View From The Gym:

One player looks back on Vermont Gay Volleyball

David Barber

BURLINGTON -- Vermont Gay
Volleyball (VGV) began way back in the
summer of 1982. In the beginning, we
played on a field which was part of
Baldwin Acres Estates in Hinesburg. The
grass was rough and our playing skills
were even rougher. After a successionpof
volleyball and potluck supper
gatherings, the inevitable happened --
winter arrived. Fortunately, we had made
plans to move the operation indoors.

Years of playing followed. Players came
and went, but legends were made -- the
bullet style serving, the famous
infuriating dinks, the unbelievable saves.
Over the years, we had the usual number
of broken fingers, sprained wrists, and
bruised knees. But we also celebrated
many birthdays complete with cake,
shared brownies and cookies around the
holidays, and exchanged news and
gossip the whole year round. Many a
match was made over the salad bar at
Bob’s Big Boy after the game. We sent
contingents of players to compete against
teams from Boston and New York City
in regional tournaments and even sent a
team to the Gay Games.

They say “all good things must come to
an end”. Summers were always difflcult
for VGV —— we lost players to the sunny
weather and oppressive heat of the
gymnasium. This past summer was no
exception. When we tried to start playing
again in the fall only a few of the
die—hard, old—time crowd showed up.
VGV’s bank balance (always shaky to
begin with) slipped into the red, so we
could no longer afford to keep reserving
and renting the gym. No one was to
blame, but I don’t mind saying that I miss
Vermont Gay Volleyball. I don’t even
mind admitting that it became my weekly
fix for exercise and socializing. I’ve
played on other teams but it wasn’t the
same. VGV wasn’t just fun, it was
family.

Vermont Gay Volleyball is back and
currently meeting Sundays through April
29 at 5:00 pm at Christ The King School
in Burlington. The cost is $4 per person.
For more information, call
(802)878-5406 or (802)865-7406. V

 

March 1995

Happy Bfthday to you

     
 

Out in the Mountains

VERMONT'S NEWSPAPER FOR LESBIANS. GAY MEN. AND BISEXUALS

  
    
   
      
     

and thank you for 10 years of
news - information - entertainment - support
advocacy - leadership - commitment

Happy Birthday to us

Join Vermont Gay Social Alternatives (V GSA)
as we celebrate our fifth birthday Saturday, April 1

 
   
     
 

         
 

  
 

      
 
 
   
      
     

8:00 pm _
Unitarian Universalist
Church, Burlington

Naked Brunch

l)oslon's only gay improv comedy lrnu -

    
   
       
   
   

   
 

Tickets: $10 for VGSA members (available only through the mail)
$12.50 for General Public (on sale March 1 at Peace & Justice Center)
and also available at the door

 
 

Vermont Gay Social Alternatives

P.O. Box 237. Burlington. VT 05402-0237

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National Coming Out (Day

recognizes and honors

Out In The Mountains

for its achievements in 1994 to promote lesbian, gay and bisexual visibility.

By coming out, gay and lesbian people serve  inspire,
educate and inform gay and non-gay Americans by
presenting the true diversity of the gay community.

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Wesley Combs, NCOD Project Director

Amanda Bearse, 1994 NCOD spokesperson