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Community Compass is a service of OITM. GLBT organizations from around the state are invited to provide briet — 200 words or less — descriptions of recent or upcoming activities and events. Send your submissions to us by email by the 15th of the month.
The Brattleboro Area AIDS Project will hold its second annual Supper Club in Marlboro on Friday, July 9, 1999 at 7pm. An elegant North African meal featuring local produce will be prepared by chef Brenda Biddle at the lovely home of Diana Bingham.
As they arrive guests will have the chance to mingle as they sample hors d'ouevres and listen to jazz standards from Peter Tavalin on piano and vocalist Gay Maxwell.
The mezze will include grilled fresh sardines wrapped in grape leaves, marinated feta, olives with preserved lemons and red chilies, dukhah, baba ganoush and assorted festive breads. The main course — bistayalla, a filo pie filled with chicken, almonds and cinnamon — will be served at tables set with fresh salads and a Berber couscous made with seven vegetables. A pomegranate sorbet, fresh fruit and orange blossom butter cookies — called graybeh, which means 'to swoon' in Morocco — will follow. Wine, mint tea and coffee will also be served.
Tickets are $55 and must be reserved in advance. For reservations and information, please call the Project at 254-8263.
On Saturday, May 29, The Burlington R.U.1.2? Community Center, a group of people organizing a gay/lesbian/bi/trans/ally sub-free social space for the Burlington area, raised over $150 at its first-ever bake sale on the Church Street Marketplace.
Chocolate almond cookies, banana bread, gay-friendly stickers, and even tomato seedlings were on hand for purchase with all donations going toward operating expenses for the new organization.
In addition to fundraising, the group hoped to raise awareness about their movement by talking to local people face-to-face about the need for a community center. Members of the group lined the street offering free lollipops with flyers attached which detailed the mission of the group and their upcoming plans including a coffeehouse evening at Penny Cluse Cafe on Saturday, June 5 at 7:30 and the next monthly potluck to be held at the Rhombus Gallery on Cherry Street at 6pm on Monday, June 14.
Mike Bensel, an R.U.1.2? Director, was very pleased with the response from bake sale patrons. "It was really great to come together as a group and talk to queer and straight people about what we're trying to do. Most people walked away from our table knowing more about R.U.1.2? - and they got some tasty cookies too!"
Because of their success, the group is tentatively planning more bake sales on the last Saturday of each month until September. Those interested in baking to support R.U.1.2? should contact the group about dates and logistics.
"We're all really excited about being active in the community and building coalitions with other groups," says Don Eggert, an R.U.1.2? Director. "Our future center will be a safe place where everyone can come together to meet and move the GLBT community forward."
This year, Vermont will be hosting a summer Radical Feminist Lesbian Gathering. It runs from, Friday, July 30, to Sunday, August 1, at Parama, a retreat center in Elmore, VT.
The focus will be on working with differences within our community and also with allies in other parts of the larger community. Bring your stories, your frustrations, your songs and hopes.
There will be a variety of workshops, singing, swimming (nearby), and whatever else the participants create. All food will be vegetarian. Very limited space. Camping and indoor accommodations are available.
Fees are sliding scale, $70 - $120; no one turned away for lack of money. For more information, call Terry at (802) 865-3098.
Many thanks go out to singers, supporters, and all involved with the Samadhi Singers' June 6 concert at St. Paul's Cathedral in Burlington.
More than 200 people were in atttendance at the show, which was a benefit for Outright Vermont. Both Outright and the Samadhi Singers were very warmly received, and the group got not one, but two standing ovations for its performance!
The Samadhi Singers would like to remind members and friends that they're taking a break from Sunday night rehearsals until August 22.
Because of the Hawaii mailing, we have been busy implementing contingency plans for meeting anticipated backlash as we approach the time when the Supreme Court decision could occur.
Our opposition has been publishing their supporter lists in local papers, running anti-marriage propaganda on community television, lobbying legislators, and raising funds.
In response, friends of VFMTF — including the Rutland Society of Friends and Rev. Arnold Thomas of the United Church of Christ — have written numerous op-eds.
The Task Force has countered TV propaganda with showings of A Green Mountain View, Our Day in Court, the oral arguments of Baker v State, and this spring's Point/Counterpoint debate, in which Deb Lashman ably defended the pro-marriage stance. In Windham County, BCTV interviewed Bari Shamas (VFMTF), Rev. Carol Karlson (VOWS), and Rep. Michael Gigante for Open Studio.
We gave legislators information packets that, among other things, put the Burlington Free Press' anti-marriage stance in perspective; editorials around the state indicate that the majority of editors believe marriage is a right that should be available to all Vermonters.
We have intensified fundraising, starting with the second annual Gay Bingo in Brattleboro, another unqualified success. The Bennington County chapter ran a booth at Mayfest, a festival in Bennington, collecting signatures of supporters and raising funds; the Burlington chapter has planned a September Bike-a-Thon. The VFMTF also gathered more supporters, volunteers, and funds on Pride Day.
The Task Force has finished a successful effort to identify candidates for our new coordinator position. Applications came in fast and furious, and we hope to conclude selection by July.
On May 29th, a busy holiday Saturday night, many volunteers worked together to host our second annual Bingo. Everyone present had a great time, and this event went a long way in fostering important goals of VFMTF.
Once again we found terrific support from the business community. They supplied fabulous prizes that ranged from overnight stays at Saxtons River Inn and Chester House Inn, a beautiful drum from Everyone's Drumming, and one-month pool memberships at the Quality Inn to vegetable plants, flowers, and gift certificates from area restaurants, stores and service providers.
Many folks got introduced to the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force and were happy to learn about our activities and sign the Vermont Voices for Equality forms.
And along with having a good time and reaching new people, we raised a significant sum to help support our educational work around the state.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the volunteers who made this event possible, including Deb Jennison, Candy Garrett, John Dunham, Randy Guy, Catherine Cadieux, Jeff Herman-May, Jody Noe, Kathleen Janel, Lennie Simons, Bari Shamas, Diane Shamas, Lisa Nash, Carol Karlson, and our entertaining callers, Mark Herman-May and Bill McDaniels — aka Mama and Kitty.
