ASGRA's Annual Elections Meeting and Volunteer Awards Event was held on Sunday October 19 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. While turnout was lighter than anticipated (those sunny autumn weekends will do that, you know), those who did attend were treated to ice cream, awards, dancing and performances by the ASGRA 2003 and 2004 Royalty team members. The coveted Golden Lariat award was given to two ASGRA members this year - President Gaither Pennington and Mary Lynn Logsdon. Both of these individuals have contributed an unimaginable amount of their time and efforts to the betterment of our association. We salute them, and all the ASGRA volunteers who give so generously of their time. Thank you all for your efforts and especially for all your hard work this year on Atlantic Stampede 2003 and the numerous other ASGRA activities and events.

For those of you that were present at the volunteer awards social last month, you will remember that I said that our membership was at 198 members and that I would like 2 more before we went into finals. Well, before that meeting was over, we had reached that goal. We now have 200 members of ASGRA.

Several of our new (and older) members have expressed an interest in getting more involved this coming year with the association. If you have an interest in serving on one of our committees, or as the chairperson of one of our committees, contact me and I will forward your information to the appropriate person(s).

With the start of the new rodeo year, people may be looking for travel buddies, rodeo partners or roommates. The ASGRA Yahoo! Email group is the place to find these. You can access the list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASGRA_Connections/ .

Remember to keep me up to date on any changes in your personal information. This way, you will continue to be informed of meeting notices and special events, and to receive your newsletter. And lastly, as your Membership Chair, I serve as your liaison to the board. If you have concerns or questions, please don't hesitate to bring them to my attention. I can be reached by email or by phone (see sidebar). Keep checking the web page for all announcements and updates on upcoming events. It has been my pleasure to serve as your Membership Chair this year.

Mike Sanders, Membership Chair

The third quarter is now behind us and it was a profitable one for the Association. Stampede 2003 was a great success both as an event and in financial terms. Thanks to this success, ASGRA will be able to contribute funds to charity as well as add additional dollars to our reserve fund. Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped make Stampede 2003 such a wonderful event.

As 2003 winds down, there should be relatively little activity in terms of finances. I will update the membership on how we ended the year in the early part of 2004.

Speaking of 2004, the Board is already working on the 2004 budget. The budget will be presented to the membership later this year, and the membership will have an opportunity to vote on the budget at the January 2004 general membership meeting. Watch for more on the budget in coming months.

Scott Smiley, Treasurer

Remember, ASGRA trail rides are the first Sunday of the month at 11:00am!
Weather permitting, we will be holding a trail ride at Piscataway Ranch in Clinton, MD at 11:00 am on the following days:
November 2nd: Find something to be thankful for - a ride in the crisp autumn air with fellow ASGRA members and friends!
December 7th: Kick off the holiday season with a winter wonderland ride.

For further information and to RSVP, contact Glenn at (703) 538-2225.

• Mr. ASGRA 2004: Buddy Stonesifer
  
• Miss ASGRA 2004: Miss Destiny B. Childs, (Ric Legg)
  
• Ms. ASGRA 2004: Connie Morris
  
• MsTer ASGRA 2004: Cody Jaymes, (Annie Carroll)
  
• Mr. ASGRA 2004 1st Runner Up: Rudy Benavides

Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit (GLLU) staff member Tomï Finkle was recognized recently by Charles County (Maryland) for her search and rescue efforts after the devastating tornado in La Plata in April 2002. She is a member of one of only three Search and Rescue Mounted Unit Teams within the State of Maryland. She serves as the team's training officer and is an active member of the Maryland Search Team Task Force. In addition to her endless Law Enforcement credentials, she is a GLBT diversity awareness facilitator and active member of the Transgender communities in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas. Tomï retired from the United States Capitol Police Department, after 20 years of service. She retired as a Sergeant. She now volunteers her expertise as an Auxiliary member of the GLLU. Congrats Sarge!

Mike Sanders, Membership Chair

• Road Runner Regional Rodeo: AGRA, Phoenix, AZ, January 16-18, 2004
• 2004 Cowtown Rodeo: TGRA, Fort Worth, TX, March 5-7, 2004

This past year Mr. ASGRA 2003 John Alvey and Miss ASGRA 2003 Courtney Lovelace entertained us, raised monies for their charities and the ASGRA general fund and traveled around the rodeo circuit representing Atlantic States. This past weekend at IGRA Finals in Tulsa, OK, these two individuals represented us in the IGRA 2004 Royalty Competition.

They may not have brought home the titles, but they did show IGRA that ASGRA Royalty has what it takes to be team players. They studied and learned all about the bigger organization they are part of. But more importantly, they took their titles to IGRA Finals and represented the Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association exceptionally well.

Thank you to both John and Courtney for doing us proud this year and at IGRA Finals Rodeo.

Mike S., Membership Chair

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members and friends of the Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association for all the love and support I have received throughout this past year. It was completely my pleasure serving the association as Mr. ASGRA 2003 here in the Washington, DC area as well as representing ASGRA across the United States.

I would also like to thank a few people that went above and beyond in supporting Courtney and me.

To my parents, Doug and Lou McCombie, I love you both so much and can not thank you enough for the donations and help all year long. Earl, I couldn't have done it without you! Thanks for all the help this year and especially at IGRA Finals! I love you so much! To my Miss ASGRA, YOU MADE ME DO IT! I owe you! I've had a great time working with you this past year.

And a special thanks to everyone that helped us get to IGRA Finals. We may not have won an IGRA title, but we certainly showed everyone what the members of ASGRA are made of!

To the Royalty Team of 2004,
I wish you all the best and hope that you all have as much fun as I have had this past year. You are on your way to making some good friends and new family members that will last a lifetime. The international gay rodeo family will be there for you with open arms, as will I.

Having been a member and now a representative of ASGRA since 1996 I want to end by saying I will still proudly be a part of ASGRA and will continue to be here to help out anyway I can. Thank you to everyone for this experience.

John Alvey, Mr. ASGRA 2003

November 2003 2: 11am Trail Ride at Piscataway stables, Clinton, MD
12: 8pm BHT Meeting; DC Eagle; Washington, DC
13: 7:30pm ASGRA Board Meeting; Hyatt Regency Hotel
19: 8pm CAB Meeting; DC Eagle; Washington, DC