Events
A message from the Lavender Friends Steering Committee
We respectfully request that our members do not attend Club events unless they are fully vaccinated and have been following CDC suggested guidelines to avoid unnecessary COVID exposure.
Please note that future Club events may require proof of photo ID and Covid vaccinations.
Kilaga Drop-In Social
Every Saturday
10:00 a.m.
It’s been a long time coming due to Covid, but Saturday 10:00 a.m. at Kilaga Springs Cafe will soon be back on our list of popular events for members to gather and catch up with one another.
The cafe now has staff on Saturdays, so please consider supporting this effort by making a purchase (although not mandatory).
Here’s a link to the cafe’s menu offerings:
Kilaga Springs Cafe Menu.
No host event, so look for a familiar face and grab a coffee, tea or chai tea latter (maybe even a bite to eat) and settle in. If you are the first one there, please help welcome those who come after you and help introduce our newer members.
If it is hot, we will be inside … sometimes in the lobby if tables are not available. On cooler mornings look for members out in the patio gazebo area.
P.S. - A.C.E. will monitor the attendance going forward. So, if you want this event on a regular basis, please show up! If we continue to hold them ongoing, we will resume quarterly birthday celebrations, tentatively, beginning in mid-September.
A.C.E. (Activities Committee Extraordinaire) Meeting
Monday, August 15
3:15 - 4:15 p.m.
Kilaga Springs Living Room Area
(Just past the Lifestyle Desk)
Join us: Your activities committee will meet to brainstorm for upcoming events. We’d love to have you join us with your ideas! Or, if you prefer, email them to Sandi D.
Hot August Sundaes (with optional Billiards)
UPDATE: If you need to cancel before or last minute on the day of the event, please call Denise W. so your spot can be offered to someone else who would like to attend if a waitlist develops.
Saturday, August 27
(not August 7, the original date)
Kilaga Springs
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. – Billiards
(Optional: for those who want to socialize and shoot pool before building their sundaes.)
6:30 - 8:00 p.m. – Sundaes
In kitchen room off left hallway
LF provides ice cream and bottled water, you bring your favorite topping to share. You can also bring your own non-alcoholic beverages, but HOA contract prohibits outside alcohol.
And this: Interested in helping with this event? Denise is looking for folks to help set up and/or clean up. She’d love to hear from you.
Please note that members and their guests are welcome to attend. Just let Denise know.
Some fun info: The average American eats 23 pounds of ice cream a year, according industry stats. Our favorite flavor? It’s vanilla! And our favorite topping? Hot fudge (which may explain the vanilla choice).
Proof of photo ID and Covid vaccination required.
The Salt Mine Project
Saturday, September 3
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
590 G St., Downtown Lincoln
Here’s a way to give back to your local community for a one-time commitment of a couple hours! This Lavender Friends Service Project at The Salt Mine is being coordinated by LF member Marie S.
We will seek to put together a team of 10 to 11 volunteers for the September 3, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. shift at The Salt Mine in downtown Lincoln to help families in need of food support. This will most likely involve getting boxes ready with food items.
The Salt Mine is Lincoln’s main food pantry that for several years has served the food insecure residents here. Volunteers will be unloading and sorting food and handing it out curbside to families. The boxes are not heavy or large and experience from members of our club indicate that there was not much bending and lifting and there are helpers to assist if you prefer to not lift anything.
If you can give a couple hours of your time for a worthy local cause and want to learn more, contact Marie S. and please cc Sandi D. as she will be supporting Marie with this project.
Sun Senior News
August 2022
By Sandi Dolbee
It begins with a mystery. A family friend had called upon Tom Brutting to help her unlock an ornate Chinese cabinet she had inherited from her cousin. No key was to be found but, finally, his husband managed to jiggle it open.
What they found inside became a metaphor for Tom’s first-ever book, a memoir of personal recollections entitled “Unlocking Cousin Daisy’s Cabinet.”
Tom Brutting and his memoir of life lessons and “the power of saying yes” (Photo courtesy Conrad Press)
Released in April by The Conrad Press, a British-based, independent publishing house, the book is not your typical autobiography. Instead of the traditional chronological narrative, the chapters read more like separate essays — by design.
“I wanted the stories to stand on their own,” explains Tom, who moved here in January from the Bay Area with his husband, Ed York, a retired tax preparer. They quickly became two of Lavender Friends’ newest members.
He spent much of the COVID-19 clampdown writing the book — at least four hours a day, seven days a week. From growing up in New York, to studying at Tulane University in New Orleans and his career as an award-winning architect, he wrote of lessons learned during his eclectic travels, his experiences with family and friends, his culinary adventures, as well as some very tough times (including the murder of a friend, where during the trial he overheard the grandmother of one of the defendants say “she couldn’t understand the big deal as they had only killed a gay man”).
Before Tom was finished, he had written more than 500 pages, ending with uplifting testimonials on such topics as community, work and love.
His bottom line message to readers: “I want them to feel that we should face all our challenges in life in a positive way.”
Oh, yeah, what did they find inside cousin Daisy’s cabinet? Guess you’ll just have to read the book.
Lavender Friends is a club of LGBTQ residents and their supporters.
About Us
The Lavender Friends Club is a group of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and those in friendship who reside in beautiful Sun City Lincoln Hills, California.
Our primary goal is to create, and sponsor social gatherings and events that will appeal to the broad base of our members who enjoy getting together with others and sharing quality time and their experiences. Equally important is our goal of supporting one another and offering service to our community.
We believe that strong communities begin with solid relationships and our primary purpose is to build a greater sense of community through social interaction, open communication and shared information.