of Manhattan's gayer neighborhoods. There are a number of high-profile events and fundraisers that occur during the summer season. Some of the bigger events include Fire Island Dance Festival, Invasion, Pines Party, and Ascension. The Fire Island Dance Festival is produced by Dancers Responding to AIDS, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The Invasion of the Pines is a drag-queen parade held each year on July 4, commemorating the time when Whyte refused service to drag queen Terry Warren. After promenading through the Pines, the drag queens from Cherry Grove proclaim victory and return to Cherry Grove. Pines Party, an all-night dance party held each July on the beach, is the reincarnation of GMHC's former Morning Party fundraiser held on the beach between 1983 and 1998. Morning Party had evolved into a major circuit party and was GMHC's biggest fundraising event. However, the party itself developed a reputation for recreational drug-use that contradicted GMHC's mission statement, so the organization announced the end of the event on December 30, 1998, after a death and 21 arrests at that year's event. Despite the loss of the high-profile sponsor, the party continued under the name of the Pines Party, which is held on the last weekend of July. Proceeds go to lower profile organizations of the Stonewall Community Foundation (which uses the money to help those with HIV) and the Fire Island Pines Property Owners Association Charitable Foundation (which uses the funds to make improvements to the common areas). Von Kuersteiner started Ascension Weekend, a not-for-profit charitable three-day weekend event, to serve as another travel and tourist attraction in the month of August, a month which had been very lackluster in the past. Ascension debuted in 2006, and brought thousands of new faces to the Pines beach. It has played host to award-winning DJs such as Freemasons. The Fund in the Sun Foundation was established in 2006 as a direct result of Ascension. Acting as the parent charity, it has donated over $750,000 of Ascension net proceeds to many LGBT charities like Hetrick-Martin Institute, The Trevor Project, National LGBTQ Task Force, Live Out Loud, Standing Tall, and Friends In Deed. Transportation Fire Island Pines is only accessible by water with most residents and visitors using a passenger ferry or private water taxi. A small marina is also available. There are no private vehicles in this part of Fire Island, although police and