Member Stories

If you have a story that you would like to tell, either about being a member or about what the Prime Timers have done for you, feel free to submit it Harry by e-mailing it to everharry@aol.com or mailing it to 3 Vale View Road, Wakefield, MA 01880. If it would be difficult for you to type this up, Harry can help you by recording your story; just give him a call at (781) 587-1429.

Below is one sent in by longtime member, Bernie Michels.

Founding the San Diego LGBT Center

My name is Bernie Michels, and I have been a Boston Prime Timer since November 1991. I usually don’t brag about this, but I was the chair of a small committee that founded the LGBT Center in San Diego in 1973. Boston could use an LGBT Center as the center of Gay and Lesbian life in Boston, just as the centers are in many U.S. cities, such as New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco. The reason that we don’t have a center is that each of the Gay organizations in Boston is jealous of its independence. That includes the Boston Prime Timers.

The LGBT Center is still going strong in San Diego, occupying several buildings, and has a budget of over six million dollars per year. San Diego celebrates the founding of the center every five years through sponsoring a gala at one of the local hotels. I recently went to San Diego last October to celebrate the 45^th Anniversary. Not only did they pay for our entrance to the gala, for me and my partner, but they celebrated the birth of the center and my role in it.

We founded the center because we experienced a gap in Gay life in San Diego. Presently, the center is not only the center of Gay life, it now sponsors discussion groups for people who have recently come out, a free library of Gay and Lesbian books, a program for transgender people, a residence for younger people who have been thrown out by their parents when their parents learned of their sexual orientation and an apartment house for older people. Our committee was not initially accepted in San Diego at the time of the founding. In fact, many people questioned why we needed a center, but now the LGBT Center is firmly established as the center of Gay life in San Diego.

I moved to San Diego to attend the School of Social Work at San Diego State University. I requested that my second year placement would be in working with the Gay and Lesbian community. I was the first openly Gay person to apply to the school for admission, but they accepted me. I ended up teaching the first Gay studies course in San Diego, by being interviewed by a local TV station, and by being on the front page of a local newspaper. I was also invited to speak before several groups within San Diego. Being the first openly Gay person at the school was traumatic, but I had a full-time partner at the time, and he eased the trauma for me.

I had come out with the Gay Liberation Front in Los Angeles in 1979 and 1980. In fact, I participated in the first Gay Pride Parade in Los Angeles, down Hollywood Blvd. I was a little on the older side, being in my early thirties at the time, but my participation was accepted.

I moved to Boston in 1976 to attend a Ph.D. program at Brandeis University. I finally completed the program in 1987, and I taught sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston for twenty-six years. My present partner, Herb, lives in Montrose, California, in the Los Angeles area. I am going to visit him shortly, which I am looking forward to. He comes to Boston for one week of each summer.

(For more information about the San Diego LGBT Center, please visit their website.)

Member Stories

Below is one sent in by longtime member, Ruby Katz.

Reflections

What does Prime Timers signify for me? Sam Goldfarb brought me to the club during the 90’s. We were at the Living Center. Although the audio system was shabby, I was introduced to a panoply of older gay men and contemporaries.

Then, as now, I feel this is an apt antidote for the bar culture. In those early days, as now, I hardly drank and I am a non-smoker. Thus I got quickly bored. I did far better in baths. (As an aside, I got raped in the Club Baths on La Grange Street in the old Combat Zone. Consequently, I had to stop that activity.)

Within the Prime Timers, I recall going out to varied suppers–to the S & S, Captain’s Wharf, Amrhein’s and so forth. Culturally, it was indeed very rich. Since the costs went up, we stuck with Club Café. I really love continuing Sam’s legacy, the support peer group. It’s gratifying to speak candidly within an intimate group.

Twice a year, I ventured out to Provincetown for Spring Fling and Halloween, both of which are a supreme joy. I have drawn very close bonds with the Connecticut and Rhode Island chapters.

Then there’s the annual pilgrimage to go to Ogunquit at the Yellow Monkey. They have an outdoor jacuzzi which is a balm.

Thus, my participation in the Prime Timers has broadened my experiences, open-ended friendships and relationships. I feel inspired.

Member Stories

Below is one sent in by longtime member, Norm Pelletier.

“Hospitality” my middle name!

My story begins after my partner of 25 years passed away and a few years after I began to look for ways to connect with men. I did not want to go to Bars or to stand at the corner of Comm. Ave. (known as the Block) and Arlington St. (did I really do that?)

Then I saw an ad in the Bay Windows about Gay men meeting in a safe place in Boston, so I called. The next event they were planning was their 7^th Anniversary Party at the Claddagh, today known as Cleary’s. At that time, their meetings were at the Lindemann Center on Staniford St.

Soon after I started to attend the monthly meeting, they needed help with hospitality. Well, the rest is history. Up until last year I hung up my Apron over 20 years. Of course, only with the help of Jim Garrity who I met at Club 119 after a PT meeting and we have been together ever since.

We do not live together because I have too many outfits in my closets!!! I can’t imagine my life without all the P.T. friends thru these years that I cherish dearly. And I am thankful that Harry Fullerton has taken the role of President to keep or club going strong.

Remember, just don’t sit there, become involved!

Member Stories

Below is one sent in by founding member, Jim Norris.

Boston Prime Timers Founder

I have done many things in my life to be proud of: I joined the Navy at 17, got elected to the job of Lakeville Town Treasurer & Collector, and I was one of the first men to join the Herb Society of New England. It took me three years to join, I never gave up. But one of the proudest moments was when I became a founder of the Boston Prime Timers.

In August 1987, I saw a small ad in the Bay Windows, advertising there would be a meet up group for older gay men. You see, back then, gay men were the pits of society. Older gay men, were the pits of the pits. Because of this organization, we moved from the back burner to the front burner.

When you’re 40, you think 80 is old. But when you are 80, it is old. Who better than us to know what prejudice is all about? From one side, we’re hit with scorn from the heterosexual world, on the other side we get the prejudice of young gays against older gays.

On August 15, 1987, my partner, Bill Belliveau, drove us into Boston, to attend this meeting. On one of the hottest days in August, we walked up to the second floor of a building with no air conditioning. Boy, was it ever hot. 42 men from all over New England showed up that day.

The guy who had this brilliant idea was Professor Woody Baldwin. Woody was a professor at UCLA and Simmons College. He also was a Unitarian Universalist. Woody and his partner Shaun chaired our meeting. We chose the name, “Boston Prime Timers,” after a few names were tossed about. We all realized we really hit on something great; so many stories were shared, some very sad. We set up a date for our next meeting in September. The energy was high, and we came out of that building with some lifelong friends.

Prime Timers became a brotherhood of mature gay and bisexual men and their friends who join together for educational support and social activities. Our diverse membership, some retired, some still working, are involved and focused on improving the image and quality of gay life through activities like volunteerism, politics, gay issues, arts, sports and entertainment.

Today, the Prime Timers Worldwide, has thousands of members in more than 70 chapters on three continents. Today, out of the 42 founders, we have 4 left, and I am proud to say, I am one of the 4. I am also a founder of the Rhode Island chapter along with my partner Frank Girard.

Member Stories

Below is one sent in by current member, George Wright.

Reflections from a Bloodshot Eye

At the behest of Harry, our revered leader and dearest friend, as one of the longest standing members of our club, I have been called upon to report on some chronology of my history to the present time, so I will endeavor to dredge up some of the more printable remembrances.

I was not on board with the original crew, but I became a member not long after our beloved founder, Woody Baldwin, forged all of our destinies. But for him, I, along with many of our constituents, would be contemplating a solitary life from our rocking chairs. Bless you, Woody, for giving us all the friendships and memories that have enriched our lives.

Well anyway, since Harry asked, I will quickly summarize a long and lurid past which in its infancy as a gay man began with my service as a Navy veteran of World War II (not a day of which was spent on a ship or in combat) but in Washington, D.C., culminating as the personal yeoman (secretary) to the famed explorer, the then retired Admiral Richard E. Byrd. While still enrolled and adorable at 19, I became inducted into the then unspeakable precincts of That Which Has No Name but which has evolved into our present day acceptance in the social scheme.

Following my discharge, I attended college at Boston University, then found employment in a well regarded travel agency in the glamour world of travel before the jet plane reduced it to Amtrak and package tours. My last employment was office manager in the Office of Scientific Studies within the National Park Service. It was my happiest working experience as friend and colleague of that venerated and prestigious group as they strove to investigate and preserve our natural resources.

We then come to the fortuitous moment that brought me to the welcoming embrace of the BPT and the source of most of our social and sometimes romantic relationships. It was my pleasure and responsibility to serve as a board member for several years. There were good and not so good members at the helm but I am pleased to say that in my opinion we have now arrived at our best leadership with the best board ever. I have every confidence that these fine gentlemen will guide us to a stronger and more cohesive position. My hope is that we will continue to improve our status and achieve the best of our organizations potential.

Respectfully,

G. Wright