Community Compass
Community Compass is a service of OITM. GLBT organizations from around the state are invited to provide brief — 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
All-New PRIDE!
New People! New Energy! New P.R.I.D.E.!
It's an exciting time; the P.R.I.D.E. Committee has already begun meeting
to get the ball rolling on next year's pride festivities, scheduled to
commence July 10th. We have high hopes to make the upcoming celebration
bigger and better than ever before, and encourage all to come out and
see this P.R.I.D.E grow from its beginning! Meetings are open to everyone,
and held the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at UVM's Waterman
building in room 427A. Our next meeting is January 13th at 7pm. We'll
see you there! The current P.R.I.D.E. committee has recently broken down
into sub-groups and are looking for more helping hands and warm bodies
to join: the savvy fundraisers, crafty parade planners, spirited waterfront
folks, and jedi advertisement/media sub. Good times are to be had by
all! For more info and contacts, the soon-to-be stylin' website can be
perused at www.pridevermont.org
Getting Your Kicks
It's getting colder outside, but we're
warming up for winter soccer - inside.
Work off those holiday calories -
and have fun with other g/l/b/t soccer players (and no, we're not all
great soccer players - we just want to have fun kicking a ball around).
Come play with us in the gym at Seminary
Hill School in West Lebanon. We're playing every Thursday from 8:15pm
to 9:30pm. Bring a dollar: Lebanon Rec. charges one dollar per session.
Please reply to Jim at
jcmcc@valley.net if you need more details and directions.
Samara Foundation Gets Law School Award
The Samara Foundation was presented with
Vermont Law School's 2003 Simon Pearce Vermont Vanguard Award for supporting
and strengthening Vermont's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities
through our continuing charitable work. This marks the first time the
award has been given to a community organization. Executive
Director Bill Lippert and Board President John Crane accepted the award
at a ceremony in October. Vermont Law School President and Dean, L. Kinvin
Wroth offered his congratulations: "Your efforts fully meet the criterion
of the award that it go to 'a visionary member of the surrounding community,
whose dedicated
efforts in achieving equality before the law and furthering civil rights
inspire action and respect by others.'"
Democracy Project at Work
The annual meeting of the state liaisons
for the Democracy Project of the Gill Foundation was held December 5-7
in Kansas City, MO. This is the second year of the project with 14 states
currently participating: VT, NH, MA, OR, CO, WA, OH, NC, MO, MN, MI, IA,
GA, and FL. The Democracy Project looks to increase civic involvement,
build organization capacity, and aid in the formation of collaborations.
Additional 501(c)3 organizations are being sought to participate in these
14 states. For more information please see our web site at: www.gillfoundation.org/democracy
or contact the Vermont State Liaison, Roland Palmer, at rfpvt@together.net
for additional information and an application form.
LGBTQ Visibility Day at the State House
Join Equality Vermont , RU12? Community
Center, and other GLBT organizations at the Vermont State House for Visibility
Day on January 30th, 2004 from 8:00AM to 1:00PM. This day is an opportunity
to educate legislators about who we are and what our issues are for the
legislative session. Make this Visibility Day the best ever by helping
us have the largest turnout of GLBT Vermonters. See our flier in this
issue of Out in the Mountains for a complete schedule of Visibility Day
events, and information on two bills of interest.
Organizations will be able to set up displays
in the Cardroom (just outside the House Chambers) for the day. In the
morning, Equality Vermont will host a legislative breakfast in the cafeteria,
followed by an information workshop about the bills of concern to our
community.
We hope that you will be able to attend Visibility Day. It is important
for legislators to hear from us. If you have any questions, or if your
organization would like to set up a display, please call Virginia Renfrew
at Equality VT - 802-496-3345 ext. 2 or email at info@equalityvt.org
Needle Exchange Schedule
Burlington: Mondays-Fridays 1-5pm, The Green Mountain Needle Co-op, 275
College Street (entrance in back of building) 802-860-3567.
Brattleboro: Tuesdays 6-9pm, Brattleboro Area Drop In Center, 60 South
Main Street,802-254-8263.
St. Johnsbury: Wednesdays 3-6pm, Vermont CARES, 1235 Hospital Drive, Suite
2, 802-748-9061.
Participation is anonymous.
Rainbow Family Programming at R.U.1.2?
Time and again, we hear from the community
that you'd like to see more programming for families and children. We
want to make this a reality, but we need your help! Already this winter
we're gearing up to start parent and family caregiver support groups at
the Center and multicultural story-telling hour co-sponsored with Women
of Color Alliance and the Rainbow Library. But we know that there's still
more to do!
We want your input, your creativity, your
ideas for making the Center a place that meets the needs of families like
yours. On Wednesday, January 14, we'll be having a planning meeting from
5:30 pm to 7:00 pm to discuss what kind of family-oriented programming
you'd like to see at R.U.1.2? in the new year. After the meeting we'll
be showing a family-friendly movie, so feel free to bring your kids!
If you have any questions or if you're
unable to attend but would still like to participate, call us at 802.860.7812
Mountain Pride Media Thanks ...
The Mountain Pride Media Board of Directors would like to extend our sincerest
thanks to all our supporters in 2003. We especially would like to thank
the Mountain Pride Media Board Members (past and present) who contributed
to our 2003 Challenge Fund, showing their ongoing commitment to our mission.
We were able to raise $3,835.00 towards our $10,000 challenge goal. We
thank everyone who supported us in 2003 by donating time, money, and materials,
subscribing, volunteering, and advertising. You are the key to our success!
Senior Action in a Gay Environment (SAGE) Planning Meeting
Since R.U.1.2? began, there has been a lot
of talk about the difficulty that GLBT senior citizens face in finding
community. R.U.1.2? has actively pursued involving elders in all facets
of our work, and glancing around our events, we can see people from age
3 to 33 to 83. But we know that we still want to do more!
Senior Action in a Gay Environment is a
national organization for GLBT seniors. If you are interested in possibly
starting a SAGE chapter here at R.U.1.2? come to a meeting at the Center
on Monday, January 5 at 6:00pm. For more information, call the Center
@ 802.860.7812.