Pride is Magic, and PDXpelliarmus went to Pride this year with the goal to celebrate our Pride, to connect to our community, and to raise funds for New Avenues for Youth. It was cold and muddy, but still full of magic.
PDXpelliarmus brought some magic to the 2021 Rose City Comic Con! We hosted a booth in the exhibit hall featuring our wizard activist accessories like pronoun House Pride buttons, magnets, tote bags, and Portable Patronuses! This year we also featured real wood wands made for us by Mainsail Woodworks.
We were also part of two panels: “Exceeding the Author”, and “The Fandom That Lived”. In the first we talked more about the idea that a fandom can exist beyond its creator, and in the second, we talked about how to be part of a fandom with a problematic creator.
Most importantly, we got the chance to connect to many members of our community, to give Harry Potter fans a safe and welcoming place to share and celebrate their fandom!
On July 23rd-25th, 2021, we got away from the muggle world and went back to school! Teaming up with McMenamins, we took over Kennedy School to celebrate Harry’s birthday. All eight movies played in the theater, while we converted the gym into Diagon Alley, and sent guests on a Horcrux Hunt while they enjoyed butterbeer and other HP-inspired food and drink!
As always, all the movie showings sold out, and McMenamins Kennedy School is donating half their ticket sales to Basic Rights Oregon, a total of $4,032!
In Diagon Alley, guests could find a wide array of local artists and craftspeople selling their magical wares, from wands to fudge, from tote bags to mummy hands!
We also collected books and raised funds to buy books for two great local organizations, Human Solutions and New Avenues for Youth. As we all know, books turn muggles into wizards, and we collected 330 of them! We also raised $1,127 that will be used to purchase the rest of our book list, which was created for us by a local children’s librarian, with a focus on books that feature diverse characters and stories!
Throughout the weekend, guests participated in the Horcrux Hunt, kids and adult costume contests, and trivia. It was a magical event. If someone went to one of the movies, donated a book, or bought a button or bag, they did some good for their community.
We are marking our calendars for July 29-21, 2022, and we’ll do it all again. We solemnly swear, we are up to good.
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The 2020 Yule Ball may have been virtual, but we devised a whole weekend of fun to share for a good cause! We had two nights of music, trivia, a Virtual TriWizard Tournament, a raffle, storytime, and all to benefit the TransActive Gender Project!
We weren’t able to sit down together for the Yule Ball feast, but the magical folks at Hungry Heart Bakery created a special selection of To Go Feast Boxes. It was a spread that would have made Molly Weasley proud!
We had not one night of music, but two! On Friday, DJ Switch kept us dancing, and on Sunday, we wrocked out to the best Wizard rock out there.
We also held a Virtual TriWizard tournament! Champions were faced with a list of at-home challenges of their determination, creativity, and wizarding skills. They crafted bowtruckles, performed the Durmstrang’s entrance into the Great Hall, and used their imaginations to create all new aspects of the Wizarding World!
The Yule Ball raffle was held entirely online, featuring items and crafts donated my local members.
Proceeds from ticket sales and the raffle totalled $2,950, which we in turn donated to TransActive Gender Project! TransActive provides services and support to gender-questioning and gender-expansive youth and their families in the PNW.
Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and participated! We look forward to seeing you in person at the next event!
The weapon we have is love…and cookies! In February, PDXpelliarmus baked up some sweet and magical treats worthy of the Hogwarts Express trolley. Chocolate Frogs! Butterbeer cookies! Cauldron cakes! These goodies and many more were on sale at Books With Pictures on Saturday, February 15th and at The Nerd Out on Sunday, February 16th, with all proceeds going to benefit TransActive Gender Project.
In the evening of the 15th, we continued the magic with more tasty morsels to go with a very special reading of “Puffs” at Books With Pictures! Because we all know that time spent with a certain group of loyal and hardworking badgers just isn’t the same without a sweet treat!
All proceeds from the bake sale were donated to TransActive Gender Project, which provides services and support to transgender and gender-expansive youth and their families. Across two days, we were able to raise more than $600 for their organization!
What a magical night!
We danced, we drank, we enjoyed magical entertainment and company, and we did it all for a great cause. Through ticket and raffle sales, we raised $7000 for KIND – Kids in Need of Defense, a non-profit that provides legal protection and support for immigrant children.
Thank you to everyone who attended, who volunteered, and who donated raffle items. We could not have done it without you!
The full photo album can be viewed here. Photography provided by Angela Holm.
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The 2018 Yule Ball is only days away, and it’s not too late to get your tickets! You can find them at BrownPaperTickets.com!
Dance tunes provided by DJ Switch!
Live performance by Kirby Krackle!
Magical mini-cupcakes for all guests from Hungry Heart Bakery!
Inspired cocktails, including Butterbeer!
Raffle prizes including donations from Things From Another World, Barnes & Noble, The Nerd Out, Metropolitan Performing Arts, Alice Carrier Tattoos, and unique crafts from local artists!
All proceeds from the 2018 Yule Ball will be donated to Immigration Counseling Services, Oregon’s oldest non-profit law firm, which provides legal assistance and advocacy for immigrants and refugees in Oregon and SW Washington.
Hope we see you at the Ball!
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Rose City Comic Con 2018 was amazing! Exhausting, but amazing.
PDXpelliarmus had a booth in the PDX Play Fair where nerds of all ages could pick up some wizard activist supplies, create their own mini monster book of monsters, try their hand at Quidditch, or pose for photos with some of our magical props.
On Saturday, our Headmistress, Brandie, led a story time, reading from Tales of Beedle the Bard. We also hosted two panels, Fan Activism and Trivia Of Advancing Difficulty. The TOADs panels was particularly fun, with a full room of enthusiastic HP nerds testing their knowledge.
On Tuesday, July 31st, we teamed up with McMenamin’s Kennedy School to celebrate Harry’s birthday! There was butterbeer, cake, tasty magical food specials, and a lot of fun. We had costume contests for children and adults, trivia, and crafted some bowtruckles!
The event was free, but we requested anyone attending bring along school supplies to donate, and we were NOT disappointed. We collected a mountain of supplies, including 27 backpacks! All donated supplies went to elementary students in the Centennial School District, as part of the Schools Uniting Neighborhoods program, which coordinates with local nonprofits to serve 80+ schools throughout Multnomah County. The Centennial School District is managed by Metropolitan Family Services, including Parklane, Oliver, and Meadows elementary, reaching between 1,200 and 1,500 families.
We also held a raffle, the Grand Prize of which was a Family Fun Package (two adult tickets, two children’s), donated by Rose City Comic Con! The raffle proceeds allowed us to donate another $600 in cash to SUN, so they can help provide what students next to succeed.
It was an excellent way to celebrate Harry’s birthday, and to honor the legacy JK Rowling has created. The fun was even covered by KGW! See the video here:https://media.kgw.com/embeds/video/8206298/iframe
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On Sunday, June 17th, the Portland Chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance marched with the Portland Pride parade! We were a small group, but we got a lot of love from the crowd, and everyone enjoyed seeing Dumbledore.
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