Out & About — Raven 15!
Organizer Jennifer Bryant (L) with Jone Myers of Renaissance
Jennifer Bryant is an active and energetic transwoman who has been involved for several years with the Meetup online group Tgirls United. The group promotes “meet ups” for transgendered people in Pennsylvania. (Meetup.com has groups with hundreds of different interests all around the country.) Of the several parties and get togethers promoted on the group’s Meetup pages only Angela’s Laptop Lounge and Jennifer Bryant’s Raven parties draw big crowds.
The Raven is a New Hope, Pa. gay institution. It’s a hotel, restaurant, bar and nightclub — with a swimming pool. A few years ago Jennifer approached the venue about promoting transgender parties on a bi-monthly basis. Transgendered people had already been going to The Raven for dinner, cocktails and dancing so attracting more people from the TG community seemed like a no-brainer.
Due to the Memorial Day holiday Raven 15 (she’s had 15 Raven parties!) was moved from May 25th to June 1. That put it in direct competition with my first Saturday Laptop Lounge party. Since I knew there were over 50 people signed up on the Meetup page to attend Raven 15, and two major TG events on the same night would lead to light attendance at one, I cancelled the Lounge party, slipped into a sexy summer dress and my Carlos Santana spike heeled sandals, and drove to New Hope for the festivities.
While I arrived for the evening dance party I was actually late for the event. A Jennifer Bryant Raven party starts on Friday night with a meet and greet cocktail hour at Slider’s Bar and Grill in The Ramada, just down the road from The Raven. Then on Saturday there’s a 5:15 red carpet photo shoot. Yes, Jennifer actually has a red carpet that is rolled out and a backdrop like you see on television behind Hollywood stars at major events is erected behind the carpet. The girls have cocktails, pose on the carpet and mix and mingle with their friends. Everyone’s a star on the Raven red carpet.
At 7:30 those who have reserved spaces for dinner troop inside to The Raven’s restaurant to partake of their always satisfying up-scale fare.
The capper to the evening starts in the bar at 9. The Raven disco kicks in with hot dance tracks and the seats around the piano in the piano bar room fill up with gay men and some of the more musical TGs. The place is crowded and the party gets hot.
The Raven is a major draw for the New Hope area gay community and when a Jennifer Bryant Raven party happens the regular clientele are, for the most part, happy to share the space with the transgendered ladies (and some gentlemen) who attend. One of the regulars complimented me on my dress, which is always nice. He thought it was vintage but it was in fact from Kohl’s clearance rack. (Not all gay men are fashion experts.)
Angela at The Raven
There is no cover charge for a Raven weekend but depending on how many of the events you wish to participate in you can spend from $10 for a drink to several hundred dollars if you decide to arrive on Friday and stay till Sunday in one of The Raven’s hotel rooms or at one of the other area hotels which get the overflow when The Raven’s rooms (there are only 10) are all booked. Dinner entrees range from $19 to $36 dollars. But, the appeal of a Raven party is the ability to make your own schedule. If you want to arrive at The Raven pool at 2 in the afternoon to show off your figure in that sexy two-piece suit for a couple of hours you can do that. Then you can walk the red carpet if you like or spend the time preparing and primping for the evening. Or, like me, you can show up at 9 or later. Just be aware The Raven parking lots get full early and you may have to park across the street which can lead to a daunting walk in extreme heels.
Jennifer Bryant does a heroic job of organizing and promoting these events and sometimes she gets too excited. On Friday night she was dashing around taking care of things, tripped and fell. She is okay though with only a bruised rib. Slow down just a tad, Jennifer! The community needs you to organize Raven 16.
Category: Product Review, Transgender Fun & Entertainment
About the Author (Author Profile)
Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.Subscribe
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