Carl Hammond

At Star Thru The Golden Gate, 1986

Carl Lynn Hammond
24 Aug 1944 - 21 Mar 1988

Clubs & Associations

Foggy City Dancers
Midnight Squares
Western Star Dancers

In Their Own Words

Letters to the Editor
To the Editor:

There is never an adequate way to express deep feelings of gratitude, appreciation or love. However, after the Cleveland Gay Festival, the Executive Committee of the Greater Cleveland Gay Coalition wants to seize this opportunity to begin thanking all those who helped make this event the most successful gay happening in Cleveland’s history.

While this space is too small to name each individual, organization and business by name, we do want to publicly thank everyone who helped with the Festival. We will be contacting many people individually, however, in some cases one-to-one communication will not be possible. To those anonymous people, "Many thanks for your help and support. We eagerly look forward to the day when you can openly participate with us."

To the business establishments in Cleveland and throughout Ohio who did so much in the way of advertising, selling tickets, donations, contributions and just spreading the word—there can never be enough praise and gratitude for you. “Thanks for caring enough to help us. We hope you and your people enjoyed yourselves that day. Our success is your success."

A special word of thanks to those individuals and businesses who contributed so much "seed” money to the Committee is in order here. This initial funding was what lifted the event off the ground and got it moving first. Without your kind of help, we would never have been so successful. Further, mention must be made of the incredibly beautiful and generous raffle prizes which were donated. The number of prizes was huge and their quality excellent. Many people were made happy because of these prize donations.

The spirit and generosity of those people who volunteered, helped prepare and serve the food, organize and run the games, as well as those who helped run the booths, was simply awe-inspiring. Absolutely no one turned us down when asked to help; many did so much more than was expected that it became difficult, at times, to know who was a volunteer and who was a Committee person. You were wonderful beyond words and we thank you sincerely.

The performers, specifically Mona Desmond and Melissa Ross, did a marvelous job with their shows. The crowd responded warmly to these talented and wonderful people.

The DJ’s, Eric, Larry, Tony and Paul, did a superb job with the music. The sound and mixes were of the highest quality and talent. Gentlemen, you are to <nowiki[be]</nowiki> highly commended as well as thanked."

However, it is to each person who attended, who brought friends and who cared enough to be with the very best, that we owe our greatest debt of gratitude. You helped prove that "gay Cleveland" cares and can putt-it-together. We hope we were able to give you a fun time and memorable day With your help we will do it again next year, perhaps a “Family Reunion.”

Again, from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU EVERYONE!

In love and kinship,
Carl L. Hammond
Secretary, for The Greater Cleveland Gay Coalition ^[1]

Obituary

Carl L. Hammond
Carl Hammond, 44, died March 21, 1988, at home in San Francisco. He is survived by his sister, Martha Hammond, and his best friends Jim Lansdowne and David Lewis. Carl was a supervisor of Customer Service Operations for ASK Computer Systems, Los Altos.

Carl was an avid square dancer and was a member of the Western Star Dancers and Midnight Squares. He also loved lacemaking and was a gifted sketch artist. Carl was a moving force in gay and non-gay politics in Cleveland before relocating to San Francisco in 1981. He is former editor of Ohio's gay newspaper, High GEAR. In San Francisco he was an active member of the Harvey Milk Lesbian & Gay Democratic Club since 1981.

Born and raised in St. Clairesville, Ohio, he was laid to rest there on March 25, 1988. At Carl's request, donations may be made to Harvey Milk AIDS Education Fund, P.O. Box 14368, San Francisco, CA 94114.

An afternoon of "Celebrating Carl" will be held April 2 from 1 to 3 p.m. at 2080 Castro St. (off Duncan). Please call Jim or David at 826-1888 for details.^[2]