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SUPER "BALL" SUNDAY!
The Seventh Annual Winter Ball
by Jed
Ryan
So
few of our annual GLBT Long Island events are as highly
anticipated, as densely attended, or as elegantly
executed
as the Long Island Pride Parade's Winter Ball each
December. The event has received the "Best Fundraiser
Party" LIPP
Award in 1996, 1997, and 1998. On Sunday, December 2nd,
Long
Island Pride Parade, Inc. presented the seventh
installation of its yearly tux- and gown-fest at the West Lake Inn in Patchogue.
The event
was a huge success, with over 360 members of our community and our supporters
gathering for cocktail hour, socializing, dancing, dinner, and-- most importantly--
to support one of gay Long Island's most quintessential community events: the
Long Island Pride Parade
and Festival in the Park in June. Attendees of past
Winter Balls have praised the formal event, likening the
Ball
to "the gay and lesbian
prom we never had" (but without the chaperones and without having to sneak
the alcohol in..) and "a gay and lesbian wedding" (but without annoying
relatives, the expense of a gift, or the perfunctory "Chicken Dance"...).
The West Lake Inn was perfectly suited as the venue to hold the WInter Ball.
The black and white balloons that adorned the party space complimented the
black and white suits and tuxes that most of the guys -- and many of the ladies--
wore
that night.. and, as if the crowd in attendance wasn't colorful enough, extra
splashes of color were provided by neon rainbow-colored glow sticks at every
table.
As
the crowd settled down, Eva Sanchez, Executive Director
of Long Island Pride Parade, Inc., introduced the Pride
Parade Executive Board: Alycia Augello
(Executive
Treasurer), Pete C. Scibilia (Executive Secretary), Linda Brogle, Sandy
Faison,
Billy Hayward, Cindie Kirkpatrick, and Jim Pizzo. David Quackenbush (a member
of the Parade's Corporate Sponsorship Committee) also joined the group, and
(Long Island Gay and Lesbian
Youth) LIGALY's David Kilmnick, one of the Parade's
original founders, joined the group to present
a very special Award to a very special lady: Justine Schachter. In a phone
interview after the Winter Ball, Justine stated to me, "I've always
been very active in causes dedicated to the rights for humankind," which
started in her young adulthood. Her first foray into support and activism
with the
GLBT community
began with her becoming a P-FLAG mom 15 years ago. In 1992 she started a
P-FLAG Long
Island newsletter which she produced and
edited with her husband. Justine has been on the L.I. Pride Parade Committee
for
10 years. She has served
on the Executive Board for the past two years, mostly being involved in Merchandising--
in which she had the opportunity to display her artistic talents . On winning
the Award, which recognized Justine for 15+ years of service with the GLBT
community.
Eva Sanchez praised our heroine with some inspirational advice for all of
us: "Justine
shows that to SHOW pride, you have to LIVE pride!" Justine
later told me, "It's
lovely-- it's really lovely-- when people honor you.. and it was totally
unexpected! I was stunned-- and thrilled." Other organizations that
Justine has been involved with have been GMHC in Manhattan, PWAC (People
With AIDS Coalition), Long
Island Association for AIDS Care (LIAAC),
and LIGALY (She was
briefly Vice President of LIGALY when
the organization first started). Although Justine
has announced her retirement from the L.I. Pride Parade Executive Board,
she will continue to support the GLBT community and will continue to do her
artwork,
working from her studio at home.
DJ
Denise (of Twisted Dee Productions & Promotions; she's
also Webmaster and Art Producer of PM
Magazine) displayed her spinning talents with a wide
range of musical crowd-pleasers. It can't be easy to please
such a large and diverse crowd as the one that night, but
Denise did it-- largely because of her wide variety of
hits and her expert blending of different musical genres.
Denise gives the audience  timeless
classics ("Rock Around the Clock," "The
Twist," "Son of a Preacher Man," "Girl
From Ipanema") as well as concessions for anyone
in the mood to slow dance ("Because You Love Me," "Chances
Are," "What A Wonderful World"). She
lovingly juxtaposes classic disco tunes ("Burn
Baby Burn," "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves")
with new favorite club hits (Amber's "Yes," "Stranger
In My House," "Lady Marmalade," "Rapture").
She also threw in Amber's "Sexual" ("This
is going out to the Boys of Blanche!"),
Gloria Gaynor's classic dance ode to pride "I
Am What I Am," and climaxed with Madonna's "Die
Another Day". In between food and dancing, there
were plenty of opportunities to network and socialize.
I hope you brought your business cards, 'cause there was
representation from almost every GLBT organization on Long
Island, plus a good number of our community's supporters.
Seen: Rob Vitelli, Louis
Trapani, Tom Maligno,
and Yvonne Wildner of LIGALY; Barry
Jones, Jim Coppola, Bill Borman,  Walter
Jackson, and Jan Geiger of GALFOLI
(Gay and Lesbian Foundation of Long Island); Peter
Quinones and two other police officers from GOAL; Helen of Club
608 and girlfriend Barbara; Al Guardino; Jeff from Thunders;
Lady Ivana; Ariel Sinclair; Patrick Finn of AIDS
Care, Inc.; PM
Entertainment Magazine's Bill Hefter (and his mom [!],
who didn't want to leave until the absolute last song);
Michael Mulvaney and Paul Paquette from the Long
Island Gay & Lesbian Film Festival; Chris King;
Bill Hahn (officer of Auntie
M's Helping Hands and V.P. of the Upcoming Drag
Invasion); Tommy Beher from Auntie
M's; Long Island's #1 drag king Tony G; representatives
from The
Bunkhouse, Pride
for Youth, Citi Fridays, Long
Island Ravens M.C.; and Nick Montalbano and a whopping
23 other guys from the Suffolk
Gay Men's Group. And that's just scratching the surface!
Despite
the event being almost six hours long, the night flew by
astonishingly fast, and before we knew it, DJ Denise put
forth Donna Summer's "Last Dance," which
pretty much gave us the message. As if that weren't clear
enough, Denise added, "Have a happy, healthy, and
safe holiday. Now get the hell out of here-- we're closed!" She
finalized with a "Thank you!" to Long Island
Pride Parade, Inc. for having her.
When Justine accepted her Award that night, she added, "I can't think of
a better present for my 75th birthday!" She later told me, "I don't
feel like I'll be 75 soon. My body tells me I am, but I don't believe it!" She
marched in the first Long Island Pride Parade 12 years ago and got many P-FLAG
moms and dads to march with her, at a time when many of them were nervous about
doing so. In the last few years, she has worked to overcome both health problems
and emotional difficulties, yet never wavered in her commitment to the GLBT community
and her service as a mentor for many activists. Despite her retirement, I have
a hunch that we'll be seeing and hearing a lot more from Justine Schachter. She
left off our interview with a wish that more volunteers would get involved, acknowledging
that in this day and age, it's tough to find men and women willing to make the
commitment. (Hint, hint!) Remember, one person CAN make a difference!
In the
WInter Ball Journal, Eva Sanchez thanked everyone for their
support throughout the years and reminded us about the
reason we were all in attendance: "Set aside June
8th, 2003 as the day you choose to be counted and be an
activist for a day. It's easy! March with us along Main
Street in Huntington, cheer the marchers along the Parade
route, buy a T-shirt, eat a hot dog, enjoy the entertainment
or simply hug a friend you haven't seen in a while. The
point is.. just be there! You can make the 13th Annual
Pride Parade and Festival in the Park bigger and better
than ever. Let's show all the lawmakers that we are a huge
voting bloc, one that cannot and will not be ignored!"
See you there, Eva!
The
Long Island Pride Parade, Inc.
P.O. Box 7463
Wantagh, NY 11793
(631) 321-0906
Web Site: liprideparade.com
Meetings every 2nd Saturday of the month at LIGALY,
located at 34 Park Avenue in Bay Shore from 11:30 AM to 1 PM.
Photos by Louis Trapani © 2002
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