The Pride of Astoria!

Posted on May 22, 2013 by president

Hi everyone!

 
As we’re now approaching the hotbed of June’s Pride activities, I wanted to personally invite you to an event we’re hosting together with the rest of the NYC area pride organizations to formally kick off the month, but also to benefit a local gay youth charity that is near and dear to all of us Astorians.
 
On Thursday, May 30, The Garden at Studio Square NYC will be hosting our 3rd annual Pre-Pride Party starting at 6:00 PM.  This year’s event is a fund-raiser for The Ali Forney Center (specifically the Ali Forney Emergency Shelter in Astoria) and is sure to out-do previous years!  Out Astoria has partnered with our sister organizations throughout the NYC metropolitan area, including Queens Pride, Brooklyn Pride, Pride Alliance of Long Island, and of course NYC Pride to bring you this amazing event!  If you’re not on Facebook you can find the evite to the event here on Meetup.com - feel free to invite anyone you like to this event.  Everyone is welcome!
 
This year we will be celebrating the pending legalization of Marriage Equality by the U.S. Supreme Court and continuing to show our support for the LGBT community by donating 100% of door and floor contributions to The Ali Forney Center! 
We all know what a brutal place New York City can be for homeless LGBT youth and tragically many young lives have been destroyed.  At The Ali Forney Center they are making a difference by rescuing kids from the dangers of the streets and placing them in safe, home-like environments.  Many of our Out Astoria members are personally involved with the Ali Forney Center’s Emergency Shelter in Astoria – volunteering and helping out whenever they can.  We’ve seen first-hand the hard work AFC is doing to provide our youth with the support and nourishment they need to succeed and thrive, but they can’t do it alone.  We your help and the support of the broader community we can help make NYC a safer place for homeless LGBT youth.
Much like last year, this party is guaranteed to be an empowering as well as fun-filled event.  Admission is free, but donations are suggested.  For donations of $10 or more, patrons will receive 1 complimentary drink!  NYC political figures and leaders in the LGBT community will be there in support.  Sponsors Radeberger and Absolut will provide drink specials all night and Kung Fu Karaoke will be rocking the music for Live Rock N Roll karaoke on the Garden stage.  And no event in Astoria would be complete without a special performance by Queens’ own “Haus of Mimosa.”
If you’re unable to attend, please consider making a donation to the Ali Forney Center via our donation drive website here.  Anything you can give will help!
See you all at the party!
-Jonathan
President
OutAstoria_web
pre pride party may 30
Posted in Ali Forney Center, Fundraiser, Pride, Studio Square, Sunday Morning Mimosa | Comments Off

January with Out Astoria

Posted on January 15, 2013 by vicepresident

Welcome to 2013 from Out Astoria! Our first dinner of the year, on January 15, was a resounding success with a crowd of 25 at Alba’s on Ditmars.

Next up is a mixer on the 25th -  – details forthcoming – the Queens Winter Pride Dinner/Dance on the 26th, (see below) and book club on the 29th. The Out Astoria Running Group is back from the holiday hiatus, fully up and, erm, running.

Please welcome our newly elected steering committee members, Jerry Jobe, Jr., John-Paul Kocot, Monica Menendez, Michael Mallon and Aaron Tabak. We are grateful for the service and dedication of our outgoing committee members and look forward to fresh ideas and inspiration from the newcomers.

Queens Winter Pride is the annual benefit with cocktails, dinner and dancing to support the Queens Pride parade and festival and to honor local supporters of the Queens LGBT community. Out Astoria is sponsoring a table and has access to cheap tickets, so if you’d like to join us, just drop us a line.

This year’s Winter Pride honorees are Hon. Grace Meng (D-NY), the first-ever Asian-American member of Congress on the East Coast; GMHC and Marjorie Hill, CEO of GMHC and the first African-American to lead a major LGBT organization; and your very own Out Astoria!

At the moment your loyal steering committee is bouncing ideas around for new events for people who can’t make the dinners and mixers. In the meantime, we are always eager for input from you, our members. Talk to us!

All the best for 2013,

Richard

Vice-President, Out Astoria

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Happy Generic Late December Greetings!

Posted on December 18, 2012 by president

Just a quick reminder that the Out Astoria Steering Committee Nominations are open and you have until January 3 to get your name on the ballot!  Also, remember that only currently active SponsorMembers are eligible to nominate/vote in the coming election.

If you have any questions about your membership status, just drop an email to our Directorof Membership, Jason Olsen.

And of course this Friday we have…

OutAstoria’s AFC Astoria Shelter Fundraiser and Supply Drive!  (Also known as our Toys for AFC Mixer &Fundraiser!)

FacebookEvite is here.

MeetupEvite is here.

So obviously if you’ve got extra items that the Astoria shelter can use, by all means bring them along to donate – but if you’ve already given all your extras to Hurricane Sandy people in need, we’re also taking cash/check/credit card/PayPal donations.

We’ve set a fundraising goal of raising enough cash to help the shelter purchase a new stove for their kitchen – and that’s one of the more important items in these shelters (it’s right up there with the refrigerator and washing machine).  If everyone who comes to the event gives only $10 we’ll reach our goal in no time!  Please know that every dollar raised will help to maintain this shelter and no donation is too small!

However, if you’re leaving early for the holidays with your family or have to catch an early flight to whatever warm destination you’re spending New Year’s Eve in – you can donate on line via the Out Astoria website and our PayPal link.  Just make sure you note that the donation is “AFC” or “Ali Forney Center” so we know it’s not just someone paying their membership dues for the coming year!

As usual, Veronica’s Bar will be giving us the usual cheap drink specials to help get you all out (and in the mood for giving) – $4 well vodka drinks and the notorious $4 PBR with a shot of your choice!  And yes, Monica will be on hand to serve it all up for us!  Out Astoria will also be providing pizza for attendees (b/c what goes better with PBR?).

We hope you can all make it out this Friday night!

Also, don’t forget the upcoming Winter Pride Dinner/Dance on January 26 – Out Astoria is one of the honorees this year and we’re sponsoring a table – we’re also a featured table captain and have access to the cheapest tickets to the event!  So if you’re keen to sit at our table, just shoot me an email.  If you would like to buy an ad space in the event’s journal you can do so with the instructions on the attached rate sheets.  We’re lucky enough to be honored alongside the newly-elected Grace Meng and Dr. Marjorie Hill of GMHC!

Also, the Out Astoria Running Group will be on hiatus until after the holidays – keep on eye on their group page for updates on the first run of 2013.

And finally – we’ll be partnering with Queer in Queens this Thursday evening for a simple happy hour at the newly opened indoor beer garden StrandSmokehouse!  We’ll meet up and unwind after work with a few beers that are on average 14 proof!  RSVP for the event here.

That’s all for now, see you all Friday night at Veronica’s!

–Jonathan

President

Out Astoria, Inc.

Posted in Ali Forney Center, Elections, Events, LGBTQ Youth, Winter Pride | 195 Comments

Out Astoria in December!

Posted on December 5, 2012 by president

Hey there everyone!

Happy *whateveritisyoucelebrate* Season!

First,  just a quick note to remind all of our Sponsor Members that the nominations for our 2013 Steering Committee Election are now open.  All active Out Astoria Sponsor Members are eligible to run for the five (5) open seats on the committee.  Simply email elections@outastoria.com to nominate yourself or another member (or if you have any questions at all about the process or requirements).  You can also find more information about the elections here.  We’ll be accepting nominees through 5:00 PM on January 3rd.  Only active Out Astoria Sponsor Members will be allowed to vote in the election.

Next, we have a few more events happening before we close the books on 2012:

FRI – DEC 7– OUT ASTORIA HOLIDAY PARTY 2012 – 8PM – FREE

Time Café –44-18 Broadway, Astoria, NY  11103

Our annual holiday party/mixer…come make the yuletide gay!  A time to celebrate the year that was and the holiday season with your favorite neighborhood Gaystorians.

We’ll be at Time Café with the following drink specials:

8PM-9:30PM – 2 for 1 drinks (no top shelf)

For the rest of the night: $4 shots

All are welcome!  If you have a few friends that have never come out to one of our mixers before, this is one to take them to – there’s always a big turnout for the last mixer of the year!

Also coming up this month:

FRI-DEC 21 – TOYS FOR THE ALI FORNEY CENTER ASTORIA – 8PM

Veronica’sBar – 34-04 36th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11106

Okay so it’s not really “toys” we’re looking for – we’ll actually be collecting item donations for the Ali Forney Emergency Shelter in Astoria.  We’re asking everyone to bring an item or two from the list of requested items from the shelter.  You can find that list here.  It’s the usual list of requests – Personal Grooming items, Pantry (dry/canned goods), Clothing (new/gently used – see list for specifics), and Household items that the shelter can always use.

Veronica’s Bar is giving us the usual cheap drink specials to help get you all out and in the mood for giving!  $4 well vodka drinks and the notorious $4 PBR with a shot of your choice!

If you don’t have time to go shopping before the event, we will also be taking cash/CC/Check donations at the door too –checks should be made out to Out Astoria, Inc.

Now a few other upcoming things of note:

The Out Astoria Running group meets every Sunday at 11:00 AM at the water fountain at the Astoria Park track – you can check their status on their Facebook Group here.

Out Astoria is being honored at the Queens Lesbian & Gay Pride Committee 2013 Winter Pride Dinner Dance on Saturday, January 26 from 7:00 PM to Midnight – Tickets are $85 and include hors d’oeuvres, dinner and open bar!  Out Astoria is hosting a table there – so if you’d like to sit with us, contact me directly.  Half our table is already booked!  Also – if you are interested in placing an ad in the Winter Pride Journal you can email me and I’ll send you the rates/form.

The Out Astoria Book Club will meet again on Tuesday, January 29 at 7:30 PM and we’ll be discussing David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas – perhaps after the discussion over wine and cheese we’ll arrange a screening of the film adaptation (if it’s out on DVD by then).  The location of the Out Astoria Book Club is secret and only open to Sponsor/Affiliate Out Astoria Members.  You can sign up here or email Jason Olsen if you have a question about your membership status.

See you all Friday night!

–Jonathan

President

Out Astoria, Inc

Posted in Ali Forney Center, Book Club, Elections, Holiday Party | 300 Comments

2013 Out Astoria Steering Committee Elections

Posted on December 4, 2012 by president

Hi everyone,

It’s that time of year again: the general elections to the Out Astoria Steering Committee will take place on January 8th!

Want to help bring the LGBT community of Astoria and LIC together?  Run for a seat on the Out Astoria Steering Committee!  All active Sponsor Members of Out Astoria are eligible to run for the five (5) open seats on the committee.  Simply email elections@outastoria.com to nominate yourself or another member (or if you have any questions).  You can also find some more information about elections at http://outastoria.com/elections/.  We’ll be accepting nominees through 5pm on January 3rd.

2013 Timeline:

December 4 – Ballot opens for nominations (4 weeks prior to election)
January 3 – Ballot closes to new candidates (5:00 p.m.)
January 4 – 500-character candidate statements and candidate photos due (noon)
January 7 – E-mail sent to all OA sponsor members with voting information
January 8-10 – Election by BallotBin (midnight 1/8  to 9:00 p.m. 1/10)
January 10 – Winners contacted by phone
January 11 – Election results emailed to all OA voting members
Wk of Jan. 13 – New 2012 OA steering committee meets to elect its officers

But don’t forget you MUST be an active Out Astoria Sponsor Member to run and/or vote in the 2013 Steering Committee Election.  Your dues must be registered and your dues must be paid before the opening of the election on January 8, 2013.  If you need to renew your membership just register like you did the first time on our website here.  If you’re not sure if your membership has expired or want to know when it will expire simply email Jason Olsen, Out Astoria’s Membership Director.

If you have any questions at all about the election process, please don’t hesitate to Secretary, Patrick O’Brien directly.

Posted in Elections | 212 Comments