What a segue into my report on the May 9th Dinner/Speaker Meeting. I think I can safely say that the women who attended this sold-out event all had a fantastic time. The food was truly delicious, the ambiance at The Pantry was inviting, and Libby Davies gave a wonderful speech. We were honoured to have Libby as the guest speaker for this, our first dinner/speaker meeting, and we look forward to continuing this educational part of LIX in the fall. Stay tuned this summer for details of our next dinner/speaker event.

LIX now has a presence on the web: www.girlswanttoknow.com. We are currently in the initial stages, so keep checking in to see the new developments!! Wendy Denley has taken the lead on this project and we're very grateful for the time, energy and creativity that she brings. Thanks again to the lovely and talented Wendy, and to Kim Hadley of Imaginations Everything for hosting our site!

A special LIX Newsletter feature: photos of some of our LIX Chicks members on hand at the Libby Davies event (our fabulous LIX Chicks photographer Jan, sought photo taking approval)

1.Our next Coffee Networking Meeting will be held at Bridgehead, 1277 Wellington Street (at Caroline) on Tuesday, June 6th from 7:00 - 9:00. After our 'go round' of introductions, two members will be showcasing their businesses with five-minute infomercial spots. If time permits during the business half of the meeting, Lucy will facilitate a Questions in a Hat segment. If you have any business questions that you'd like to add to the hat, please email Lucy at lucygirl@sympatico.ca.

2. If you haven't already done so, mark your calendars for Proud Chicks Dance Party 2 at Lakeside Gardens on Friday, August 25th from 9:00 - 1:00. This is our second annual lesbian dance to celebrate PRIDE! This year we are giving the proceeds to Women's Voices and making a donation to the Pride Committee. Tickets will be available by mid-July and, as always, LIX Chicks get first dibs before sales are open to the community. All the volunteer shifts have now been filled...a big thank you to the women who signed up.

3. Women's Open Golf Tournament in support of the Women's Voices Festival will take place on Sunday, June 25th at Pine View Municipal Golf Course, 1471 Blair Road. The tournament starts at 1:00 and will be followed by a dinner. Tickets are $75 for golf, dinner and prizes (golf carts not included); or $30 for dinner only. Registration is limited so please book by June 9th by calling 741-7714 or by going on-line at www.womensvoices.on.ca. You can also register at mother tongue books, Venus Envy or After Stonewall.

4. Minwaashin Lodge, the Aboriginal Women's Support Centre, is hosting A Women's Gathering in Low, Quebec from the evening of Friday, August 4th through until Sunday, August 6th. All women are invited to join in this two-day healing weekend, featuring traditional Native teachings, as well as women's teachings from around the world. The cost for this camping weekend is $85 prepaid by cheque, which includes camping and all your food. For more information and a registration form, visit the web site at www.minlodge.com.

5. Summer Sizzle, a Women's Dance takes place on Saturday, June 17th at the Churchill Seniors' Centre, 345 Richmond Road. Doors open at 9:00 and the party continues until 1:00. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door and are available at After Stonewall, Venus Envy and Capital Xtra. This is a fundraising event for the Women's Voices Festival.

6. Westfest, the Westboro Festival started by Elaina Martin, returns June 10th - 11th featuring literary, musical, dance and spoken word performances. Performers this year include Ember Swift, The Habit, Koichi Yano of Dance Lab and The Cliks. The festival takes place on Richmond Road between McRae and Golden. FREE!!!!

7. The Weekend to End Breast Cancer takes place July 21 - 23. Thousands of women and men will walk 60km. in order to raise money for breast cancer research, to celebrate survivors and to honour those who have lost their lives. To read more about the walk and/or to register, go to www.endcancer.ca. Our own LIX Chick, Jen Sugar, will be among the walkers. If you'd like to sponsor her on this very important walk, she can be reached at jen_sugar@carleton.ca. Alternately, you can get to her personal page on the Walk web site by going to www.endcancer.ca, choosing 'Ottawa', choosing 'sponsor a participant' and typing in 'Jen Sugar' or you can simply click right here. Jen will also be at the coffee meeting on June 6th and will bring sponsorship forms with her.

8. Picnic in the Park: A Free Picnic for the GLBTQ Women's Community presented by the Pink Triangle Services Women's Night Discussion Group will be held on Saturday June 10th from 12 noon to 4 pm (rain or shine - there is a gazebo for cover if it rains) at Britannia Park, 2805 Carling Avenue. This is a women only event (female partners and kids are welcome). Food and drinks will be provided; there is no alcohol allowed in the park. For more information, please email ptswomen@yahoo.ca or call Pink Triangle Services at (613) 563-4818. The organizers need to know if you're coming and the number of guests you're bringing before Friday June 2nd so they know how much food to buy.

9. The Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres presents Sounds Siren Red a full-length, one-woman performance that tells a story, based in autobiography, of a first-generation, working-class, Italian descended lesbian who files sexual assault charges against her grandfather who is incarcerated for two years. The piece was written by and stars Anna Camilleri, who some of you may remember from the Wilde About Sappho reading series of 2005. Sounds Siren Red is based on Anna's book, I Am A Red Dress. This performance is part of a multi-phase, Ontario wide initiative to increase the capacity in our communities to use art as a tool for community dialogue around issues of sexual violence. This very powerful performance is being presented in Ottawa on Friday, July 7th at The Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Avenue. Tickets are $5 or PWYC and are available at mother tongue books, Venus Envy, and the Women's Credit Union.

We also encourage you to organize your own special interest groups and activities and let us advertise them in the LIX newsletter. Whether you're a single gal interested in creating a dinner group, or a theatre fan looking for other LIX chicks to go to the Great Canadian Theatre Company with, or a Scrabble player looking to create a tournament, or someone interested in gathering a group of six women together to learn how to cook Thai food, you might just find like-minded lesbians within the Lesbian Information Xchange membership. Remember that there are 95 of us in this network now and that number just keeps on growing! So if you've got an idea, send me an email describing the idea, along with your name and contact information and the maximum number of women you want, if that applies (like you can only fit 8 women into your living room for a euchre tournament). My email is info@girlswanttoknow.com.

So...there you go! For more information about the LIX network, feel free to call Kerry at 237-7133 or contact Marie at info@girlswanttoknow.com. You can also send us an email or chat with one of the four of us (Kerry, Lucy, Wendy or Marie) at a coffee meeting. See you on June 6th!

Cheers,
Marie Robertson
for the LIX Steering Committee