They came with medals. They came with memories. They came to celebrate the one-year-to-go-until-Cologne party for the 2010 Gay Games and, naturally, highlights from the 2006 Games in Chicago were ever-present at Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted, Aug. 5.
About 200 attended the event and about 15 registered on-site for the 2010 Cologne Games.
"I thought it was a great event; I was very happy with the turnout," said Kurt Dahl of Joliet, who is the male co-president for the Federation of Gay Games, the governing body of the quadrennial sports and cultural event bound for Germany next July.
"There was great energy and a great turnout," Dahl said. "It was nice meeting new people and getting back together with so many people who had such an integral role in the 2006 Games."
Dahl was so pleased with Chicago's party that he has issued a challenge to the 17 other members of the FGG's board of directors: for each to hold a similar, as successful, event in his or her respective cities. There are FGG board members in San Francisco, Seattle, Paris, Sydney and Berlin, among other places.
The Cologne Games will be held July 31-Aug. 7, and Dahl said organizers are forecasting 12,000 participants. Hopefully, Chicago will send 200 or more participants, he said. "The U.S. will have a big presence," in Cologne, Dahl said.
The eight-day 2009 World Outgames ended Aug. 2 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with about 5,500 participants ( about 4,500 for sporting events and 1,000 for the human-rights conference ) . Organizers for the Outgames had hoped for 8,000 participants.
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Some who attended the Outgames won't be able to attend the Gay Games, Dahl acknowledged.
But, he added, going to the Gay Games "is an investment in yourself."
"If someone really wants to participate in their sport or cultural event, going to the Gay Games is really the way to do it."
Dahl participated in swimming and softball at the 2006 Games, alongside executive-level duties. He was selling Cologne souvenirs at the Sidetrack party.
Many attended wearing their medals from Chicago, and Dick Uyvari was even wearing a vintage shirt from the inaugural 1982 Games in San Francisco.