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Camp Biz
November 17, 2007
Beginning with this issue of Camp we will be covering news about businesses, organizations and individuals in our community. To let us know what is happening with you, your biz or your group, contact jlong@campkc.com or call 816 221-0199.
The first LGBT town hall meeting with Mayor Mark Funkhouser may have lacked LGBT topics (see Randy Hite?s SpeakOut column on page 6), but no one can fault the hard work of the organizers, Jim MacDonald of Four Freedoms Democratic Club, Lana Knedlik of the Lesbian and Gay Community Center and David L. Greene of the UMKC LGBT office. We appreciated their efforts in organizing the event and getting the word out about it. We also thank Mayor Funkhouser for his time and look forward to future meetings, specifically those that can move forward recommendations for more involvement between the city and the LGBT community.
News
Four Freedoms Democratic Club and the UMKC LGBT Student Life office will host a forum, ?Want a Close Look at the Democratic Presidential Race from the LGBT Perspective?? at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28, at the UMKC School of Law, 52nd and Oak Streets, Room 4. They?ll be discussing where candidates stand on LGBT issues, how to get involved, the role of caucuses and more. The forum is also sponsored by the Lesbian and Gay Community Center, PROMO and the Kansas City chapter of Human Rights Campaign.
Nicole Kelley, whom many of you have seen through her ads in Camp for Auctioneer on Call and Mayo Realty, was awarded champion Oct. 21 at the Missouri Professional Auctioneering Bid Calling at the American Royal. Kelley is one of the few female auctioneers and represented Missouri in the Women?s Championship Auctioneering event in Nashville in July. Her colleague, Robert Mayo, also received the award of champion ? from the Kansas Professional Auctioneering Association at the Kansas State Fair in September.
Kirk Anderson, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker and a singer in the Heartland Men?s Chorus, tells me that their office has an art gallery called The Saucy Hound, featuring exhibitions from area artists all month long. It?s free to the artists as long as they donate 10 percent of their proceeds to a charity. The gallery is open by appointment, and it hosts a free wine reception on the 2nd Friday of each month from 5-8 p.m. The current exhibition of decoupage glass art is by Lance David White, an artist who has just relocated to Kansas City from St. Louis. The gallery is in the Coldwell Banker midtown realty office at 1607 Westport Rd.
The Fox bar in Overland Park is still thrilled to have received the Pitch?s 2007 reader choice award for Best Gay Bar. Those who haven?t been recently will see some changes ? they are expanding into the space next door. The Fox has a full lineup of daily drink specials, karaoke night and more.
While on the Kansas side, you can?t miss Kansas City?s oldest gay bar, The View on the Hill. Bar owner Jim and bartender David tell me that the Friday night dinners are packed, and I know that one of these days when I?m not working late on a Friday, I need to get myself over to Strawberry Hill and check it out. Everyone tells me it?s the best dinner for barely more than $5. Jim and David say it?s a good idea to call over there in advance if you?re bringing a group.
Missie B?s will be hosting the not-to-miss annual ?Bartender?s Review? on Thanksgiving evening. If you haven?t been, mark your calendars NOW! Once the turkey tryptophan wears off and you?ve had your nap, you can work off the calories in a bit of hysteria as you watch amateur non-drag queen bartenders become the divas on stage as they do camp-drag and all for a good cause ? the Missie B?s Angel Tree Christmas Fund for the kids served by the Southwest Boulevard Family Health Clinic. Michael Burnes, Jan Allen and all the staff work hard on this event and it?s the best show in town that evening. And if you don?t have plans for dinner earlier in the day, the bar will once again show its generosity to the community by serving a free Thanksgiving Day buffet.
Sharp?s and Missie B?s were packed for Halloween with many costumed and non-costumed revelers doing their duty to live up to Gay Christmas. Ken Nash tells me that they?re now doing bingo on the first Saturday of the month and it?s been a big hit. Although I?ve always been more of a Sunday bruncher at Sharp?s, Ken tells me they have brat nights and other dinner specials throughout the week. I?ve heard the Wednesday night pizza night is fantastic with $3.95 nine-inch pizzas, and both price and nine inches really are true!
The Holidays!
Speaking of Gay Christmas, it?s beginning to look a lot like ? well, you know how the song goes. The Heartland Men?s Chorus is presenting ?Christmas Down Home? Nov. 30 and Dec. 1-2 at the Folly Theater. Dec. 1 will be MGRA Night, with a free beer and wine reception before the show and at intermission for any rodeo staff/volunteers/fans who buy tickets to the concert that night. Call and ask for tickets for MGRA Night for this reception. The chorus will also be presenting its 2nd annual ?Gallery of Trees? at Drexel Hall, 19 W. Linwood, from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25. There will be hors d?oeuvres, wine, song by the HeartAches and an auction of more than 50 beautifully decorated Christmas trees and wreaths. Flo will be the guest auctioneer. For tickets to ?Christmas Down Home? or ?The Gallery of Trees? go to www.hmckc.org or call 816-931-3338.
Mid-America Freedom Band will be hosting its Christmas concert, ?In the Mood for Christmas? at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16. They promise that it will be an evening of holiday spirit. Half of your ticket prices go to the Mid America Freedom Band scholarship fund, and with tickets at only $10, it?s a great chance to support our band! The concert is at Central Presbyterian, 3501 Campbell, Kansas City, Mo.; $10 tickets will be sold at the door.
Once again the Kansas City Rep makes the holidays magical with the Charles Dickens play A Christmas Carol. It runs Nov. 17-Dec. 24 at the Rep?s Spencer Theatre. It?s always an extremely popular production, so best to reserve tickets ASAP! New this year is a nostalgic holiday revue called ?John Denver Holiday Concert? at the new Copaken Stage theatre downtown. There are only 11 performances, so reservations now are a must! ( www.kcrep.org or 816-235-2700)
And although it?s not exactly a holiday theme, the Unicorn is premiering a great play sure to evoke the warmth of the holiday spirit by New York City playwright Gregg Coffin called, Right Next to Me, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 30. Coffin, whose earlier works include Convenience (produced at the Unicorn in 2004) and Five Course Love (produced in New York in 2005), premiers his latest musical about how closely we?re all connected. Two actors sing a story of love, loss, proximity and distance as they discover the answer you are looking for could be right next to you. LGBT Night is Dec. 6. For tickets and more information: www.unicorntheatre.org. 816-531-7529.
And now for a shameless plug. You won?t want to miss the opportunity to advertise in the holiday issue of Camp coming out on Friday, Dec. 7. Closing date for ads is Nov. 28, so contact me at 816-221-0199 today! And keep me informed on news in your biz for the next issue of Camp.
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