Photo by Jim Tate Kaia Nowatzki from Russell paints on the United Community Action Partnership mural that was available to Marshall Pride attendees Sunday at Independence Park.

MARSHALL — The growth of the Marshall Pride event has been steady since its humble, potluck beginning four years ago. And that’s heartening for Eric Doise.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised,” said Doise, associate professor of English at Southwest Minnesota State University and husband of the late Saara Raappana, who was posthumously awarded the 2024 Marshall Pride grand marshal during Sunday’s event at Independence Park.

Raappana died on March 27, 2024, and was a proud LGBTQ+ advocate.

“That first year in 2021 we gathered in the park and had a potluck in the pavilion. It rained hard,” recalled Julie Walker, a Marshall Pride coordinator. “It was then that she came up to me and asked how she could become a sponsor. I told her I didn’t have a process in place yet — I just brought then taco meat,” she said with a chuckle.

“But hers was the first business that sought us out to be a sponsor — that was the values of her organization. She was an advocate from the start,” Walker said.

Raappana co-owned the gym, Restored Strength, which had a motto, “A Gym for the Rest of Us.” She was also a gifted poet with several publications and Walker said she spoke to her about the possible repercussions from the public for being a sponsor.

“She said that if some people stayed away from her business because of it, she wasn’t sure she wanted their business, anyway,” said Walker.

“This is an emotionally full moment for me,” said Doise, choking up as he addressed the crowd on Sunday. “I’m grateful of this recognition of Saara, and it’s so sad that she can’t be here to receive this herself.”

Raappana sponsored the group’s first 5K run.

“I asked her if she’d ever organized a 5K,” said Doise. “No was her answer. I asked her if she’d ever run a 5K. Her answer was no. She said there must be a video out there somewhere that tells you how, though. That was quintessential Saara. She was an expert community builder.”

Raappana’s honor was one of the highlights of the Marshall Pride event, which drew a large crowd. The event included informational booths from various groups and organizations, a booth to register to vote, a wide variety of vendors, live music, and five food trucks. There was even a palm reader.

The Marshall Pride event has grown — quickly — in the past four years and that’s encouraging in a rural area, said Seth Goodspeed, director of community actions for OutFront Minnesota, based in St. Paul.

“It’s important,” he said, “because there are LGBTQ+ populations in every community, in every corner of the state.”

Walker is pleased, too, that the celebration is all-inclusive and that LGBTQ+ members can feel safe within the Marshall community.

“There have been celebrations before, but they were by invitation. They feel more comfortable now, and the majority of community members celebrate the vibrancy of the queer community. It’s nice that they can feel safe to be themselves. Back in the day they had these (big-city) Pride events and that was the only place they could go, it was the only way to be themselves,” Walker said.

“Pride events are expanding in rural areas, and that’s what’s great about Marshall — the kindness and support of the community, and businesses. In the past we’d receive donations anonymously. We believe that Marshall has proven to these individuals they don’t have to donate anonymously anymore.”