The Rainbow Connection of the
Sebastopol Senior Center
Our LGBT+ Friendship Mixer Continues to be a Huge Success!
Join Us Monday July 11th, 1:30 – 3:30 pm
I was on the edge of my chair hearing the shares of our LGBT+ lives. We are such an interesting group! Some folks traded phone numbers after class. It was so fun and successful that we decided to have it every month.
We provide coffee, water, tea and fresh popped popcorn!
What: LGBT+ Friendship Mixer Circle
When: Monday July 11th, 1:30 – 3:30 pm
Where: Sebastopol Senior Center in person
Why: Meet new LGBT+ Friends & Neighbors
Cost: Free to members, $5 non-members
Go HERE to register:
Or call our front desk: 707-829-2440
We will be in the back room with the double doors open to the outside. This event is for everyone wanting to make a new friend.
Must be able to show proof of vaccination.
The Hydrangea Tour
by Henri
I’ll sign up for anything that takes me somewhere new, unless it costs an arm and a leg, both of which I still have use for. The latest was a tour of a wholesale hydrangea nursery with the Sebastopol Senior Center. I expected hydrangeas corralled into rows, like at a vineyard. Instead, it was a sloping hillside densely planted with every possible color of them, from deep blue through rose and pink to white and even  lime green, and in various forms from cones to lacecaps and mopheads. The tour began with sticky buns and coffee served on a deck with a view of Mt. St. Helena. I was smitten.
As the owner, Jerry, led us from the koi pool to the gazebo area and to all the plantings of hydrangeas, he dispensed hydrangea advice. Apples are planted around them, for shade and for the apples that drop and rot, turning the soil acid, which leads to that intense blue. He likes Miracle-gro potting soil above all others. Vitamin B helps plants put out new growth. Dead-head spent blooms and later cut them back, but not stalks that aren’t yet flowering; they will produce next year’s blooms. When it gets too hot, hydrangeas can suffer sun-stroke, even in the shade, so they are sprayed with water. There is an on-site well to handle water issues. All these acres of blooms are for the wholesale flower market in San Francisco.
This nursery also makes wreaths, from tiny ones for candle holders to giant 12 foot ones. It was Jerry’s reputation with wreaths (he began  doing them at the age of ten) that led to his meeting, years before, with Martha Stewart. He regaled us with the many adventures he has since enjoyed with Martha. Trees & shrubs among the hydrangeas were useful for wreaths and flower arrangements: magnolias, dogwoods (popular at Easter), birches, ivy, aeoniums, lemons (for limoncello), spruce, other citrus trees, plums and peaches—all this on five acres, and all beautifully landscaped.
So, dear readers, when some offbeat trip or meeting is offered, take a chance. You never know what kind of interesting adventure it might turn out to be, especially if it starts with fabulous, freshly-made sticky buns.
-Henri
 
 
get the book!
Jerry Bolduan and his husband Paul, gave us to tour of their famous flower ranch! This shady green oasis garden tour in Green Valley Sebastopol was open to only 20 people for a walking tour of his flower ranch.
Jerry and his husband grow over 16,000 hydrangeas plants (with more than 200 varieties), and their flowers have been featured in Martha Stewart’s magazine.
“Celebrities such as Harrison Ford and Barbra Streisand have ordered from Green Valley Growers. Oprah Winfrey had Jerry Bolduan make a special tree for her own home with natural ornaments he made himself.”
Tour included free coffee and fresh baked sticky buns.
Read more about the Flower Garden in the Press Democrat here or visit the Green Valley Grower's website here.
Please send me any photos you took this day. We'd love to see them and post them here for all to enjoy!
More photos from the June 4th Pride Parade, thank you Jon Edwards!
LGBT+ Activities Coming Up:
Every Thursday 4PM Men's Connection Group
Aug 1st Friendship Mixer
Aug 27th LGBT+ Dance at Center
Sept 19th Friendship Mixer
Oct 29th LGBT+ Halloween Dance at Center
GUYS who want to attend Sonoma County potlucks, sign up for these two groups:
Golden Guys
An informal gathering of gay men for an afternoon potluck on the second Sunday of each month. To receive the emails of the time and location of these monthly events, contact David ~ david.laudon@sbcglobal.net.
The Billys (707) 545-1044
A community of open-hearted gay, bi, queer and trans men throughout the North Bay who gather for monthly potlucks in Sonoma County and join together in Gatherings six times a year in rural venues throughout Northern California. Go here to sign up for their emails: https://www.thebillys.org/mailing/
GUYS who want to watch gay themed movies together online and discuss them
Get on this email list, watching films together with the CMG, (California Men's Gathering), go here to sign up: https://thecmg.info/
WOMEN!
What potluck / movie groups can I share for you? Please reach out and let me know!
Please email SCOTTY
Lesbian Archives
Our mission: to document the involvement of lesbians in creating the women’s community in Sonoma County, Ca, 1965-1995.
Click here for -> Facebook Page
OWLS Older Wiser Lesbians
The OWLs list is a high-volume discussion and support list with over 300 members. Respect for others is key. If you are a lesbian over forty and looking for amusement, friendship, connections and inspiration, OWLs is the place. OWLs means Older Wiser Lesbians. Sometimes it means Older Wilder Lesbians.
Go Here
And that is all for this time. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or suggestions. You can call or email me.
🦊🦝
Sincerely,
Scotty King
Manager of Special Services
Volunteer Driver Program ∙ LGBT+ Liaison
707-827-8429 direct
707-829-2440 main
Sebastopol Senior Center
167 N. High Street
Sebastopol CA 95472
scotty@sebastopolseniorcenter.org
"Remember when Giving a Ride was the Neighborly Thing to Do? It Still Is!"
Please email SCOTTY with your questions or comments or suggestions! We love your input and involvement!
MORE RESOURCES!
LGBT Resources 6/2022
LGBTQIA+ Coalition Member’s Directory
- North Bay LGBTQI Families: Community building events and school advocacy resources for LGBTQIA+ families, and monthly social and family gatherings for gender expansive youth under age 12.
- Amor Para Todos: Advocacy and implementation to create more gender and LGBTQIA+ inclusive school and community environments through things like policy and curriculum changes, all gender restroom signage, as well as elementary and beyond APT Student Clubs (similar to GSAs).
- Positive Images LGBTQIA+ Center: Peer support groups for youth/TAY and adults, Leadership Development Program for youth/TAY 12-24, LGBTQIA+ Cultural Competency Trainings and Consultation, Community Outreach Events, Resources and Referrals.
- LGBTQ Connection: Peer support, social gatherings, and youth leadership development programs for ages 14-24, community events, LGBTQ+ affirming counseling, workforce training and technical assistance; education and resources in support of LGBTQIA+ youth and families in the Latinx community.
- Queer Resource Center @ SRJC: The QRC’s mission is to empower and support queer students by eliminating barriers to equity and cultivating a thriving campus community.
- TransLife: The vision of the TRANSLIFE Community Conference and the TRANSLIFE Professional Symposium is the foster a vibrant, healthy, and responsive community of, for, and by our transgender/gender-nonconforming population, those who love them, and those who serve them. The outcome of these two events is strengthened social networks, deeper community engagement, and increased skills across all three of these groups.
- Santa Rosa TransLatin@s: Transgender support group, meets the first Thursday of each month at Santa Rosa Community Health’s Lombardi Campus from 6-8 p.m. and the third Wednesday of each month at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School from 6-8 p.m. All genders welcome. Spanish language.
- Letter People: Letter People is dedicated to radical inclusion, providing connections for the purpose of nurturing and creating resources to learn, inform and inspire.
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- Face2Face: Our mission is ending HIV in Sonoma County while supporting the health and well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS.
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- Sonoma County Pride: The mission of Sonoma County LGBT Pride is to promote equality for all. Working with community leaders we work to support the non-profit community and to preserve and educate the community about the rich LGBT history of Sonoma County.
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- Lesbian Archives: Our mission: to document the involvement of lesbians in creating the women’s community in Sonoma County, Ca, 1965-1995.
- LGBTQI Timeline: Traveling timeline exhibit, powerpoint presentations and regular history classes through Santa Rosa Junior College
- Out in the Vineyard: Out In The Vineyard creates wine-country LGBTQ events which benefit local organziations and provides a fun, safe and exciting way to enjoy wine country
- Sebastopol Area Senior Center/LGBTQI Elder Resource Center: Resources, events and support for elders in Sonoma County through the Sebastopol Senior Center
- Sonoma Valley LGBT Seniors Sonoma Valley LGBT Seniors is a volunteer run social group for older LGBT adults sponsored by Vintage House. Group sponsors monthly discussions and social events in Sonoma.
- Contact: garydhermes@comcast.net
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