LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Gay 'n Gray: New Year's Rez |
by John Siegfried |
By the time this publishes we'll have had a full month to break our New Year's resolutions. Most of us succeeded within twenty-four hours, but then some of us are slow learnersand slow doers. New Year's resolutions always kind of intrigue and embarrass me because the expression of intent for the future, the resolution, is really a confession of my failures in the past. If you didn't make any resolutions this year, or have already failed on the ones you made, you have another chance. Revert to the Babylonian calendar. The Babylonians celebrated New Year's Day in March with the sighting of the first New Moon after the Vernal Equinox, which coincided with the spring planting of crops. Their resolve was to return borrowed farm implements to their rightful owner in time for planting. The Babylonian celebration of the New Year lasted eleven days and all my old Babylonian friends tell me that they really knew how to party. If you don't believe it, read the Old Testament. But that was four thousand years ago. More recentlylike 46 B.C.Julius Caesar moved New Year's Day to January 1 when he redid the calendar and modestly called it the Julian calendar. While the early church condemned New Years celebrations as pagan it didn't take long for the holy fathers to recognize a good thing when they saw it. So they set up January 1 as the Feast of Christ's Circumcision. That primitive surgical procedure hardly whets my appetite but if your looking for an excuse to feast, I guess it's as good an excuse as any. It took a while for Auld Lang Syne to enter the picture (published 1796) and the Tournament of Roses Parade didn't debut until 1886. The one constant throughout history, however, is that the New Year for many celebrants is an excuse for getting smashed. But if you've goofed on your rez already, pick another calendar, or create your own, and get started. Now, one of my resolutions, and one I intend to keep, is to support the creation of a gay and lesbian community center in Rehoboth. I've attended some meetings, put a few dimes in the collection plate and verbally lent support, but in the back of my mind I've wondered, "Why are we doing this? Is it really needed?" My support has been tentative, to say the least. My "conversion experience" has been the opportunity through these winter months to serve as a volunteer at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center (GLCC) in Ft. Lauderdale and get a glimpse of the contribution a community center can make to the community, both the gay/lesbian community and the community at large. I cover the switchboard and reception desk on Friday afternoon from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Primarily I'm an information source for locals and visitors who call in questions like, "When's the next Bingo night?" or "Is there a Flea Market tomorrow?" And more serious questions like, "Where can I get anonymous HIV testing?" or "Can you give me the names of lawyers that might help me in an entrapment case." But while I play Lily Tomlin with, "To whom is the party with which you wish to speak?" I can't help but be impressed with the flow of people utilizing the center, and the variety of programs meeting in the facility. There's Friday night Bingo on a monthly basis, frequently as a "theme night." It was fun several weeks ago ushering Joseph, Mary and the three wise men in full regalia into the pre-Christmas Bingo. The month before was "Uniform Bingo" and man, some of those State Troopers can frisk me anytime. Two Saturday mornings each month the parking lot is turned into a flea market and anyone can rent a table for ten dollars and turn their junk into cash. Both Bingo and the Flea Market have a wide draw from the neighboring community of Wilton Manors, as well as from the gay and lesbian community. A local church without a permanent facility of their own used the GLCC for their Christmas musical presentation and a local semi-pro theater group used the auditorium recently to present "Adam and Steve," a Paul Rudnick comedy with full frontal male nudityand I'm sitting in the back. Damn!! On a regular basis there are film presentations, seniors discussion groups, HIV testing and counseling, teen nights, coming out groups, clean and sober dance, game nightand the list goes on. Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday hundreds of supporters of the Center flocked to the local convention center for the annual "Awards Night" recognizing individuals and organizations that during the year have made significant contributions to the gay and lesbian community. Janet Reno, ex-Clinton attorney general and now Democratic candidate for governor of the State of Florida, was the featured speaker. Will Rehoboth's gay and lesbian community center look the same? No. There'll be similarities, but Rehoboth Beach is a unique community and their program and activities will reflect that. However, before the Community Center becomes a specific building or location in Rehoboth, programs have already begun, with new activities and Men's and Women's Support Groups, meeting wherever space is available. Definitely, the Centers will have similarities that go beyond dispensing information. They both offer a safe environment, a focal point for connecting people, and activities and resource to enrich our lives. Both Centers embrace diversity as an essential component of their being. And they not only contribute to the lives of gay and lesbian residents and visitors, but they also become our contribution to the community at large. Is a Center in Rehoboth really needed? My experience in Fort Lauderdale resoundingly says, "YES." Some people will join in Center activities. Some will volunteer, and already have, in the planning and program process. But all of us can be part of the financial support required to turn this dream into destiny, this plan into programs. Providing the Center with much needed financial support is a wonderful opportunity, and responsibility, that we all can embrace. So, if supporting the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center wasn't on your resolution list you still have time to get with the program. Just use the Babylonian calendar. John Siegfried, a retired association executive, resides in Ft. Lauderdale. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 12, No. 01, February 1, 2002 |