My home town . . .

[rpmdfw]

Okay, the discussion on another thread got me to thinking.

Where did you grow up? What was your home town like?

I grew up in Trinidad Colorado. The population was approx 10,000 people. (The Magic Kingdom on a slow day has twice that many guests!)

It's a beautiful little town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains of Southern Colorado. There was one public high school and one private high school. My graduating class (Class of '87-Go Miners!) was 105 people. (The private school graduated 5 people that year, and it isn't around any more). There wasn't a McDonalds in town until my senior year in high school.

Trinidad was a coal mining town on hard times back in the 80's. Mines were closing and people were losing their jobs.

Interestingly enough, for as backward a little town it was, Trinidad was also known as "The Sex Change Capital of the World" due to Dr. Stanley Biber's residence in our small town. This made for a very strange dichotomy. The town was very accepting of the transgendered people who would travel to Trinidad for surgery (without them, we more than likely wouldn't have had a hospital in town). But people still weren't very accepting of gays and lesbians. It was tough to grow up there. I needed to get out. When I left, I didn't look back, or even visit for many years. I love going back to visit now, but still couldn't live there.

Okay, so that's where I come from. What about the rest of you?

 

[mikelan6]

I grew up in Miami Beach, Florida, not too far from where I live now. At one point, we lived at the west end of the now famous Lincoln Road area of world famous South Beach. Back then though, South Beach was far from the hip and trendy area it is today. It was full of old Jewish people. Both the area and its residents were in retirement and dying. After we moved out, South Beach became a high crime area with poor immigrants and drug dealers. Of course, that's when the gays moved in and revitalized the place with clubs, restaurants and art galleries.

 

[zeitzeuge]

I grew up in south central Nebraska in a town called Hastings. Population 25K. Typical midwestern small town where everyone knows everybody and their business. Almost my entire family and extended family still live there. It's a very conservative state. Not very progressive in any sort of thinking what so ever. I lead a very sheltered and closeted life until I left in 1990 for Graduate school. Although I love going back to visit, it usually takes about 4 days before I have to get the hell out of there.

 

[NikkiPants]

I grew up 10 minutes south of Boston in the suburbs in a town called Braintree. It's now a city and keeps getting bigger and has around 40,000 people. I have a very large family and we all live in the same house...I just moved to NYC, but all together there were usually 11 or so people and 8 bedrooms. Insanity! The town itself was fine to grow up in. It was mostly. white irish-catholics in the town and they bussed in inner-city kids to our schools. One time, I remember there was a race battle. It was the white kids vs. everyone else and it was all because some kid said something stupid. We had to have a "peace rally" and for those of us who didn't give a crap [mostly us theatre kids] it stunk. I graduated with around 2000 kids.
Overall, a pretty good place to grow up.
Oh yeah, we have a very big mall, too, so there's always lots of people coming and going.

 

[rosiep]

I grew up in Brooklyn NY, in a neighborhood called Williamsburg. Today Williamsburg is hip and happening; but back then it was the ghetto. I grew up in a housing project on the 17th floor. I always said this was my saving grace. Had my parents taken the 2nd floor apartment as originally offered all I would have been able to see was the distressing sights of garbage and graffiti. From the 17th floor you could see all of Manhatten! I watched as the Twin Towers went up story by story. Manhatten looked georgeous from our windows...amazing buildings that were all lit up at night. As I little girl I used to look out those windows and dream of being far away. I think it's why I love Disney so much. The lights remind me of my youthful dreaming.

 

[kingLouiethe1]

I grew up in a happy little place called East Los Angeles. It was like that old Cheech and Chong movie, only less funny. Our neighborhood was very "colorful" growing up. There were a few gangs in the area. Fortunately as time passed a lot of the gangsters died or got arrested, so the neighborhood has gotten better. We were seeing signs of gentrification before our economy collapsed, but I'm sure it will improve given our proximity to Downtown LA. It was kind of a rough place to grow up, but you know how when you're a kid and have no points of comparison, you don't really know that all that well. I owe my survival to two things, being gay, which I'm sure is determined at a very young age because I have been different my whole life, and overprotective parents. I mean seriously I was not allowed to walk to school with my friends until I was in 9th grade, the junior high being only a few blocks away at the time. My high school had and has some ridiculous drop out rate like 40% and of the few that go on to college most don't finish. I was lucky on all those counts as well. Oddly enough, it's still home and you feel some warmth for the place, for all the good time we've had there. And living in SoCal there were great things, like our annual trip to Disneyland!

 

[ConcKahuna]

I was born in Broward General Hospital in downtown Fort Lauderdale. My childhood was spent back and forth between the suburb of North Lauderdale (Pompano Beach area) and Maine.

It was kind of neat growing up. I was between the big population of the Broward Metro area, and small town New England. The town I lived in most of the years I was in Maine is a small fishing village named Damariscotta. It has a population of about 2,000 people as of the last census, and is hope to the 2nd best ranked lighthouse in the country (Pemaquid Point Lighthouse).

 

[rosiep]

I mean seriously I was not allowed to walk to school with my friends until I was in 9th grade, the junior high being only a few blocks away at the time. !

I cracked up at this because I didn't learn how to cross a street until I was 13! Can you say overprotected????

 

[wallyb]

I materialized on the planet earth in the year 1095 A.D.
to do my creator's bidding - leading men astray for sport!

Aaaaaah! Good times!

 

[rpmdfw]

I materialized on the planet earth in the year 1095 A.D.

See! I KNEW you were older than me!

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

I grew up in a couple of different small towns. The first one was a very tiny place in the middle of nowhere TN. There were 300 families in the area. Most of them worked at TVA, Dupont, or the papermill. Yes, the whole town smelled like a papermill. But, instead of expressing disgust over the funky smell, my father would say, "It smells like money to me." The biggest nearby city had a once a week newspaper that Dad called the Waverly Wafer. My elementary school only went from Kindergarten to 8th grade and then you had to catch the bus to the city with the once a week newspaper.

I loved that place. I miss it still and I have found that I can keep up with what's happening with people that I knew back then since the once a week newspaper is now online....still just once a week. You see, I still remember the names of those people and it's been 30 years since I laid eyes on them. We didn't keep up with them after we moved or anything, but the memories of that place and time are locked away tight in my heart forever. We left when I was in 5th grade.

My first kiss was in that town. Nevermind the fact that I was beaten severely by my mother because she and the other girl's mom caught us in the act. Racially, it had it's issues among the adults, but there were so few blacks that on the playground, to me and everyone, best that I could tell, we were all just kids. I saw no color. I heard my father drop the "N" word a lot, but from my perspective as a child, I never knew any of these "N's" that my father spoke of so I didn't understand why he was always fussing about them. I figured that it must be some adult thing and didn't bother myself with it.

We moved to a much bigger place. It wasn't a big city at all, but it was so much bigger than where we lived before. The sad thing was that it was more racially divided and I just didn't understand why there were such issues to deal with. I didn't understand it at all. To me kids were kids. I could have cared less about their skin color. I was just looking for friends. I found that living in small towns of middle GA that even though there wasn't supposed to be separate but equal anymore, there still was a lot of it in practice. The black kids sat one one side of the lunchroom, we sat on the other. There were two homecoming queens, one black and one white, and their homecoming courts. We had to have equal numbers of black and white cheerleaders, regardless of how much or how little talent they had. There were separate proms, off school property because of the laws preventing school functions from being separate. The neighborhoods were divided. OMG, you wouldn't have believed the uproar when the black attorney and his wife wanted to move into the "rich" neighborhood. It was just freakin' scary down there in the 80's. So, being that they were so backwards in relation to race, you can imagine that when it came to homosexuality, that the churches were thumpin' those Bibles and the gays moved out ASAP or else were the victimized by hateful acts of varing degrees. I won't even go into the stuff that the town FTM transgendered person went through. Of course, it didn't help that Pat shot her ex-husband in front of her kids on the front porch one night when he showed up drunk and was threatening to take the kids because he had heard that she was going to have the surgery. But, let's just say that there were only a few men that were openly gay there and even less women. Afterall, it's right next door to the city that hosts the Redneck Games, so we can't expect miracles right?

I don't miss the place that my father still calls home. I did go back to my 10 year class reunion with my then partner. I made tongues wag all over south GA. I had a friend from college that works in a town 50 miles away that called me to let me know that it only took a week for word to spread to her that I was infamous for being so bold. And you know, I didn't care. By that point, I figured that Dad was a big boy and could handle any crap that came his way over it. I was more concerned that I didn't do what everyone else gay does if they go back. I wasn't going to take some guy just to make everyone else comfortable. I was going to be real. For the most part, I was well received that night. I would go back to the next reunion with Corey, if they would ever organize another event. Gen X'ers aren't the greatest at keeping up with these traditions.

Anyway, I come from small towns. I live in the sprawl that is metro Atlanta. I love my life for the most part. I would love to move to FL for Corey. She misses being home.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Toledo Ohio here!

Not a bad place to raise kids, but once you turn 18 you gotta ask yourself, "Do I want to spend the rest of my life here?"

Toledo Ohio, believe it or not, has three of the best things in the world!

One of the best zoos in the world, a world class art museum, and the Amusement Park voted best in the world for 9 years running! (OK Cedar Point is in Sandusky, 45 minutes away, but heck, you can drive there!)

I do have to say, Toledo is one of the most diverse cities I have ever lived in! Just about every race, religion, and creed is celebrated in that town! But it is still a very small minded Midwestern town....

I also have to give Toledo credit for a great education, and a chance to tour the nation with my first introduction to drum corps, the Glassmen! Imagine being a 13 year old kid, getting on a bus, arriving in a different city each day, and giving the chance to entertain complete strangers. I, and the city of Toledo, should be proud of these things!

But at the age of 19 I had to get out! Moved to Boston, and lived the big city life for 10 years! Had a blast! But I wanted to slow down!

This guy I worked with shared a Disney fascination with me, and we would swap Disney VCR tapes, and talk about Disney. Meanwhile, most of my family had moved to Florida.

I had only been to Disney once, the Magic Kingdom on spring break. But I remembered as a child watching Uncle Walt talking bout this magical place!

So a move to Orlando to work for the Rat just started to make sense.

Been in Orlando for 15 years now, and I am glad to call it home!

Does Orlando have it's down side? Sure! But it's really getting better each and every day!

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Grew up in Maine and NY for the most part. Small towns in both places. My heart remains in Maine.

Don't have much good to say about the HS experience, so suffice to say I don't do reunions. It was a small class, so everyone knew everyone else.

When I have to go back to the NY town, I try to stay for as little time as possible.

Moved around here and there (short time in California, Rhode Island, Bermuda...) graduated SU, then decided to head to Florida. We wanted to get below the frost line. LOL. We did, but then moved to central Florida for family reasons.

We like it well enough, but do have a hard time dealing with the bigotry. I know it's everywhere, but here in FL it seems more prevalent and more pervasive.

 

[rpmdfw]

Toledo Ohio here!

Really? I didn't know that!

I spent 3 weeks during the summer of 1984 at the University at . . . .well, at a camp for high schoolers interested in a specific activity. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

Really? I didn't know that!

I spent 3 weeks during the summer of 1984 at the University at . . . .well, at a camp for high schoolers interested in a specific activity. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?

Oh, you have to clarify this statement.

 

[rpmdfw]

Oh, you have to clarify this statement.

It wasn't band camp, if that's what your'e thinking.

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

Ballet was the funniest thought that went through my head. Something about the visual of you in a tu-tu.

 

[rpmdfw]

Ballet was the funniest thought that went through my head. Something about the visual of you in a tu-tu.

It wasn't ballet camp either.

Though there is a picture of me in a tu-tu around somewhere from when I got pulled up onstage at the Hoop-dee-doo Review. Make that a tu-tu, fairy wings and a halo. It clashed with my Hawaiian Shirt.

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

That must have been a sight to see for real! I must try to talk Corey into going to HDDR one of these trips. If only she didn't dislike other people's children so much.

 

[kingLouiethe1]

Really? I didn't know that!

I spent 3 weeks during the summer of 1984 at the University at . . . .well, at a camp for high schoolers interested in a specific activity. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?

It wasn't band camp, if that's what your'e thinking.

Three Most Embarassing Camps I could Come Up With:
1. Band Camp
2. Dungeons and Dragons Camp
3. Fat Camp