Howdy Cowgirl and Cowboys!

Spring is finally here at the ASGRA corral! Rough stock training school was well attended and came off without a hitch. I want to wish all of our future rodeo competitors the best of luck in the arena this year. Please check out the newsletter for all the upcoming ASGRA group events this summer. I hope to see you there.

On a serious note, we are only four months from Atlantic Stampede 2001. It's time for all of us to rally together for our major fund raising event of the year. There is still much to be done in preparation for our rodeo. We also have DC Pride, NYC Pride and Hoedown right around the corner. Your help is needed. Please contact Volunteer Coordinator Mike Schanno or Rodeo Director Billy Collison to let them know what you can do to help.

This has been a difficult year so far for ASGRA. We have had three chairpersons step down from their offices for various personal reasons. This has left us doing a lot of support and catch up work to fill in the gaps and make sure that the jobs get done. Working together as a team we will make a successful rodeo happen again this year.

As I stated when I was elected as your President 18 months ago, "My door is always open to any member." At the last Board of Directors meeting, I was informed that some ASGRA members were less than satisfied with the way that ASGRA was "treating its members". This concerns me very much. I care about all of our members, their feelings and issues. I was told that the members felt left out and that the ASGRA Board is not listening them. This is not the truth of the matter. In order to listen one must have somebody talking to them. I haven't been contacted about these member issues. Phone or e-mail me. Please contact me with your concerns for our organization. If I don't know about your issues, I can't help you or correct them. Please don't fall prey to bar gossip or rumors. Contact the source. I'm here and want to hear from you. Remember also that all Board meetings are open to the membership. You are more than welcome to attend. I would love to see you there.

We do have a very tight spending budget this year and we must spend our funds wisely. I have a fiscal responsibility to you, the membership. When I turn over the reins to the next President, I will hand to him/her a fiscally sound Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association. You entrusted me with ASGRA's fiscal well-being and I intend to keep that trust solid. Let's Rodeo !

" David Hehr, President

We met in the spacious first floor lobby, which has two restaurants as well as the lobby bar, and walked up one of the two main carpeted stairways to the balcony overlooking the lobby. Everywhere I was surrounded with dark wood paneling, huge glass and brass chandeliers and delightfully thick carpet.

So, Jim, why the new host hotel?
Well, we've been at the Hyatt for six years, so this year we decided to try something different.

Are the rates more expensive?
Not at all, they're $109 single/$129 double. The number to call is 800-HILTONS for people who want to make reservations.

Gee, that sounds like a plug…
We walk down the main hallway to the ballrooms, through an impressive set of double wooden doors and enter a room that has sand-colored walls and deep sky blue and sand carpeting which matches the tone of the walls. In here we'll be having the vendor space and maybe the bars set up in between the main two rooms.

This one and the one across the hall?
No. (Jim walks over to a small door cut within the paneling and we enter the main ballroom of the hotel. We're standing on a small landing that is between vendor space and the next ballroom. One side of the room has a saloon style archway with a flesh tone draped curtain.)

Wow, this room would sure make Miss Kitty proud.
That's kind of what we're going for. We felt that the hotel somewhat lent itself to that old west 1880's type of atmosphere -somewhat bordello-like with the chandeliers and drapery, and we're going to try and do some minimal decoration and lighting to help bring that out more. This is where the main dance will be happening. We walk over to the drapery, slip behind and move into a what can only be described as a mammoth ballroom space. I'm telling you this space is the size of a rodeo arena. The room extends for at least 150 feet from us in all three directions. In the center of the room, set into the ceiling, is an enormous oval glass chandelier, surrounded by smaller circular ones at various points in the ballroom, and the beams are covered with molding in a star pattern. In-wall mirrors are placed about every four feet on the sand colored wall and above each of the three entrance doors is a pattern that resembles a rising sun.

Wow, how big is the dance floor going to be?
The dance floor is going to take a good portion of the floor space, but we'll have room around the dance floor for people who just want to stand and watch, especially for the Atlantic Coast Open winners on Saturday night.

Atlantic Coast Open?
Atlantic Coast Open (ACO) is the team dance competition that we do every year on Saturday evening. The winner of the competition gets to showcase their routine here on Saturday night.

Is this room where the competition is taking place?
No. The competition takes place down in the Cabaret room. It's a little more intimate than this room here and people are able to have a better view of the competitors and routines.

I'm sure you'll be able to rattle this one off, too, but if a team wants to compete in ACO, who do the contact for information?
They can contact J.R. Key at (202) 319-1248 or JRinLogan@aol.com for information and an entry form. You know, you might also want to mention that we've got a second hotel as well. The Hilton in Gaithersburg, right next to the rodeo grounds; the one you see when you drive in and out to the grounds. The number there is 800-Hiltons or 301-977-8900. It's $94 per room single or double. And for both hotels make sure you mention that people MUST identify themselves with ASGRA or Gay Rodeo to get our rate.

I think I got all that. (laughing) Boy, you sure are a chairman.
(smiling) I just believe in making sure that people get all the information they need to come and enjoy our events. Now, are they're going to be any events taking place at the Gaithersburg Hilton?
No. All the dances are here, except for our dance on Sunday evening after the dinner and awards. We just booked rooms in that hotel so that cowgirls and cowboys would have a shorter trip to bed.

Well, that's convenient.
(Grin) I figured you might feel that way.

We move from the main ballroom down the balcony hallway, which is lined with cherry leather and wood settees and more brass chandeliers. We turn the corner and come to another smaller room. In this room there are two windows looking out onto 16th & K streets.

This is where we'll be having the royalty competition and possibly some performances, and across the hall is where we'll have the more intimate ballroom for the [ACO] competition and dance lessons.

You've certainly got a lot going on.
That's what the weekend's about. Making sure that everyone has a good time.

We finish our hotel tour in the lobby bar, taking in the striking atmosphere of the hotel which will play host to 5,000 country-western good timers in just a few short months.

For reservations at either hotel: Capital Hilton: 800-HILTONS or 202-797-5820. $109 single or $129 double. Gaithersburg Hilton: 800-HILTONS or 301-977-8900. $94 per room (single or double). You MUST identify themselves with ASGRA or Gay Rodeo. Patrick Hunter

ASGRA is now accepting nominations for folks who would like to represent ASGRA at the 17th Annual IGRA Convention. The convention this year is in Long Beach, California from July 26th through July 29th. All members of ASGRA in good standing are eligible for consideration as delegates or alternates. As in past years, ASGRA is entitled to 6 voting delegates and 5 alternate delegates. Since the ASGRA Bylaws require the ASGRA Trustee and ASGRA President to be voting delegates, that means the Board will select 4 other voting delegates and 5 alternates. As is customary the Board will elect no more that 3 of the voting delegates from the ASGRA Board or Ex-Officio Board, and 3 voting delegates from the general membership, assuming there are enough candidates who are interested and able to attend the convention.

If you are interested, please send you nomination to Les Boggs, ASGRA Trustee, at Trustee@ASGRA.org or by regular mail to ASGRA, PO Box 22042, Alexandria, VA 22304-7716. Nominations for delegates/alternates will be open until midnight, May 31, 2001. (That means your email must arrive by that date; snail mail nominations must be postmarked by that date.) All candidates will be voted on at the June Board of Directors Meeting. If you have questions, please contact Les Boggs,

The revised ASGRA Budget was presented at the April General Membership meeting. The budget was presented to the membership for final approval at the May 20 meeting. Location and time for general membership meetings will be posted to the ASGRA website and hotline.

Hoedown is coming on July 14th!!
Join ASGRA at the Baltimore Museum of Industry in Baltimore, MD for dancing on the waterfront from 9pm to 1am. Tickets will be on sale starting in June. $10 in advance; $15 at the gate ($12 for ASGRA members at the gate)

And speaking of dancing
Anyone interested in representing ASGRA at the IGRA Dance Competition at Convention this July in Long Beach, CA should contact John Paul Griffin by June 8, 2001!
Got some interesting pictures from ASGRA events or IGRA rodeos? Mike Sanders is looking for photos for inclusion in the program for Atlantic Stampede 2001! Submissions can be made via 'snail mail' or electronically to him at 2155 Mohegan Drive, Falls Church, VA 22043-2512 . Please include your name and contact information, the event and date it took place (if you recall). All photos will be returned to those who include their information. Submissions due no later than July 1, 2001. Questions? Contact Mike at 703-593-1282.

ISO organized, patient individual with sense of humor and excellent grammar and editing skills. Must be able to get information from busy Board and Committee members and send same to a diverse membership community. Familiarity with Adobe Acrobat, MS Word or other word processing/publishing software required.

Folks, after 3 years of collecting and disseminating information for ASGRA, it's time for your Newsletter Editor to move on. Work has gotten busier and as you've probably noted from the past 2 newsletter arrival dates, it's impacting my ability to get a high-quality newsletter out the door on schedule. I will be happy to train anyone interested in taking this task on. I have kept hard and soft copies of every newsletter I've put out so you will have templates. Several folks provide info for the newsletter and assist with the 'fold, spindle, mutilate, mail' portion of the process - I will be happy to introduce you to them. I plan to continue on until the end of the calendar year or until someone can get onboard and up to speed - whichever comes first! Please contact Lonni La Bel.

Saturday, June 9th: Spring is in the air! Come on out and enjoy spring fever in the woods!
Sunday, July 8th: Time for some sun and fun along the trail!
Regardless of the weather, we will be holding monthly training sessions for roping and camp events at Hideaway Ranch in Brandywine, MD at noon on the following days:
" Saturday, June 9, 2001 - Roping on foot with live calves
" Sunday, July 22, 2001 - Roping on foot with live calves
" Sunday, August 12, 2001 - All horse events plus roping on foot with live calves
Due to the cost of live calves, there will be a nominal charge of @$5.00 per person for use of the livestock for calf roping on foot. If there is any interest in using live calves to practice with any other event, please contact Andy or Louis ahead of time. Hope to see you all there!
Contact Louis Varnado & Andy Pittman.

Chatter in the Chutes…

The month of March only brought a few invitations to fundraisers for the Chatter to attend… however, Ms. IGRA 2000 did hold a benefit at the end of February in Washington, D.C. at Sheridan's. And she did very well I might add! Ms. IGRA 2000 also acquired a real nice leather outfit that evening, courtesy of one of the guys who thought she'd look better in leather! The Chatter was on that she looked absolutely… well, you should have been there!

Mr. AGRA 1996 was tired of hitchhiking so he bought a Diesel Dodge… you can hardly see the queen driving (he always wanted a big one) and with a trailer to haul his nag, too. Learn how to break your ankle from one of the CGRA contestants, who did just that while unloading a horse out of the trailer. Chatter found Miss IGRA 1993 Chili Pepper getting her wings. Look for her on one of your flights!

Oh my, Oh my… the month of April was a very festive month! Chatter and more chatter going on! Ms. ASGRA 2001's benefit at Remington's in Washington, DC found a lot of the ASGRA contestants attending. Warning - don't let one of ASGRA's female contestants do too many shots of Tequila! Kissing the Easter Bunny has a whole new meaning thanks to one of the SEGRA members.

Moving on to the fundraiser show at DC's Saloon in Omaha, Nebraska. The Heartland Babes were selling raffle tickets and Ms. HGRA hosted the show. Ms. HGRA gave a whole new meaning to pin the hunk! Ask your IGRA animal issue chairperson if she is single and see how many raffle tickets she sells before a she answers the question!

CGRA's gymkana had some fundraising going on as well… seems CGRA President is starting to like them drag dresses! Hear tell there was a snake at the BBQ grill that proved that the CGRA trustee can jump really high! And squeal like a girl!

Next, Chatter was on to the wonderful night at Diamond Jim's Saloon in Detroit Michigan. The MIGRA herd gave a whole new meaning to a bar rodeo. Riding a bike around the cones for pole bending. Goat, or should I say Human, Dressing! A very interesting version of the Flag Race (blindfolding the "horse"?), not to mention a wild variation on ASGRA's Dolly Madison event! What an entertaining evening! Ms. IGRA 2000 even attended, dancing and singing!

Say adios to ASGRA's Miss Patty Como from the singles circuit - she got hitched in April! Wish her luck in LA, where she's doing her rookie for Chute Coordinator! IS IT TIME FOR A RODEO YET? Be looking out for the next issue for more "Chatter in the Chutes" from the LA & LITTLE ROCK rodeos! " By Stormy & Friends

Contact Patrick Hunter for info on DC and Baltimore Pride. Sonny Koerner has details on NYC Pride!

The Royalty teams (past and present) have been a busy bunch over the last few months!

Ms. ASGRA 2001 MaDonna Medina attended IGRA University in Omaha back in February and brought back a lot of information for 2001 Royalty to get ready for finals in Palm Springs, CA.

Ms ASGRA 2001 was on the road again the weekend of March 22nd-25th, attending Larry Lancaster's Bull Riding School in Denver, Colorado. Looks like we have another roughstock riding Ms. ASGRA this year! While she was there she also performed in a women's bar called C's to benefit AIDS Project.

Back in DC, Ms. ASGRA 2001 hosted her first Benefit for BHT and RCCF at Remington's on April 4, ably assisted by Mr. ASGRA 2001 Bobby T. and Miss ASGRA 2001, Blair Michaels. They were joined by several local performers including the DC Cowboys and ASGRA's East Coast Cowgirls, as well as several past ASGRA and IGRA Royalty members, many of whom came from out of town to support her.

On April 21st Ms. ASGRA 2001 made certain Royalty was represented at RE&T's rough stock school in Millersville, MD, while working on her riding skills.

April 24th found several members of ASGRA and IGRA Royalty at the Miss Gaye Universe DC Ball at the DC Convention Center. For the second consecutive year Ms. IGRA 2000 Lonni La Bel was honored to asked to open the event by singing the National Anthem. ASGRA received special recognition additionally in the form of 2 special awards which were presented by The Academy Awards of Washington to Billy Collison (who is also this year's Rodeo Director) and Bruce Forchheimer (former ASGRA Board member and avid supporter). We're proud of you both, gentlemen!

Rodeo season started back up with 2 rodeos the weekend of April 27-29th. Mr. & Ms. ASGRA 2001 and Mr. ASGRA 2001 First Runner-up attended Little Rock's rodeo and maintained ASGRA's Krispy Kreme Doughnut tradition. * Ms. ASGRA 2001so made her first steer ride attempt at a rodeo and very nearly made her ride! The buckle sponsor was impressed enough by her performance to award her the buckle even though no one covered over the weekend. Way to go, MaDonna!

Mr. IGRA 2000, Ms. IGRA 2000 and First Runner-up Miss IGRA 2000 joined First Runner-up Mr. IGRA 2001 at the LA rodeo giving us coverage every where! We had Royalty timing, working the chutes and competing (and Lonni has the bruises to prove the latter!). Special kudos to Miss Patty Como, aka Matt Komornik, who successfully completed his rookie run as Chute Coordinator - he's soon to be on the list of certified Chute Coordinators for IGRA! Bravo!

Guess what? Blair Michaels, our Miss ASGRA 2001 recently took home another title - Miss Metropolitan! Congrats to her!!

And speaking of titles, Ms. IGRA 2000 picked up her first Academy title - Miss Pisces - in her drag persona of Miss Vykkye Jaymes. She'll be competing with the other Zodiac title holders in January 2002 at Zodiac Finals.

The team has been soliciting candidates for all 3 royalty positions. Currently there are at least 2 people interested in each of the current 3 positions for 2002. It's going to be a great contest on rodeo weekend!

Upcoming Events and Appearances:

Miss ASGRA 2000 and Miss ASGRA 2001 are regular headliners at the Sunday evening shows at Remington's. This show frequently features ASGRA and IGRA royalty performers.

Bar Nights: Sunday night at the Phase- Dance lessons are going on from 8-9pm being given by Ms. ASGRA 2001 and the AECC every week.

Every second Friday of the month is ASGRA Night at the Stage Coach in Baltimore. ASGRA's Team 2001 has organized this event in conjunction with Patrick Hunter from the S&E Committee and they are all on hand to host the evening. Along with door prizes and raffles, the crowd gets to enjoy a show featuring some of the best live and illusionist (male and female drag) country western performances! All monies raised will be donated to ASGRA.

ASGRA's Royalty team works hard to educate the public on rodeo, ASGRA, IGRA and C&W lifestyle, as well as to raise funds for charity. We tip our cowboy hats to you and encourage you to continue your fine support and enthusiasm!

Los Angeles, CA (April 27-29, 2001): Although it was a two-rodeo weekend (the first of three on the circuit this year), ASGRA managed to be ably represented in both locations. LA was hot and cloudy Saturday but Sunday dawned sunny and bright. Matt Komornik did his rookie run as Chute Coordinator and passed with flying colors. Our small band of rodeo contestants did us proud as well:

• Oscar Mocelo started things off, placing 4th both days in Steer Riding to finish in 3rd place overall.
• Continuing on the rough stock theme, he took 4th for the weekend in Chute Dogging.
• Teamed with NSGRA's Gene Maloney, Oscar also placed 8th in Steer Deco for the weekend.
• In Wild Drag, we had 2 teams place on Sunday. The team of Cindy Brendle, John Paul Griffin and Bob Buenfil of GSGRA took 3rd place for the day, while Oscar, Sonny Koerner and Erin Levy of SEGRA placed 6th.
• Overall, Team ASGRA earned 197 points and placed 6th of the associations competing. Little Rock, AK (April 27-29, 2001): Back east (well, at least more east than LA, anyway), another batch of ASGRA competitors were showing their skills at the 'Rodeo in the Rock'.
• Dennis Terrell was a busy cowboy! He kicked things off in Calf Roping on Foot, taking 3rd on Saturday and 1st on Sunday to finish in 1st place for the weekend.
• In Breakaway Roping Dennis took first on Saturday, but didn't place in the Top 8for the weekend.
• In Chute Dogging he kept up the pace, taking 2nd on Saturday and 3rd on Sunday to finish in 2nd place overall.
• Showing his horsemanship skills, Dennis placed 8th Sunday and overall in Barrel Racing.
• In Flag Racing he was number one both days, sweeping into first for the weekend.
• In Team Roping Dennis and rodeo partner Andy Anaya of TGRA rode in both combinations of header/heeler. In the first configuration they took 2nd place Saturday and 1st Sunday to finish in 1st place for the weekend. In the second configuration they placed second on Sunday as well.
• ASGRA kept up the pace in the camp events as well. In Steer Deco, Dennis and Andy placed 1st on Saturday. Don Horn paired up with Rudy of MGRA to place a consistent second on both days and for the weekend. And Lance Haverly joined Tom Sheridan of MIGRA to take 3rd on Sunday and 5th place overall.
• In Goat Dressing, Dennis and Andy had another strong showing, taking 4th on Saturday and second on Sunday and for the weekend.
• Lance and Tom teamed up again to take 6th on Sunday and 7th overall.
• Don Horn partnered with Jim Deline of MGRA to take 6th place in the same event on Saturday.
• Finally, in Wild Drag we had 2 teams with ASGRA members to place. Dennis and Andy teamed up with Trenda Monahan to take first place on Saturday, fifth on Sunday and the buckles for the weekend.
• Lance worked with Karen East of DSRA and Ellis Dees of SEGRA to place 8th on Saturday and 5th on Sunday, finishing in 4th place overall.
• Dennis Terrell took 2nd place for All-Around Cowboy with 645 points.
• Overall, ASGRA racked up 890 points to finish 3rd of the associations competing.