The Melrose Messenger

Melrose Kicks Off Pride Month Celebration

By Ellen Putnam

On Thursday, Melrose will be kicking off its monthlong Pride celebration with a Pride flag raising at City Hall. Then, on Sunday, residents can enjoy a Pride Beer Garden at the Beebe Estate, showing support for our LGBTQ neighbors and friends in a relaxed, family-friendly setting. These events are just two of a number of Pride-related events taking place in Melrose during the month of June.

Before the pandemic, the city’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) organized an annual Pride event at the Beebe Estate. “It was huge,” reflected Sam Hammar, who is working with the Melrose Creative Alliance to publicize this year’s Pride events. “One year, it was so full, my family couldn’t even get in!” But after COVID, the HRC shifted away from hosting community events, and organizing the event fell to a small group of volunteers.

“We wanted to make Pride much bigger this year,” Hammar said. “We wanted to have a visible celebration of our LGBTQ friends, family, and neighbors. And now is a really important time to show that we care about them, and that they are safe in this community.”

So the Creative Alliance got involved with organizing and promoting the event, to give it a wider reach. “The Creative Alliance is perfectly positioned to work with any business, organization, or individual who is doing something related to Pride, supporting LGBTQ people, or educating the public about LGBTQ issues this month,” said Hammar, “We will promote everything. So instead of focusing on one event, we now have over a dozen things going on in the community.”

“The goal of the Creative Alliance,” Hammar went on, “is to help people keep doing their thing. Help artists do their work. We put it all out there, we promote everything at the same time, and it’s a much bigger, more concentrated energy and experience for Melrose residents and for visitors.”

In addition to support from the Melrose Creative Alliance, a number of elected officials from Melrose, including Mayor Jen Grigoraitis, City Council members, and School Committee members, are sponsoring Pride events.

The largest Pride event will be the Beer Garden at the Beebe Estate, which is run by Idle Hands Craft Ales. The Pride Beer Garden will have a similar format to the other beer gardens that Idle Hands sponsors at the Beebe during the summer. “Idle Hands promotes their events widely,” said Hammar, “so a lot of people will come. People from outside Melrose will come to a Melrose Pride event, and they will come here knowing that this is who we are.”

During the event, artists who identify with the LGBTQ community will showcase their work inside the Beebe Estate. And earlier in the day, residents can participate in a half-marathon walk around Melrose as a fundraiser for the Trevor Project. (“That was my husband, John’s, idea,” laughed Hammar, “He wanted to have a half-marathon walk to fundraise for something, so I said, ‘why not do something for Pride?’”)

The city’s monthlong Pride celebration will also include events at the library, the Milano Center, and the Farmer’s Market; a special cooking class at The Kitchen and a Broadway singalong at Hannah’s Brewing; and events at Temple Beth Shalom and several Melrose churches. Businesses will display stickers, pride flags, and rainbows in their windows, and the Fire Department will have Pride gear available.

“Part of this energy is to show that this is decentralized,” reflected Hammar. “This isn’t top-down; it’s really the community, throughout the city, coming together to show their support and affection for their LGBTQ friends and neighbors. We want people to know that they are safe here in Melrose.”

To learn more about Melrose Pride events, visit the Melrose Pride website.

Posted June 1st, 2025