The membership of C.G.R.A. has chosen Jeanie as our Grand Marshal this year. It is unusual to choose a person who is still actively a member of the Board of Directors, but Jeanie has been a consistently active and hard-working member since she joined C.G.R.A. in july, 1983.
Jeanie started out on the Audit Committee, where she served for two years, utilizing her talents in accounting.
In 1985, Jeanie was recording secretary until she was elected the first Ms. C.G.R.A., under the I.G.R.A. guidelines. She represented us very well in that capacity and went on to be elected the first Ms. I.G.R.A. in 1986.
When her reign at Ms. I.G.R.A. was through, she was elected as the first woman president of C.G.R.A., and the first in any of the Gay Rodeo Associations. She has done us proud during the three years that she held that office.
Last year, she relinquished the reins of president, but holds the office of vice president, where she continues to help Lee and the rest of the Board of Directors keep things on an even keel.
Jeanie has also worked in other areas of rodeo, including secretarial, judging, and participating as a contestant.
While Jeanie insists that she is not going to run for a Board of Directors position in the coming year, we all know that she will always be available to lend her assistance whenever needed.
The C.G.R.A. membership is very grateful to Jeanie for all of the time and devotion over the years and we are excited to honor her in this way.
Thanks, Jeanie, and enjoy your much deserved break from the Board of Directors.
The state of Colorado and its inhabitants played a major role in the writing of Western History. Individuals of dedication, fortitude, and vision explored and settled untamed regions of the west. Their ideals of strength, self-reliance, and inner pride live on today embodied in what is known as the Western image.
It was with reflection on this past, identification with this image, and a commitment to a positive future that a group of gay men and women formed the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association in September 1981.
Not an activist or separatist group, the Association is dedicated to the positive interaction of people in the true spirit of the West. Since its inception, C.G.R.A. has created and maintained activities which draw people together with a sense of Western Hospitality.
All stops were pulled out as C.G.R.A. hosted the First Annual Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo in June 1983. People were welcomed from all over the United States and Canada to a weekend of country fun in the Mile High City.
The Association and its members will continue to strive to create a positive image of gay men and women in the light of Western spirit. Our members have worked hand-in-hand with other states to form similar Associations. We welcomed the great state of Texas in 1983 with the Texas Gay Rodeo Association (T.G.R.A.) and actively took part in their first rodeo in November 1984.
Our members traveled to and supported the formation of the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association (G.S.G.R.A.) in California in early 1984 and took part in their 1st rodeo at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in March 1985. Transplanted C.G.R.A. members actively took part in forming the Arizona Gay Rodeo Association (A.G.R.A.) and held their first rodeo in January 1986.
C.G.R.A. is proud to be a member of the International Gay Rodeo Association, which now has 14 member associations, and includes 18 states.
I.G.R.A. was formed to provide a standard of rules, points and organization of a rodeo. I.G.R.A. now sanctions each of the rodeos on our circuit. We are grateful to I.G.R.A.'s first Board of Trustees and Officers for their dedication to Gay Rodeo!
All inquiries are welcomed from all parts of the country from groups of individuals wishing assistance in the formation of similar groups.
C.G.R.A. is, once again, pulling out all the stops in presenting "Country Jamboree," sponsored by Coors. Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo is sponsored by Miller Lite and is truly Denver's Biggest Party.
The Rodeo kicks off with The Mile High Hoedown sponsored by the Colorado Tavern Guild on July 5th from 7 p.m. to midnight at the Executive Tower Inn and features Cindy Sweeney and the Wichita River Band for your country and western dancing entertainment. R.M.R.R. #9 contestant registration and sign up from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. is also at the host hotel, the Executive Tower Inn in downtown Denver.
Saturday and Sunday, July 6 and 7, are the dates for the 9th Annual Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo, to be held at the Coal Creek Rodeo Park Arena. Don't forget Country Jamboree, held at the Executive Tower Inn Grand Ballroom.
All activities conclude on Sunday, July 7 with the Rodeo Awards Ceremony in the Executive Tower Inn Grand Ballroom. It will be the best party with pride this city has ever seen.
So you flew into Denver- or came in on the train or bus- and rented a car, or you drove in your own car, and you'd like to know how to get around to some of the bars and, of course, to the rodeo grounds. Let's see if we can help. Since most of you are staying at the Executive Tower Inn or have taken up accommodations in Capitol Hill-whose residents can be very accommodating indeed -we'll stick with downtown and Capitol Hill as your base points.
Getting around most of Denver is really quite easy; outside of the downtown area, which is sort of cross-hared to the rest of the city, the majority of streets run north-south or east-west. (The rodeo grounds are about as far east as you can get and still be in Colorado, or so it seems.) If you're staying at The Executive, you're downtown at 1405 Curtis. To go to the rodeo, from the Executive you can take 14th Street east through downtown and then get on East Colfax. (Actually you can take the parallel East 14th Ave. for a while-far fewer lights-but it eventually dead ends and you'll have to get on Colfax anyway). Go to I-225, then turn south on I-225 and go just a little ways to the East 6th Ave exit. Take it east. By now you're on the prairie. Soon the large, mushroom headed, white phallic water towers of Buckley Air National Guard Base will be on your right. Little further now, east on the two-lane road, following the cars with lambdas, rainbows, and Webb for Mayor stickers on the trunks. Coal Creek Rodeo Grounds will appear on your left.
If you want to depart for the rodeo from some point further south of downtown, you might want to take 6th Ave. all the way. Since 6th starts way out west in friggin' Golden (and some say Los Angeles), you'd think it goes all the way through. But Nooooo, Lowry Air Base is in the way. If you take 6th all the way east (from Broadway), you'll need to take a detour around the north side of the base. So take 6th to Quebec, turn north for five blocks, turn east on 11th Ave., go to Havana and turn south, then turn east (left) again on 6th to continue to the rodeo. Believe it or not, this may actually be quicker than taking Colfax since there are so fewer traffic lights.
As for getting around to the bars in town, Charlie's, at 900 E. Colfax, has got to be the best in the west of C&W bars and is home to the CGRA and the IGRA. Don't even need to dust off your boots after the rodeo! We'll take you just the way you are. Charlie's Cookshack is open for breakfast, lunch and supper. Elsewhere for sandwiches, board games and interesting conversation, Coffee House on the Hill is at 1600 E. Colfax, and is open for lunch through late supper. Also, try Denver Detour for your eating and drinking pleasure, at 551 E. Colfax. And while your're still in the neighborhood, checkout Brick's at 1600 E. 17th. It used to be a non-gay bar. See what made them switch! For Women Who Like Women, Ms. C's (Charlie's sister bar) features Denver's best looking boot scootin' women at 7900 E. Colfax.
Just north of downtown, The Triangle, one of the oldest gay bars in town, is at 2036 Broadway. Take Lincoln north. It merges with Broadway at 20th Street, where you'll turn right onto Broadway and The Triangle is on your right. We take our leather seriously at The Triangle. For the best "dance music" bar in town (we don't say "disco" anymore), as well as the best collection of continuously-running comedy videos and the hottest men anywhere in the country, go to Buddies. Its address is 2101 Champa, which makes it sound like it's in nowhere land, but 'tain't so. From The Triangle, go north on Broadway 1/2 block and turn left on 21st Street. Buddies will be immediately on your right.
For your partying pleasure south of downtown, first stop is The Compound, at 2nd Ave. and Broadway. The Compound is a friendly, neighborhood bar with a hard-to-beat dance floor. The Mayan Theater, a gorgeous old movie house with an excellent selection of the latest art films (Poison plays there this month), is right across the street from The Compound. Another block south on the left is Club 22, a fun bar sandwiched into a strip center. After you go south of 1st Ave., you're now on South Broadway, and the addresses start becoming larger again. Another couple blocks south on the left is the most pumped-up fitness center in town, Broadway Bodyworks, at 160 S. Broadway. If you plan to do some working out while you're here, the Bodyworks has a special rate for you (see the ad in this issue). Forget the mountains, the scenery in the Bodyworks is the real reason we live in Colorado. If you turn left on Alameda Ave. (which is 300 South) and go east five blocks you'll come to DADS, an attractive neighborhood bar (occasionally host to the local gay nudist group!) with food, pool and "mocktails." It's at the corner of Alameda and Pennsylvania. Back on South Broadway, down past I-25 where South Broadway becomes two-way, you'll find BJ's Carousel at 1380 S. Broadway. They're sort of like McDonald's in that they serve food, folks and fun. And drinks.
As for going west from downtown, The Den is at 5110 W. Colfax, and has a great restaurant as well as a bar.
...Qh, and everything you've ever heard about Cheesman Park is true. If you haven't heard about it, you'll figure it out unless your radar is totally nonfunctional. Cheesman is a big park, and lots of streets lead there. For simple reference, take 12th or 9th Ave. east from Broadway. They both go right through the park. Or ask any lesbian or gay man in town.
Have a great time in Denver!
