Audio Interview, Maureen Boyle and Vickie Fumia, January 10, 2012

KEVIN INDOVINO: She was a really muscular girl, really big,

with short, cropped hair.

MAUREEN BOYLE: I actually (unintelligible) she only

lasted a month.

Somebody went into her face.

EVELYN BAILEY: Brenda?

KEVIN INDOVINO: No, that doesn't sound familiar either.

MAUREEN BOYLE: And she just backed up.

And I went, excuse me, you're the bouncer.

You're supposed to be there.

KEVIN INDOVINO: No, this woman wouldn't have backed up.

Because another friend of mine, who was a straight guy,

tried to come into the bar once to come get me.

And she fessed right up to him and said,

you can't come in here.

I said, but my friend's in there.

And then he almost went to blows about it.

And I looked at it and went, no, no, no, he's with me.

(laughter)

VICKIE FUMIA: Boy, I don't know.

KEVIN INDOVINO: I want to say, Laureen?

Lauren?

Lauren maybe.

VICKIE FUMIA: No.

KEVIN INDOVINO: No.

Geez, I can't remember.

EVELYN BAILEY: Renee?

KEVIN INDOVINO: No, it wasn't Renee.

EVELYN BAILEY: No, Renee only lasted a month.

VICKIE FUMIA: She lasted a short time

because her hand was where it shouldn't have been.

KEVIN INDOVINO: I don't know.

It will come to me.

I remember her specifically because of that incident

with my roommate at the time.

MAUREEN BOYLE: What about fast end bartender?

VICKIE FUMIA: Blonde.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Her girlfriend.

She wasn't tall by any means.

KEVIN INDOVINO: No, she wasn't taller than me.

MAUREEN BOYLE: But time makes people--

KEVIN INDOVINO: But she was big and muscular.

VICKIE FUMIA: Oh, what's her name?

Yeah.

MAUREEN BOYLE: I just said that.

VICKIE FUMIA: Liesels.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah.

VICKIE FUMIA: Carla.

KEVIN INDOVINO: There you go.

VICKIE FUMIA: Carla.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Carla, yes.

VICKIE FUMIA: It's Carla.

KEVIN INDOVINO: It's Carla.

Yep, yep, yep.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yep, yep, yep.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Big girl.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.

That's right (laughter).

MAUREEN BOYLE: Unfortunately, when

you say that, I get this vision of the bruiser.

And Carla--

VICKIE FUMIA: Was not a bruiser.

EVELYN BAILEY: No, she was like, what, 5' 4".

KEVIN INDOVINO: She was about my height, about 5' 6", 5' 7".

MAUREEN BOYLE: Oh, all right.

KEVIN INDOVINO: I seem to remember.

Either that, or she was wearing combat boots

that made her a little taller.

VICKIE FUMIA: Maybe.

MAUREEN BOYLE: And to be real honest,

she was the nicest thing.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Right, exactly.

MAUREEN BOYLE: But I'm sure--

yeah, she would have stiff armed anybody out of there--

KEVIN INDOVINO: Yep.

MAUREEN BOYLE: God, I'm glad we found that name.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

MAUREEN BOYLE: That would have bothered me terribly.

VICKIE FUMIA: I know.

EVELYN BAILEY: Now, were the two of you born in Rochester?

VICKIE FUMIA: I was.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Only one of us has that distinction.

EVELYN BAILEY: And you are--

MAUREEN BOYLE: I'm from New York City, the Bronx, Pelham Bay.

Any further and you get into farmland down there.

EVELYN BAILEY: Wow.

When did you come to Rochester?

MAUREEN BOYLE: Oh, at twenty-one

VICKIE FUMIA: When you were young.

MAUREEN BOYLE: twenty.

EVELYN BAILEY: When you were twenty.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah, well, I left New York

because it was seven million people.

And there were too many.

So I went from New York to--

I went-- I have always done extremes--

I went to Kingston, New York, where there were 600 people.

Unfortunately, I moved in the fall.

And by the end of the winter, I knew all 600 people.

And I said, OK, it's too small.

I have to move.

And then Woodstock happened same summer.

And I went, oh, my god, they're following me.

So I took off and came up here to Rochester.

And I met you within eight months of moving here.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

KEVIN INDOVINO: What year would this be, '70--

VICKIE FUMIA: What was it?

MAUREEN BOYLE: '69, '70?

KEVIN INDOVINO: When was Woodstock?

MAUREEN BOYLE: '71?

'71.

VICKIE FUMIA: '71 was it?

MAUREEN BOYLE: I think. '71-- '72 maybe, by the time

I met you.

VICKIE FUMIA: Could be.

I don't know.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Oh, thank god.

It's you.

(ringtone playing)

I hear these tunes, and I just--

I think I'm hearing things.

I'm of that age where you kind of look around and--

a few other things that annoys me is when I go to a deli

counter, and somebody will suddenly say something to me.

And I look at them and think, they're talking on the phone.

Oh no, they're not.

And I'll answer them.

And of course, they are talking on the phone.

So I feel utterly stupid.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Right, right.

MAUREEN BOYLE: And they get me annoyed enough, I finally turn

around and just go, no, no, no.

No, no.

I'll be home in a half hour.

What else do we need?

All right, I'll be there next.

Yeah, I'll call you back.

Then I hit my head.

And they're, eggplant.

And I'll order what I need, and then I'll leave.

And I'm sure people have called there,

(whispering) I want the eggplant.

(laughter)

EVELYN BAILEY: Oh.

KEVIN INDOVINO: So you were born in Rochester.

Whereabouts?

VICKIE FUMIA: In hospital.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Where did you grow up, right in Rochester?

VICKIE FUMIA: In Irondequoit.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Irondequoit, OK.

So before we get to Rosie's, I want

to kind of get a sense of--

VICKIE FUMIA: OK.

KEVIN INDOVINO: --what Rochester's lesbian

and gay community was like before Rosie's ever came about.

You know, something-- I mean, how far back do you

remember as far as your involvement

in getting into the gay community in Rochester?

VICKIE FUMIA: You, know there was never

an object or a whatever, you know?

I went to private schools.

And then we moved to Ambassador Drive.

And then I went to college.

And I never paid too much attention to it.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Mm-hm.

VICKIE FUMIA: I knew there were gay people and straight people.

And it didn't matter to me.

And then I met Maureen because her partner was looking

for a house in Rochester.

My mother was a realtor, a real estate broker.

And she sold them a house over on Front Street.

And then one time, I'm in the home,

and I said, oh, she's an attractive woman.

And I said, what's the matter with you?

So before that, it never-- you know, if you're gay, fine.

If you're straight, fine.

If you're-- whatever.

But I never paid any attention to it.

MAUREEN BOYLE: We should preface this with the fact

that Vickie owned a Corvette.

So according to my set of preambles here, Vickie was gay.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Because she owned a Corvette?

MAUREEN BOYLE: Oh, that, and the way she walked,

and what she wore.

I assumed.

(whispering) You should never assume.

VICKIE FUMIA: No, you never should.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah, it was in '65, I bought the Corvette.

Because I always wanted one, and my father wouldn't buy me one.

I was really pissed off about that.

He bought me a car.

It was an awful car, oh!

It was a Chevy.

It was, you know, just wasn't what I wanted.

I wanted the Corvette.

So I said, I'll buy it myself.

KEVIN INDOVINO: So up until about 1972,

when you met Maureen, you really weren't very much involved

with the gay community in Rochester.

VICKIE FUMIA: No.

KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.

So let's take it from--

MAUREEN BOYLE: Neither of us were.

VICKIE FUMIA: Well--

KEVIN INDOVINO: The two of you meeting then?

EVELYN BAILEY: Was there anything in your environment

that was negative toward the gay community?

Anybody say anything about--

VICKIE FUMIA: Never came up, no.

No.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

VICKIE FUMIA: No.

EVELYN BAILEY: Because that's what we were hearing.

VICKIE FUMIA: You know--

well, my parents entertained a lot.

And they were part of the medical/dental community.

And my uncle was OB/GYN to deliver babies.

And there was never any--

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

VICKIE FUMIA: --you know?

No, there was no plus, or minus, or anything.

But then my mother was a little shocked

when your friend, your ex-friend,

told her that we were queer, or gay, or something.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about that.

When was that?

Talk to me about that experience.

EVELYN BAILEY: So was Maureen your first?

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

VICKIE FUMIA: And we've been friends ever since.

Strange.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Incredible.

My biggest worry was that I'd run out of conversation.

Obviously, I haven't.

VICKIE FUMIA: No, thank goodness.

Well, my mother was a little horrified, you know?

And it was OK if you were gay, but not in her family.

So we kind of stayed out of the--

out of her view.

And-- oh, no, is that when she got mad at me and told me

I had to move?

Maybe that was.

And so I got an apartment on Elmwood Avenue.

MAUREEN BOYLE: No, you were already in the apartment.

VICKIE FUMIA: Was I?

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah.

VICKIE FUMIA: Oh, OK.

She must have gotten mad at me for something else.

MAUREEN BOYLE: She always did.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

But it wasn't--

I don't even remember what she said.

Are you queer?

Or something like that.

I said, no, of course not.

I mean, what else would you say, yes?

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah.

VICKIE FUMIA: No.

No, no, no, no, no.

MAUREEN BOYLE: We owned a gay bar.

And according to my parents, I mean,

I always used T and G when I was talking about the bar.

Did they know I was gay?

Yes.

Did we discuss it openly?

VICKIE FUMIA: No.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah.

And it was like an unspoken language.

When my parents came up, we had the bar.

And I had looked at everybody in the bar,

and I said, now, listen to me.

My parents are coming in.

Boy girl, boy girl.

I do not want to see two girls together, two guys together.

Do you understand me?

And they were like [silent] I said, I'm serious.

I'll bar you here from life.

And you know we have memories like elephants.

And they were like, OK.

And I swear to God, I have never seen so many people

jumping stools from each other as when my parents came in.

And the bartender was trying to be nice.

And my mother was drinking a Coke.

And he'd keep grabbing the glass to put more Coke in it.

And my mother would bring it back to her.

And I'd go, Mom, he's not going to take your glass.

He just wants to fill it some more.

She goes, I'm fine.

I really am.

I'm fine.

And then my father went through the bar, and he came out.

And I looked at him and I said, so what do you think?

He nodded, and he looked at me.

He said, I'm impressed.

And I went, and you waited for the but?

And he walked outside.

I looked at my mother and said, he's impressed, but what?

My mother said, he said he was impressed.

I said, I heard that.

But where's the but?

And she looked at me.

And she said, there is no but.

And I went, oh!

Oh!

OK!

VICKIE FUMIA: Oh, god.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Let's just jump back a little bit though.

When did you first discover the gay community in Rochester,

where you decided, OK, we need to get involved.

MAUREEN BOYLE: I'll open a bar.

VICKIE FUMIA: Well, you see--

KEVIN INDOVINO: Because my guess is that you didn't

open this bar right away.

You had to get to know the community a little bit.

VICKIE FUMIA: I own the building.

KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.

VICKIE FUMIA: I get to know the community.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Really?

VICKIE FUMIA: Kind of.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Wait.

We owned an antique shop, so we met

a few gay people along the way.

And you meet gay people by, kind of, that look.

No one ever says anything until you finally break down,

and you go, yeah, we can be friends.

The people next to us, Laurie and Penny.

They were gay.

We knew them.

Laurie and Penny would go out to the bars. (whispering) God

forbid we did.

Vickie was a teacher.

And we had each other.

And it wasn't like we needed to go out and dance.

Well, Vickie doesn't dance.

And with the antique shop, we worked it

like eighteen hours a day.

So we really didn't have a social life.

And it was on Monroe Avenue.

So we saw a whole lot of--

well, life.

I mean, it was Monroe Avenue.

It was the closest you can get to New York City up here.

Then Vickie bought the building on Monroe Avenue.

And Friar's was across the street.

Vickie would sit in our little antique shop

with her face pasted against that door going,

do you see all the people in there?

And then we started going even more.

KEVIN INDOVINO: OK, so let me-- just back up here.

So before it was Rosie's, it was an antique shop.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Well, yeah.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

Yeah, it was.

I bought the building.

And we put the antique shop in there.

KEVIN INDOVINO: OK, what year did we start the antique shop?

VICKIE FUMIA: OK, the antique shop, we had had for a long--

MAUREEN BOYLE: Long time.

See, we're not good with the dates either.

VICKIE FUMIA: Dates, I'm terrible with.

But we had had it for, I don't know,

a few years, the antique shop.

And so yeah, I got this building.

We might as well use the space.

We'll put the antique shop in there.

And then we decided--

I decided-- that there were other ways

to make money besides an antique shop.

And Maureen, you sit here shaking your head?

MAUREEN BOYLE: When she had this brilliant idea,

we were sitting at Friar's at the time.

Vickie knew Renee, started to know Renee.

Vickie leaned over and said, do you

see the money going over that bar?

Dollar bills hand over fist going across that bar.

We could do this.

And I went, (whispering) we know nothing about the bar business.

You'll lose your shirt.

And she went, (whispering) we didn't know anything

about the antique business.

And I went, (whispering) you knew antiques.

Huge difference.

So after this quiet conversation,

it just formulated in Vickie's brain

until she couldn't stand it And she kept saying,

(whispering) bright lights.

Money, bright lights.

And I kept saying, you don't understand.

It's going to be a lot, a lot, of work.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

Well--

MAUREEN BOYLE: And Vickie went, (whispering) bright lights.

(laughter)

VICKIE FUMIA: Those will get you any time, every time.

MAUREEN BOYLE: You know, she is a wonderful DJ.

She has a wonderful sense of rhythm.

She can't dance to save her life.

But her rhythm, and the way she would mix music--

and the lights would be going.

Vickie had a wonderful time.

She loved her lights.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yes, I did.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Did we make money hand over fist?

VICKIE FUMIA: No.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Did we work hard?

VICKIE FUMIA: Yes, we did.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Was it good for any of my relationships?

Why?

Because I owned the candy shop.

And I could have any piece of candy I wanted.

And I went, huh?

Are you kidding me?

In order to designate people, you

would designate them by what they drank.

And I once was going out with--

or I was just starting to go out with-- this girl

by the name of Susan.

Well, unfortunately she drank the same thing as another Susan

who I knew.

So we couldn't distinguish them by what they drank.

But we could by age.

She was twenty-nine.

So we called Susan, who's twenty-nine.

Susan twenty-nine.

Susan twenty-nine assumed I had had twenty-nine Susans.

And I went, oh, my god!

And you still went home with me?

And she went, yeah.

And I went, oh, dear god, I wouldn't

have touched with a bowl if you had twenty-nine.

And then I stopped.

I went, you haven't, have you?

You know it's moot at that point.

Well, deed's done. (laughter)

So to be real honest, we really didn't know the gay community

until Vickie wanted to open a bar.

And we should have known on Vickie's 40th--

you had just turned forty when you opened the bar.

Vickie's 40th birthday happened.

I decided to give her a party.

Took her out for dinner.

Brought her back to the bar.

I said, look, we're going to open in a few days.

Let's just go in.

The boys were on one side.

The girls were on another.

These are people who had known each other for at least as long

as we've known them, for at least Ten years.

I went in there, and I went, [silence]

And they all soon yelled, happy birthday.

But it was like, well, I want the girls singing it first

to the boys.

I was like, you know each other.

Why are we in groups here?

And that's, honestly, how the bar was.

When we opened the bar, we opened a gay bar.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yes, we did.

MAUREEN BOYLE: And we meant it for men and women.

VICKIE FUMIA: It wasn't for women or men.

It was for both.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Right.

VICKIE FUMIA: We thought it was time that they got together.

MAUREEN BOYLE: You need both sides

of any coin for a logical view of anything.

And to be real honest, at last call,

he still doesn't want to go home with me.

He will go home with somebody ugly, but not me.

And I look at the girls and go, why?

why?

Not for nothing, but why?

This is our bar.

And I'd go, well, to be real honest,

it's Vickie's and my bar.

So I like the guys.

They're allowed to come in.

And most of them are my friends.

So be nice to them, or I'll throw you out!

VICKIE FUMIA: Because we need many more guys than women.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah, we did.

EVELYN BAILEY: Why did you name it Rosie's?

MAUREEN BOYLE: That was Vickie's.

It wasn't just Rosie's.

Ask her the full name.

VICKIE FUMIA: The legal name was Rosie's Truck Stop Baths Bar

and Disco.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Inc.

VICKIE FUMIA: Incorporated. (laughter)

Rosie's Truck Stop Baths Bar and Disco, Incorporated.

MAUREEN BOYLE: And I looked at her, and I said, what?

And she went, we might expand.

And I went, oh, OK.

KEVIN INDOVINO: You were thinking ahead.

VICKIE FUMIA: I certainly was.

I liked the name.(laughter)

MAUREEN BOYLE: You remember the iconic stained glass window?

And maybe you didn't.

But there was a stained glass window

in there dedicated to two brothers.

We got it out of the Presbyterian church

on East Avenue.

And the reason it's--

VICKIE FUMIA: Down here by--

MAUREEN BOYLE: --was because Tiffany

made some of the windows.

VICKIE FUMIA: Smile, or--

MAUREEN BOYLE: I looked over that window.

VICKIE FUMIA: --union?

Union.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Union.

Anyway, when they found out--

the neighborhood found out-- that we were opening a gay

bar--

and how they did, I have no idea,

it's not like we said gay bar opening--

but they decided we were opening a gay bar.

They made life (whispering) a little bit miserable.

And the parishioners would come walking in front of us saying,

you know it's blasphemous that you're using that window.

And they'd scream, and they'd yell,

and they'd carry on like trash.

Finally, I got tired of it.

And I walked out there, and I said, excuse me.

I bought that window.

Now, if it hadn't been unholy-ized by you guys,

we wouldn't have been able to buy it.

But we did buy it.

And if you don't stop yelling about this,

I will have our cancelled check published.

And on the cancelled check, it says Rosie's Truck Stop Baths

Bar and Disco, Inc. on the top of the check.

And your minister accepted it.

So if you don't want to see that in the paper--

and I will buy it as an advertisement,

I think 1/8 of a page would be perfect--

I suggest you stop coming by here yelling.

And I walked back into the bar.

Vickie looked at me, and she says, oh, my god,

I can't believe you did that.

And I said, well, I got tired of them.

Well, don't laugh. (laughter) She rented to AA.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah, I did.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah.

Vickie thought it was funny. (laughter)

VICKIE FUMIA: I get tired of people getting drunk.

They're supposed to come and have a good time.

MAUREEN BOYLE: She would send me over to people.

Tell Calvin he's drinking too much.

What?

We own a bar.

VICKIE FUMIA: I had an empty shop.

And I rented to AA.

MAUREEN BOYLE: And then they started marching.

VICKIE FUMIA: And then I'd send them there.

MAUREEN BOYLE: They were marching in front of my corner.

I went out.

And I said, excuse me, I don't think

you're allowed to march here.

VICKIE FUMIA: I did a lot of public service.

MAUREEN BOYLE: And Vickie looked at me--

the guy looked at me.

He said, I rent here.

And I went, what?

I said, I don't think so.

He goes, oh, yes.

I rent that third shop.

I went, OK, parade down there.

You cannot parade on my corner.

Parade down there.

So I got on the phone.

I said, did you rent to AA?

And she went, oh, yeah.

I forgot to tell you.

I-- thanks, and I slammed down the phone.

I said, I can't believe she did that. (laughter)

VICKIE FUMIA: Well, you know, they

have to have someplace to go too.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Equal opportunity.

VICKIE FUMIA: That's right.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Then, because she's

on the downtown beautification committee-- god

knows how you got on that.

VICKIE FUMIA: Oh, it was the--

MAUREEN BOYLE: I thought it was broads ware, square, actually,

when we were involved in that.

VICKIE FUMIA: No, it was--

MAUREEN BOYLE: Anyway, for five years,

Vickie would get the citizen--

the citizen of Rochester award.

It would come.

And she'd show it to me.

And I go, son of a bitch.

Why the hell do you get that?

She goes, because I keep people off the streets.

VICKIE FUMIA: That wasn't why I got it.

MAUREEN BOYLE: But you said that's why you got it.

That was enough. (laughter) It wasn't funny.

Life was miserable for me. (laughter)

And then when one of us would go away

for vacation, usually when I'd go away for vacation,

I would leave Vickie.

Our employees would always be very unhappy.

They'd go, she didn't smile for two weeks.

I said, well, none of you, obviously, entertained her.

(whispering) I'm saying, not for two weeks.

We thought we were all going to get fired.

Oh, good.

Did we make any money?

Whatever she didn't steal.

I'd go, really?

OK.

Well, aren't you going to do anything about it?

I said, yeah.

I'm going to wait till she goes on vacation and steal it back.

That's a good idea.

I thought so.

Plus we make more money when I'm here.

And I'd look at Vickie, and I go,

they honest to God believe you don't?

VICKIE FUMIA: They'd tell me that you were stealing.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah.

That we don't talk to each other?

I'm thinking, no, obviously not.

KEVIN INDOVINO: What year did Rosie's open up?

VICKIE FUMIA: OK, let me think.

It had to be--

it was open for--

MAUREEN BOYLE: Twelve years.

VICKIE FUMIA: Twelve years.

And we closed in, what '90--

let's see.

19--

MAUREEN BOYLE: OK, we opened in--

How old are you?

Go back that way.

Because with forty--

VICKIE FUMIA: seventy-three.

MAUREEN BOYLE: You're seventy-three.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

MAUREEN BOYLE: All right, seventy-three, forty.

Thirty-three years ago, we opened.

Thirty-three years ago makes it '79.

VICKIE FUMIA: That's right, '79.

'79.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Because the first time

I saw an ad for Rosie's, in the Empty Closet, was--

I think I wrote you an email.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, you said '79.

MAUREEN BOYLE: August.

July, August of 1979.

Because we were trying to open up that summer,

and we couldn't because of something or other.

Oh, our entertainment license.

That was another thing.

We were almost thrown out of business there.

We don't have me deal with government and people.

VICKIE FUMIA: No, no, no.

MAUREEN BOYLE: I upset them.

KEVIN INDOVINO: So did you close it in what, '91?

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah, I think.

Yeah.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

KEVIN INDOVINO: So you touched upon this a little bit

when you first opened up, and the kind of crowd

you were getting.

How did that--

VICKIE FUMIA: Change?

KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, how did your clientele change,

and how quickly did it change?

MAUREEN BOYLE: It became non-existent

in our second month.

We fired Renee.

Well--

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

MAUREEN BOYLE: And then the bartenders--

are we allowed to say this, considering Jesse won't

be able to be interviewed?

EVELYN BAILEY: Jesse--

VICKIE FUMIA: Bulo.

EVELYN BAILEY: Bulo.

MAUREEN BOYLE: OK.

End it up this way.

Jesse had priors.

And Jesse's bartender, whether or not

Jesse said, yes, do this or not, we have no idea.

And nor do we think he would have.

But the bartenders would ask the guys,

where are you going there?

And everybody goes to a new gay bar to see all new faces.

They don't realize that everybody

who's been in some of those bars is going over here.

They're the same faces.

Anyway, all new faces, supposedly, at the new bar.

Well, after the first month, you realize there are no new faces.

We go back to where we're comfortable.

And when they didn't come back fast enough,

the bartenders would say it's a girl's bar to the guys.

And when the girls would come in, they'd go,

it's a guy's bar.

Why are you going over there?

So they were telling both sexes, whichever bar they weren't, it

was the opposite.

So we had nobody.

And unfortunately, a lot of the bartenders we didn't hire

get a little obnoxious.

One of them, unfortunately, made Vickie cry.

Not a good thing to do.

I got very angry.

So I went across to Friar's to confront the bartender.

Unfortunately, I got to confront Renee, which I didn't think

was a bad idea either.

Vickie was running after me and just couldn't grab me.

She was just a hair slips too short.

And I had fire in my eyes.

I was going to kill--

well, it was a guy, a black haired guy.

What was his name?

VICKIE FUMIA: Not Buddy.

MAUREEN BOYLE: No, he was Renee's cousin.

And we fired him too.

Anyway, I was chasing him.

And--

VICKIE FUMIA: Not Tony Green.

MAUREEN BOYLE: No, no, no, no.

Tony never came to the full bartender job with us.

Anyway, I think we were the only people who

ever had him as a bartender.

He was a slob, just a slob.

He was a real bad drunk.

Anyway, I went chasing him, didn't find him.

Found Renee instead.

Thought well, what the hell.

I'll kill her.

She stole $5,000 from me.

I want to kill her.

So I went lunging towards Renee, and--

well, Jesse was always in the way.

And some way or another, he grabbed a hold of Vickie

and put Vickie in front of him and sidestepped both of us.

So Rene was totally exposed.

I went for Renee.

She threw the girlfriend at me.

So I ended up catching the girlfriend.

Never got Renee.

I just put the girlfriend up, looked and realized

Jesse was holding Vickie.

I grabbed a hold of Vickie, pushed Vickie behind me.

I looked at her, and I said, we're going to stay.

We'll still be across the street when you're dead and buried.

And stormed out of there.

Wonderful last words.

And for the next two years, we sat there

looking at each other, almost.

I think it was at least a year.

VICKIE FUMIA: No, it wasn't that long.

It wasn't that long.

And we said, well, we'll have to have--

you know, if the guys aren't coming,

then the girls will have to come.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Well, nobody was coming there for a while.

VICKIE FUMIA: I know.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Then the girls started trickling in.

VICKIE FUMIA: They started coming.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Then we did juice bar.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yes, we did.

We did juice bar.

And every place else was closed.

So they'd come over to our place.

And then they started coming in--

MAUREEN BOYLE: For last call.

VICKIE FUMIA: And they'd come in afternoons.

Because we were open from, what, 2:00?

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah.

VICKIE FUMIA: 2:00 on.

And they just kept coming.

And then it was predominantly women that came in.

And that was fine.

They were still drinking.

Yeah.

And the juice bar was fun.

It really was.

You'd have the police there to begin with,

checking to make sure it was juice and not something else.

But they went away.

And we went ahead with it, and we stayed in business

for a long time.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Until it stopped being fun.

VICKIE FUMIA: And then I said to Maureen, you know,

it's not fun anymore.

MAUREEN BOYLE: It wasn't fun for over a year.

At which point, I called Vickie, and I said, you're right.

It's not fun.

Well, actually. what happened was

that I was sitting talking to someone,

and I said something about do you

remember where you were when President Kennedy got shot?

And unfortunately, somebody who was like all of ten

was standing between us and said, oh, you were alive then?

And I looked at her.

And I went, yes.

And she floated away very quickly.

And I turned around, and I said, Jesus, I suddenly

feel like I was alive for Abraham Lincoln's shot.

And the girl looked at me and said, don't be silly,

you look fine.

And I was like, that doesn't sound good either.

Then I started thinking about it.

And I said, no, I really--

I've now become a legend in my own time.

Time to move on.

Called Vickie up, and I said, it is no longer fun.

It hasn't been fun in years.

I said, they don't even have a fight anymore.

I haven't had a bad fight before.

VICKIE FUMIA: Of course, they wouldn't have a fight.

Because as soon as they had a fight, we'd called the police.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Well, that, and the fact

that we barred them for life.

And no one got back in.

VICKIE FUMIA: So why are you going

to bother to fight there if you're never

going to come back?

Hell, we had the best lights, and we had the best music.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Pretty good DJs.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

Yeah, it was fun.

MAUREEN BOYLE: And to be real honest, it really was fun.

VICKIE FUMIA: It was fun for a long time.

MAUREEN BOYLE: Yeah.

We used to decorate wonderfully.

We were discussing that earlier.

We had decorated once, and we had decorated up our cast iron

pipes in the middle of the bar with ferns--

the poles-- with ferns.

And Gary had wired the little lights.

Well, we also had a little fire with 400 people there.

And I couldn't get out from behind the bar.

So I was going over the top.

And I'm going to lunge for the pipe

and just drag it down to the ground.

And Vickie walks over, pushes her way through the crowd,

pulls the thing down and stomps on it.

I was like, good one. (unintelligible) (laughter)

KEVIN INDOVINO: Do you think, somewhere within this twelve

years of operating this business,

do you think you carved out some sort of particular need

for the gay community?

VICKIE FUMIA: Yeah.

KEVIN INDOVINO: I mean, do you think

you made a significant contribution

for this community?

VICKIE FUMIA: Absolutely.

They had a nice place to go.

We had a nice place to go.

MAUREEN BOYLE: They got good liquor.

VICKIE FUMIA: Yep.

We didn't water anything down.

And you knew that you weren't going to have a lot of trouble

there because we jumped on trouble right away.

That was it.

And if we had to go down to the public whatever--

MAUREEN BOYLE: Court.

VICKIE FUMIA: --where the polices are,

we'd go at night when we closed up.

MAUREEN BOYLE: We'd show up.

Cops used to love to come to work

with us because they knew we'd be there at court the next day.

And they would get something on their collar or whatever,

and it would go through.

VICKIE FUMIA: So we stopped trouble pretty much early on.

MAUREEN BOYLE: And I think the cops, in general,