First published as an article in Times Squared (June 2010- titled “Blame It on Mac“)
BLAME IT ON RICK
A few months ago, while assisting Rick Massi with his research at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center National History Archive in Greenwich Village for past Times Squares newsletters, we came across among Mac MacCarthy’s collection a copy of the inaugural issue of the Mountain Laurel Squares newsletter. Mountain Laurel used to dance in Hartford, Connecticut, but has been inactive for some time. Buried in the second page of the newsletter is a small blurb written by Jim Rosipko about a tape of the 1989 IAGSDC convention held in New York City, “Peel the Apple”. Jim used to be a member of both Mountain Laurel Squares and Times Squares.
Curiosity got the better of Rick and me. With the help of Todd Fellegy, we got hold of Jim, who graciously lent us the tape. Off to Costco we went, and two weeks later, we had ourselves a DVD copy of the tape. Gosh, talk about a blast from the past! I graduated in 1992 and missed out on being part of the festivities, but I sure heard wonderful stories about the convention while during mainstream class. So, it was comforting to see familiar faces, and members no longer with us. There’s Skip being interviewed; Kath being twirled; Pauline with her big smile; and Sheldon leading the Grand March. There are footage of Betsy calling and Roy dancing. There are many other faces that I do not remember.
A copy of the tape has been donated to the Times Squares archive and was given to Emad. We hope you enjoy the video. We hope you enjoy seeing your old friends. And finally, did we really wear those darn short-shorts?
https://nyc.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d9333d2fcb421f0fd9174d477&id=73c427e6b3&e=71c9082daf
Dom and Rick