Volume II -- Issue 10

The Quick Lineup...

• Cowboy Ball
• Letter from the President - Team LGRA standings in the ASGRA Rodeo
• My First Rodeo - Mark S
• The Woods - Chris Maurizio
• Trail Rides - Jeff Bolognese
• October Birthdays
• Membership Perks at local businesses

The Cowboy Ball
We will be having dance instruction from Scott. there will be instruction in 2 step, waltz and a brand new line dance

Everyone is welcome to come join in the fun. besides dancing, there will be a fun and games, a basket auction and a cowboy shirt undressing, so bring your money and see whose shirt you can win.

Non-Members- $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

Tickets will be on sale starting Friday October 5th. We will be at Outfest on Sunday October 7th as well Woody's on Sunday. Advance tickets will be on sale up until the close of country dancing on Friday October 19th. board members will have tickets.

We would like everyone one to know that this is a fund raiser for the Stampede into History Rodeo. Please be generous so that we here in Philly can put on the best rodeo on the circuit.

Hope to see everyone at the Ball!!
Tom Dykes
socent@LibertyGRA.org

Letter From The President - Jen Vrana

Hey gang,
Our competitors did very well at the Atlantic Stampede Rodeo. We had 3 brand new cowboys to the circuit and all of them had a fine showing. I want to start with Richard and Ernie... bad luck of the draw gave them the impossible steer for steer deco. They actually completed the event with the fastest time for that steer. I don't know if I could have even done that so kudo's!! By doing that they came in 8th place for Sunday. So here are the rest of the placements by name

Tobin O
Tobin competed in the wild drag race with Lance from ASGRA and Linda
from FGRA. They took a 3rd place on Saturday and 6th place on Sunday
making them 5th place overall. His team also won the best wild drag
outfits giving him that extra special ribbon..lol.
He competed in Goat Dressing with Mark S. They took 6th place on
Sunday putting them in 8th place overall.

Cindy B
Cindy was able to catch her calf on Sunday during calf roping on Foot
taking a 2nd place. She was also able to dog her steer in Chute
Doggin on Saturday putting her in 2nd overall for that event.
She took 4th in barrel racing on Sat and Sunday for 4th overall.
She competed with Les B from ASGRA for Steer Deco and they came in
6th on Saturday putting them 5th overall (don't ask it gets
complicated) For the Wild Drag Race she competed with Brian H, who is
President of IGRA, and Bryn G from Omaha to take a 1st on Saturday
and a 3rd place on Sunday making them the overall winners and also
won the trophy buckle.. way to go Cindy!!

Mark S
Mark competed in 7 events..whew.. 1st rodeo ever.
On Quinn he took a 5th place in pole bending on Saturday putting him
5th place overall for the event. He also placed 7th on Saturday in
the Flag Race. Mark teamed up with Jen V for Steer deco and they took
5th place on Sunday making them 8th place overall.
He teamed up with Jen V and Destiny B Childs from ASGRA for the Wild
Drag Race. They took 5th on Saturday and 1st on Sunday making them
3rd overall.
The big surprise for Mark was him taking 4th runner up for the All
Around Cowboy.. he had no idea and I loved seeing the look on his
face.

Jen V
Barrel Racing she took 3rd on both days and was 3rd overall
Pole Bending took 3rd both days and was 3rd overall
Flag Race took 1st on Sat and 3rd on Sun making 2nd overall
Her steer deco and wild drag results are the same as Marks.
Jen also took 1st runner up for the All Around Cowgirl title.

My First Rodeo - Mark S

Atlantic Stampede 2007, what can I say but WOW! It was an awesome experience. The very first rodeo that I participated in will not be my last. September 2006 Atlantic Stampede I stated that I wanted to compete in ONE event for 2007’s rodeo. Little did I know a year later I would be drawn in by LGRA President, Jen Vrana and would be competing in 7 events.

The events I competed in were: Chute dogging, Steer deco, Goat dressing, Wild drag, Barrel racing, Pole bending and Flag race. I had 3 awesome partners, Jen Vrana in Steer deco and wild drag; Tobin Ost in goat dressing and wild drag; Ms. Destiny B. Childs. I could not have done it without these 3 great competitors.

I met a lot of great competitors as well as making some great friends. The thing I noticed the most in my first rodeo is, how everyone no matter how good or not, every competitor was giving advice as well as cheering for each and every person. When I was competing out in the arena I did hear fellow competitors as well as fans in the stands yelling for me. It does a new competitor good to hear their name yelled and to be cheered for.

In the regular rodeo circuit I understand that the advice and cheering does not go on. Each individual person is on their own. They get their cheering from the fans in the stands. Each person is in it for the money as well as the title. I am sure it goes on in our circuit but I did not see it.

I brought home 5 ribbons. I placed 5th with Jen Vrana in steer deco. I placed 5th on Saturday in wild drag with Jen Vrana and Destiny B. Childs. I place 5th in pole bending. Sunday Jen, Destiny and myself placed 1st in wild drag. The one that SHOCKED me the most was when I found out that I placed 4th runner up ALL-AROUND COWBOY. For my first rodeo I was thrilled that I even won anything. I only went with the expectation of “just going and doing my very best and having fun.”

Bringing home ribbons was not the only thing that I brought home. I was very sore when I woke up on Sunday and did not think I could compete. When I go to the rodeo grounds I chatted with Jen who told me I needed to cowboy up. That is exactly what I did. Thanks Jen you are the best!

I want to thank EVERYONE who had anything to do with me placing so well in my first rodeo. I also want to thank the love of my life Stephen for being there and making sure I was getting plenty of liquids as well as food.

Would I recommend anyone competing in a rodeo? YES! I would also tell them to be prepared to be SORE weeks afterwards. I would also tell them to get into shape. Start working out NOW if you want to compete in Liberty Stampede 2008. That is what I am doing. I want to compete in as many events next year as possible. Maybe
even go to finals who knows but I still am going with the same attitude “just going and doing my very best and have fun.”

The Woods and The DC Rodeo - Chris Maurizio
Happy Fall everyone!!! I’m going to write in the opposite direction. What I mean is that I’m going to talk about camping at ‘The Woods” first and then the “DC Rodeo” even though they happened in the reverse order.

We had fun at “The Woods” , however, the nights were quite cold and nobody to snuggle with! As you can see from the picture we hung the LGRA banner from the side of the cabin. Several people commented on it and asked questions about or organization. It’s amazing the number of country/western folks who never heard of IGRA or gay rodeos – but they know about them now! The most exciting thing that happened was on Saturday night. Around midnight they stopped the music and they had 2 of their male employees lay on the floor pretending to be hogs. They then selected volunteers from the crowd to do a hog-tying contest. Two at a time would race to heir hog and hog-tie them. The first person to get their hog tied won. Well after several people participated they announced that a representative from the Liberty Gay Rodeo Association was present and wanted him up front. Well that happened to be ME and they forced me to the front to participate in the event. At first I was pretty nervous but once they said “GO” my adrenaline started pumping and I got down on the floor and tied that hog boy! However they said I lost by 1 second – if only my hog boy wasn’t complaining about me hurting him. After that was all completed they made a nice announcement about our organization and that our first rodeo would be next May and told the group they can stop by our cabin for more information. I was extremely happy that they recognized us and I hope to work with them more next year.

Now for the DC Rodeo. I was the Assistant Volunteer Coordinator following around the ASGRA Volunteer Coordinator learning as much as possible. The folks of ASGRA are the best; they welcomed us with open arms. At first I was very overwhelmed but now that I’ve had a couple weeks to absorb it all in I know what to expect for our rodeo. Their Volunteer Coordinator, Beth Brockelman, has offered to be of assistance if I have any questions or need any help. On Sunday they were short handed and I was asked to be part of the security team. I had a shirt that said “SECURITY” on the back and a walkie-talkie. I felt so important and let me say I had such a great time. I was securing the back gate to the arena to only allow people with a certain security clearance in. That allowed me to meet the rodeo clown, some hot cowboys, and a bunch of really great people. I’ve come to learn that the people associated with the IGRA are one big family – I really felt part of something. The LGRA had a pretty nice presence there, not only did Jen, Jeff, Ernie, Mark, Richard, and others compete but the following LGRA members need to be recognized for volunteering: Jeff Bolognese was Rodeo Director in training, Jeff Graver as volunteer, Pa Cowboy as volunteer, Jade worked gates and registration, Kelly Poorman as arena coordinator, Brian S. as volunteer, Rocco Tatasciore as Treasurer, Thomas Z. as arena crew, Art K. as volunteer, and Mike S. as assistant rodeo director. On Sunday afternoon, Jeff Bolognese, his partner Mike, and I stayed around to help ASGRA people tear down tables, chairs, etc. Now, that being said, I want to talk about the LGRA getting some volunteers for next year’s rodeo. It’s only 7 months away and I wan to start collecting names. I’m going to be writing up a description of a web page that I’m going to be asking our fabulous webmaster John to add to our website where you all can volunteer, stating what duties you’d like to perform and the hours you’d like to work. I’m probably going to follow the same format as ASGRA – it seemed to work out perfectly. Oh, don’t forget – volunteers get T-Shirts with one of three duties stamped on the back – “STAFF”, “SECURITY”, and the best one yet “RODEO TRASH”. The Rodeo Trash volunteers actually go around collecting the trash from the cans on a go-cart and putting new liners in the cans. It sounds like a pretty dirty job but the guys who were doing it in D.C. seemed to be having a blast. I’m not just saying this to get you to volunteer, I’m saying this because it’s the absolute truth – “I had the greatest time volunteering and will definitely be doing it again next year!”. I look forward to working with those of you who do volunteer and I look forward to seeing you all at our “Liberty Stampede 2008”.

One last thought and then I’ll shut up. Sunday, October 7 is Outfest. The LGRA will be present and have a booth. I’ll be there all day. We are in need of some help to setup, break down, and man the booth. Two – Four hours would be great. If you want to stop by and talk to me about volunteering at our Liberty Stampede next year, please do – I have a lot of information in my head and a lot of ideas!

Trail Ride - Jeff Bolognese

The next trail ride will be Sunday, November 4, 2007 at 11:00AM. (Reservations are now closed for the October Trail Ride) 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/.

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

October Birthdays
LGRA wants to wish the following a special birthday wish:

Frank Colvin
Grant Ingalls
Scott Lancaster
Joseph Adams
Ed Stash
Marcel S
James Pippin
Michael Ruggiero

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/