LIX - Newsletter

Special Interest Groups & Activities

Hey LIX Chicks,

Have I got news for you! The LIX Chicks team outdid ourselves at the Camp Ten Oaks Bowl-A-Thon on Saturday, March 7th! We raised over $6100 making us the top fundraising team this year. Fortunately for us, sponsorship is totally unrelated to the number of pins we actually knock down because we are, by far, the worst bowlers in the event. The total amount raised for Ten Oaks by all the participants was over $37,000.

The organizers predict that by the time the final donations come in, the total will be closer to $40,000...a far cry from the $4000 raised at the first bowl-a-thon five years ago!

Thanks to all of you LIX Chicks who sponsored us or friends on other teams.

It’s no secret to any of you who regularly read this e-news that I detest winter. But one thing that always perks me up in March is the annual LIX Dinner/Speaker meeting at The Pantry. I love this event!

This year, we are thrilled to have Kathryn Trevenen as our guest speaker. She has planned a great presentation for you. And as anyone who has been to The Pantry can tell you, the food and atmosphere at this café, is second to none in Ottawa.

We still have a few seats available so if you’re interested in a fabulous evening on March 30th, call me ASAP at (613) 231-4347 and grab one of the last seats. You’ll need to tell me if you want Spinach & Cheese Spanakopita or Marinated Portobello Mushroom ‘Steaks’ for your entrée. For more information, see Upcoming Event #7.

On behalf of the Steering Committee, I want to thank two lovely and talented women...Karen Munro-Caple and Jan Carter Lea for creating gorgeous posters and tickets for our upcoming LIX Disco Tea Dance. Thank you SO much gals! Tickets for the dance are $10 and will go on sale April 2nd at the LIX monthly meeting, mother tongue books, Venus Envy and After Stonewall. So mark April 26th in your calendars. Come out and join us at the Glebe Community Centre on a sunny Sunday afternoon and boogie down with DJ Heather as she spins all your old favourite disco tunes from the 70’s and 80’s! For details, see Upcoming Event #15.

Speaking of events...Kerry has chosen The Foolish Chicken, once again, as her fundraising venue for Taste For Life dinner. If you’d like to join a group of delightful LIX lesbians for dinner and raise money for Bruce House and the Snowy Owl AIDS Foundation at the same time, call and reserve your table now! The Ten Oaks Bowl-a-thon is not the only event where LIX Chicks are top fundraisers...we raise more money at Taste For Life than any other group! So call The Foolish Chicken now (613-321-4715) and make your reservations. For more information, see Upcoming Event#16.

At this month’s LIX networking meeting, our five-minute infomercial presenter was, Jane Madigan, a guide dog mobility instructor who uses the Tellington TTouch Training method. Jane talked about the mindful and respectful communication between people and their dogs. The focus of her talk was on the connection between touch and sensory systems of dogs to bring out the best in them and to deepen the relationship between the dog and owner. Jane brought her newest trainee, Yassa, with her. When Jane first becomes involved with a dog and owner she focuses on how the dog acts and lives in the owner’s household. She gets to know the dog, owner and the dog’s environment.

She teaches owners how to touch their dog and how to look for the dog’s response and condition. Touching can help determine the dog’s temperament and where they like and not like to be touched. Jane briefly discussed the four “F’s” to a dog’s response to its environment: flight, fight, fool around and freeze. Jane offers a two hour session to understand a dog’s behaviour and she mentioned that “touch” is only one of the many tools in her toolbox when dealing with dogs. Her training sessions include training and coaching for the owner on how to deal with the dog. Asked what kind of issues dog owners typically contact her about, Jane replied problems with aggression, constant barking, and jumping on people and furniture.

Jane took three years of training in the UK before coming to Canada and she now works in Manotick with four other instructors. Her business provides about 30 seeing eye dogs to people across Canada each year. Jane and her colleagues need to carefully match the seeing-eye dog to the owner and they typically use black labs, retrievers and some German shepherds. Jane has also worked with other animals (eg., cats). One of the LIX Chicks present at the monthly meeting was a former client and attested to the great work that Jane did in helping to improve the behaviour of her cat. Jane can be reached at (613) 692-0642 or at k9guide@hotmail.com. For more information about Tellington TTouch Training, go to www.tteam-ttouch.ca.

If you have any interest in presenting a five-minute infomercial about your business/volunteer work/special interest group at one of the networking meetings, please contact Lucy at info@girlswanttoknow.com.

Hope to see many of you at the Dinner/Speaker Meeting, the LIX Tea Dance and Taste for Life. Catch you later...

Special Interest Groups & Activities
1. A post-adoption support group for LGBTQ parents and parents-to-be. We meet on the 3rd Tuesday of each month from 7:00 - 9:00 pm at the Overbrook Community Centre, 33 Quill Street. Next Meeting March 24th; topic: Extended family and your kids. How to prepare for the first grandparent meeting. How to talk with your extended family about your kid(s). Ideas about what and what not to share regarding your child's history. And more! Future Meetings: April 29, May 19, June 16. Please note that to provide a space where parents can talk openly, onsite child care is not provided. For more information, please contact Holly Wagg at (613) 742-5944 or lgbtqadoptionottawa@rogers.com. 2. Monthly group for non-biological Moms in same-sex families. I’m interested in creating a group for those of us who have started families together and where one parent is the biological mother and one isn’t. The purpose of the group would be to provide an informal space to share concerns, fears and issues with other Moms going through this experience and navigating this sometimes difficult terrain. My thought would be to meet for coffee/tea at a café or at someone’s home. If you are interested, please contact Laura Cohen at lauracohen@rogers.com or at (613) 228-9778 and we can go from there. 3. Ottawa Amazons Women's Motorcycle Club. Come and join the gals for fun, friendship, laughter and travel with an all lesbian motorcycle group. Monthly meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at Bridgehead Coffee, 362 Richmond Road (west of Churchill in Westboro) at 7:15 pm. If you would like information on how to become a member of the Ottawa Amazons, how to obtain a motorcycle license, and/or tips on negotiating the purchase of a new or used motorcycle, the Amazons are the gals to contact. If you plan to attend a monthly meeting, please contact Molly King at Ottawa.Amazons@monaco.ca.
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