National League of American
Pen Women
Santa Clara County Branch
Est. 1922
Outreach, Events
Activities & More Fun Stuff
January 17, 2026
Board and Planning Committee meeting for our 2026 Celebrity Luncheon.
Gail Lockhart, Patty Dick, Lorraine Gabbert, Catherine Bohrman, Dorothy Atkins, Luanna Leisure, Tonya McQuade and Carol Woodard
Community Outreach
Donations of New Socks Greatly Appreciated
Luanna Leisure & Dorothy Atkins delivering socks to Front Door Communities. Dec. 17, 2025.
Thank you to all of you who donated new socks at our meetings and at the Saratoga Senior Center for those in need. Dorothy Atkins and I delivered 287 pairs of socks to Front Door Communities.
Front Door Communities is committed to feeding vulnerable, low-income, homeless and at-risk men, women and families in downtown San Jose regardless of their circumstances by providing nutritious meals and basic essentials for survival. They are dedicated to restoring dignity to the people they serve while improving the health and well-being of our community.
Sponsors of the sock drive are National League of American Pen Women, Saratoga Senior Center, Memoirs Class, Santa Clara Arts and Historical Consortium & South Bay Writers. Thank you to all for participating and promoting this worthy cause.
Wishing all a great Christmas,
Love and Blessings, Luanna
Steve Pinon, Director, Saratoga Senior Center and Nancy (SASCC)
Community Outreach
Bake Sale a Success!
December 13, 2025
All proceeds of $1,200 went directly to Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley. Thank you to Marcia Sivek, Elvira Rascov, Aegis Fine Art Gallery, Gwen McBride Bivens, Gail Lockhart, Pat Fisher, Tina Jones Williams, Karen Franzenburg and all the rest who donated their time, baked goods and monetary donations.
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Holiday Party
December 6, 2025
Elvira Rascov Art Show
Great Bear Coffee House
Congratulations, Elvira, on your beautiful art show at the Great Bear Coffee House in Los Gatos. Address: 19 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos. Show runs through Tuesday, September 30th.
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Luanna Leisure, Elvira Rascov, EveAnn Osborn, Marcia Sivek.
Lazy Dog Restaurant
September 9, 2025
This time our pen women monthly luncheon was a fundraiser. Lazy Dog restaurant gives to nonprofits 15% of the price of each meal. It was great food too. No hot dogs, just a patio where patrons can eat and bring their dogs. There is a doggie menu too. A fun place with excellent food. For those interested there is a full bar.
Elvira Rascov
Artist Events
Tonya McQuade
Visits Pen Arts in Washington, D.C.
Writes about Vinnie Ream
My husband, Mike and I actually visited the NLAPW headquarters (aka. Pen Arts Building) when we were in Washington, D.C. in April. While there, I learned a lot about one of the early Pen Women, Vinnie Ream, who at just 18 years of age was selected to sculpt the statue of President Abraham Lincoln for the Capitol Rotunda. I decided I wanted to learn more about her, and I just finished writing a blog post for the Emerging Civil War website about her work (and her connections to several important Civil War figures). Here is the link from the Emerging Civil War website.
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Comment by Luanna K. Leisure, President, SCC NLAPW. Tonya's article on Vinnie Ream is outstanding. I thought I knew a lot about Vinnie Ream but I learned so much more. Excellent article, Tonya. I highly recommend clicking on the link and reading about Vinnie Ream.
Phyllis Gunderson
Pen Woman in New Mexico
Art Show July 25-27, 2025
Congratulations, Phyllis, on your successful art show July 25-27, 2025 at the Ruidoso Festival.
Phyllis has been a member of Pen Women in Art since 2015. She is a member of the Santa Clara County Branch of NLAPW.
Pen Women Booth
May 2025
Pat Fisher, Lorraine Gabbert and Dorothy Atkins represent Pen Women at the San Jose Women's Club 130 year anniversary Celebration.
Pop Up Book Signing
July 5th & July 13, 2025
Outreach and Personal Book Sales
Two pop up book events at "Beyond Text" Book Store in Los Gatos. July 5th Luanna Leisure and Dorothy Atkins with friends and family that dropped by. Then on July 13th, Dorothy Atkins, Jo Ann Blum and Lorraine Gabbert enjoyed a beautiful day in Los Gatos. We were invited to sell our books and cards as well as represent pen women. Successful days.
Catherine Bohrman
Pat Fisher
Helvetica Light is an easy-to-read font, with tall and narrow letters, that works well on almost every site.
Dorothy Atkins
Claudia Gray
Luanna Leisure
Carol Woodard
Elvira Rascov
Lorraine Gabbert
Kay Duffy
Louise Webb
Dorothy Atkins Salon Talks
SJ Women's Club
May 18, 2025
Tea and Lunch at the Home of Edie Matthews
May 3, 2025
The tea at Edie's is always a highlight to start our summer break. This year we honored our non-member poetry winners, one of our Excellence in the Arts Award winners, and our Celebrity Luncheon Achievers. It was a perfect day of celebration.
Our beautiful and delightful host, Edie Matthews.
Thank you gift to Edie from the Pen Women.
Thank you gifts from Luanna Leisure, President, to Tonya McQuade, Lorraine Gabbert, Susan Zerweck & Dorothy Atkins (not pictured)
Poetry Judges
Center: Jen Siraganian, Una Daly, Erin Redfern (not pictured)
Left, Lorraine Gabbert, poetry competition co-chair & right, Luanna Leisure, co-chair
Non-member Poetry Competition Winners
Left to right: Maya Singh, honorable Mention; Mahal Miles 3rd place and honorable mention; Lisa Scott-Ponce 2nd place; Charleene Puder, 1st place.
Center: Alice Graham, Excellence in the Arts $1,500 Award Winner in Letters with her mom, Darcy (left) and Aunt, Tonya (right)
2025 Celebrity Luncheon Achievers
Left to right: Jean Chen, Art; Susan Zerweck, Chair; Pirjo Polari-Khan, Art; Marie Highby, Letters; Liyuza Eisbach, Art; Nancy Hinsen, Music; Kimiko Arimoto, Music, not pictured.
Snap Shots of the Day
