The weekend of May 1-3, 1998 was a major milestone for seven of us... We attended the twice-annual CD Weekend held at the Rainbow Mountain Resort in the Poconos. What was unusual about this experience is that the seven of us are transgenerational crossdressers, otherwise known as adult little girls (LGs), ranging in assumed age from 8-12 years old. Six of us are around 50 in human years, and the seventh is 19. With the exception of one, who had partipated in a demonstration of historical petticoats sponsored by the organizer of our participation in the event, the rest of us had never been out in public as LGs. Six are heterosexual and the seventh, the youngest, is openly gay, although sexual preference is almost meaningless within the LG context. LGs, at least as we know them, are fairly asexual.
Early in the year, Aunt Tessy, the sitemaster of Petticoat Pond, had attempted to put together a weekend for "Poufbunnies", those fascinated with petticoats. Several of the LGs who participated in the chat room on the site asked if they could attend as well. The first location fell through, being bought by a religious group, and another was sought. Aunt Tessy finally deciding to join forces with the already scheduled Rainbow Mountain CD Weekend. There did not appear to be a large enough group to justify a weekend for only the Poufbunnies and LGs. With that settled, we LGs began planning in earnest.
For several months, a dozen or so LGs gathered each evening in the chatroom to discuss the weekend. This would be our first outing and we were in a collective fright. Several of the LGs had still not even come out to their spouses, much less anyone else. The nightly discussion was filled with anticipation, trepidation and vacillation, as each of us alternated between voicing our fears and attempting to provide a brave face to the others so they would not back out. We began referring to the weekend as "camp" and what fun we would have while at camp. This, of course, confused some others who assumed we would be out in the wilderness in tents, instead of comfortable beds in warm rooms with full baths. We made plans, exchanged maps and explored how we would recognize one another, since (with one exception) we had not met and had no clue as to how other LGs look in drab (DRessed As Boy). I would be flying in from California, another would be riding a bus for 2.5 days from New Mexico, and the rest would be driving in from various points in the Northeast.
A week or so before the event, Aunt Tessy notified us that she would not be able to attend since she had just been selected as one of the two leads in a play. It took a whole lot of effort from each of us to hang in there and continue our planning. This was not the time for backing out and we worked on each other constantly to keep our spirits high. Several of us were fairly uncomfortable with going to an openly gay resort, even though this was a CD-only weekend, but Aunt Tessy had assured us that there would be chaperones at the resort to watch out for us... LGs (even dress-up ones) can never be too careful.
We agreed to meet at noon of check-in day in the parking lot of the Wendy's near the resort. I took the red-eye into Newark, stopping at a shopping mall on the way to the Poconos to get a much needed hour or so of sleep (and a present for Precious), arriving at Wendy's about 15 minutes late. Driving up, I saw a group of several men standing near the entrance of the parking lot. One of them was wearing a railroad hat, which I had been told to expect; I had told them I would be wearing a pair of Winnie the Pooh overalls. As I approached, they all called out, "You must be Taffy... Great to have you here!" For the first time I got to see what Liesel, Joy, Jenny, Erin and Pat looked like. They looked no different than any group of five men you would meet on the street. They were all pretty nervous about the weekend, chatting about this and that. By wearing Pooh overalls and ruffled anklets, I was much more "out" than any of them were just then. After exchanging greetings, we waited around for the seventh to arrive. After an hour and a half, we decided to go check in anyway. The maps we had all been given were very detailed and we had no fear that Melissa would be able to find her way to the resort, which she subsequently did.
Checking in, we found that most of us were bunked in Cherry House, a two-story building directly across the road from the main building (housing the restaurant and lounge). The members of the staff who greeted us were friendly and helpful, directing us to our rooms and giving us the schedule for the weekend. Aunt Tessy had told them about us and Erin had paid them a visit earlier to scope out the site. While the rooms were small, they had full baths and were warm and comfortable. We wanted to wash up and get changed. Unfortunately, Joy's bag, containing all of her clothes, including a dress she had laborously scaled up from a children's pattern, cut out and put together, had gotten misdirected somewhere along the 2.5 day bus trip and we had no word from the company as to when it would arrive.
Liesel offered Joy some clothes as it seemed we had all overpacked, each bringing whatever we could stuff into our suitcases on the slim chance that it just might be needed. Silly me, I even brought a bright fuscia Lands End skater skirt swimsuit, but the pool was closed! We all met back in the reception area for pictures wearing our respective finery. I was wearing a red corduroy jumper and white Winnie the Pooh t-shirt, ruffled lace-trimmed anklets, red Keds and a soft-red bob wig. Everybody looked soooooo different! We talked like mad things among ourselves, each wanting to find our more about the others and what our interests were. Picture time and everyone wanted pictures, although everyone was uncomfortable about anyone taking their picture...
Shortly after we had changed Aunt Tessy arrived in drab with a full beard and mustache. The part in the play demanded it and she could only stay through the afternoon of the next day because of rehearsals. No dress-up for Aunt Tessy, but she was accepted warmly and thanked often for organizing the event. In retrospect, it seems odd that an event which was originally organized for Petticoat Pond's Poufbunnies ended up being attended only by the LGs who visited the Poufbunny Chat. It seems that the LGs have virtually taken over the chatroom for our discussion of camp and dresses...
Joy called the bus station and was told that the lost bag had finally arrived. I offered to drive her down to the station, suggesting that she change first as she would have to go in to claim the bag. At the time, I did not consider it strange to get into the car in drag and go driving through town. I was caught up in helping a friend and it needed to happen right then. On driving back to camp, Joy pointed out a K-Mart and said she had earlier needed something. I offered to stop and go on in with her, feeling strangely confident. Nope, we just had time to get back to camp before dinner, so we drove on.After dinner, while we sitting around talking, someone mentioned that the incredibly precious French movie "Ma Vie en Rose" was playing locally and I suggested that we all go to see it right then, just as we were dressed. I had already seen this wonderful film and wanted to see it again. The others were game and the staff checked the schedule, only to discover that we were already too late for the final showing. What a few hours had done to us! Time for more pictures and long talk out on the patio before returning to the room for a shower and the cute lace-trimmed, bloomer bottom baby doll pajamas I had made last weekend.
Getting up the following morning, we were all bright and eager for breakfast. I showed up in a red knife-pleated tennis skirt, t-shirt embroidered with a flowered border containing "Taffy" in big letters, white lace/red ribbon trimmed anklets and red Keds. The others came in wearing beautiful square dance style dresses with multiple petticoats. It is pretty clear where all of the large size square dance dresses are going -- the LGs are buying up them all... After a long and leisurely breakfast with much talk, we adjourned to the non-smoking area to prepare for a birthday party we had arranged for the afternoon.
The other weekend guests were adult CDs who busied themselves throughout the morning and afternoon in makeovers, nails, and viewing merchanise brought in for the event. As LGs, we had little interest in breast forms, corsets, fancy manicures or extended makeup sessions. The clothing being displayed was for a target audience much, much older than our assumed 10 year old average. 5" high heels was hardly what we were looking for, although it would have been nice if the local pageant store had been invited to bring in some cute communion dresses with someone to measure us to order for later shipment.
The birthday party was a smashing success. We played pin the tail on the donkey, took more pictures, made bead bracelets and ate our fill of delicious cake and ice cream. The party had provided us with the opportunity to change once again, with me switching into a nubby pink Vitadini sweater, a pair of pink linen-look bloomers I had made the previous weekend, white lace trimmed anklets and shocking pink Keds wannabe sneakers. We were treated by the resort to several rounds of Shirley Temples and a candle on the cake which Jenny had the honor of blowing out multiple times as each of us took pictures. Aunt Tessy brought some books on fashion from the 50s and 60s for us to drool over; which we did, pointing out which dresses we wanted and why. There was time for more pictures and more talk as we scrambled around the floor to pick up the beads which seemed to fall off the table no matter how careful we were in trying to string them.
A local psychologist running a survey of CDs stopped by to speak briefly with us. She had held a presentation in the other room while we were having our party and was curious why we weren't in there listening to her. Neither she nor her assistant had ever encountered LGs before and did not know what to make of us. I had previously filled out what questions I could make sense of on her website, sending a note explaining my background which she claimed to have not received. Her survey questionnaire asked about sex change operations and sexuality; neither of which was of interest to any of us and she left confused, but promising to check out our websites.
Dinner was another opportunity to change clothes with most of the LGs putting on square dance dresses with multiple petticoats. I changed into a pair of black velvet overalls with a silver Tweety Bird appliqued to the bib, an appliqued Tweety Bird t-shirt, frilly lace/black ribbon trimmed anklets and black patent Mary Janes. The food was excellent, served promptly and the staff was extremely attentive.
(A side note: It was pretty clear than many of the older CDs really did not know what to make of us LGs. They knew that we could not "pass" as 10-year olds and couldn't figure out what was in it for us. Although some of them were sincerely confused about us, all of them were extremely cordial, gracious and even supportive throughout the weekend.)
After dinner was yet another opportunity for a new experience. The resort had scheduled a fashion show in which the people attending the weekend (and some locals) were the models, modeling an outfit they brought with them. For this event, the resort brought in a locally well-known "female impersonator" as the MC (she would later perform in the lounge). From one of the participants, we learned that the resort holds these "fashion shows" about every two weeks, although we heard that this night was the most populated by far.
I quickly changed into a flaming red bob, an absolutely beautiful pink silk border eyelet dress with multiple petticoats I had commissioned from Bill Jones of San Francisco, white anklets with a ruffle of the same material as the dress, white leather Mary Janes and a straw hat with a pink ribbon band and bow on the back. The four of us LGs who had filled out entry forms lined up with the "big" girls to be called. As the MC called us, we each paraded in, curtsying and twirling, answering one or two questions asked by the MC or the guests. The MC was totally clueless as to why we were there, as were some of the audience who had come just for the evening. I got the impression that the newcomers looked upon CDs in a decidedly more sexual vein, as a number of the comments and questions had a decidedly more "adult" flavor. This was reinforced later on in the evening when we were invited to the lounge, which we all declined. After all, we were all too young to smoke or drink...
Sunday morning was our final breakfast, a bittersweet experience. We had all had a marvelous time and had grown to know each other much better than we had anticipated. We understood the limitations placed upon each of us by our respective circumstances and gained an appreciation of just how valuable this weekend had been for all of us. We now knew who the person at the other end of the chatroom was and felt that we could demand openness and honesty of each other in the future. At least we felt we would know if someone was exaggerating. We acknowledged that there were other LGs who could likewise benefit from the experience and vowed to try to meet again for another weekend, inviting those LGs from Germany, England, Ireland and Australia with whom we had chatted long enough in advance that they could purchase discounted tickets. We took more pictures as each of us changed back into DRAB and packed our cars for the return trip.
Looking back at the pictures I took, I can see in the faces just how much each of us was changed by the experience. (I can't wait to receive copies of the pictures the others took.) I was able to interact with others who find the LG experience equally fascinating, questioning them about their history and life experience. Jenny, the 19 year old, commented that she almost felt she was "cheating" as she was able to relish an experience which most of us had to wait for half a century to enjoy. In unison, we codgers said, "No, it is yours to enjoy freely."
I recognize that the staff, not knowing what to expect of us in the beginning, went out of their way to make the weekend memorable and, in doing so, made it perfect for us. Although rain kept us from doing much outside, it forced us to stay together and learn to interact with each other. In the process we learned as much about ourselves as we did about each other.
Last Update: 07/15/2002
Web Author: Taffy@Cheerful.Com
Copyright © 1998 by Taffy Cheerful - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
