Once upon a time in Volusia County, there were two college students, Lisa-Marie Mueller and Kristen Colesanti, with a dream. Their dream was for Volusia County to have a Pride festival. They had wonderful ideas, however, they lacked the expertise to make their dream a reality. After trying for many months, they were no closer to success than when they started. Due to illness, one of the students left school and returned home. The other couldn’t carry on alone.
When Pastor Sarah Lund at United Church of Christ in New Smyrna Beach and Kathy Seibert, president of PFLAG New Smyrna Beach/Volusia, heard that dream was about to die, they banded together and made a plan. With only eight weeks to go before the event date, they kicked into high gear to pull off a miracle. They appealed to the community, formed a committee and successfully presented the first Volusia Pride Event in New Smyrna Beach.
The PFLAG/New Smyrna Beach-Volusia chapter continues to produce the annual Volusia Pride Festival, managed by its Volusia Pride Steering Committee.
