Hello men of Northampton!

Welcome to round two of the monoho.com blog!

I thought I'd start this issue of the blog with a small confession: I'm (mostly) an introvert.  Yep, you heard it here first: I'm usually shy, quiet, reserved, keep to myself, and my report cards in grade school always bore the comment "W. has a lot to offer, if only he wasn't so quiet."  Largely, this all still describes me even today.  Most of you who know me may agree.

Those of you with a finger on the pulse of irony may take note of the fact that I'm now sort of the master of the social calendar for the monoho community.

How the heck did that happen?

Well, frankly, I'm not really sure what possessed me to volunteer to take the reins, and I'm not going to dwell on it much either (in a rare moment of avoiding self-reflection), but instead I want to focus on the impact that monoho.com and its ancillary branches have had.  Last week, I posted the first monoho.com blog post, and the very first comment was from "Ryan," a new migrant to the western Massachusetts community.  Somehow in researching the LGBTQ community of the Happy Valley, Ryan stumbled on our website.  I have to declare this a sign that those of us behind monoho.com (and its accompanying Yahoo! group and Facebook page) are succeeding in our mission of building and maintaining a solid community.  I didn't build the monoho.com ship, and I wasn't there when it first set sail, but I am going to do my part to help keep it on course.

Another sign we're doing our jobs?  Today, I was directing a friend to Maines Field in Northampton to watch a volleyball game.  Whilst Googling for "Maines Field Northampton," monoho.com was the fifth search result.  Unbelievable!  Guys, we're making a difference, and I hope that means we're making a positive impact.

So, speaking of social calendar, September is even busier than I suggested in the first blog post.  First, as a reminder, Friday, September 23, is the third anniversary of the Northampton Gay Men's Social.  As an anniversary event, there is a small cover charge of $5, which among other things covers the cost of the live piano player.  This is the ONLY time the social events have a charge.  That same night is the next King of Northampton dance party - "If I were KING."  Did I mention that monoho.com will be an official sponsor for this King event?  Now you DEFINITELY need to check it out!  As if that weekend wasn't busy enough, the LGBT Coalition of Western Massachusetts will be hosting the "Rainbow Riverfest" at the Holyoke Canoe Club, just a couple miles outside of Northampton, on Saturday, September 24.  If I'm not mistaken, I think the end-of-season Dune Boys volleyball party is later that night.  Can't wait for all of the fun that weekend?  Well, then make sure you don't miss the annual Out in the Park at Six Flags New England in Agawam, MA, on Sunday, September 18.  The Six Flags "gay day" is one of the most fun ways to close out the summer, in a park surrounded by hundreds of your closest LGBTQ friends.

Want to know more about the various events coming up?  Remember, you can always find out more information about all of these events on the Home page or on the Activities page (or both, if I've done my due diligence).

With that, I must call it a night.  I have a few more updates to make to the site, and I want to make sure I'm rested for tomorrow night's volleyball game, which, sadly, is the last one of the season.  I shall miss my Dune Boys friends, many of whom I expect to see at dodgeball this winter, if not sooner.

Until next time, my friends!

-will










 
 
Hello men of Northampton!

I've wanted to start a Monoho blog for a while, and as I sit here homebound during Hurricane Irene it seems that there is no better time than the present.  I think about how fortunate I am to live in a second-story condo in Northampton, relatively unscathed and without even having lost power, while our neighboring communities like Shelburne Falls and Brattleboro now have to deal with the fallout of flooded streets or worse.  This makes me reflect how the name of the Monoho has become something of a misnomer over the years.  While the group may have originated to connect the men of Northampton, its reach has now spread to include large swathes of western Massachusetts, northern Connecticut, parts of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, and even has fans outside of New England.  We are a group of men with a strong Northampton core, and lucky enough to have extended our "social network" to include a wide array of great men from all over.

I became active in the community in the summer of 2010 by joining the Tuesday night "Dune Boys" volleyball group.  I quickly felt welcomed, making many new friends, and was excited to give back to the community somehow.  A couple months ago I worked with Ken Molnar to start taking over the monoho.com website, and am still working through a long queue of updates I've been meaning to make.  Sorry for the procrastination Ken!  I can only hope that my contributions to the Monoho crowd will further the work you've done over the years.  I also hope that with this blog I can put something of an individual voice behind Monoho, while more quickly getting out some smaller news updates without you having to wait for me to make the time to crank out larger website updates.

Speaking of which, there's a lot coming up.  September promises to be a busy month with the 15th annual 5k walk/run for the AIDS Foundation of Western Massachusetts (check it out at http://www.aidsfoundationwm.org/), the third anniversary of the Northampton Gay Men's Social on Friday, September 23 (Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=136063706486290), and the next King of Northampton event later on that night.  Also exciting - openly gay Alex Morse is running in Holyoke's 2011 mayoral race!  If we're lucky, maybe we can grab some of Alex's time for a guest post or interview on monoho.com (though I suspect we'll have to wait until after the election and before inauguration).  Anyone have a direct line to the aspirant candidate?

Well, the rain stopped a while ago, the wind has died down, and if I'm not mistaken it looks like the sun is starting to peek out a bit.  I think I've rambled enough for monoho.com's first blog post, and so I shall leave you all to try to enjoy the remainder of your weekend, rake up fallen leaves from your yards, and bail out your basements.

Until next time,

-will