Florida Agenda

By Dale Madison

With over 200+ participants in this year’s Poverello Bowl-A-Thon, you can only imagine what a party it was.  With sponsors Ultimat Vodka and Paton providing coolers with Cosmos and Margaritas for the 20 minute ride on the beautiful luxury Davis Tours coaches, we had the makings for a great event.

Even with the down economy and less teams than last year, nearly $40,000 was raised for the Poverello Food Bank clients.  Funds are still being collected from participants and from the Poverello website, which you can contribute to by visiting www.poverello.org. The comments about the new venue for the Bowl-A-Thon were amazing.  The staff at Sawgrass Lanes were friendly, professional and a pleasure to work with. Beginning in October, Sawgrass Lanes will host gay lueagues on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For more information you can call Lissette at Sawgrass Lanes at 954-722-2700.

Anyone who has ever planned a major event such as this knows the amount of detail and work that goes into it.  Now for the winners:  Top Team: City Furniture.  Most Money Raised : Team Ultimat Vodka and the Mustang Lounge with nearly $5,000.  Most Heart Award: (this award is for the person with then highest number of individual donors) Amy Kowaleski of Ultimat Vodka.  Highest Female Score: Fredda Rubia with 530, and Highest Male Score, Lon Hoehne.  Congratulations to all for their great efforts.

Congratulations also goes out to Norton Lyman, the winner of the Grand Prize drawing for the week between Christmas and New Years at a furnished condo on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Poverello also wants to extend a very special thank you to James Morris.  James participated in the Sidelines Cook Off over the past 3 months and was the winner of a Commercial Grade Char-Broil stainless steel gas grill.  After winning the grill he announced that he was donating it to the Poverello Bowl A Thon.  Thanks for thinking of your fellow men, women and children that Poverello is feeds.

Thanks to all of the amazing sponsors who made it all happen:  Bowling Shirt Sponsor Broward Health and Ultimat Vodka. Coach Sponsors: Florida AIDS Walk, Ultimat Vodka, Matty’s on the Drive, New Moon, and Rosie’s. Thanks also to all of the local business that donated the 100 items that were raffled off during the day.

Believe it or not, plans are already starting for next years Bowl A Thon and the date will be announced very soon.

Of course before that don’t forget the Great Gatsby Gala in October, sponsored in part by Mercedes-Benz of Fort Lauderdale, Geo Vax Labs, and Ultimat Vodka.Once again go to our website for all of the details! www.poverello.org.

Local Chapter Puts the “Fun” Back into Fundraising

(Photo: Provided by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence)

They can now be seen at almost every community gathering. They stand their stoically, usually quiet and very “nun-like”. They are dressed as nuns but are often adorned with large amounts of jewelry with white faces, campy makeup which can include glitter. They are the local chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, known as the South Florida Sisters of the Rising Sun.

The South Florida Sisters were founded by Sister Penny Trater and they made their first public appearance in the March 2009 at the annual PrideFest. Though someone might have looked upon them as being a strange oddity at that time, the Sisters have become well known and respected.

The national Sister of Perpetual Indulgence was founded by a group of four gay men in 1979 San Francisco — the Harvey Milk era. This was at the time when the city’s Castro District was just coming into its own as a gay community. The men wanted to bring attention to the rapidly growing gay presence in the city and fight for their equal rights. The first time men marched along the beach wearing nun costumes they rented, which resembled those worn in The Sound of Music, and they were carrying guns.

One of the sisters wore white clown makeup on his face along with black lipstick. He happened to have been a well-known male escort in the San Francisco area and did not want to be recognized. After several appearances in the community, the sisters noticed that most of the photographs printed in the newspaper about their antics were of the white-faced member which gave them the idea of all wearing the white makeup.

Their membership increased and as members moved out of San Francisco to other areas of the county, and they formed their own orders of the Sister of Perpetual Indulgence. Today, there are over 600 orders of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence worldwide, each with its roots from the original order (“Mother House”) in San Francisco, except one, the local Fort Lauderdale order.

“I was in Portland, Oregon on vacation,” said Sister Penny. “When I saw the Sisters there I was struck by their amazing makeup and their presence. I had never heard about them before and I read up on them and I loved what they did and the work they did and decided to start a chapter.” She then got in contact and visited the nearest chapter to South Florida which is in Tampa. The Sisters are all volunteers and locally there are 9 solid members.

“We’re queer nuns for the gay community,” said Sister Sophia St. Michaels. “When people see us, they see the fun and activities we have with all the makeup and outfits and glamour, but it does take a lot of work and commitment. We put the fun back into fun raising. It really is a calling.”

“Commitment?” said Sister Psycho Analeyez. “It takes a lot of commitment. It takes two hours alone just to do the makeup. Sometimes getting ready can be a drag.”

The Sisters are also committed to the community holding fundraisers for charities and being present at various events.

They describe the international Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to being a combination of a large national fraternity and a nun missionary. Each chapter must be approved by the international organization. There are international conclaves alternating annually between San Francisco and Amsterdam on Easter weekend. Each month, all the orders participate in a huge international conference to discuss plans and what each order had done over the last month. The United Nun Privy Council (UNPC), is the headquarters organization.

Each order can be distinguished by the headpiece worn by the Sisters. The South Florida Sisters of the Rising Sun’s headpiece has a large platter shape to it indicating the sun. The Tampa order’s headpiece resembles a pirate’s hat and the Orlando order’s headpiece resembles Mickey Mouse ears.

Each order answers to its Mother Sister order but since Sisters of the Rising Sun is not an offspring of another order, the UPC started a new program just for them. “It’s an amazing experience for us not having a sister from a Mother order,” said Sister Sophia. “It’s kind of a good thing and it’s not such a good thing because we’ve had to learn by ourselves with calling someone for help.”

“Fundraising can be very tedious,” said Sister Penny, “but it okay in a nun’s outfit.” They do realize that some people are startled the first time people see the sisters. “Any time you see us, don’t be afraid to approach us. Come to us and give us a kiss or ask us questions. We don’t bite … unless you ask us to bit. We even give hand-on blessings. It’s not above us to get down and dirty. We’re not shy.”

The South Florida Sisters of the Rising Sun is open to anyone. For more information, email sisterpenny@southfloridasisters.org