A brief history of PolyCentral
How did PolyCentral come about?
The first meeting of PolyCentral took place in May 2000. A group of folks had
been attending the PolyOrlando and PolyTampa
meetings, which at the time, were both more of a support group format.
PolyCentral was formed to be more of a social venue for the Orlando area. The
group of founders decided that if just them got together at a set time and place
for lunch once a month - it was worth doing. Thus, PolyCentral was formed.
The first few meetings were held at Cha Cha Coconuts in Altamonte Springs, on
the first Saturday of the month.
Over the years
Over the years, the group grew leaps and bounds. By October 2000, meeting attendance
was already regularly reaching 25-30 people at each meeting. Our largest
meetings were in 2002/2003 in which it was not uncommon for meeting attendance
to be 55-60 people. PolyOrlando, the support group venue, eventually dwindled
after its organizer left the area. PolyCentral took on more of a discussion
& social format over the years.
The group has met in a variety of locations, including;
Cha Cha Coconuts from May - Sept 2000
Olive Garden in Oct 2000
Hops in Altamonte from November 2000 - June 2001
La Piazza from July 2001 to May 2002
China Jade from June 2002 - June 2004
Downtown Media Art Center from July 2004 - July 2005
Various restaurants downtown. Aug. 2005 - Oct. 2005
Sachi's Japanese from Nov. 2005 - Jan. 2006
Donato's pizza from Feb. 2006 - July 2006
Orlando Downtown Library from August 2006 - March 2008
The Harp & Celt Irish Pub Since April 2008
Over the years, PolyCentral has hosted a variety of social events, including
theme park outings, a Bahamas cruise, dancing, dinners, picnics, anniversary
parties and Halloween parties. And who can forget all of the after meeting
gatherings at people's homes that we did for years, which are now replaced with
after meeting lunches? And of course, members of this community participated in
organizing and making the Florida
Poly Retreat a reality in 2003 and 2006. The social aspects of PolyCentral certainly helped to bring
people together outside of the meetings themselves. Many friendships and
relationships have been formed.
We've seen people come and go over the years. Some of the folks involved in the
first year of PolyCentral are still active parts of the community. And others
have moved on... either physically or just don't need the community in their
lives anymore. We've welcomed countless folks to the group over the years, some
who have stuck around and others who only came to a meeting or two. It's all
good.
While PolyCentral is not specifically a support group, we've been here to
witness and help folks deal with some of life's and poly's greatest changes.
Including weddings, divorces, break-ups, deaths of community members, deaths of
family members, moves, sicknesses, new careers, loss of employment, new
children, new relationships, coming out to family with mixed results and much
more. Between all of our participants, we've probably experienced most of it.
And we share our experiences with each other.
And like any groups, we've certainly had our share of squabbles - either in
passionate online E-mail 'debates', or in personality conflicts.
It is our shared history that makes our group unique. And while not everyone
still attends meetings or actively participates in the online components; each
and every one of us has made our contribution to giving PolyCentral its own
unique character. And we look forward to seeing how the group grows and is
influenced by new folks who check out that group and perhaps stick around.
