40+ Years of Friendship: The KL Girls Luncheon Tradition That Brings Kirkland Lake Women Together

by Andrew Hopkins

thekirklandlaker

KIRKLAND LAKE, ON – A group of Kirkland Lake ladies has been meeting annually for over 40 years.

Linda Draddy said she started the KL GIRLS LUNCHEON in 1978 at her home in Burlington, Ontario.

“In the beginning, once a year we would meet at some other girl’s home in the Mississauga area for a Saturday sleepover, with many girls coming from Kirkland Lake… such fun weekends,” Draddy explained.

She added, “Remember, there weren’t any computers then.”

“So I would mail out information to those I had addresses for. As our group grew in numbers, it became impossible to do weekends,” Draddy added.

She said this is when the luncheons started at the Mandarin in Mississauga.

Draddy explained that there are only two rules:

“Must be female and have some kind of connection to the Kirkland Lake area,” Draddy expressed. “We have had 90-year-olds and some grandchildren show up for lunch.”

Draddy said that in 2017, she was contacted by the Kirkland Lake 100-Year Committee to see if the women would be interested in traveling to KL for the 2019 celebrations. So, she asked at the 2017 luncheon for a show of hands of who would be interested in going to Kirkland Lake to have lunch in 2019… everyone’s hand went up. So the planning began.

“The first venue quickly became too small, and we ended up at the Legion… 240 women for a wonderful buffet lunch. It was so noisy, ladies from Florida, Vancouver, and everywhere in between,” Draddy said. “It was a ticketed event, and luckily I had a number-one helper who lives in Kirkland Lake, Brenda Ryan, so she looked after selling all the tickets to local ladies, while I received all the cheques or e-transfers from the out-of-towners. The committee paid for the Legion rental, but we had to cover the cost of the meals, decorations, and a great number of other things… it was a huge success. That’s all I can say about that.”

Draddy said, “So now, back in Mississauga, every May since, and continuing, we have our luncheon at the Mandarin. This will be our 47th year.”

“So much easier to contact the girls since the computer was invented,” Draddy said. “Our master list of names is now 112. We keep track of those we have lost over the years, and I have a framed photo of the names, which now consists of 8, which is pretty amazing really, considering it’s been 47 years.”

She said she only advertises on the KL Facebook page and occasionally sends out emails to those she hasn’t heard from as the date gets closer. And, of course, for those who don’t have Facebook.

“Right now, I have 21 signed up for May 4, 2025 (that’s just one message on Facebook in January). Our numbers are usually around 75 at each luncheon. The Mandarin has been more than helpful in giving us our own room with a microphone (because those ladies are very noisy).”

Draddy said she has another super lady, Aleda Robinson Muir, who looks after typing up the master list, adding and deleting ladies, and updating all of their contact information.

She also said they had a group of younger ladies attend last year from the area. They want this luncheon to continue for many years, as some of them are getting up there in age.