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Charities get donations from surprising places

Local drag queens and a resort have made donations to charities of more than $135,000.

By JENNIFER STEWART
Published August 6, 2006

John Naayers sauntered across the stage, graceful in black chunky heels with straps over his thick feet. He lip-synched Midnight Train to Georgia.

Kevin Daniel gnawed on a chicken leg from a KFC bucket he pulled from under his skirt. He impersonated Karen Carpenter singing What the World Needs Now.

During different songs, Daniel and his partner, Thomas Gagnon, tore off their glitzy ball gowns to reveal black leather chaps with Speedo-like briefs.

Delighted patrons, mainly men, eagerly tucked dollar bills under the elastic of the drag queens' bikini briefs.

The money was on its way - to a destination you might find surprising.

Since 2002, Naayers, Daniel and Gagnon, collectively the Twisted Divas, have taken in tens of thousands of dollars. They do not use the money to splurge on fancy hairdos or sequined dresses.

Rather, the drag queens donate the money to some of Pasco's neediest people, through agencies such as Healthy Families Pasco, Pasco Kids First, Sunrise of Pasco County's domestic violence center and the Association of Retarded Citizens of the Nature Coast.

The Twisted Divas perform where they live and work, the Sawmill Camping Resort, a gay and lesbian, clothing-optional park.

Naayers heads up the campground's promotions department. Daniel is a bartender, and Gagnon works in housekeeping.

Anyone can sign up to perform with them in the shows, which are held late every other Sunday night at the Sawmill venue regulars call "Woody's."

It isn't in the phone book. Patrons don't find it by chance.

The obscure bar sits well within the 80-plus acre Sawmill campground, which is in a remote location beyond the cattle farms of east Pasco County.

Ron Traner and his partner of nearly 15 years, Jim Stephens, own Sawmill and serve as directors of Sawmill Charities, set up to meet the legal requirement that net proceeds from bingo games go to charity.

Since 2002, Sawmill Charities has made donations totaling more than $135,000. The drag queens' contributions represent about half that figure.

Years ago, the original Twisted Divas asked the owners if they could contribute the proceeds from the drag shows, including their tips, to Sawmill Charities. "We can lump it all together and give more," Traner said.

Because the business caters to gays and lesbians in a rural community not known for diversity, the owners were extremely wary of any publicity.

They asked that none of Sawmill's members be identified, the resort's exact location be omitted and expressed concern about how the publicity would impact their operation.

That's partly because the men often donate by mail using Sawmill stationery that makes no reference to the resort's clientele.

But Kathy Bell, program manager for Healthy Families Pasco, remembers when one of them walked into the agency's office at the Trilby Community Center. She doesn't know whether it was Traner or Stephens; she just remembers he asked a supervisor what they do there, and "if they feed people."

"We tell everybody," Bell said. "We're very happy and proud of what we do."

A couple of days later, the visitor from Sawmill dropped off a check for about $1,000.

The agency accepted that donation and the others that have followed.

"We have been trained to be non-judgmental," Bell said. "We're just very appreciative of the funding, which has enabled us to do a lot of good."

As for the Sawmill owners, Bell said, "They obviously didn't want a lot of accolades for" contributing to a good cause.

Some don't share Bell's attitude toward contributions from a gay and lesbian resort.

Traner and Stephens suspect that an east Pasco County church - they won't name it - returned their check because of where it came from.

"It's kinda sad," Stephens said.

Traner and Stephens own a home in Hernando County, a few miles from Sawmill. They started dating in 1992 after they met in Jacksonville.

The two are quiet businessmen who listen to talk radio and are removed from the party aspects of the campground.

"This is serious work," Traner said. "We never close."

Their staff of about 30 includes a general manager and security personnel that patrol the park and man the entrance. The campground has about 30 cabins and 145 sites for tents and recreational vehicles.

"It would be very easy for us to fill up every site long-term ... but that would be a trailer park," Stephens said.

Currently, narrow gravel roads with a 5 mph speed limit wind around the nature trails, lake and pool at Sawmill, where dogs are allowed in the standard cabins and a $10 fee for yearly membership is required for admittance.

Through that process, Sawmill has signed up nearly 35,000 members since it opened in 1998.

Healthy Families Pasco was the designated charity for the June drag show.

That night, Woody's looked like a nightclub with neon green, orange and pink lights and unusual decor, like large papier-mache swans filled with artificial ivy.

There were 25 or so patrons. It was a slow night. During holiday weekends, the place is packed.

Despite the attendance, or maybe because of it, the Twisted Divas kept pushing the crowd to donate to Healthy Families Pasco.

"We do this on our own, off the clock, to raise money for charity," Naayers said after his Midnight Train to Georgia set.

Midway through the show, they had raised $90. Naayers said the goal was $200.

A Sawmill employee challenged his co-workers to give at least $35.

The drag queens kept pushing guests to give more.

Then, an anonymous donor gave $100.

Another guest wrote a check for $100.

In the end, they had raised $586.

[Last modified August 5, 2006, 19:18:43]