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michael's blog |
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November 28, 2011
My Holiday Blog
It’s been a great year for the Dallas Tavern Guild. Our
events were very successful. Our spring Press Trip was
amazing and all the writers had an awesome time during
their visit to Dallas and Ft. Worth.
(l to r): Michael Fuchs, Barcelona; Me, Tony Vedda,
North Texas GLBT Chamber;
Duane Wells, Los Angeles; Doug Mayo, London; Mark Nagel,
Chicago; and
Christian Rodriguez, Buenos Aires.
The 2011 Edition of Voice of Pride was also a big
success with the strongest group of talent we ever had.
The entire event was exciting and the final night was a
full house of cheering, screaming supporters as the
finalists competed. Our winners were so very talented
and represented our community beautifully.
(left to right) 3rd - Kristen Phillips, 4th - Juliana
Jeffery, 5th - Joel Canales
1st - Dru Rivera, 2nd - Vanessa Guzman
The 28th annual Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade and
Festival in Lee Park were both very successful
The changes we made to our festival really made it a
much better event and by adding a modest $5 admission to
the festival, we were able to more than double the
amount of money we gave to our local charities. All in
all it was a wonderful year for the Dallas Tavern Guild.
These successes are why I am writing to say “Thank-You”
to all the great folks from our community who have over
the past 12 months supported our member clubs,
participated in their fundraising efforts and attended
our events. All of the efforts of the Dallas Tavern
Guild are designed to raise money for our community and
especially the HIV/AIDS service agency that do so much
for the men, women and children of our community. I know
some folks have the misconception that the money we
raise goes into the pockets of our member clubs but as a
non-profit in good standing we make sure that all
proceeds, after expenses, go directly to our beneficiary
organizations.
I want to take a minute to say a special thank you to a
few folks who make my job easier and who contribute
every day to making Dallas a better place for us all.
First of all, to the Tavern Guild officers who serve to
monitor all our activities and volunteer their time to
support our events. Next, to Jimmy Bartlett, our
brilliant Webmaster who keeps our website looking great,
organized and completely functional. His commitment to
keeping us current and online is greatly appreciated. To
my wonderful Pride Steering Committee who work 11 months
of the year to make sure all our Pride events are
well-organized, well-executed and offer the most
enjoyment for all of our attendees. Next, I want to
thank our partners who work with us to make our events
so very successful. The financial support of our friends
from Andrews Distributing, American Airlines, the Dallas
Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Hilton Anatole Hotel,
Pinnacle Vodkas, Jagermeister, Ben E. Keith, Progressive
Insurance and the North Texas GLBT Chamber. These folks
and their commitment to our projects give us the best
opportunities to have success and create positive
events. They are steadfast in their commitment to the
Dallas tavern Guild and I am ever grateful for them.
Last, but certainly not least, I want to say thank-you
to the members of our community who continue to support
us and who believe in what we do. You are the reason we
do what we do. Creating a better Dallas and a better
LGBT community environment is our number one goal and we
work every day to make sure that we only improve. We may
stumble along the way but hopefully; we learn by our
mistakes and use them to make everything we do better,
stronger and more positive. I look forward to 2012 and
hope that it is an even better year for all of us. This
year I celebrate 10 years as the Executive Director of
this great organization and I as so very proud of the
growth and success we have had in the past decade.
Here’s to another 10 great years. Thank you each and
very one of you. Whatever your part in our success,
please know we recognize it and it is appreciated. Until
next year, have a blessed and beautiful holiday season
and let’s look forward together to a bright and
prosperous 2012.
Michael Doughman
Executive Director
Dallas Tavern Guild
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