The annual Independence Day Cherry Grove Invasion of the Pines recalls the time, on the bicentennial Fourth, July 4, 1976, when late Pines entrepreneur John Whyte, for whom Whyte Hall is named, refused to serve late Grove entertainer Teri Warren at his restaurant at the Boatel because she came there in drag. A boatload of her cross-dressing friends, including Thom “Panzi” Hansen, Bob “Rose” Levine, Lyn Hutton, and the late Amelia Migliaccio, went to the Pines to avenge the slight. They were not refused service, declared victory over the Invaded “colony,” and dubbed Panzi the Queen of the Invasion.
Invasion 2017 occurred on a fine, sunny July 4, with Invasion Founder Panzi still coordinating all the complicated proceedings and new Grove Homecoming Queen Ginger Snap and her entourage leading the Invasion. Ginger’s theme was Studio 54, complete with sequins, rhinestones, and a disco ball. She left the Fire Island Clipper and entered the Pines triumphantly to the tune of “If You Could Read My Mind (Ghost in a Wishing Well).” Her entourage comprised past Grove Homecoming Queens Donna Piranha, Beach DeBree, and YaNeeda Dunes, past Miss Fire Island and Homecoming Queen Ariel Sinclair as Debbie Reynolds, photographer Sue Kravitz as Andy Warhol, Imperial Court of New York Grand Duchess Victoria Falls, Mr. Fire Island Leather 2017 Sir Joseph as the Queen’s escort and bearer of the mirror ball, and filmmaker Parker Sargent and spouse Andi.
Acknowledging this year of Trump, Panzi, heralded by the song “I Am an American” and a contingent of beauties bearing pumpkins sporting the all-too-familiar orange hairdo, burst through a wall, as a Mexican señorita in red, white, and green, and declared, to the crowd’s fervent cheers, “I never say anything political, but Fuck Trump!” Those assisting Panzi wore serapes and sombreros. Champagne Bubbles, as a dignified Statue of Liberty, stripped off layers of clothing and replaced the Statues’ book with a sign reading, “Not My President.” Contingents of Mexican beauties continued to abound.
The Fire Island Pines Property Owners Association (FIPPOA), its work coordinated by the likes of Ariadne C. Villarreal and Hal Hayes, awarded prizes to favorite, favored, and ill-favored Invaders. FIPPOA found that the Best Individual was Sylvia Motherfucking Heart, from Connecticut, and the Most Tragic Individual was Kay Sera. Levonia Jenkins, bearing a severed Trump head, led the Most Tragic Group and Nasty Women of the Grove, including Sue and Angela, Dawn and Keith, were deemed the Most Political Group. Tennisia Balls was the Most Cherry Grove; past Homecoming Queen and Ms. Fire Island China, the Most Historic; Pretty Little Liars, the Most Glamorous; Lincoln, as Poseidon, wielding a trident, the Most Pines Party; and Rhoda Dendron, the Most Meat Rack. A festive party contingent, Dora Glamora’s Poolside Quinceañera, won Best Group; Harlem was found to have put in the Least Effort; and a duo in their best Bar Mitzvah finery was dubbed Most Lost. Irresistible, in ballooning skirt, won Most Original and the Most Chic was Miss Bradley of Bradford Hills.
Among the veteran Grove figures present, beside Panzi, Rose, and China, was the third Miss Fire Island, Rita George, 1969, who posed for photos with reigning Miss Fire Island 2016 Honey Davenport. Royals from the Imperial Courts of New York and Connecticut were plentiful. The indispensable Drag Repair guys, ever handy and hunky, were there to fix a broken nail and coax a stray lock into place. Ellen Biggers and Martha Pitkin, armed with big cat stuffed toys, were Siegfried and Roy. Panzi’s assistant Matt Baney, as a Viking Princess, proposed to his love Chris Caswell, during the course of the Invasion, and a sign hanging from the boat announced “Chris, will you marry me? [heart] Matt.”
Our tickets to board the Invasion boat were small rainbow flags, in memory of late rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker, whose large original, eight-color flag, waving over the Cherry Grove dock next to the American flag, helped to see us off and welcome us back from another successful Invasion.