Volume III -- Issue 6

Greetings to everyone this month. I hope that you all are enjoying your summer. Hope that any of you who supported ASGRA at their Atlantic Stampede had a good time despite the weather. Now that Fall is approaching, I know that means colder weather but there are things that you can do to beat the cold weather and the "colder weather blues". As you will see in this issue, there are some events that have been set up to help usher in the Fall Season. We hope to see alot of our members at these events to help support us and the bars that are involved.

Also in this issue:

From the computer of the President, Jeff
Notes from the Secretary, Chris
Upcoming Elections, Michael Flynn
From Cliff, the Membership Chair
Social and Entertainment News, Tom
A Recap of Events and Fundraisers
Lady Luck Fundraiser
October Trailride
September Birthdays

From the desk of the President, Jeff

I'd like to start by sending a big HOWDY out to all of our LGRA members. It has been an exciting last few weeks within out association with the D.C. Rodeo and the planning of upcoming LGRA events. Your board has been working diligently to put on some incredible events.

With the thrill of the Atlantic Stampede still fresh in my mind I'd like to give a quick lowdown on the events of the weekend. As most of you know the rodeo events on Saturday were cancelled due to the visiting hurricane but this did not stop the festivities. The members of ASGRA stepped up and put together an afternoon Tea dance at the hotel that many of the guests enjoyed. On Sunday the running order consisted of both days events running back to back. I had the honor of volunteering my time with the chute crew whose responsibilities are to load and release the animals into the arena. This may sound easy but after 8 hours of working this position I was physically exhausted. This was a very rewarding experience for me and gave me additional knowledge to bring back for our next rodeo. For anyone who ever had an interest in working with livestock I strongly recommend it. To all the members of LGRA who volunteered their time or competed I would like to personally thank you.

On to the business at hand within our own association! I would love to see all of our members at the upcoming bar nights and the Harvest Hoedown Dance and Drag Benefit. Please check the website as events will be added often. We need you, the members, to help us kick off our fund-raising for the 2009 Liberty Stampede. Last but not least the elections are creeping up on us quickly. I hope everyone will cast your votes for the candidate you feel will best represent this association for the upcoming years.

Thanks to all of our members for your help and dedication,
Jeff Bolognese
President LGRA

Notes from the Secretary, Chris

The wind, the rain, Dorothy’s house flying by... Oh wait, that was a tornado not a hurricane. I guess you know I’m talking about Hurricane Hanna. She struck the D.C. area with force and that force made the IGRA shut down the rodeo for Saturday. Safety always comes first! As I’m sure you’ve heard by now the ASGRA people pulled out all the stops and showed us a great time anyway and then had to double up on rodeo events on Sunday. As you know I’m not just the Secretary of the LGRA I’m also the Volunteer Coordinator. So I’m going to talk about volunteerism at the D.C. rodeo. First I want to thank Beth Brockleman, the ASGRA Volunteer Coordinator, for taking me under her wings and showing me the ropes. I volunteered for the D.C. rodeo and Beth had me working security. I got to guard the front portion of the arena to make sure no unauthorized people went near the livestock. I shared that with this cutie named Brian. We would alternate on and off so we each had time to enjoy some of the rodeo events. Being in this position I got to meet a lot of cowboys, cowgirls, and officials that have to go through that gate. The friendliness of the IGRA family just impresses me so much. Everybody who went through that gate said hello or stopped to have a conversation with me. I had a birds eye view of the chutes and I got to watch our President Jeff Bolognese step up to the plate and help out the chute crew. Since they were doing double duty you can imagine how tired these guys were. Jeff is always there to help out and never afraid to get his hands dirty. All in all the weekend was a success and a lot of fun. I got to meet some new people and talk with people I’ve met before, even some that were my volunteers for Liberty Stampede 2008. There was this one sexy rodeo trash cowboy I had my eye on... ;-) In closing I want to encourage everyone to volunteer either at Liberty Stampede 2009 or some other rodeo association. It’s an experience you will treasure for a long long time.

Chris Maurizio
Secretary and Volunteer Coordinator

Upcoming Elections, Michael Flynn, Election Committee Chairperson

The elections process is progressing forward. As you all were notified in the August Trailblazer, nominations for the open offices are being taken until 11:59 pm on Thursday, September 25. Immediately following this deadline, our Election Committee will send ballots, information concerning the candidates and information on how to use the balloting system. This will be sent out electronically via email (snail mail where email is not available). Only LGRA members in good standing who have been members
for 30 days or more as of October 25 are able to vote in the election.

Our Webmaster and Election Committee is currently working on a way to
be able to verify that only LGRA members in good standing do vote.
Ballots for the election will be taken until 11:59 pm on October 25. At
that time the Election Committee will tally up the votes, double
check, and triple check the results and make the announcement as to
whom has won. The winning candidates for President and Secretary will
assume the position on January 1, 2009. The winning candidates for
Vice President and Treasurer will assume their position immediately.

There will be a "Meet the Candidates" at the LGRA Harvest Hoedown on
October 11 so you can get to see and know the people running for office.

If you have any further questions regarding the elections please send a note to the Election Committee Chairman, Michael Flynn at mflynn@libertygra.org. You can also call him directly at 215-413-5821.

Greetings Fellow LGRA members from Cliff

My first month as Membership Chair, to say the least, has been quite interesting. Between attending the Board of Directors meetings and attending the DC Rodeo I have learned a lot about LGRA even though I am a charter member from almost day 1 of the organization. At this time I am looking forward to becoming fully involved with the LGRA and promoting the lifestyle we all share in common.
My first challenge to every member reading this Newsletter is to recruit one new member by year’s end.
We now have approx 200 active members and approx 95 expired members; I plan on contacting every expired member personally to extend a renewal invitation. I have already reworked the membership application and included renewal information on there as well for those of you renewing to make the process very simple.
Let’s recruit everyone you know to make the LGRA one big network of friends and associates to share fun experiences such as Rodeo, Trail Rides, bar nights, and any suggestions you may have.
On a final note for this month, it seems this Newsletter is posted after my monthly country nights, so I will address October at this time:

My next All Night Country Party at The Den in Somerset, NJ will be Saturday October 11, 2008 from 8pm to 2am. YES, I am aware that there maybe a LGRA event that same night so I would encourage you to attend to LGRA event as it is a Fund Raiser. Those attending my monthly event and showing a valid LGRA membership card at the door will receive free admission. If you wish more information on the Country Night at The Den email me at croberts@libertygra.org.

Social and Entertainment News - Tom D.

Harvest Hoedown - On Saturday, October 11, 2008, LGRA will be hosting a Dance/Drag night for members and friends at PURE Night Club in Philadelphia. This is a benefit show for the rodeo. We are looking forward to an exciting evening of Dancing and Illusion. There will be a $15 Donation to LGRA to be taken at the door. We have asked that the Main Floor be smoke free as we have done in the past. There is the lower level of Pure and outside for smoking.

There will be a General Membership meeting before the Dance at 7:30 pm At Pure. The Dance and Show will start immediately following the Membership Meeting. We look forward to seeing all our members and friends at this fun event.

The Den - On Saturday, September 13th, a number of our Board Members and Members attended the Country night at The Den in Sommerset, New Jersey. Our Membership Chair, Cliff Roberts it the host and DJ for this event that is held on the second Saturday of each month at The Den. It was a great time to meet other who are also into the country lifestyle and enjoy country dancing and music.

While there, we passed out information about LGRA and spoke to a number of people about membership. The LGRA held a 50/50 raffle and we took in $80. The winner of the raffle then donated his winnings back to LGRA. What a wonderful thing to do.

We'd like to invite all our members and thier friends to join Cliff and attend the monthly dances at The Den.

Recap of Our Events and Fundraiser
Sept. 27, 2008 Bar Night - Westbury - Philadelphia, PA

Join us on Saturday, September 27, 2008 from 9pm - Midnight for a Bar Night at The Westbury at 13th And Spruce Streets in Philadelphia. We will be offering jello shots for sale with the proceeds going directly to LGRA, as well as a 50-50 raffle. This is our first time at The Westbury so come on out to have a great evening and help support your association.
__________________________________________________________________
October 11, 2008
Come join us from 8PM to 12AM for the Harvest Hoedown Country Western Dance and Drag Show!

Admission to this event is $15.

This event is being presented by the Liberty Gay Rodeo Association to benefit the 2009 Liberty Stampede Rodeo.

This event will be held at
Pure Dance Club
1221 St. James Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 735-5772

Another great evening to dance the nite away with friends, meet new ones and help support the organization.

Come join us!
We will be having a General Membership
meeting prior to the Harvest Hoedown
starting at 7:30pm.

All members attending the meeting will
receive $5 off admission to the dance.

Try Your Luck With Our LADY LUCK FUNDRAISER

Get your Lady Luck tickets. Lady Luck is a fundraiser where you purchase a numbered ticket from 000 - 999 for only $5.00. Then starting in November watch (or don't) the PA lottery drawing at 7pm and see if the number you have was drawn. Then depending on what day of the month it is if your number was drawn by the PA Lottery you would win what ever amount is in that block for that day. You can win from $20.00 to 75.00 and you can win more than just once a month. If your number is drawn once or five times you would win each time. We will be selling tickets during the month of September and October. For more information please contact me at jerhart@libertygra.org. There are several LGRA Board and members selling tickets, so availability of numbers depends on who has tickets. Good luck and help support LGRA.

October Trailride

Oct. 5, 2008 Trail Ride - Sheeder Mill Farms

The next trail ride will be Sunday, October 5, 2008 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 Wednesday, October 1, 2008.

Less than 10 people attending will cost $50.00 per person.
10 or more will cost $45.00 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.

September Birthdays - - - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE AND ALL!!!!

Rick H.
Amy Hammell
Lorrie Martin
George D.
Jack Bryant
Russ Peterson
Tobin Ost
John Loesch
Thomas Zimmerman
Michael Lentz
Chris Maurizio
Ronald Burns
Paul R. Foltz
Kevin McElroy
George C. Hassall
David Libscomb
Lord Brick
Mike Kulp
Wade Giffith

Again, we all hope that you are enjoying your summer and hope to see alot of people joining us at The Westbury for the bar nite and also at Pure for the Membership Meeting followed by a fun filled nite that includes the drag show and lots of dancing.

I will be back next month to give you updates on the various things that we have listed here as far as the elections, fundraising and a report on the Atlantic Stampede. I hope you all are enjoying your summer and hope to see you at the Atlantic Stampede to hoot and holler support and encouragement for all the competitors who will be putting there all into winning a ribbon, a buckle and just plain HAVING FUN!!!!