New Pride banner designs presented to District of 100 Mile House

The District of 100 Mile House discussed new banner designs during the Dec. 10 Development Corporation meeting. 

Four new banner designs for 100 Mile House streets were discussed at the meeting, with the installation of the banners estimated to cost $13,200, which does not include tax and shipping. Additionally, proposed banner designs created by the 100 Mile Pride Society were also shown at the Development Corporation meeting.

According to a letter sent to the District of 100 Mile House by the Pride Society, the banners "were thoughtfully created with a strong focus on inclusivity and community connection, aiming to honour the past, present, and future of our town" and were crafted by an Indigenous artist with a deep consideration for Truth and Reconciliation.

"They incorporate elements that celebrate Indigenous history and culture with 2SLGBTQIA+ colours, offering a meaningful counterbalance to the existing signs of settlement and the historic Cariboo Wagon Road," the society said. 

The 100 Mile Pride Society have been wanting to install pride banners for some months now: during the Sept. 10 council meeting, Mayor Maureen Pinkney and the other councillors directed the Pride Society to work with staff on designing the rainbow street banners. 

100 Mile Pride Society president Saturn Zezza said the society has two designs created by Jasper Pettman, a two-spirit trans artist born and raised in 100 Mile House. Both of Pettman's designs feature vibrant rainbow colours and stylized depictions of humanoid figures, with one showing a traditional drum circle and the other a group of individuals holding up a tree with the taglines Honouring Our Past and Embracing Out Future respectively. 

"The goal was to reflect on the intersectionality of First Nations, settlers, and the Pride community. We wanted the art to highlight the importance of connecting heritage, community, and progress," Zezza explained. "The themes we talked about were unity, growth, and a balance between tradition and transformation."

Zezza said the drum circle is meant to represent the Spirit and the importance of Indigenous communities to the Cariboo, while the roots radiating out from the drummers represent the collective past and ancestry of the community. They said this design is meant to represent how past generations and traditions continue to influence the present and future. 

The second banner is meant to represent life, growth and the community's shared future. Zezza remarked the vibrant rainbow energy symbolizes optimism, inclusivity and forward momentum.

"The tree itself, sprouting rainbow-hued branches, symbolizes progress while staying rooted in strong cultural foundations," Zezza remarked. "Together, these designs aim to inspire Pride in community roots while encouraging unity and hope for a vibrant, inclusive future in 100 Mile House." 

These new banners will be installed along Birch Avenue from 4th Street to Horse Lake Road, Zezza said, along with two other new designs created by the district, one of which prominently features the stagecoach that once ran through 100 Mile House. 

 According to the document prepared by the 100 Mile Development Corporation, the banner program was established in the summer of 2002 as a partnership between the 100 Mile Development Corporation, the Retail Merchants Association and the District of 100 Mile House. 

In addition to the new banner designs, the district also talked about the malls, with councillors agreeing the district should consider reaching out to the owners of Cariboo Mall to see if they would be interested in participating in the banner program. The idea was floated that the malls could purchase the banners themselves at the District's cost.

 Additionally, there had been a suggestion that if the malls had used the district's existing banners, the district could offer them at a discounted price. Council felt it would be better if the malls used the same banner design to maintain a consistent look throughout the town. 

Council ultimately decided to work with the malls to see if they would like to participate in the banner program, as well as order a mixture of the banners. In addition, they decided to follow up with the Pride Society to determine how many banners they could afford to purchase. 

"I think banners are one of those colourful things that carry throughout the year when everything else is pure white and we get comments constantly about the flowers and the colour, and how it perks people up," Pinkney said. 

With files from Patrick Davies.