Volume II -- Issue 6

From The Editor

Sorry this is out so late this month. Its June and its time to kick of LGRA's second year with renewals. For those of you who don't realize it, I am also Assistant Membership which means that I get to keep the membership records and make/laminate/mail all the cards out too. Everyone who is up for renewal until the end of June, your cards are in South Philadelphia waiting for you. I created a short form for you so all you have to do is fill in any changes and sign on the bottom.

In this issue the President has some good news from the IRS. Chris Reported in on The Woods camping trip. Ernie chimed in with a short article. I threw in some photo's. (look for the scuba diving horse)

XXX's & OOO's
~Jade

Letter From The President

Howdy gang,
Every month we are making progress in both the association and in preparations for the Liberty Stampede Rodeo. Our big news for the month is we are now officially a tax exempt non-profit organization under IRS 501c3 rulings.

Our approval for the status occurred May 31st. We worked on this for a full year and all the hard work finally paid off. Having this status will open doors for us and make any donations to the rodeo association or rodeo itself a tax write off. Because of this if you are a volunteer for any of our events you can now write off mileage to and from the events. There are many other perks that can be found at www.irs.gov. If you have any questions please feel free to email us and we will get back to you with an educated answer.

Locally the following people worked on this project: our Treasurer Rocco T, President Jen V, member Brady S, and our Social and Ent. Director Tom D. Together we made this happen.

I also want to make it known we would have never been able to get this status if it wasn't for the help of a sister rodeo association down in Florida. FGRA obtained their 501c3 status last year and made their paperwork available for us to inspect and design our application off of.

Our next Board of Directors meeting will take place on Wed. June 13th from 7-9pm at the Loews Hotel located at 12th and Market Sts. I want to remind everyone our meetings are open to all of our members. We will have several guests giving our BOD presentations at this meeting. If you are out and about town please stop on by and see first hand how your association is being run.

Speaking of being out and about the last two weeks we were at NJ Pride and Philly Pride.
We had a great time both weekends. Several people renewed right at our booths.
If you haven't renewed already your card is already made up!! We'll be out and about at Woody's Country nights. Please drop us a line and we can bring your membership card downtown.

Keep your eyes out for a special announcement of the exact place where the rodeo will be held. Many of you have heard where its going to be but the final contract will be signed, sealed and delivered within the next 7 days. The private farm is very excited to have us on board. They want us there!!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun filled Summer. I look forward to seeing many of you soon!!

Trustee - Ernie Bowers

Hey folks, I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend. I tried fleeing from the shore, and ended up in just as much traffic to the Poconos… Anyway, This summer is bringing exciting things for LGRA, and I hope you want to be a part of it! The association is hopefully wrapping up our search for the best rodeo grounds, and we’ll try to get news when we can. In the meantime, there’s lots of great things LGRA is going to be taking part in, and we’d really love to see you there. You can buy a raffle ticket for just 5 dollar to win free passes and a two-night hotel stay at the host hotel. Five dollars! Can you beat it? If you can’t make it, you can either see Tom, Chris, Jeff, Jen, or I for the raffle ticket as well until the August 8th drawing. Also, since the weather is getting better, it’s a great time to go for one of our trail rides. See our website for more details, and for those who’ve never ridden a horse before, this is the best way to start out. Sheeder Farms have been so great to our association, and have been excellent in teaching the basics and more. Also, as many of our memberships are up for renewal, I want to send a thank you for your support, and a plea to continue that support as we prepare an event to remember in Philadelphia, and your commitment is necessary more than ever to making that happen. There’s going to be a lot of added bonuses in being members, as well as taking you through to our first rodeo in May of 2007. And finally, I’ll be at the CGRA rodeo in Denver, Colorado from July 12th to the 16th. If any members are planning to go and need information, or have any question about LGRA or any IGRA event, by all means contact me (my email is trustee@libertygra.com). And also consider volunteering, there’s a lot to do, it’s a heck of a lot of fun, and no one is too unexperienced for this!

Let’s Rodeo!!

Ernie Bowers
IGRA Trustee, Liberty Gay Rodeo Association

   

From Secretary/Volunteer Coordinator - Chris Maurizio

Our trip to "The Woods" campground was a lot of fun. There were about 10 of us in total from Woodys Two Step and/or The LGRA. We hung the LGRA flag from my cabin and it looked great! Friday night we went to the dance and our own DJ John Stypa was DJing. He threw
in several line dances, including my favorite "Chill Factor" and my upcoming favorite "Bayou City Twister". Then on Saturday we all congregated at what was known as the "Common Campsite" and talked and had a great time. We even got to see Michael Flynn get a ride on the back of a motorcycle. See pictures at: www.lgra-photos.com/MemberPhotoAlbums/TheWoods-June1-32007.

We did get about 30 - 45 minutes of downpour rain. Several of us huddled under a large tarp. Saturday night we went to the dance and they had a couple shows. One was a group of bears doing drag. All tip proceeds from the shows benefited FACT. Fighting AIDS Continuously Together – www.factlv.org . There was also a stripper who performed and they had a "Hot Buns" contest. At that point the campground allowed Michael Flynn and the rest of us to present DJ John with a birthday cake and sing him Happy Birthday. I think he was taken by surprise.

The weekend of September 14 (the weekend after the ASGRA Atlantic Stampede Rodeo in D.C.) is "The Woods" Country/Western II Weekend and I'm hoping to try to get a big group of us going. This campground allows both men and women and is greatly maintained and well
organized. If you're interested their website is www.thewoodscampground.com .

Chris Maurizio
Secretary and Volunteer Coordinator, LGRA

     
Photos From Asbury Park

Trail Ride - Jeff Bolognese

The next trail ride will be Sunday, July 1, 2007 at 11:00AM. We will be riding once again at Sheeder Mill Farm, 12 Sheeder Mill Rd, Spring City, PA 19475. For more information about their farm, visit their web site at http://www.smfhorses.com/. Sheeder Mill Farm is roughly one hour away from Central Philadelphia. If our members RSVP, we can make arrangements to set up car pooling to help members who want to ride out to the grounds.Prices will vary depending on the amount of people that will be attending. Please RSVP by Tuesday, May 29, 2007.

* Less than 10 people attending will cost $40.00 per person.
* 10 or more will cost $35.00 per person.

A 20% gratuity will be added for each rider. This is outside the control of LGRA.

This ride will be held rain or shine. Sheeder Mill Farm requires payments for all reservations not canceled prior to 8AM on the day of the ride. If the ride is canceled to severe weather, we will notify you no later than 9AM the day of the ride.

This ride is open to all; you need not be a member of LGRA to attend. There is no age restriction, but those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. If you have any special needs, please contact Jeff Bolognese. The trail ride will last 90 minutes.

To RSVP now, you can send an email to Jeff Bolognese.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

July 29, 2007 Harriburg Pride - Harrisburg, PA

LGRA will be at Harrisburg Pride this year. Please stop by our booth and say hello and talk to our representatives about joining our Gay Rodeo Association!

Sept. 7 - 9, 2007 ASGRA's Atlantic Stampede Rodeo

The Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association presents Stampede 2007 in Washington DC and Gaithersburg, MD.

Sept. 17, 2007 Trenton Pride - Trenton, NJ

LGRA will be at Trenton Pride this year. Please stop by our booth and say hello and talk to our representatives about joining our Gay Rodeo Association!

LGRA wants to wish the following a special birthday wish:

Kristin B
Mark Loving
David Hullhorst
Anonymous (2)
Brett W
June Bromley
WJ Gates
Carl Price
Mark Mattei
Brent Ortner
Edjr
Yokz T Tan
Daniel Kemery
Michael Phillips
J Stortz
Michael Flynn
John Stypa
Brian S.

Join the LGRA Yahoo Group

It has come to my attention that this "yahoo box" may not be functioning properly. If anyone else has a problem please let me know. In the meantime if you are having problems please just cut and paste the following to join the group.

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/LibertyGRA/