By JAMES MICHAELS
The Board of Directors for Stonewall Pride Inc. (d.b.a. Pride of Greater Fort Lauderdale) has voted to cease operations and dissolve the organization effective Dec. 31. PGFL has been the organization which, for the past 11 years, hosted the Stonewall Street Festival and Parade and, in 2009, the Wicked Manors Halloween street party on Wilton Drive.
In late 2008, when the current board took office, they discovered that the organization owed more than $10,000 to the I.R.S. due to the previous board’s failure to file the proper paperwork with the government.
They made arrangements and had been making payments to the I.R.S.
This past July, it was reported that the annual Stonewall Street Festival and Parade left the organization $30,000 in debt. At that time, PGFL immediately cancelled plans for Wicked Manors. The organization vowed to hold fundraisers to pay off the creditors but the I.R.S. seized the organization’s bank accounts, and money raised from the first fundraiser went directly to the government.
Attorney Greg Kabel assisted Stonewall Pride on a pro-bono basis to negotiate with the creditors and assisted in collecting money still owed to the organization. They were able to collect enough money to pay off the debt to the I.R.S., with an additional $10,000 to pay the creditors from the June festival, still leaving a balance of $20,000.
The board realized they would not be able to hold additional fundraisers to pay off the remaining debt and raise approximately another $40,000 to hold a Stonewall Festival in 2011 and decided to dissolve the organization.
Recently, the City of Wilton Manors decided to form an events committee which will exclusively handle the organization of events on The Drive and hire a professional promotion company to handle these events for the city.
The Stonewall Pride board voted to donate its remaining physical assets, which included cases of soda, cups, water, juices, paper products, bar and electrical equipment and decorations to The Pride Center at Equality Park. PGFL also voted to give its registered trademark of Wicked Manors to the Pride Center for their use in the future.