At the Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) 2011 Cherry Grove Gathering, on July 16 at the home of Jack Dowling, the New York City-wide organization, as well as local Grove organizations, celebrated the myriad accomplishments and contributions of Grovite and Brooklynite Harold Seeley.
Well-known as Cherry Grove’s Archivist, Seeley said, “Twenty-five years ago, I started chasing SAGE to start an archive” and, on this occasion, he donated a book of photos of SAGE events to the organization.

Announcing the opening of the SAGE Citywide Center, in New York City on January 12, 2012, SAGE Executive Director Michael Adams said, “Harold has been very, very, very active in SAGE since its earliest days.” Noting that Seeley volunteers with SAGE’s social committee, Adams said, “He has such a passion for SAGE history.” Adams concluded with, “From the bottoms of our hearts, we want to thank you for your inspiration, your dedication [and] your commitment.”

Arts Project of Cherry Grove (APCG) President Michael Coffindaffer, whom Seeley calls his “baby brother,” said, “We’re here to celebrate an individual we can always count on … for his creative wizardry … and his vision and how freely he has given of them for so many years: 50-plus years to St. Michael’s, his church in Brooklyn, 35 years and counting to APCG, 28 years to SAGE. What he’s given to the Arts Project is immeasurable, the same is true for SAGE, [and] the same is true for St. Michael’s.”

Cherry Grove Community Association, Inc. (CGCAI) President Diane Romano spoke of CGCAI’s Save Our Community House campaign, for which Seeley is a volunteer; of “his ideas of what the Archives room” in the Community House “should look like;” and of his Archive shows.

Nathan Harris, from SAGE, spoke as well.