4 2 J « s t M r t • p o t 7.2002_______________________________________________________________________________________________
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DIVERSIONS
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Thank the lord
they hired a
professional
ancouver, Wash., gay
theater great Rick
Lewis has been hired
by the Portland Spirit
dinner boat company as
entertainment director.
Lewis is the creator of
the critically acclaimed off-
Broadway musical The
Taffetas. His subsequent hits
include The Cardigans,
A Cardigan Chnstmas,
Have a Nice Day! and A
Taffeta Chnstmas.
“We are thrilled to have
Rick join us,” says Dan
Yates, president of Ameri
can Waterways, which owns
and operates the Portland
Spirit. “With his musical
talent and experience, our
onboard entertainment will
he taken to the next level.”
Anyone who has been
witness to the boat’s enter
tainment knows this will he
a heck of a welcome change.
Clockwise from left, Rose Empress X LIV Poison Waters, Rose Empress XV
Darcelle, Laurel Hurst and Rose Emperor XX Babalou received the Oregon
Bears’ Presidents Award
Bear hugs for
drag queens land king]
T
he Oregon Bears presented its Presidents
Award to four Portlanders on May 18.
The annual honor for outstanding com
munity contributors went to Rose
Empress X L IV Poison Marie Waters, Rose
Empress X V Darcelle, Rose Emperor X X
Babalou and Laurel Hurst. All four received
special recognition for their work on the Teddy
Bear Drive last November, the proceeds of
which went to the Friends of People with
A ID S Foundation. It was the highest single
night fund-raiser
in the Oregon
Bears’ seven-
year history.
“These four
individuals not
only keep the
sparkle in
Portland,” club
president Doug
Watson says,
“but their ongo
ing and consis
tent contribu
tions to the
G LB T commu
nity have
shown what
tremendous
dedication
and heart
they have
for helping
others.”
Other
honors of
the evening
included
Board Service and Founders Awards. All previous
volunteer board members were acknowledged for
the work that has made the Oregon Bears one of
the state’s largest gay organizations. Bears Steve
Learning and Patrick Spike received Founders
Awards for their continuous involvement and
long-standing contributions.
“What a great group of guys," exclaims
Poison Waters. “All having fun and doing
great things in our community.”
Rub shoulders
with Spanbauer
T
children 8 to 15 of queer families; the
second week is for queer or question
ing teen-agers 13 to 18.
Participants can expect the usual
summer camp fare (you know, like in
Meatballs): swimming, boating,
archery, arts and crafts, drama (most
ly for the boys), sports (mostly for
the girls), hikes and camp songs.
There’s also a scavenger hunt
planned as well as a dance party and
a large bonfire.
However, also included is the
kind of support you won’t find at
other camps. Facilitated age-
appropriate discussions are planned
on diversity, homophobia, trans
issues, forming school support groups
and other topics.
In 2001 the camp pulled in 34 kids
from around the Northwest, but this
year organizers expect that to double
based on current registrations, which
are coming from as far away as New
York. Earlier this year, the Greater
Seattle Business Association awarded
its prestigious Nonprofit of the Year
Award to Camp Ten Trees.
For more information or to
register, call 206-568-6638 or visit
www.camptentrees.org.
Be a recliner potato
for Pride
V
om Spanbauer, famed gay author of The Man
Who Fell in Love with the Moon and In the City
of Shy Flunters, will be one of the instructors at
Portland State University’s 33rd annual Haystack
Summer Program in the Arts July 12 to Aug. 9 in
Cannon Beach.
Weeklong and weekend classes include
writing, visual arts and music workshops.
There’s also a children’s hook conference,
readings, concerts, lectures and other special
events. University credit is available for
j most of the classes.
Haystack is
5 known for its rich
| and varied writing
j* program. Other
| instructors this year
include Karen Joy
Fowler, Ursula
LeGuin, Molly Gloss,
Sandra Scofield and
Sallie Tisdale.
“ I’m excited to
he working with
such a strong collec
tion of talented
instructors,” program
coordinator Eliza
beth Snyder says.
“This group is
the cream of the
crop.”
For more
information or to
register, contact
Snyder at
503-725-4186 or
snydere@pdx.edu.
Visit the Internet
site at www.haystack.pdx.edu.
ancouver’s Pride celebration, Saturday in
the Park, has come up with a novel way to
raise money for its July 13 event.
You buy a $20 raffle ticket for an R C A
52-inch projection T V that comes with a
leather recliner and ottoman. Sounds steep,
right? Here’s the good news: They’re only
selling 250 tickets.
They make $5,000 with minimal effort;
you have a 1 in 250 chance of winning
something ultracool. (You also donate to a
worthy organization, which you would have
done anyway.)
Call Mike Audette at 360-936-1523 to
Queer kids need
to camp, too
T
S
eattle’s Camp Ten Trees, the first and only
overnight camp for gay, lesbian, bi, trans
and questioning youth, is preparing for its
second year Aug. 18 to 31 at Lake Wenatchee
in central Washington. The first week is for
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mm
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Bi rock god Pete Townshend is in the G orge
on July 6
purchase tickets, or just send your $20 to
8718 N.E. 77th Way, Vancouver, WA
98662, and the good folks of Saturday in the
Park will keep your ticket stub on file.
Pete Townshend,
that's who
T
he Who brings its 2002 tour to the Gorge
Amphitheatre 7 :3 0 p.m. July 6. Counting
Crows open for the rock icons, who may
ironically sing “My Generation” for a whole
new generation.
Tickets, on sale now, are $61.45 to $108.70
(to match their ages, har har) from all Ticket-
master outlets, from 206-628-0888 or at
www.hob.com/gorge. J H
C om piled by LlSA BRADSHAW
On the aip
n a precursor to the much-
ballyhooed gay television chan
nel, Showtime has created a “ gay
programming block " for its Sho
Too channel, which, according to
the Viacom company, “is part of
the Showtime Unlim ited® pack
age.” (W ho would have thought it
would be this complicated to see
queers on T V ?)
Dubbed Night O ut on Sho Too,
the four-hour block of programming
will be hosted by several gay per
sonalities, including New York per
formance artist Tammy Faye Star-
lite and the theater company Five
In the Life talks to couples fighting Florida's ban on
Lesbian Brothers. “Gay cinema”
gay adoption
will kick off each week followed by
Queer Duck and Queer as Folk. Question: Is
couples who are fighting Florida’s ban against
this different from what we get now?
gay adoption now that Rosie O ’Donnell is
leading the fight to dismantle this 25-year-old
he queer newsmagazine In the Life celebrates
law; a conversation with legendary Broadway
its 10th anniversary with a special edition air lyricist and composer Jerry Herm an, who cre
ing 11 p.m. June 10 on PBS. In a retrospec
ated Marne, Hello, Dolly! and La Cage Aux
tive, the award-winning show looks at its own
Folks ; an inside look at Vibe, the urban culture
progress in developing the only nationally tele
and hip-hop music magazine; and a few quick
vised series that documents the culture and con
comments from Tony Award winner H arvey
cerns of the gay, lesbian, bi and trans community.
Fierstein about whether “heterosexuals are
Other episode highlights: interviews with
really obsolete, after all.”
I