I am not good at writing these things. I'm not sure I ever ever have before this PATD either. But it's the fifth anniversary, and here goes nothing…

It's not easy to do anything for five years. I'm not sure I've ever even held any one job for that long, so five years of PATD is a milestone of sorts for myself. Overshadowing that, however, is how many of you have been right there with me from the start of those five years (six, if you were around for 2018’s The Gaythering). Remember where we started, with like 10 or 15 of us at Fontana back in 2018?? I can't remember how many more of us were in Nashville that weekend, but the Fontana segment was small and blissfully quiet lol!

The first two PATDs had one scheduled drive per day on the itinerary, and the rest of the time was up to us to fill. We rented the fire pit for one night those years because that's all I could afford out of the four nights the event ran for. This year, 227 people registered for the event, half of them opting for the newly established 6-day duration. 201 checked in at the event hall, and a few friends showed up just to hang out at the Grill (Quill’s, whatever), and at the fire pit. There were 14 official events on the itinerary, three official drives with multiple takeoffs per day (hush, we'll fix sign ups next year), the fire pit was lit every night for the third year in a row, and there were several unofficial itinerary events, ad hoc, and planned. (OMG, hug a Gaymmittee member, we are not ok.) We've come a long way in a short amount of time, and it's because of you early few telling your friends, convincing them to come, and returning to the event yourselves. It is a milestone for you that we've been doing this for years now, and that as many people get to enjoy it as they do. Thank you for your contributions to getting us where we are now. I’m so glad we shouted you out at dinner. 🥰

This thing is gonna be long enough, so I won't name everything they did again, and they're getting cards in the mail anyway…but I have to give the Gaymmittee their flowers. I could not ask for a more supportive team of friends and colleagues in this thing. This team has been behind me through so much these past several months. Sometimes I was depressed and my productivity was low, and they would step up to pick up my slack. There were disappointments. They were there to grumble and laugh about them with me. 😂 When I failed as a leader, they were there to pick me up and back me up. Most of the team is new this year, several of them only having one PATD under their belt. I warned them that there would be an immense learning curve to planning and running one of these, and that I couldn't even give them a road map because the event changes so much every year. Even with those warnings, they stepped up and tackled this beast of an event, braved working with my ADHD ass, and came out the other end without sending me an invoice for therapy bills. Ralph, Ben, Gunar, John, Marc, and Avery: you guys are superheroes. You learned, you stepped up, you are everything.

Meg, Kara, Xiek: thank you for always being there. Y'all are determined to stick around, and the event is better for it. Our guests have come to know your faces well and to trust your leadership. Your advice keeps me grounded, and I am so grateful that I'm able to lean on you year after year. I hope you know that you can lean on me too.

Volunteers: we really needed you guys this year, and you stepped up. To those of you who signed up and answered the call, thank you! I missed the opportunity to thank and treat you all properly during the event. I promise not to miss the mark again next year. Thanks also to those who never signed up who lent to hand anyway.

To our partners and supporters: you know what you've done for this event. Thank you for your financial support, and for what you brought to the event. Press cars, s’mores, health and safety awareness messaging and advocacy, and the intangible things that come with your participation. I owe you a great debt of gratitude and more.

Pride at the Dragon is just an experiment that I get to run. Ask my team. 😅 I will come up with some random shit and decide to throw it at the wall knowing it probably won't stick. I understand that this has become much more than "just an event" for many of you. That maybe it's even holy for you, something to be preserved as is. But effing around with it is where the fun is for me! Five years may seem long enough to count a thing as "established” enough to know what to expect, and if I were smarter, I would know to leave a working formula well enough alone. Unfortunately for all of us, I am not. The list of ideas for PATD VI is longer than a CVS return receipt, and I have dreams for the event that will not be achievable for years yet. There's no telling what PATD will look like in another five years, and I make no apologies for any hiccups, past or future that I might make in continuing to shape the experience. They are what makes this thing grow. The hiccups and the accidental successes are what keeps me in it. I want to surprise and delight each and every one of you every year. Thank you so much for trusting me with DAYS of your time! Time is so precious, and the fact that you all choose to spend some of it partying in the woods with me makes you my best friends in the whole world. THANK YOU!

I want to give the biggest thank you to every single person who came this year and made PATD5 the blast that it was, and especially to our sponsors and fantastic photographers who elevated the experience to make sure we were set up for success with all we needed and have the documentation to remember and share for years to come!!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for making this magic happen—there’s no other way to put it. Post event drop may absolutely suck, but hearing about (and reading posts of) your experiences, what you loved (and even what you didn’t love), and knowing that you absolutely cannot wait for next year just like I can’t myself, fills me with excitement, joy, and an eagerness to return to our beloved event in the middle of nowhere.

Pride at the Dragon is an event that truly is the perfect mix, from being close to the dragon, to staying at Fontana, to the bad cell reception, to all of you joining us to be a gaggle for a week or just a few days from near and far. It’s magical, special, extraordinary… and it’s because of YOU.

It means so much to me to be a part of this community, and what it makes it easy is when it’s made up of good people like all of you who are willing to help others even if they aren’t in our group, always offering and ready to volunteer to help us make aspects of PATD flow smoother, and simply by being friendly to new attendees through inclusion and socializing—our love for each other and for driving cars brings us together, and it’s been a beautiful thing to witness people being their most authentic selves this week.

From someone who’s never felt truly free until PATD4, I sincerely hope you felt that very same freedom I felt of being accepted, seen, and loved by your tribe. Your support of us as a team has me so excited to make it happen again… and even better! ❤️ See you there!

Much love,

-Ben

Well campers, PATD5 is in the books, and it was a great one, full of adventure and adrenaline. It was great to meet so many new people, and as always, great to see familiar faces again.

Though I think some thought PATD meant Porsche at the Dragon, and not PRIDE! There were quite a few this year.

We did have some tragedy, but thankfully it was just metal and plastic that was destroyed, and no one was seriously injured! The support and concern for the parties involved was great to see, and how our community came together for someone in need. I like to think that that is a given anyways, but it’s nice to see and witness it first hand.

I have been coming to Fontana with Minis since 2006, and have always felt welcomed by the staff, and the locals, still it is a site to see soooo many rainbows that y'all brought and displayed on your cabins.

I am not sure that when I helped brainstorm PaTD, what I thought it would become, or how big it would become either. But to have this much growth, this fast is amazeballs!

I already can’t wait until next year!

May all your roads be twisty, and the traffic light.

You would think that someone chiefly responsible for communications would be able to make the right words simply flow onto the proverbial paper, but that isn't the case. As I sit here reflecting on Pride at The Dragon 5, the right words aren't quick to come to mind.

This is my sixth time attending a Pride at The Dragon event, and the second time that I've been involved in the planning process. I've been here for every single official Pride at The Dragon event, and I don't think that will change any time soon.

Pride at The Dragon is one of the very few places that I truly feel at ease, and feel comfortable being exactly who I am, without pretension, without feeling the need to change myself to fit in. That said though, Fontana is just a place in the Appalachian mountains, and the Tail is just a road.

What truly makes Pride at The Dragon special is not the location, but the people who come. Without the community, this event wouldn't exist. Whether this was your first year, or your fifth, thank you for coming together and being a part of this community. I think I can speak for the entire Gaymittee by saying that we couldn't do this without your support.

I can't wait to see you all again.

Hi campers!

I want to thank all our attendees and sponsors for another great PATD! You all are who make this event a COMMUNITY! This is the summer camp we all deserved as kids, where we can all be ourselves, openly and proudly. The support I found everyday was noticeable, whether it be tools, a car, a ride, a physical presence, hugs, a shoulder to lean on, or an ear for listening.

I hope you remember the feeling of PATD…and how that feeling is a lasting memory. That feeling sustains us as we plan the next PATD. We come back for the community of our alphabet mafia car family. The cars, the roads…those are common interests and bonuses. YOU are why we all come back…and you deserve to feel loved and accepted here at PATD.

Thank you again for being an integral part of this amazing community. We look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Those that know me know I’m a man of few words most of the time. This is one of those. I have a lot of gratitude to each of you for taking your time to come and enjoy PATD. For the diverse group of people and cars gathered, this is truly a place where everyone can be themselves. Thank you to each of you for your presence!

To Fontana, thank you for letting us be. Thank you for a beautiful place in the mountains that we can call home for a week. Thank you for the great staff!

I truly am humbled to volunteer with the Gaymittee. Each of you brings your best self to this all the time. Thank you to each one of you for everything you did/do/will do. Y’all have become family and I love each of you❤️!

Hugs and kisses,

John

Greetings fam,

As the adrenaline rushes fade, we wash the bonfire smell out of our dirty laundry and settle back into our normal routines, I can’t help but feel that all too familiar sense of sadness of another PATD at its end. It’s a familiar mix of longing for what has now passed, and the excitement for what will come again next year.

I would like to extend a special thank you not only to everyone who joined us as participants and sponsors, but also those who assisted as volunteers. Everyone’s presence was felt by those who you connected with for the first time or reconnected with from previous events. The most amazing aspect of this event for me is how it manages to bring connections that many of us made online and turn them into bonds that we may have otherwise never known. Witnessing the difference a year has made in the lives of friends, couples, cabin mates that now feel like family, and freshly engaged fiancés was truly magical. Thank you all for being your incredible selves and for helping us show our Pride at the dragon!

Your adoring fan,

Marc

I wanted to take a second to echo the remarks of my fellow Gaymittee members and say thank you to everyone who attended, supported, and made PATD5 possible. From the Metro to the Miatas and from the Golfs to the GRs, all of you are what make Pride at the Dragon such a kick-ass experience and I am humbled not only by those of you that can out-drive me (most of y’all) but from each of you willing to bring your whole, authentic self to Fontana.

Last year I had no idea what I was getting into as a first time attendee, but I knew the second I got home it was something special and something I had to be a part of; getting to spend a week in the middle of nowhere with this gang reinforced that. Seriously, you group of beautiful people made every single one of the five-thousand miles worth it and this community means the world to me. Despite a couple rocky moments this year, I can't wait to see where PATD goes from here and I'm counting down the days until we can be feral at the firepit next spring. 💟

xoxo

Hey there fabulous attendees and sponsors of PATD5,

I’m diving right in because there’s so much love to share! Your electrifying energy and vibrant presence didn’t just light up PATD5, you made it sparkle! Your enthusiasm filled the event with a sense of togetherness that was simply amazing.

Big, heartfelt thanks to our incredible sponsors! Your generous support didn’t just make PATD5 possible, it made it spectacular! How about those s’mores? Your belief in our vision and unwavering commitment helped us elevate the campers experience to a whole new level. We couldn’t have done it without you, and we’re totally feeling the love!

Let’s talk about how absolutely fabulous PATD5 was, thanks to the amazing efforts of everyone involved, especially our incredible Gaymmittee! Every little detail was crafted with love and care, ensuring an experience that was nothing short of unforgettable. The passion, creativity, and talent from everyone involved left everyone buzzing with excitement!

As I sit back on this Tuesday night after the event my heart feels so full! Together, we’ve shown Fontana that Car Gays are very real and damn can we drive! I can’t wait to see what amazing things we will have for you all next year and for years to come!

So, from the bottom of my rainbow heart, thank you to each and every one of you for making PATD5 an absolute blast! Your support, energy, and dedication have left a rainbow-colored imprint on our hearts, and we’re beyond grateful.