Halloween "gay night" to dress up and walk the 94114 -- was remarkably civil and free of incident. Traffic flowed and everything seemed, well... NORMAL
As a 20+ year Castro resident, lemme' tell you that "normal" for the Castro is fun-filled, frivolous and free of violence.
That's what I want in my "Trick-or-Treat" bag this Wednesday night - NO violence!
Thanks to our pals at the "Exotic Erotic Ball" for distributing 20,000 of our "No Halloween in the Castro /Home for Halloween" flyers. Also -- a special "hats off" for their displaying of the Home For Halloween banner at the weekend-long kinky funfest.
"Most of our crowd are from outside the City," a long-time EEB attendee told me. "That's your core audience for this campaign, yes?"
Yes, indeed it is! And so, today and tomorrow, we're riding the BART rails: distributing flyers at the following stations:
Richmond
El Cerrito Del Norte
Berkeley
Ashby
MacArthur
Oakland 12th St.
Frutivale
Bayfair (Tuesday)
Hayward (Monday)
Rockridge
Walnut Creek
Embarcadero
Montgomery
Balboa Park
Millbrae
Our special thanks to our colleagues at BART (http://www.bart.gov)/ for their support and above-and-beyond assistance in making this public safety campaign possible. "Chronicle" reporter Wyatt Buchanan will be joining us for part of the ride. Thanks to him and to ALL our friends in the Fourth Estate helping us spread the word.
More campaign updates: spent the weekend, and a good deal of this morning, going door-to-door (or I should say door-to-dispatcher), personally delivering 28,000 flyers to the City's taxi companies. These flyers, for distribution on Halloween night are specifically designed to catch last-minute would-be Castro goers and let them know that the Castro party has been cancelled. The flyer lists alternate events for their All Hallow's Eve amusement. Why waste a taxi ride! Our copious thanks to the hundreds of men and women who drive our taxis, and the saintly-patience of their dispatchers and to the members of the Taxi Commission who labor on their behalf. Your generous support is very, very appreciated. Also, thanks to my new best friend Theo at "DeSoto" cab for helping me find their "hidden jewel" of a taxi yard tucked away on Selby Street.
"Yep," she smiled, flower behind her ear. "Finding our yard is a test for all would-be drivers. If you've made it this far, you go to the next level."
Thanks for the good humor AND the directions Theo!
Now - off to BART!
more anon
