2018-12 Allergy Letter

Lisa:

We are sorry to hear you had to leave the Salon on Sunday. While we try to do whatever we can to make sure our monthly gatherings are welcoming and comfortable, our LGBTQ family, their families and allies is very diverse. While we would like to be able to keep everyone on the same page, we have little control over what people choose to contribute, whether it be a plate of peanut butter cookies or the company of their four-legged companion.

We are happy to continue (as we did this time with your request two weeks ago) to forward particular requests from any of our members who may be allergic to dogs, cats, peanuts, tree nuts, pineapple, shellfish, pork products, deodorant, shampoo, perfume, celphone radiation, flourescent lights, et cetera, et cetera (and as one of our boardmembers said, "worst of all, MEN. ( < :”)— and cross our fingers.

— Daniel MacKay on behalf of the Elderberries Board

(recepient name here):

Your idea is a great one. There is a possibility of dogs, cats, peanuts, tree nuts, pineapple, shellfish, pork products, deodorant, shampoo, perfume (and as one of our boardmembers said, "worst of all, MEN. ( < :”) being present at any time, that any mix of our members might be allergic to. We can’t perfectly control that. What we can do is ask people to restrict their usage (except perhaps the men part) for particular meetings that an allergic person plans to attend.

That being said, one has to get to the event via Northwood and there are dogs, allergens, and other pets all over the facility and very often in the lobby. So we can’t promise safety at the meeting or en route.

What we’re going to do has two parts:

• put a notice in our Newsletter that anyone with allergies tell us before the event they’re planning to attend, and
• include that request in our reminder that goes out a few days before the meeting.

So for example:

• Fred is allergic to kiwi and celphone signals (I’m not making that up - one of our members is.)
• Fred reads the newsletter on March 1st and plans to attend the March meeting.
• Fred emails us to say, “Please ask people to not bring kiwis to the meeting and to turn off celphones.”
• We include that in our reminder, four days before the meeting.
• We cross our fingers that people read the email and remember to abide by our request.

All the best, Dan on behalf of the Elderberries Board.