PAGE 6 Q-Notes T February 1994
Oleen's
February
Fri., 2-4 Queen of Hearts Pageant
Featuring the Tradesmen
Sat., 2-5 Ashley Jordan, Tiffany Storm
and Kasey King
Fri., 2-11 Veronica Lee and
Sandy Kaye Daniels
Sat., 2-12 An Evening At La Cage with
the Oleen's House Cast
Fri., 2-18 Talent Night With Kasey King
Sat., 2-19 Veronica Lee, Kerry Nichols,
and Boom-Boom LaTour
Fri., 2-25 Gypsy Starr, Ashley Jordan
and Tiffany Storm
Sat., 2-26 Sandy Kaye Daniels,
Gypsy Starr and Tracy Morgan
DAILY SPECIALS
Sunday: No Cover 'til 8, Free Pool 'til 8 pm.
Free Buffet at 6:30 pm.
$1.50 House Drinks all day.
Monday: 50^i Big Cup Draft, $1.50 House Drinks, $1
Schnapps, $20 Bar Tab Pool Tournament.
Tuesday: $1.50 House Drinks,
$1 Domestic Beer
Wednesday: $5 Can Beer — All You Can Drink,
$1.50 House Drinks
Thursday: $4.00 All You Can Drink Draft.
1831 South Boulevard
Charlotte, ]\orth Carolina
(704) 373-9604
Going for the gay gold
Charlotte powerlifter in training for Gay Games IV
by Frank Dalrymple
Special to Q-Notes
Billed as “an international, Olympic-style
athletic and cultural festival open to ^1,” Gay
Games is the realization of former Olympic
gay athlete the late Dr. Tom Waddell. The
first Gay Games was held in San Francisco in
1982. It hosted 300 athletes from 12 nations.
Now called “the largest athletic and cul
tural event in the world,” Gay Games IV, to
be held June 18-25 in New York City, expects
15,000 -21,000 athletes from over 40 coun
tries participating in some 31 events and an
unprecedented half million spectators. Among
the competitors will be Charlotte powerlifter
Sandy Crenshaw. For Sandy, like Dr.
Waddell, her appearance will be a dream
fulfilled.
By the time she arrives in New York,
Crenshaw (also known to many as “Sam”)
will have completed ten months of highly
disciplined and vigorous daily training.
Crenshaw pumps...
A powerlifting competitor from the early
1980s, Sandy decided over four months ago
to train for Gay Games IV. Reuniting with
her trainer, Charles Presley, a master lifter
and renowned record holder himself, he started
Sandy on aregimentof workouts and strength
ening exercises to prepare her to lift weight.
Powerlifting competitions incorporate three
events—Deadlift, Squat and Bench Press.
“You make your body ready physically,
and then your mind. After warming up for the
first month, you get focused, and then you
‘get the fight,”’ says Sandy.
She is also an ‘all natural’ athlete. “I do not
havean anabolically assisted workout. I don’t
use steroids of any kind, and don’t intend to
between now and then. That’s one of the ways
I’ve maintained the strength I had from the
early ‘80s, because it’s natural. With steroids,
you often lose the strengUi when you’re off
the drug. I’m fortunate to have natural
strength.”
Sandy is also on a regimented diet of tuna,
egg whites, vegetables, fish, chicken and fruits,
with a daily supplement of about 10 vitamins.
(“A trip to GNC usually runs about $100.”)
On the subjectof being lesbian, Sandy had
tliis to offer, “I want to bring anew dimension
to homosexuality and the South. I’d like to
change the image, bring new characteristics
to ‘butch’ women. Strength is the key ele
ment in my home, my relationship witli God,
mypartnerandmycommunity. Strong women
should not ‘say’ they want to be a certain way,
but live it. I hope I can start to change that.”
When asked if her trainer is gay, Sandy
says, “No, he’s straight, a very open-minded
individual who’s given me his talents as agift
from his heart, and I thank him greatly... I
love him.”
Even though Charlie Presley has offered
his guided program free-of-charge, Sandy is
receiving no financial assistance with her
participation in the international event. All
expenses have been out-of-pocket, and to
date have reached about $2,0()0. She was also
quick to point out that this endeavor is the
involvement of four people. “He hasn’t just
made great sacrifices, his wife has.” The
other silent partner is, of course, her spouse of
five years, Tracey Petralia. They dated for
two years and exchanged vows in an MCC
Holy Union in 1991. “She led me to Christ.
She taught me that all things are possible, and
how to channel my energies.”
Along with their support, she will also
need a massage therapist to travel with her,
making her New York venture (her first Big
Apple visit) a very expensive one. “My
mother is a hundred percent supportive. If she
wasn’t afraid of flying, she’d probably be
accompanying us.”
Sandy is a member of Team Carolinas, a
coalition of participating Gay Games athletes
from both North and South Carolina. Each
athlete is not only facing the challenge of
training but personal financing, as well.
Crenshaw says she will compete in a 181
Weight Class, and, together with Presley, is
working toward powerlifts based on previous
records.
...and pumps
“The back of my belt says ‘God give me
strength.’ That’s a positive. I pray to God for
my strength because he giveth and he can
taketh away, or not protect it”
On the pursuit of victory, she adds, “As far
as ‘going for the gold,’ you always do the best
you can do... I will. If you’re going to do
something, try to do it the best you can,
whether you’re gay or straight. I’d like to see
the gay community continue in that direction.
We’ve got an opportunity with Gay Games
IV to do that. To win gold would be for that
purpose.”
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