[December 15, 2004]

Letter from the Chairman of the Board

It has indeed been another successful and wonderful year for LPL, and not just the regular great times with February skiing, June and September camping, game nights, (endless) bowling and the July rafting trip. The highlight of 2004 came on October 27th, with Hizzoner, Mayor Richard M. Daley and the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations, awarding the Lincoln Park Lagooners its well deserved place in Chicago history, with our induction into the GLBT Hall of Fame hosted at the Cultural Center in downtown Chicago. It was a proud and touching event to all the attendees, and should be celebrated equally by all Lincoln Park Lagooners! This road to gay (GLBT) acceptance has been paved by the hard volunteer work by years of previous LPL board members, some of whom are no longer with us, and the thousands of hours by the group members that kept our organization viable and an integral part of the Chicago neighborhoods. We have shown that we are well woven into that fabric that consists of the community of Chicago. You should all be extremely proud of your prestigious award.

The Board of Directors of LPL have worked tireless volunteer hours to host the 16+ events enjoyed by our members, friends and families. Damian, Felix, Tony, Tom, David, Bert, Gary, and Greg have outdone themselves this year to put on fun, exciting, and reasonably priced events for all our members to enjoy. Kudos to these great guys! (and their families and partners for lots of love, support and help when it was needed)

The February ski trip to Madison was a great time last year and will be coming up again very soon. June camping was a hit once more with this summer's better than usual weather and Campit's new pool and party area. Both were taken well advantage of by the guys and gals. July's weather-perfect camping & rafting trip was a little more exciting than usual for some of our rafters. (see Damian) Gay pride parade was bigger and better than ever, with LPL taking its usual spot in front of the North End. Back to September's, best ever weather at Campit, and a couple of party trips to the Dells made an excellent end to the summer events. We finished it all off with our huge Holiday Party at Felix's party room. Great food and wonderful friends. What fun! Bowling goes on at a new venue. Waveland Bowl opened their arms to the men from Marigold's (RIP in condo heaven) LPL and other gay teams, and major dollar's were given to Vital Bridges and Gerber Hart library through our 50/50 charity money from our generous LPL bowlers.

Nobody rests on their laurels so two new events were added last year. Captain Dix's in the Wisconsin Dells, and Chicago's Holley Trolley, the most recent event, were both great fun and will be added to next year's calendar of activities. We are always looking for new ways to socialize and keep it fun and fresh for all of our 300 plus members.

Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you in 2005 for a new year of LPL "Something fun for everyone".

God bless you all,

Chuck Koenigs