Closing LACE

I remember leaving leaflets about LACE on the tables at a women’s dance at the old Texas Connection. It was around 2003 and I was hoping to start a group that would give women a chance to hang out together at arts- and entertainment-based events. The ACE guys were super lovely, but it seemed like a women’s group would be good … something with a little less Cher and opera!

In the early years, we went to theatre and movies, restaurants, concerts, and games nights, and every once in a while there were guest speakers from the arts world. In recent years, it’s been mainly restaurant dinners and theatre events but it’s always nice to see familiar faces and welcome a few new ones. All together, LACE published almost 400 posts in the past five and a half years through this iteration of the listserv. Visitors to the L*ACE site have been from Canada and the US, but also Mexico, Hong Kong, and India. We salute our sisters in other places!

Now it’s time for me to call it a day. There are a ton of great platforms to spread information as well as vibrant, new organizations like QPOC that are bringing people together. Hopefully someone else will keep a public grapevine going so that women ‘of a certain age’ who are new to the community or who are looking for info can find their way to like-minded others and no-pressure events.

One connecting point might be the “After work gathering” at Club 200. To get put on the list, you can email Kelly Black at kellyb54@icloud.com. The Rainbow Resource Centre posts info on all sorts of groups and events at https://rainbowresourcecentre.org.

Thanks to everyone who came out to events and gatherings over the years and to those who spread the word about LACE. May we never take for granted or lose sight of the importance of our community!

All the best,

Margerit