On July 20, at the home of Jack Dowling, Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), formerly Senior Action in a Gay Environment, recognized Cherry Grove Community Association, Inc. President Diane Romano and Floyd’s restaurant proprietor Brett Roper for their years of service to Cherry Grove. SAGE, Diane said, is the “oldest and largest organization dedicated to improving the lives of seniors.”
Introducing the honorees, Jack noted that Brett has been in the community for 18 years, first as a caterer and then opening Floyd’s, at the center of town, and commented, “I don’t know how this community would exist without Floyd’s,” and read a statement from Diane, who, beside her CGCAI post, is Chair of the Fire Commissioners, and ran a business from the time she was in her early 20s, working, since the early 1970s, to get women used to working with other women. Diane’s spouse, Patricia (Pat) Goff, was originally her client.
Diane said, of Cherry Grove, “This is our home, this is the place to be,” and added, “I thank SAGE for this wonderful day.” Brett said, “I’m very humbled by this award. I love Cherry Grove … 18 years it’s been my home and the only home I’ve had since I left home,” and concluded, “I will continue to work hard for Cherry Grove … to make this a better place.”
A veteran of seven years of SAGE Cherry Grove Gatherings, SAGE Executive Director Michael Adams hailed Diane and Brett for their “extraordinary leadership in this community.” He also spoke of DOMA and Proposition 8, recently struck down, calling it “no accident that an 83-year-old lesbian,” Edie Windsor, inspired the battle against former. Michael explained the need for an organization such as SAGE and described the new, state-of-the-art SAGE center, in Chelsea, as “not your grandma’s senior center.”