On August 31, at the Community House, the Arts Project of Cherry Grove (APCG) hosted the premiere of the 78-minute “working cut” of James Belzer’s documentary film “Coming of Age in Cherry Grove: the Invasion,” to great acclaim, and the director and a number of us who are in the film were present. The work is dedicated to the memory of late landscaper and gardener Michael Guerette, who owned Garden Grove and was a member of the Cherry Grove Fire Department, and clips of him, speaking about the Grove, made Belzer’s endeavor particularly poignant. Invaluable, too, are interviews with Grove veterans Charity and Rita George, the second and third Miss Fire Island, and China, Cobra and Victor, and Ruth and Susan Freedner, and with Panzi, Bella, and Rose Levine about the origins of the Grove Invasion of the Pines. There are also archival stills and clips of Cherry Grove in the 1940s and scenes and songs—including Rose’s “I’m Still Here”—from more recent APCG shows at the Community House.
Also interviewed are the Pines’ Robin Byrd and Gil Neary; Belvedere’s John and Craig Eberhardt and Julien Darcelien; Cherry’s DJ Susan Levine and Sabel Scities; and the Ice Palace’s Sal Piro, and entertainers Porsche, Ariel Sinclair, and Logan Hardcore, with clips from their performances; Carl Luss, on his work to get state and national landmark status for the Community House; Cherry Grove Community Association, Inc. President Diane Romano; Cherry Grove Guys.com's Mike Fisher and Gary Sacks; photographer Lorraine Michels and Joan Van Ness; Coco and Margo; Sibyl Bruncheon; Robin Kradles; Daniel Nardicio, with clips of Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli singing, “Just Dance” and “What Makes a Man a Man” respectively, and of Margaret Cho, all at the Ice Palace; Renée Flaming; Blackie O; Michael Fitzgerald; Chet; Adrian Milton; this writer, about the Mr. Fire Island Leather contest; and with Phil Otten, Barbara Ann Levy, and Denise Harbin, who no longer come here. Among the others glimpsed in the film are members of the Fire Department; Philomena; Bianca Del Rio; Sayville Ferry Service’s Ken Stein; Jason Cozmo; Dallas Dubois; Richie and Wes; Lynn Belensky; Mr. Fire Island Leather 2005 Joe Saporito; La Tormenta; and Mr. Fire Island Leather 2013 Candido Soares escorting Homecoming Queen 2013 Shirley Shapiro at last year’s Invasion.