The San Diego Gayzette

Pride at the Beach

Pacific Fitness Center will be closed Sunday, September 12; but all employees have volunteered to work at this year's Gay Pride Beach Party on Fiesta Island in Mission Bay from noon until 6pm. Valerie Wilson, San Diego Forum president, is producing for the second year the 1981 Nicky Award-winning Event of the Year.

Last year's Beach Party was attended by 3,000 people, and a larger crowd is anticipated for Sunday with the "Olympics" '82 competition once again as entertainment. Contests will include the popular crab-crawl, sack races, the torturous human wheelbarrow course, and the crowd-pleasing raw egg toss. An added feature this year will be the death-defying tug-of-war over a pit of water. All gay businesses, organizations, and individuals are encouraged to enter the "Olympics." Teams will consist of five members each, with each team acquiring points for different sections of the course. The top three teams will receive trophies with a special award going to the team with the most heart. There will be a $5 per team entry fee to help defray the trophy costs.

Along with the "Olympics" there will be two exhibition games by the newly organized Gay Slo-Pitch Softball League. No 1 Fifth Avenue will play The Apartment team, and PFC is set to challenge The Club l. An exhibition volleyball game is also a possibility, featuring the Balboa Volleyball Association who won bronze medals at last week's Gay Games in San Francisco. Also included in the many scheduled events of the day will be a "for women only" wet T-shirt contest.

To help cut down on the traffic and parking problems anticipated by the size of the crowd, there will be a shuttle bus leaving from Mr. Dillon's (on University Avenue in Hillcrest) hourly, starting at 11:30am. The last bus will be returning at 7pm.

Partygoers are invited to Mr. Dillon's immediately following the Beach Party. Country & western dancing will be offered along with instruction, and a free keg will be open until 9pm for the exhausted and sunburned crowd.

Emperor, Craig Morgan and Empress Nicole Murray of the Eleventh Imperial Eagle Court de San Diego, in keeping with a precedent set last year, have offered the Court's assistance in dispensing the mountains of food and gallons of beer and soda needed to keep the crowd contented.

This year, the Beach Party will also have a covered shelter area staffed by members of the Citizen's Task Force, the Men's Center, and the Women's Gym.

"I want gay parents to feel free to bring their children to the party," said Valerie Wilson. "I will be bringing my nieces."

Headquarters will be located in the motor home from which Wilson will oversee the party and also provide services in connection with the day's football games.

While the Forum produces this annual event, the Beach Party, according to Wilson, is in actuality a "thank you" from San Diego's gay businesses to the community at large, and a chance for all factions within the community to come together for a day of fun and relaxation.

We're Out

Welcome to the Gayzette! We hope you find something to like inside. We're going to work very hard to make this your weekly guide to San Diego's gay culture. Every Thursday you will find us right where you found us the week before - in over 100 locations throughout San Diego, North County and Tijuana.

We're printing 10,000 copies each week which seems like a lot, but if only ten percent of the population of the San Diego metropolitan area is gay, you will still need to share your copy with 35 friends in order for us to reach our potential readership.

Our cover photo is a picture of our staff taken last weekend in front of our offices, at 3780 Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest.

Pictured are: (front row) Liz Victor, the office manager; Carla Coshow, the publisher; Paula Valentine, photo editor; (second row) John Ciaccio, director of marketing and advertising; Nicole Murray, social editor; Nick Marzano, arts editor and business manager; Jim Cain, graphics artist; Rob Andreasen, graphic artist; (rear) Lair Davis, executive editor.

Please stop by and visit us at our offices. And now, take us home and enjoy.

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Lair About Town

As I was saying when we were so rudely interrupted, summer should be fun, and it was.
In June, there was the SuperMen '82 contest at Mr. Dillon's which Rick Washburn won. The competition was tough though. Rick was judged number eight in the LA pageant.

The Pride Parade and Festival was big news five days later. Tiffany got dunked, the disco rocked, and there were clothes being worn that had never been seen before nine!

Empress Nicole established the Eagle Imperial Court when she was elected for the third time. Craig Morgan became Emperor XI, and Queen Mothers were abolished forever.

There was a Western Party in Poway, and the big splash of summer, Southern Exposure, which Don Reese is planning on producing again next year.

Jerry Pepper's Brown Bag Day was a great success all day with super entertainment and lots of money raised. It was at A Different Drum and helped put MCC in the new church.

The Sandies are covered elsewhere in this first issue. Besides, you were there, weren't you?

My favorite show of the summer was the Entertainer of the Year contest at Show Biz. A terrific group of singers were presented all afternoon, and the quality of the music was exceptional. Kate Beck, who sings with The Critters, won the women's category. Linda Clarke was a standout, and both Micki and Ri, were better than I've ever heard them before. "What the Hell am I Doing In San Diego?" is the best song about our town I've heard yet.

A c/w singing Larry Litton won the male category, and the Daybreak Quartet, the new stars of the local gay music scene, won best group. 

The deadline for registering to vote in November is Monday, October 4. The San Diego Democratic Club's Rob Sandler will send you a registration card.

Mike Woods, one of the newer faces in the Entertainer of the Year contest, did his original songs for the Saloon III crowd last month at his birthday kegger. Then came their 3rd annual Grand Opening Weekend.

Rosie Flores won me right over with her first song when she played at Wing last Saturday. She had the crowd singing Be Bop-aLu-La and dancing by the end of the first set (and that's not easily done in the close confines of Wing). She rocked, she sang purty c/w tunes, and then things really started cooking when Sue Palmer sat in on piano. Watch for Rosie next time.

We heard about a group of 50 or so guys called the Rubber Club. They had camped out recenty to indulge their favorite activiy which is putting on wet suits and wrestling in mud. Now, that's fairly kinky.

Ellen is the one behind the women's co-op gym in Golden Hill; that is, when she's not fighting fires.

Diane Margulies of the Big Kitchen won a world frisbee title recently. She also has two US titles for throwing those things.

Lots of talk about Pythia, the new women's band. Karen Mullally (who's looking mightly glamorous these days) has teamed with Jan on drums, and ex-Dinette Lisa.

The c/w dance lessons are free at the Iron Spur on Tuesday and Thursday, and then tryout what you learned on Saturday night. Rob Bacon is the teacher, and a good one.

By the by, my dinner at the Way Station recently was terrific; the soup, the service, the entree, and the ambiance. And I'm not the only person who's discovered the Way Station again.

A bumpersticker: "Nuke all unborn gay baby whales."

We finally met Chuck Isom at Club San Francisco. There's a chili feed at CSF every Tuesday.

Studio B is behind Wing Cafe. BJ Davis and Doreen Edwards' new consignment craft store, has an incredible floor worth dropping by to see. Craftwork is welcomed on consignment. Suzanne Valery's painted furniture and the lamp shades by Lauri are hard to pass up. Gwen Snyder has some very pretty mirrors there also, and some other art. Studio B is open Friday and Saturday nights, 5-10pm, and on Sunday from l0am to 2pm.

Dennis Dal Covey will be photographing even more since he's leaving Mr. Dillon's. If you would like to model for Dennis or our staff photographer Paula Valentine, call the Gayzette office. and we'll make arrangements. Ray and Joe have a new service called Pacific Men Tours. For less than cabfare (?!), they'll be your guide to Black's Beach, Balboa Park, the Zoo, and Tijuana in the day, and to bars, discos, dinner and shows, and after hours at night.

It's Harvey Moon Weekend at The Apartment, and they're saying Goodbye Tourist at The Matador.

Phil Frias is spinning the records at Mr. Dillon's on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday now, with a nice mix of music. He starts at 9pm. And. while at Mr. Dillon's, employees of gay businesses, ask about EEE Night.

Miles Parker is going to host the gay feminist songsters, Elliott Pilshaw and Lorin Sklamberg when they come to town on Sunday. Miles is planning a reception from 4:30 to 6:30, before the concert.

Seventh Heaven, the antique market, is the home for Sandra Delehanty's collection of period fashions.

If a benefit being planned comes off, you might win a date with Al Parker. Stay tuned.

Queen's Circle is not the hottest place to cruise on Sunday afternoons anymore. The Slo-Pitch Softball League games has really been drawing a crowd. And the games are fun, too (see Jerry Pepper knock it onto the freeway?).

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