Hey LIX Chicks!

Since our last newsletter, we have signed up 16 new members! Holy lesbian community outreach! We now have 75 members and we've only been a happening thing since late fall! Thank you all for your support and interest. We hope we will continue to grow as an accessible, community-based network of Ottawa-area lesbians.

The April coffee meeting was packed and hopping! Lucy didn't even get a chance to do the Questions in a Hat segment as the energy, as well as the coffee, was flowing fast and furiously. Is spring in the air or what...

We only have 6 volunteer shifts left to fill for our Proud Chicks Dance Party this summer. The bar shifts and bar ticket sales are all taken...we need women to work the front door, and help with set up and clean up. If you volunteer at the dance, your admission is FREE! So if you're available to do a shift, contact Marie at info@girlswanttoknow.com.

A big thank you to LIX members, Wendy and Jan, who have designed a beautiful RAVE card to advertise LIX. The first 'public appearance' of the cards was at the LGBT Expo at Jack Purcell on Saturday, April 22nd and they were a hit! We will have RAVE cards at the May coffee meeting. If you are willing to help distribute them...which means you drop off a few at your local queer-friendly cafe or shop or bar...please speak with one of the members of the steering committee (Wendy, Kerry, Lucy or Marie).

Wendy is hard at work on our upcoming web site 'girlswanttoknow.com'. We'll let you know as soon as it's ready! The Lesbian Information Xchange goes Internet...this is excellent! Many thanks to the lovely and talented Wendy for her amazing energy and creativity and to Kim Hadley of Imaginations Everything for hosting our web site.

1.We are SOLD OUT for the LIX Dinner/Speaker Meeting on Tuesday, May 9th at The Pantry. For those of you who are attending, please make sure you arrive between 6:30 - 7:00 pm. so you can pick your table and chat with friends. We will be starting dinner at 7:15 and Libby Davies is scheduled to begin speaking around 8:30. This is going to be a fabulous event!

2. Our next Coffee Networking Meeting will be held at Bridgehead, 1277 Wellington Street (at Caroline) on Tuesday, May 2nd from 7:00 - 9:00pm. A member of LOG (Lesbian Outdoor Group) will be coming to tell us about the group and answer questions. Jaana has reserved one of the Five Minute Infomercial spots (and she's agreed to give you 3 free tips). There's one more spot available...if anyone wants to grab the opportunity to showcase their business, please contact Marie at info@girlswanttoknow.com or Kerry at 237-7133.

3. LIX presents 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. We'll let you know as soon as tickets are available...last year's dance sold out! Kerry and her 'bar girls' are set to serve!

4. Taste for Life...Wednesday, April 26th. This is a fundraiser for Bruce House...25% of what you spend goes to Bruce House. Check the web site at www.tasteforlife.org for a list of the 38 restaurants who are participating this year. A number of women from LIX will be going to Savana Cafe at 431 Gilmour Street so if you want to help make this a fun LIX event, book your tables now (233-9159).

5. Swirl & Twirl. This is a fundraiser for Pink Triangle Services, Harmony House and Pride Committee Ottawa-Gatineau. The party takes place on Thursday, June 1st at City Hall, 7:00-9:00pm. Tickets are $25 which covers the cost of your wine and hors d'oeuvres. Tickets will be available at After Stonewall, mother tongue books, Wilde's and Venus Envy closer to the time of the event.

6. 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.

7. The Ottawa Gay Men's Choir celebrates their 20th anniversary with a Spring Concert '20 Years of Song' on Saturday, May 6 at 8:00 pm. at the Eglise First Baptist Church, 140 Laurier Avenue West. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door and can be purchased at After Stonewall, Wilde's, The Leading Note, 1 in 10, and mother tongue books.

As always, we encourage you to send us news of events and/or workshops that you are involved in so we can add the information to our Upcoming Events of Interest section of this monthly news update. We need to know the who's, what's, where's as well as cost, where tickets are available, if pre-registration is required, and if it's a fundraiser, what organization you're raising funds for. If the organization has a web site, that web address would be helpful.

So...there you go! For more information about the LIX network, feel free to call Kerry at 237-7133 or 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 May 2nd!

Cheers,
Marie Robertson
for the LIX Steering Committee