ABOUT THE SHIPMATES
In the early winter of 1974, a question was asked of the patrons
of the Gallery Bar---"Are you interested in
forming a leather levi club?" After several meetings at the apartment of
Walter Beall and
Jack Fauth, The ShipMates Club of Baltimore was born.
The club began in April 1974 with 27 charter members, 2 of which
are still active. Within a few months,
membership grew to 49 men.
Our first anniversary was held at the Hippo with food cooked by
2 ShipMates--the admission was $ 2.00 and we
still have the list of
the 175 attendees. The second anniversary held at the Alcazar
(now Baltimore school for the Performing Arts)
was an extravaganza of glitter and feathers that rivaled the Ziegfeld Follies. Other
anniversaries were held at the Governor's Club,
The Union Hall in Dundalk and the Electric
Circus (which is now Bill
Bateman's Bistro), Overlea Caterers, La Fontaine Bleu and
Martin's Preston Room.
The last twenty-seven years hold many fond memories for all of
us. Our many bar nights have had themes:
"June Week", with the ShipMates in Navy whites, and a
color guard escorting "The First Lady" complete with picture hat and
large cigar) into the bar.
"Flower Mart", with a replica of Baltimore's
Washington Monument in the corner of the front bar and plants galore for
sale in the poolroom bar.
"Lucky 13 Carnival" with grab-bag giveaways to the bar
patrons.
The year 1975 saw the first KeelHaul at Altlands's Ranch outside
York, PA. Held jointly with Scorpion MC, the
KeelHaul tradition was
born.
KeelHaul has been held (almost) every second year. The last
one was held June 2005.
Not all activities were so
club-centered. As a social club, our objective was to seek pleasure for the
membership- this was achieved in many selfless ways. In 1978, we used our
February club night to start the first" Have a Heart" fund drive, with
the newly formed Gay Health Clinic as beneficiary. It was the first
of many such fund drives. In fact, for a time
the ShipMates Club was
the largest private supporter of the Clinic.
Our fundraising efforts continue today- in 1989 the club began
"Daddy Christmas", now in its twelfth year, to raise for local AIDS
support charities. We have been, and continue to be member
of Brother
Help Thyself, which in it's twenty-three years of existence has raised over
$ 1 million for support of gay and charitable organizations in the
Baltimore-Washington area.
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