ECPC members gathered under the gazebo at
Non-members also came to the event. Misti Hall and her husband heard about the drum circle and thought it sounded like a fun activity for their young son who likes music.
“My little boy plays the bongos and we’re trying to get him into music, and my husband saw it in the paper and said ‘Let’s go!’ ” Hall said.
Fogg, the group’s public relations officer, stressed that ECPC accepts “people of all religions, all races, all creeds.”
“My definition of ‘pagan’ is anyone that follows a typically Earth-based spirituality,” Fogg said. “We’re not negative. We try to be as positive as we can be and put back into the community and to help out our fellow man.”
The yearly drum circle began as an effort to raise awareness of the group and of religious tolerance and diversity.
“Mainly, it’s just to let everybody have fun and let people see that we aren’t scary people,” Fogg said.
Serena Dee Latiolais, another ECPC member, said the group chose a drum circle for the event because “everyone loves drums and everyone can drum,” even if they don’t think they can.
“Drumming is like the heartbeat of Mother Earth. It’s important to us that we come together on something we can all come together on. There’s so many differences in religions,” Latiolais said.
“We believe in drumming so much so that we believe that if we drum for two hours and nobody gets up to dance, then we are doing it wrong, and you can’t do it wrong so somebody will get up and dance!” she added.
ECPC hosts various celebrations and fundraisers throughout the year to support of local charities.
For more information, visit EmeraldCoastPaganCommunty.org.