Coming Home

1987 WWVA Graduates 20 years later.

Where is home? Is it the place one was raised? The place where one’s parents reside? Or is it the unspoken place, where, when asked, you respond. I’ve lived in San Francisco nearly 14 years, longer than anyplace that I’ve lived as a child. It is home, though if I were to move away, would it become my reference point? Will I journey back? Or is it my temporary home, a temporary community?

I met old friends from high school and was pleasantly surprised by the familiarity of the company. Would we, in a different time and place, be friends? Or is our friendship something that we have due to shared past experiences? I just finished reading Michael Thomas Fords', Changing Tides, and as is the case of many of my favorite novels, there is not a single narrator. Each major character had an internal voice, which others in the novel could not hear, which for me, the reader allowed a truly vicarious experience.

Talking about the past, I really enjoyed catching up with Kimberly and Kerri, we each had unshared secrets and stories. Over the course of the evening, we shared a few of our personal stories, which with like the characters in the book, provided a more complete picture of a shared time in our lives. In hindsight, this information added layers to my perspective of my past with new details, details that as teenagers, I’m not sure we could have freely shared in the way that we shared as adults.

What would our friendships have been like if we were as open as we are as adults? I’m not sure. I think the process of growing, discovering, and feeling isolated molded us into the adults we became. Maybe this is the essence of being a child, not knowing how to communicate, not knowing that we are measured by who we are, not by the friends that surround us, the job that we have, the building we walk into for worship services, or the decisions, for better or worse that we made.

We thought we had answers and the isolated culture we lived in provided boundaries. This was not a bad thing, because it was a very clear that poor decisions could eliminate the world that we were familiar with, which resulted in things being done on the down-low. It also made us accountable in the sense that consequences were evident.

What things in my past would have embarrassed the family if known? And perhaps, while living under my parent’s roof, that fear of embarrassing my parents kept me in line. As an adult, I’ve made different decisions, based on an internal monitor and that awareness is comforting.

Frank and I returned home to San Francisco, and I believe there will always be a place in my heart for Walla Walla and the people that were part of my life at that time. But I miss the diversity of our home. Walking to work, sharing transportation with people of all colors, shapes, sizes and beliefs, is refreshing … comforting, like being at home should be.

Our 5 Seconds of Fame!

Breaking news: City efforts spook crowds away from Castro
NEWS
Published 11/08/2007 - Bay Area Reporter
by Matthew S. Bajko

San Francisco's gay neighborhood remained eerily quiet Wednesday night as the usual swarms of Halloween revelers heeded the city's message to stay home this year. By 10:30 p.m. with most bars, shops and restaurants closed, the Castro was a sparsely populated ghost town.
Several thousand people, many in costumes and local residents, did crowd onto the sidewalks near Castro and Market streets. But the crowd was noticeably smaller than in years past, when hundreds of thousands of partygoers crammed into the area and spilled onto the streets.

"I think it is very quiet," said Entertainment Commissioner Audrey Joseph, who spent the early part of the night patrolling the neighborhood.

The streets remained open to traffic last night and police reported little trouble in the vicinity and throughout the city.

"I think the police are doing a great job," said Steve Adams, a Castro resident and president of the area's merchant association. "They got the word out that there is no party here tonight. Even though there is a party, as you can see."

Adams said in contrast to past Halloweens, he recognized more people out on the streets and saw hardly anyone with alcoholic beverages.

"The bridge and tunnel crowds are not here tonight," said Adams. "A lot of people who live here are having house parties, which is great."

Police Chief Heather Fong walked through the neighborhood after 10 p.m. and said the evening had gone well.

"I think so far, so good," said Fong. "I have been driving around the city going to different parties. It is relatively quiet. It seems overall in the city where children are trick or treating there is activity but everywhere else seems under control."

Not everyone was pleased to see the sparse attendance in the Castro. Without the crowds the police presence – said to be more than 500 officers – was palpable. Lookouts stood watch on rooftops while groups of three to five officers stood guard at intersections.

"It is scary with all the barricades. Don't you feel it is a police state?" asked Donna Sachet, who helped form the Citizens for Halloween group in protest of the city's decision to shutter the party. "I hate to see the city I love become a national laughingstock. We are being made fun of on the late-night talk shows."

Peter Fries, 64, a 38-year resident of the city, questioned why the police are not out in such force every night of the week.

"I am not anti-cop at all. I just want them to do their job," said Fries. "We need them walking on the streets 24 hours a day."

At the last minute the city did bring in portable toilets, easing homeowners' fears of having people defecate and urinate on their front doors.

"I was very glad to see them show up," said Dan Glazer, owner of Hot Cookie, which remained open last night. "Hopefully, it will be a busy night."

Nearby clothing store All American Boy had fastened metal sheets over its windows and door, as did several other businesses. Harvey's closed its doors for a private event at 9 p.m. and both the Bar on Castro and Badlands closed by 10.

"It is what it is," commented bar owner Greg Bronstein.

An anti-gay protester shouts words of condemnation at students from Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy during their annual Halloween parade through the Castro Wednesday afternoon.

Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the annual Castro street party shut down in August after plans to relocate the event to the waterfront fell through. Newsom said he feared someone would be killed if he allowed the celebration to occur, in light of a shooting that left 10 people injured during last year's Halloween party.

Over the last two months the city launched a publicity blitz to spread the word to people throughout the Bay Area to stay in their own cities this year. Stories about the Halloween closure appeared in newspapers and Web sites across the country, from the San Jose Mercury News and the New York Times to USA Today and the Advocate.

Newsom was nowhere to be seen in the Castro Wednesday night, but several of his opponents in next week's mayoral election showed up and chastised him for the botched planning of this year's party.

"Basically Gavin Newsom set out to become the Grinch who stole Halloween. For all it's worth that is all that has happened tonight," said videoblogger Josh Wolf. "I am relieved to see nothing has happened thus far. At the same time it is upsetting to see a San Francisco tradition is laid to rest."

Quintin Mecke, dressed as President Abe Lincoln, said the city's crackdown on the party was why he entered the mayoral race.

"This is embarrassing. The city can't actively manage Halloween so instead we have so many police officers out here it is staggering," said Mecke. "We are not solving homicides but we can shut down Halloween."

Those who did venture out to the Castro bemoaned the overwhelming police presence and hoped the city would be better prepared to handle Halloween next year when it falls on a Friday night.

A funeral procession marking the death of Castro Halloween made its way up Market Street and arrived in the Castro shortly after 7 p.m. Led by "Pope Martin the First" and a grim reaper, the handful of mourners carried a cardboard coffin and laid it to rest in front of the Twin Peaks bar, which had dimmed its rainbow arrow lights at 6 p.m. and shut down by 7:30.

"We are very sad on this very sad day," said one female mourner. "Bless this coffin and Happy Halloween to all. We loved him."

One male mourner added, "It is a sad night for San Francisco. Let's all say a prayer that Castro Halloween comes back next year."

Tony Loncich, who has lived in the city 30 years, dressed up with two friends as the three little maids from schul [Hebrew for school]. He said he couldn't miss Halloween.

"We have been doing this for 10 years together," he said. "We have adopted Halloween as a time we can celebrate all facets of our community. We don't dress like this any other time of the year."

Visitors Kevin Hottinger and James Scobey, a gay couple from Naples, Florida, said they had booked their trip months ago to visit friends and hit the Castro on Halloween night. It wasn't until two weeks ago they saw a story about the party shutdown on the Internet. They decided to check out the Castro anyway and dress up in costumes, with Hottinger a wine box and Scobey a specter. All night passersby stopped the men to photograph them.

"It is really calm," said Hottinger, who added his friends had come in prior years and raved about how much fun the street party had been. "I didn't hear them use the word dangerous at all."