BRYAN, Texas — The city of Bryan is known for their ‘First Friday’ event held once a month in Downtown, catering to many vendors and bringing together the community.
One organization says they will no longer be allowed to participate in the monthly event.
The League of Women Voters of The Brazos Valley has participated in ‘First Friday’ many times and says their application to participate in September’s ‘First Friday’ won’t be renewed and they don’t have answers as to why.
First Friday, known for bringing out the community to Historic Downtown Bryan to help local businesses and unify residents, is suddenly changing what organizations can participate.
And voter registration is not on that list.
Sara Ptomey, president of The League of Women Voters of The Brazos Valley is raising some concerns.
“My real hope is that we are able to be a part of ‘First Friday’ because we need to share information this Fall about how they can get ready to vote," said Ptomey.
The organization is non-partisan and has the sole intent to keep true to its mission - informing the public where they can register to vote.
Destination Bryan said their goal isn’t to exclude any one organization but just to get back to their quote “original intent.”
“[Since] the growth of First Friday we have just had a lot more interest in the arts and culture and live music [scene] with food [vendors] wanting some more presence. We are wanting to have an opportunity to amplify those arts and culture for people in First Friday," said Abigail Noel – Public Relations, Destination Bryan.
Noel said Destination Bryan has been as transparent as they can with multiple organizations about the course of change, especially with The League of Women Voters.
“We have been in communication with The League of Women Voters of The Brazos Valley – we have communicated many times in the past week – we completely understand their passion for being at ‘First Friday’ and their mission of getting people registered to vote, so we are looking at relooking at those guidelines to see what we can do to accommodate everybody," said Noel.
Ptomey said she is hopeful Destination Bryan can come to a conclusion that will continue their relationship and keep their presence known.
“We’re not going to fight this, we’re not going to be ugly about it – I’ve voiced my concerns, they’ve given me answers, but let’s just see how this plays out. It will play out the right way. I believe everyone will do the right thing," said Ptomey.
Destination Bryan will be coming to a decision Friday at noon for The League of Women Voters as well as other organizations in the participation of future First Fridays.
Stay updated with KRHD as this story develops.
Information on The League of Women Voters (Brazos Valley) and Destination Bryan is provided below: