Happy Derby day Mayo!!

It's 2 of Miss Ginger's favorite spring Holidays, all rolled into one!!  Can't wait to see all her friends at Derby Day!!

The press has recently criticized the adult beverage companies for turning Cinco de Mayo from a cultural observance to a drunkfest.  Miss Ginger is gonna have to do a little research on that...

Meanwhile, Jeebus weeps for usurped holidays.....

It's That Time Again!

It's time for everyone's favorite "run for the roses!" (And what queen doesn't LOVE roses?!)

Hosted, once again, by your's truly, Miss Ginger Grant!

It's our 5th annual, and this party has grown to be QUITE a hoot- so if you can't make it to Kentucky (and why would you want to?) then make it to EJ's! 

Count Down to Derby Day!

It time to start making those big hats!  Derby Day will be here before you know it!  Check out the details here!

Derby Day is Coming!!

It's hard to believe it's almost May, and time for our 4th Annual Derby Day Celebration, benefiting Legacy Community Health Services!  If you've not been to Derby Day before, be sure to come out and join the fun!  Derby Day is all about the hat, so be sure to create your fabulous, most gravity-defying chapeau to enter our Big Hat Contest!  Too butch for a bonnet?  This year,  we're adding a "Construction Hat Contest" to celebrating the progress of Legacy's fabulous new building on California Street in Montrose!  You won't want to miss our legendary Drag Horse Races, and of course, we'll televise the running of the race to see who can pick the winner!!


By the by, gurls and boiz,  Derby Day is the kickoff for our annual Mr, Ms, and Miss Mint Julep Contest, where we crown the boy, girl, and boygirl who raise the most money for Legacy Community Health Services over the course of the summer!  If you want to enter the contest, contact Timmy at tjmartinez@legacycommunityhealth.org   The sooner your declare your candidacy, the sooner you can start your fundraising efforts!  As a special bonus, decare your candidacy prior to May 7th, and Miss G will work you into the lineup so you can start collecting at Derby Day!!


Check our facebook page and RSVP so we can be on the lookout for you!

Here Goes!

Miss Ginger's busy season begins with a bang!! It all starts with Derby Day on Saturday, May 1st!

The Derby was a Big Win!

At least for Miss Ginger and Legacy Community Health Services! We had a great time at Chances as we partied, drank, and ate in anticipation of the big derby race! We even had a lot of fun games and contests for the guests to be a part of the action!








Miss Ginger opened the event with one of her rousing performances, and started the day by introducing the "wagering" system. Ya see, off-track betting is not legal in Texas, so of course we couldn't actually "bet" on the horses! However, every drag queen worth her pumps knows a 50/50 raffle is a quick way to pull in some bucks! Typically, a 50/50 is simply a raffle for 1/2 of the take. But we made it more fun but having mulitple "hoppers". The cups on the stage in this picture were each labeled with the name of one if the horses in the Kentucky Derby. Each time a guest bought a raffle ticket, they placed the stub in the hopper corresponding the the horse that they thought would win the derby. When the race was complete, we drew a ticket from that hopper to determine the 50/50 winner! It gave everyone a chance to feel like they were part of the race!

But before the race even started, we had some races of our own at "Drag Queen Downs!" Our "jockeys" picked their favorite color horse and chose a "colorful" name for them!
Then, the colorful dice were rolled, and the corresponding horses moved forward on the track, until we had a winner! There several qualifying rounds, but in the end "Keep M Cumin" was the winningest drag horse!

There was also a Jockey Shorts contest, with the most fabulously decorated pair of jockeys winning a beautiful gift basket! A very fortunate camera angle keeps you from having to witness the winning atrocity hanging between Miss D's legs!




In addition to several popular community entertainers who came out to support the event, we had performances by several of this year's M/M/M Mint Julep candidates. The contestants vie for the title by raising money for Legacy, and the winner is the contestant in each gender category who raises the most money! This was the first opportunity most of the candidates had to start their totals, and they did an awesome job!

Mona Lott, seen here on the right with this year's Miss Mint Julelp, Alicia Allure, is running for Miss Mint Julep 2009!






There are 2 candidates so far for Mr. Mint Julep, Drag King Tammi and Real Man Alex.
Miss Ginger just met Mr. Alex for the 1st time today, but she certainly hopes to see more of him in the not too distant future! To be honest, dear readers, she found herself quite smitten, and maybe even fantasized a bit that Alex may become the next Mr. Ginger Grant!
We also had the opportunity for a "three generation" photo of Miss Mint Juleps 2006, 2007, and 2008, Aurora Briar, yours truly, and Alicia Allure. Quite a fetching trio, no?

Miss Ginger gives her sincere thanks to everybody who came out to enjoy the festivities and support Legacy!

TGIF!!

Miss Ginger LOVES her weekends but she is particularly glad this one is here! She just did NOT maintain control of this week, and it really seemed to get away from her! The broken laptop thing was really the crux of it, but it just seemed to throw a wrench in the whole week! Business sux lately, which is no surprise, but when you're not winning at work you feel like you're not winning, ya know!? Now she's at the business center in the Hilton, and they have the NERVE to charge 6 dollars for 15 minutes of computer times! That's highway robbery! But you, dear readers, are worth a mint to me, so six dollars is worth every dime to keep you up date!
So, Bubba's flight lands in about 4 minutes and he'll be here to join in the mirth of New Orleans! Tonight, they're headed to the "casina" (as they call them Texas) to win back the money Miss G left there last night! Then, Saturday is the JazzFest and after that the French Quarter, if the 2 old geezers still have it in them! There will be lots of photos on the blog come Sunday evening, so watch for those!
And once Miss G gets home it's time to get everything in motion for the Derby Day Party on May 2nd at Chances! If you hadn't planned to be there, you need to change your plans! It's going to be a crazy party with lots of GREAT games and prizes, and, of course, a chance to "bet" on the derby! Everybody who's anybody will be there, and since you're somebody, you won't want to be left out! See ya Saturday! Don't forget your bonnets!

Of Course Miss Ginger Loves "THE HAT"!

When was the last time the world was set abuzz by a hat??

The last time Miss Ginger remembers hats being so talked about was when Bella Abzug ran for Congress!

But those who have followed Miss Ginger since last spring know she's a big lover of big hats!

And speaking of big hats, time flies in GingerLand and it will be Kentucky Derby time before you know it! And that means Houston celebrates the Derby, Miss Mint Julep style! Miss Ginger will host the big shindig once again this year, the first Saturday when our Texas weather is just beautiful! Start making your hats now, darlins', because our second year is going to be even more FABULOUS, and will raise even more money for Legacy Community Health Services!