Be a part of the annual theme selection process and submit your ideas for the 2009 San Diego Pride Parade and Festival. Each year San Diego LGBT Pride opens the theme contest, allowing the community to get creative and become part of the Pride experience.

All community members are encouraged to send theme ideas reflecting the mission and purpose of San Diego Pride. Keep in mind that in 2009 we will be commemorating the 40th anniversary of Stonewall and it will be San Diego Pride’s 35th Anniversary. Marking these milestones will make for a fun and exciting Pride celebration next July. All ideas are welcome. For more information, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/links/1089.

The Hillcrest Town Council will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 6:30-8 p.m. The town-hall style meeting will feature a presentation, by the developers of the 301 University site for a new boutique hotel. The new building is proposed at a height more in line with the wishes of the neighborhood. The HTC Development Committee will present proposed design principles for our neighborhood later in the meeting. The Hillcrest Town Council provides home owners and renters a voice. Those who attend are encouraged to invite their neighbors also. The group meets every first Tuesday of the month at the Joyce Beers Community Center in the Uptown Shopping District. Visit the Hillcrest Town Council Web site for ongoing and updated information about the Hillcrest neighborhood. For a link to the Web site, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/links/1089.

Uptown Planners is the city’s recognized advisory community planning group for the Uptown Community Planning Area.

The November meeting of Uptown Planners will be held on Nov. 12, at 6 p.m., at the Alice Birney Elementary School in University Heights. The main item on the agenda is an informational presentation concerning a proposal to place a boutique hotel on the 301 University Avenue site.

The proposed 140 to 150 room boutique hotel, includes an upscale restaurant, lounge, rooftop bar, and banquet and meeting rooms. The height would be 72 feet at the roof parapet, with a slightly taller elevator shaft for access to the rooftop bar. There will be a plaza and fountain at the corner of Third and University avenues. The third floor of the hotel on Third Avenue will be set back 60 feet to accommodate a third floor pool. There will be two floors of underground parking and the existing alley way will be re-routed west to Third Avenue.

The new proposal is alarming to many residents, because two community residents groups previously petitioned the courts regarding prior plans at the location. Since then an Interim Height Ordinance was instated. The plans for the new project were submitted before the ordinance took effect.

For more information, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/links/1089.

Join the GLBT community for the 6th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. The solemn march will step-off from The San Diego LGBT Community Center and will be followed by a program in The Center’s auditorium, which will include several speakers on issues related to the transgender community. The march begins at 6 p.m. The speaking engagements and refreshments will immediately follow the program.

Additionally, the San Diego State University GLBT community will host a week of free events open to the public leading up to the 6th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. SDSU’s events will include the annual LGB“T” Party in the SDSU Cross Cultural Center on Nov. 18, at 5 p.m. There will be a vigil on Wednesday, Nov. 19 on the campus Free Speech Steps at 6 p.m. For more information, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/links/1089.

Join friends, neighbors and members of the Hillcrest History Guild, for a fall evening at the Top of the Park while raising funds on Tuesday, Nov. 18, from 5:30-9 p.m.

Sue Palmer’s Motel Swing featuring April West on the slide trombone will provide music for dancing the night away while guests enjoy Hillcrest under the stars. Complimentary appetizers, including a Steamship roast beef carving station, will be featured along with Sue’s swinging music, silent auction items, vintage attire and a no-host bar. This will be capped with spectacular views of Uptown and Balboa Park from this historic hotel located on Spruce Street between Fifth & Sixth avenues.

To attend the Hillcrest History Guild event, RSVP with a $25 donation on the Hillcrest History Guild Web site by Wednesday, Nov. 12, to reserve your space at the fun-raiser. Additionally, you can send a tax deductible check to the Hillcrest History Guild to RSVP. For more information, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/links/1089.

The entire community is invited to Come Home for The Holidays! for the San Diego GLBT community’s annual holiday party on Sunday, Dec. 7, from 5-8 p.m., in The Center’s Auditorium. The Center, along with more than 30 community and/or faith-based organizations, will come together to put on what promises to once again be a fantastic holiday fete that will bring all facets of the community together under one roof to share in holiday joy. The event will feature a variety of food, a no-host bar, music, entertainment and a candle-lighting ceremony. For those who cannot share the holidays with their biological family this is a great opportunity to celebrate the holidays with “family.” Come Home for The Holidays! is free to everyone who would like to attend, however, organizers would like each guest to bring a new, unwrapped toy for the Imperial Court de San Diego’s Annual Toy Drive.

The San Diego Men’s Chorus’ 24th annual holiday show will feature “American Idol” sensation Paris Bennett.

The show, a mixture of traditional and non-traditional holiday music, is entitled “Fa La La La … Fabulous!” It takes place on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. at the newly restored 1930s Balboa Theatre in Downtown San Diego. SDMC became the first community music organization to call the Balboa home when it performed to a record crowd there in April.

Paris Bennett, one of the youngest finalists in the “Idol’s” history, wowed millions with her renditions of standards like “Fever” and “Wind Beneath My Wings” during the show’s fifth season. Rod Stewart proclaimed, “Paris has got it … She’s astounding …” She will be performing music from her just-released Christmas album, and will join the chorus for a bring-down-the-house rendition of the gospel favorite “Oh Happy Day!”

The show will be hosted by KYXY Radio’s Jeff Gelder. The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) Celebration Choir will also join the men’s chorus for a finale you won’t soon forget! Tickets to this performance – which Conductor Jerry R. Foust has promised will be the chorus’ most exciting holiday performance in its 24-year history – are on sale now. For more information or for a link to buy tickets, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/links/1089.

Lambda Archives of San Diego, the GLBT community’s primary keeper of historical records, will hold the 21st anniversary gala celebration “Heroes, Pioneers and Trailblazers” on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 6 p.m., at The San Diego LGBT Community Center. Doors open at 5 p.m. The purpose of Lambda Archives is to collect, preserve and teach the San Diego community and region’s GLBT history. The gala program will do this by honoring 12 of the San Diego GLBT community’s heroes, pioneers and trailblazers.

The Board of Directors of Lambda Archives also announced its new Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of San Diego’s Nicole Murray-Ramirez. The annual Lifetime Achievement Awards will go to an individual who has made important contributions nationally or internationally, as well as to San Diego. The 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award will go to the founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, GLBT civil rights icon Cleve Jones, who will be in attendance at the Gala to receive the award.

The “Heroes, Pioneers and Trailblazers” event will include entertainment, hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction. General tickets are $50 and VIP tickets are $80. Major sponsorships are also available. For more information, including a link to purchase tickets or make table reservations, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com/link/1089.