Chautauqua County group forms

from Kate Ebersole

Watchfire Alliance was founded approximately six months ago as a means for GLBT people in the Chautauqua county region to get together and talk about how to create more resources for our community in a rural area. The first meetings were mostly to determine the needs of our community, and many of the meetings since then have focused on specific actions we could take to address those needs. We meet once a month, usually on the second Friday of the month in either Jamestown or up in the Cassadaga/Lilydale area. We consider ourselves to be a social, networking and social action group. Many of the people who have participated in the Watchfire Alliance have done so because they do not have any other social outlets in our area. As a result, we have been incorporating social activities such as a picnic this last summer and a talent show/Christmas party in December. We welcome anyone within the GLBT communities in Chautauqua county or the surrounding region to come to a meeting and see if this is a group that you would be interested in getting involved with. There is no fee to join, there is no expectation of time or monetary commitments other than those which you would like to contribute. We are self-sustaining so there is no governance structure in place. Our hope is to develop some outreach programs for the youth and aging GLBT populations in Chautauqua county as part of our mission, and we encourage anyone who is interested in this type of work to join us. You can get information about the Watchfire Alliance by emailing to watchfirealliance@yahoo.com.