Ha p p y Holid a ys to A ll f rom The Best Da mn Newsletter in NJ ® !
CHALLENGE The Newsletter of the Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County - Continuously Serving the GLBTI Community since 1972
Volume 38, Issue 9, Winter 2012
Keeping in Touch by Mickey Suiter
In the first 39 years of GAAMC’s existence, we rarely had to cancel a Monday night meeting. In the past fifteen months, thanks to a couple of feisty gals named Irene and Sandy, we’ve had to cancel four meetings. One thing we’ve learned is that when the lights go out at MUF there’s no telling how long it will be until they come back on. So it’s important that we be able to notify as many people as possible when the unthinkable happens and we must cancel a meeting. We try to make a decision as far in advance as possible and publicize it the best we can, but receiving our message really depends on you. We post notices on our web site (gaamc.org) and on our Facebook group and, if at all possible, we send out a news blast on our email mailing list. Not many people use it anymore but we also try to post notices on our Yahoo group as well. But if you’re not in our Facebook group or on our mailing list, there’s a good chance you won’t get our message. It’s easy to get on the mailing list. Just go to our home page and click on Stay Informed on the left side of the page just under Pride Guide Online. Fill in your email address and you’re done. Don’t worry about us bombarding you with email and requests for money like a lot of other organizations. At most we send out one email a week, sort of a mini-newsletter that tells you about the next meeting and any other important, timely information. That’s it. And we never, ever give out our mailing list to any other organization. As for Facebook, a lot of people are somewhat hesitant about joining or doing much on it. I can understand that — I know very little about the site and don’t spend much time
Holiday Hiatus Normally, throughout the year, GAAMC is open every Monday night. This year however Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on consecutive Mondays. So, in order for our hard-working Monday night crew to have some holiday time off, GAAMC will be closed on December 24th and December 31st. Enjoy your holidays, and we'll see you on Monday, January 7th!
on it. But it is a great place to post messages and get the word out. We are planning to hold a Facebook class soon to explain the site and show how it works. Once we have the date, time and place set we’ll get the word out — probably on Facebook and in one of our weekly emails. And I’m sure we’ll announce it in Open Talk a few times as well. While we make every effort to keep in touch with you, it works better when you make yourself available. This is the last column of my term as president. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has worked so hard for GAAMC in the past two years. I was hesitant to take on the job because it had been so many years since I’d last done it, but everyone on the Board was very supportive as were our members. Thank you for giving me the chance to serve the community. And don’t worry — I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be on the Board next year and am always looking for things I can do to help make things better. For anyone who’s thinking about getting more involved in GAAMC, whether on a committee, on the Board, or as an officer, I can tell you that it’s not all that hard, you’ll have lots of support, and it is definitely worth the effort.
Inside Challenge Challenge Information.... ................................ page 2 GAAMC Events.............................................. page 2 The Bulletin Board......................................... page 3 This Month's Contributors................................ page 3 The Little Box of Concerts ............................... page 3 Gleanings: Queer news from around the world .... page 4 Dancing to Architecture: Music reviews.............. page 6 Calendar ..................................................... page 7 Election Information..................................... page 10 On Voting ...................................................page 10 LGBT Capitol Miracle ..................................... page 10 Good Eats!: Recipes..................................... page 11 Prose Poems: My Fears Haunt Me; Time............page 14 Poem: LINDA.............................................. page 14 GAAMC Board Mini-Minutes, Sep. & Oct. 2012......... page 15 GAAMC Information...................................... page 16