This week we had a very interesting conversation with Bonnie, a nice African American lady. Bonnie was in her 30’s and had an active 3 year old. She told us how she had been in Ybor City for the past 13 years and wanted to thank us for all that we have done to make Ybor a better place the last few years. Her observation was that the people of Ybor were always open minded & accepting of the LGBT community but the outside community didn’t know this.

    It was not until the “GaYBOR District Members Stickers” started to appear in the storefront windows that people outside of Ybor started to come back & feel safe. They knew it was more caring and diversified. We thanked her and said it was a group effort of many good people in Ybor City. Then we told her the story about the stickers and Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio. In one of our many meeting with Pam she asked about the bright GaYBOR stickers. We told her it was a way for LGBT people to know they are welcome & safe at this business.  Pam looked surprised and said ” In my city the LGBT community is welcome everywhere.”

    We sadly but whole heartedly had to enlighten the mayor. We said, “Pam picture yourself walking in a strange town by yourself. Some creepy people walk up fast behind you. You could turn and walk into a store and be safe. If you are a LGBT person you are not sure if you did this that you would be safe in that store.”

    Pam smiled and said “Now I understand.”

    After we told this story to our new friend Bonnie, she smiled and said, “Maybe, You guys don’t get it. It is not only the LGBT people that understands the rainbow but straight black women like me. When I was growing up we always looked for the rainbow. It means these are cool nice people and that I would be accepted there too. There were places in Ybor that I never thought about walking into until I saw the rainbow.”

    Thank You Bonnie for in enlightning us!! Bonnie was right the Rainbow Flag means acceptance of everybody.  In this cruel world a little small colorful sign of tolerance is very welcoming.

    There are so many stories and tales about the old St Pete gay resort, SunCoast Resort that a lot have to be re-told. The Bear parties at the resort were always over the top. They sold out the resort from Bears from around the country. These guys sure knew how to party. There were drinking & eating contests and of course a lot of ‘Hey how are you’ greetings.’ Other contests like… how many bears would it take to overflow the huge pool! I think the record was 8 guys! The most bacon 1 could consume at 1 setting…24 pounds. Oh yeah we were there for that one at the resorts Flamingo Restaurant.

     At MC Film we always carried fun things for the bears from XL shirts to XXXL thongs.  At one party they invited us to the PRIVATE 3rd floor Bear Black Out Party. We had never been to one before but were told there would be great food & fun. It was about the time that bright fluorescent glow sticks & black light toys were just starting to get popular.

    We had flashing buttons on that said, “Party!!!”  There were two things they forgot to tell us. First, it was that Black Out meant there were no lights on. The second was that everybody was naked!!! There we walked in with our flashing button lights. Flash everybody was naked, Flash everything went black. I don’t know who was more surprised the Bears (who looked like deer in headlights) or us! Then a little voice came from the group of bears. It was a friend of ours. He said “Uncle Mark,  Uncle Carrie, toss that flasher out & join us.”

    We headed to the door at mach speeds! LOL LOL

    Busch Gardens Christmas Town was fantastic this year! We went with good friends Mathieu & Jayme.  Great Lights, Great Drinks & Fantastic Friends (well kinda). There were no lines anywhere. How very cool. We decided to go see Santa Claus.

    Our first stop was into Santa’s house where we meet all the Elves. Can you say GAY GAY GAY!! LOL Next we meet Mrs. Claus. The nice old jolly gal offered us some fresh baked warm cookies. Then it was on to meet Santa himself! There was a twinkle in Santa’s eyes that said we had met somewhere else before.

    Santa asked Carrie what he wanted for Christmas & Carrie said “Cookies.” Mathieu said, “World Peace”, Jayme said “I use to want a pony but now I would like a Ferrari”. Then it was Mark’s turn he said “Well Santa I am at the age where Santa looks like a Hottie… how about a date?”  Santa said “HO HO HO ” and patted Mark on the butt. What does that mean?

    I soon found out karma is a bitch. Mathieu & Jayme talked Mark into going on the SheiKra Roller Coaster. The three sat in the front row. Jayme & Mathieu had Mark sit in the middle of them. They both told Mark to hold their hands. Off goes the roller coaster, the first thing is the floor drops out and your feet are hanging. At the very top of the first lift just as the car goes over the top it stops!!! Just then Jayme & Mathieu lifted marks hands high in the air.

    Mathieu yelled, “Uncle Mark open your eyes!” Mark yelled back “I CAN’T!!!”  I guess that was payback time for picking on Santa! LOL LOL

    Our friend Donald was quite the guy! Early in his life, his whole family was killed in a horrific car accident. Maybe that was why he lived life to the fullest. In the early 1960’s he met his soul mate, Ronald. Together they moved to St. Petersburg from Rochester, NY in 1967. The couple went on to be very well liked and known in the local LGBT community.

     Every year they hosted a very popular Christmas Party. In 2001 cancer took Ronald away from us. That year Donald said he was not going to have the Christmas party. We strongly objected and said “Yes you will”! So the parties continued. There was a very wide range of people at these parties. From old friends to new found ones, politicians to business & social club leaders. Many of us would only see each other at this party. Every year we would notice who was not at the party and had passed or moved away that year.

    Then Donald came to us over 10 years ago and said he was out living most of his friends and would we become the executors of his estate & medical. Of course we said yes. The annual Christmas parties went on.  Donald then become our favorite traveling friend. Together we visited New York City, Las Vegas, the Bahama Islands, Costa Rica and around the state of Florida. Then about 7 years ago Bryan Chant, owner of “The King & I Thai Restaurant” and “The Queen & I Thai Restaurant” in St. Pete, came into Donald’s life. They hit it off fantastically right away. Together they made one very interesting couple. Suddenly Donald’s life was full of loving people in the Asian community. He became known as “Grandpa”  to all so many.

    Surrounded by his new family, attitude and holistic beliefs on life was full inner feeling of positivity. When ever you would go to say good bye, Donald always would say, “Ya ya, bye bye Love You.”

    About 6 months ago, after having knee replacement surgery, Donald had a couple of very bad falls. He went into a rehab center. There were countless trips from rehab to various hospitals and back. All the time Bryan & family was at his side everyday. We made dozens of hard medical & insurance decisions. Donald was very positive but was concern about this years Christmas Party. We told him that if he was still in rehab we would bring the party to him. After all the party tradition must go on. Then on Monday Dec 23rd the sad decision was made to send Donald to Suncoast Hospice Care Center at Bayfront medical.  The next morning at 6:30AM the call came and Donald had passed away on Christmas Eve. Together with Bryan, the three of us went to the downtown hospital. The Hospice wing was very different than the other hospitals. The lights were dimmed lower, It was much quieter and very calm. The wing was all nicely decorated for Christmas.

    As we walked down the long hall I noted there was one door closed. At the nurse station they told us we could visit with him before they called the funeral home. Behind that closed door was Donald. He looked at rest and content. We jokingly said that he must have moved the Christmas Party to heaven with Ronald this year. As we left we noticed on the outside of the room door was a Christmas’s stocking with Poinsettias.     Merry Christmas’s Donald & “Ya ya bye bye Love You”

A visitation will be at Memorial Park Funeral Home, 5750 49th Street North, St. Petersburg,  on Monday, Dec. 30th at 2pm with service beginning at 3pm.  A celebration of life will follow at The Queen and I Restaurant, 2410 Central Ave., St. Petersburg at 5pm.

Vanderboegh, Donald Wallace, 85, of St. Petersburg, went home to Heaven on December 24, 2013.  He was born in Rochester, NY in 1928 and resided in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada.  Donald moved to St. Petersburg in 1967 from Rochester, NY, where he had worked for Eastman Kodak.  He worked at Orange Blossom Catering for the past 35 years as well as owned apartments in St. Petersburg with his late partner Ronald Scoins.  Donald was a life member of the Elks in Rochester, NY.  He was a member of Saint Therese Byzantine Catholic Church in St. Petersburg where he was former Vice President of the Men’s Club.  Donald was also a founding member of the GaYBOR District Coalition.  He was known as “Grandpa” in the Asian community.  Donald was also a veteran of the US Navy.  He was preceded in death by parents Carle and Elsie Vanderboegh, a wife, two children and partner, Ron Scoins.  Donald is survived by companion Bryan Chant of St. P

etersburg; one cousin Sharon Waghorn of Canada; sister-in-law Betty Cromwell and many extended family and friends in Tampa Bay area and New York.  A visitation will be at Memorial Park Funeral Home on Monday, Dec. 30th at 2pm with service beginning at 3pm.  A celebration of life will follow at The Queen and I Restaurant, 2410 Central Ave., St. Petersburg at 5pm.

    The year was 1988. We decided to have a “Charles Dickens Christmas.” Together with our friends Dr. Walt & Jack we flew to London England. We arrived the week before Christmas and stayed thru New Years. We quickly discovered that the “Charles Dickens Christmas” was only in the books. London was not holiday decorated the way we do in America, it was very cold, damp and colorless.

    We didn’t know that the government, Harrod’s Dept Store, museums, many business closed the week from Christmas to New Years. Christmas Eve was very wonderful. We had tickets to go to The Royal Albert Hall for their Traditional Holiday Concert. I forget who the symphony (Great London Symphony) was but they played all the favorites for 3 hours. We couldn’t help but to be overwhelmed by all the history & spectacular ambiance in this hall. Even singing great Freddy Mercury of Queen singing group had played here.

    After the concert we went out for Christmas Eve dinner in where our large 2 bedroom apartment was in West Brighton.  The eatery had a special British Holiday Fare Menu. It was warm inside after leaving the cold outdoors with great food offered. Pheasant, Braised Beef, Turkey, Scalloped potatoes and green peas and a huge selection of super yummy English homemade deserts. We had to try them because it was Christmas in London.

    During our week after Christmas we did play tourists and ventured to the famed Royal Windsor Castle to see the Queens get away home. Oh Shuchks she was gone!  But the town of Windsor was beautifully decorated way beyond belief. A gorgeous Royal Castle and town holiday decorated much to the like of an American city.

    OK on with the story…. The next year we opened our first MC Film Fest Store. It was located on South Hyde Park Ave in Tampa . Located right across from the University of Tampa. There was a new restaurant that had just opened up next to us called “Cafe European.” It was the same restaurant and owners we had Christmas Eve in London 1 year prior.

    The owners remembered us from that night. We all had a really great time together. We shared stories and were very close neighbors. What a small small world!

    In 1980 it was our first Christmas in Florida & we were students at USF. Carrie was working in the pharmacy at the VA Hospital. Mark was the photographer at the Sears Portrait Studio in University Square Mall and was a bartender across the street at Casa Gallardo Mexican Restaurant. Just out side the mall entrance to Sears was a Walden’s Book Store. There on this $1.00 table wanting “just us to have” was an “Ideals Christmas Cookbook” (Ideals Publishing Corporation 602-1).

    We took the book home and spent many hours planning out the Christmas Eve party. We gave a open invitation to everybody at Casa Gallardo Mexican Restaurant. To our surprise over 50 people showed up. Most were students like us and had no place to go. It was one of the best Christmas Eves ever.

    That $1.00 book became our favorite cook book over the years. Now every Holiday we turn to this book, which is full of other recipes stuffed into it too. There was one favorite recipe that we have made every year since. We actually make it for every Thanksgiving & Christmas too. It is our annual for 30 years,  “Pickled Shrimp” family recipe.  Here is a copy from the now brown page book complete with a gold star from Carrie!

    Enjoy  What is your favorite holiday recipe? Write and tell us and we will share to the world!.

There are so many crazy things that have happened at The SunCoast Resort. The soda lines in the TiKi bar were cut one day. Later that week they were cut again. Owner Lester Wolf was very upset and had cameras installed. To everybody surprise the bad guys were not guys at all… They were squirrels chewing the lines. Lester was very upset and grabbed his riffle. Looking like Elmer Fudd he was hunting squirrels  in the courtyard. The management went crazy and took his gun away. Lester returned with a squirrel cage to trap the animals.  With a big smile while pounding his chest Lester returned with a caught squirrel. When asked what he was going to do with it he said “I’m going to toss the cage into the pool, OFCOURSE!!!” One of the employees over heard this and release the poor squirrel!!! Lester returned the next day and caught another squirrel. When asked what he was going to do with it today, Lester said “I’m taking it to a nice park and release it.”  With that he put the cage into his Rolls Royce and drove off. I guess we will never know if the squirrel every made it to the “Nice Park?”

For more memories of the SunCoast visit https://www.facebook.com/suncoast.resortmemories

    The year was 1997. We had our pride store on Kennedy Blvd in Tampa. Totem International , a London based company introduced to America the adult version of Billy Dolls. There were at first 4 18″dolls; a Cowboy, Sailor, Leather Master & San Francisco doll. All of the dolls were “Out & Proud” and if slightly exaggerated were atomically correct too.  Of course we sold these in our store. There was a banner in front of our store and we sold 100’s of these dolls.

    Then one day Manny Alvarez, Larry Bernstein & us put our heads together. Manny was promoter for a Gay night, “Mecca” Sundays at the Castle in Ybor City. We did a big promotion and billed the event as  “The Billy Dolls Coming Out Party in Tampa.” 4 dancers were brought in who looked like and dressed just like the dolls. There were Billy drinks special & give aways all night. Then much to all our surprise here came the TV stations and newspapers to cover the unique Party! They were actually interviewing all the Hot sweaty dancers on TV.

    Billy’s and an added special friend, Carlos are still around but very collectable & pricey!!!

        Banking Hours… Bail Money!

    Mark and his sister, Flora were in Minnesota recently and it was one cold day. They had some estate banking to do at a small town bank. So they looked the Well Fargo Bank hours up on the Internet. It said open at 8:30 AM. The two of them arrived right at 8:30 AM. In the door was a sign that said open at 9 AM.

    OK… no big deal the two of them waited in the car since it was 30 degrees & cold outside and no other place to go.  With the car running with heat on the two waited for the bank to open. Cars were pulling in and driving out of the parking lot but not getting out of the cars.

    Then a  Sheriff’s car pulled in blocking Mark & Flora’s car. One tall officer (who was Smoking HOT) walked up to the car and motioned to roll down the window. With a big sexy Minnesota smile said, “I can tell you are not from here. There is no front license plate on your car. What are you doing here? I need some ID, please!”

    Mark stared as if he was a deer looking into car headlights. Flora was trying to unchill her cold Savanna, GA bones. Both said in harmony to the large Paul Bunyon officer, ” We have a meeting with the bank manager at 9 am!”

     “OK,  you are from Florida! But in Minnesota you are not allowed to park in a bank parking lot before the bank opens. That’s the law!”  the Hot officers frosty mouth chanted. The other sheriffs officer was smart and stayed in his warm running cruiser keeping eyes on both Mark & Flora!

    “Do you see those cars parked 2 block away at the corner? They are the bank staff waiting for you to leave. They gave us a call. They thought you might possibly be… bank robbers!”

    The one Hot officer then check ID’s and said, ” Please just drive around for 20 minutes and then come back.”

    They did and everything was OK. The next day Mark & Flora thought about doing it again just to see the super friendly, soft spoken officer again!!!