The Gays, Lesbians And Allies (GLAAS) Club hosted our annual holiday party at the HOA1 Activity Center on Friday, December 20, 2024. There were 66 members celebrating all holidays. As usual, members contributed gourmet foods and desserts for the potluck, and GLAAS provided hot ham and chicken. Entertainment by SaddleBrooke’s own Red Dirt Crossing, a five-piece band, entertained us for two hours with songs by artists such as Alison Kraus, AJ Lee and more. They are a skillful blend of mandolin, bass and guitars complete with a great lead vocal and vocal harmonies.
For many years, GLAAS has supported the Thornhill Lopez Center on 4th Avenue in Tucson that provides care and support for LGBTQ+ youth and its parent organization, the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF), an Arizona 501C charitable organization. This holiday was no exception! Members generously donated rolls of toilet paper and a variety of personal needs supplies. We were told that instead of providing SAAF clients with only one roll of toilet paper, that with our donation two rolls were given out per person. The needs of SAAF are great. If you would like to contribute articles of personal needs such as body wash, toilet paper, toothbrushes and paste or money, send an email to glaasclub@gmail.com.
The GLAAS Club meets monthly at the HOA-1 Activities Center and welcomes all gender orientations and identities, races and political and religious beliefs. Upcoming, on Friday, January 31, Edie Cussick from SaddleBrooke’s Senior Village will be speaking on “Living independently in your SaddleBrooke home with the Senior Village“. On Friday, February 28, Marshall Shore, a historian, will speak on “Gay History of Arizona“. On Friday, March 28, Dr. Ken Marich of SaddleBrooke and the Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR) will speak on “The Wonders of Medical Ultrasound“, of which he was an early researcher and inventor. More great speakers and socials are also planned! For more information, email glaasclub@gmail.com.
Slowly, over the last 10 or more years, we have built this caring community of members person by person, potluck by potluck and speaker by speaker. We are thankful for what we have and hopeful that 2025 will continue to be a great year of camaraderie.