We have finished up all the decorating plans for Bears on Liberty Weekend (BOLW) this year
We are going to have 2 ships – the first will be galled “the good ship lollipop” for this year
And we will be having a second ship the SS Liberty stampede – the idea is to get people during the entire weekend to sign up for next year –the rodeo will be promoted heavily at 3 events

The bear crawl – cost individual ticket 20
The afternoon Delaware river cruise and banquet 50 dollars
The brunch and 2 stepping at woody’s 20 dollars
The cost for a weekend package with t-shirt is 120 dollars

We hope that at each event you would be able to have people there to talk about the rodeo and seek membership

Also please do not forget LGRA is manning the beer bar on Friday night and all tip proceeds are going to the rodeo as well as we are splitting the 50/50 take with your association.

We hope to see a strong turn out at these events for the rodeo membership – our registrations are going well to date.

dan

Bears Website

Howdy gang,
We're getting ready to head down to the Florida Stampede. Rumor has it at least 20 people from the greater Philadelphia region will be traveling to the fun and the sun. If you're down there keep your eyes and ears open, we may have a private party for our members. We have several members who have volunteered to help FGRA with the rodeo. If you are interested in volunteering a few small hours in return you receive a pass for some of the events. You can go to their website, www.Fgra.org and there is a volunteer sign-up page.
We are still looking for several volunteers to help with getting our rodeo ready. 13 months and counting. It seems like a lot of time but it will go quickly.
Our board is still working on a venue for the Liberty Stampede. We have contacts in Philadelphia, Chester and Bucks Counties helping us. I am touched by the outreach in our search. We have a couple of potential sites but I have promised to do a thorough search and not grab the first site that comes along. We only want what is best for our rodeo. If you know of any locations or if you have ideas on where we should look please give me a call or drop me an email. LGRA is going to build our own field of dreams and we can not do that without you.. our members.
Speaking of members, several members from the Philadelphia Liberty Bears have joined our association. Their annual Bears on Liberty weekend is quickly coming up the weekend of May 17th to the 20th. Visit their website www.LibertyBears.net for more information. They will be moving their event to our rodeo weekend next year. I am very excited to have them onboard. One of our biggest goals is to be an inclusive organization where everyone is welcome. Cowboys and Bears and Rodeo oh my.....

Yes indeedy! I made it in the LGRA Trail Blazer Newsletter!!!

Greetings from the one and only blond-haired gay-bi-straight-lesbian-transgendered-diva DJ! I was beside myself when I was asked to be featured in this newsletter. It is such an honor to be an active participant of this organization. I’m looking forward to offering my many years of talent to a great group of people.

From the title of a Toby Keith song, “I want to talk about ME!!” Foremost, I want to be an entertainer forever. I started to country DJ in clubs in 1987. These clubs include: Renaissance (Wilmington, DE); Cartwheel and Prelude (New Hope); Bike Stop; Raffles; and finally Woody’s. Watching people dance and enjoying themselves are what DJ’ing is all about. Since I have started playing at Woody’s bar in 1992, I have watched the country lifestyle grow to new heights (and the dancers, too!). I’m very grateful to be part of the gay country experience.

While DJ’ing is a big part of my life, playing live music is where my heart is. Life is a stage and I’m always on it. Throughout my musical career, I’ve played many types of musical instruments and for many well-known artists. To date, I can play sixteen instruments from the musical families of percussion, string (guitar/mandolin), brass (before I lost my lower teeth LOL), and woodwind. Of all these, my favorite love is of the drums. I’m sure many of you seen me play air drums in the DJ booth! I began playing drums when I was four. Since then, I’ve played pro for various Nashville bands to my present band, The Bootlickers (www.TheBootlickers.com). The Bootlickers is one of the few places where I can really be myself (what ever that is!). If you have not seen us yet, you’re missing a great time!

When I’m not spinning those CD’s or plucking my guitar, my mind shifts to auto-racing. I’ve been a racecar fan all my life. I’ve attended hundreds of stock car races (NASCAR) throughout the country. As many of you know, my favorite number is 3, belonging to the late Dale Earnhardt. I even have #3 tattooed on my right arm. In addition to Dale, I’m also a big Richard Petty fan. (Now I root for #8, Earnhardt Jr!)

While I love playing music for our Philadelphia gay country community, I would not be able to do it without you, my dancing friends. Also, I really want to take this opportunity to thank my dance instructors, Mike, Paul and Scott, and my DJ cohorts, John and Cliff. Furthermore, I would like to give a lot of credit to my personal family, Reba, Ralph and Rose, for giving me support and standing behind me through thick and thin. To my extended country friends, I love you guys and I hope we’ll be together for many more years to come.

I wish LGRA all the best and I really hope to see OUR country “family” continue to grow.

With great gratitude,
June Bromley

Saturday, March 31st a group of LGRA members and friends went on an excursion to Atlantic City. We started out our bus ride in King of Prussia at 11am, we then went to Center City and South Philly to pick up more members and friends. As we headed to Atlantic City, the day grew bright and sunny and everyone on the bus got to know each other, by the time we reached AC it was like a group of old friends on an outing together. Once we arrived at our Wild West destination of Bally's Wild Wild West Casino, we went exploring in small groups, meeting up later to head to the Brass Rail as a group.

Upon arriving at the Brass Rail, we spent time talking and getting to know each other better, including our bus driver. A couple of us meet the Manager and spent time seeing if we could arrange a fun day/night in Atlantic City for the Members of Liberty GRA. We are working out plans to have a great time there for one and all. If you haven't been there lately, you should plan on stopping there the next time you are in AC, the new owners have made a difference

Heading back to the casino for some more fun and dinner. Soon it was time to start heading home. We even had a couple of people who were winners at the casinos. Everyone had fun and enjoyed our outing out of the city. Although the group may have been small, the fun and comradery great. All agreed that the next time it would be great to have even more along.

Tom Dykes
Social and Entertainment
socent@libertygra.org

More about upcoming events

Click on the link below to go to the LibertyGRA Yahoo group and join.

Liberty Yahoo Group