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Interview

FIQNews Interview With Dominick Desantis

by Jim Jordan


photo by CJ Mingolelli
Dominick Desantis

FIQNews INTERVIEW column brings you a glimpse of some of our people's perspectives, the people of our towns...

This interview is yet another special event - Jim Jordan's "Interview with Dominick Desantis", one of the Grove's most involved, well known and loved people for many years. Dominick gives us a glimpse of the past, as well as the present...We hope you enjoy Dominick's views.

FIQnews: When did you first come to the Grove?

DD: That was in 1956. I had just moved to New York, and some people asked me out for the weekend. I first came out for a weekend, and felt like I had found paradise. I had a wonderful time and couldn't wait to plan the next visit.

It was ridiculously expensive, but salaries were nothing. We'd come out with a group of six guys, and rent a house for the weekend for $175. That was expensive in those days; we couldn't come out all the time.

FIQN: What was the Grove's reputation like then?

DD: Oh, to be gay and to be accepted and to be able to meet all of the gay people that you wanted. There was a lot of talk about the "Enchanted Forest." There was the Meatrack, the Bridge of Sighs, and the Judy Garland Memorial Forest.

FIQN: What was the Grove like then? I would imagine it was much less built up.

DD: It was. There were fewer houses, with fewer apartments. As for businesses, we had the Sea Shack and the Grove Hotel. On a weekend, you might only have 100 to 150 people out here.

There were still a lot of straight people here then. Many of them owned three or four houses, and started to sell in the late fifties or early sixties as the prices were right.

FIQN: Wasn't the Pines being developed at about the same time?

DD: Yes, it was. I spent three seasons in the Pines, in the mid to late sixties. Friends of mine had a place there, so I was a guest for a couple of seasons, and then one year I rented.

And I remember a friend tried to sell me a house there for $7,000, and I just laughed at her. That was just so much money back then.

There was a gap of a few years when I only visited, and then I rented in the Grove until 1975. And then, a friend told me he was sick of me renting, and he'd find me a house to buy, and he did. I bought Mae's Bush in 1975. I asked a friend what I should name the house. I was called Mae, so he said I should call the house Mae's Bush.

FIQN: Why did you come back to the Grove?

DD: The difference in the towns. I had more friends in the Grove, but even then, the people in the Grove were friendlier.

FIQN: Who were some of the most memorable people that you met in the Grove?

DD: Oh, well there were Terri and Suzi. They were the first real drag queens that I had met, and they were famous on this island. This was in the early seventies, and I had never met drag queens before. This was right after Stonewall, remember.

They rented a house here. They came out on Saturday, and left on Monday. And that's why a lot of events happened on Saturday night. The hairdressers had to work on Saturday, and they came out Saturday night and stayed through Monday.

Dickie Addison was an entertainer that did a lot of the Grove shows. He could always make you laugh, no matter how depressed you were.

And I remember Helen Ely. When the police would raid the Meatrack, she'd go to the cops and tell them to handcuff her, as well.

I thought she was a very nice person. You didn't give her crap, though, because she'd give it right back to you. She did what she thought was right, and she didn't care if you were gay or straight.

Nick Sinisi was a lot of fun. He was also president of the Arts Project at one point, and got them their tax free status.

FIQN: What are some of your favorite memories?

DD: Meeting some of the most wonderful and beautiful people. And the big parties! We had theme parties, with official invitations. I had a pajama party, the best little whorehouse in Cherry Grove party, a wedding party.

There was hardly a Saturday that went by without a party, and sometimes there were two or three. You invited all your friends and acquaintances, and there was a standing rule. You didn't just invite individuals, you invited everyone in their house.

You didn't worry about the number of people that would show up, because you didn't really know. You just made sure you had enough liquor and hoped the deck would hold up.

Saturday night you had to go dancing at the Ice Palace, and dinner at the Sea Shack. That became the Copa before it burned.

The Arts Project end of season ball was always fun. There was more competition then, and more trophies. It always seemed to go back to the pines. So, one year I got my group together and we won.

FIQN: The Grove is different now. What brought about the changes?.

DD: I don't really know... we went through the bleak period in the late eighties and early nineties. That really brought down the spirit of the Grove. We have a lot more daytrippers, now, too, and that changes things.

FIQN: You've got quite a record of community service here. What else have you done besides being a member of the Fire Department?

DD: In 1975, we had a fire bug out here. Just a lot of nuisance fires; sheds burning, trash set on fire, all sorts of different things. He was caught, but not prosecuted - just told to get the hell off the Island and never come back. That's when I joined the Fire Department, in 1975.

In addition to being with the Fire Department since 1975, I've served on the Board of the Property Owner's Association, and was the President of the Art's Project for three terms.

I directed four shows for the Arts Project; the Golden Girls. Each show revolved around "The High Camp Girls of the Grove." All of the performances were sold out. We had a [real] tragedy for almost every show, too. One year Dickie had a stroke, and Terri had a heart attack during the performance. One year they picketed my house, because they thought I was trying to censor the show. There was a black girl in the show, and she was offended because one of the guys was going to do a Diana Ross number. I tried to smooth things out, and they thought I was going to censor it. I came home from one of the rehearsals and the whole community was in front of my house, picketing! And one year my lover's brother was killed on Labor Day, and I stayed to do the show and he went.

FIQN: You used to do the blessing of the houses, didn't you?

DD: Yes, that started one day when I was sitting with the Infanta, the maitre d' at the Monster. He looked at me and said, "Let's liven up this place! Let's have an Italian house blessing" bless the houses and collect money. It started with Harold Seeley as the Bishop of Cherry Grove, me, the Infanta, Chris Giftos, and a few others. The first year we collected $300, and the last time we collected over $3,000, and split the money between the Dunes Fund, the Doctor's Fund, the Fire Department, and the Arts Project.

We kept it up until three or four years ago. I just couldn't do all of that walking anymore.

FIQN: No one wanted to take it over?

DD: That would be difficult. You've got to have someone who knows the people, doesn't offend them, and can get money out of them. We'd go right into their houses, and if they were still in bed pull the covers off, and sometimes pull the trick out of bed, too. We had the rapport with people, so we could do that. And no one took offense, either. We incorporated the bishop, the rabbi, and one year we had the celestial virgins, with white dresses. The church ladies with their Jesus fans. We'd start at eleven o'clock at the Community House, and it would take about four hours. It became a party, with people waiting for us with food and drinks along the way. Sometimes we'd be tipsy by the time we were done. It was a lot of fun.

FIQN: Do you want someone to take it over, or is that a tradition that's best left as a tradition?

DD: I think it's best left as a tradition, but I'm not saying I'll never do it again. There are people here that want it done, that would like to see it again.

FIQN: What, if anything, is missing in the Grove today?

DD: Well, things have changed, but you have to go along with change. You can't live in the past. We have a different population, and there's a different mentality. We went through the period where women started coming, and some people felt they were taking over, but they filled in the void when we went through the bleak period. And, they started making more money and started buying the houses that were left by the people that died.

But, now the Grove is returning, with the young guys coming back.