Vashon resident, author and host of the monthly Continuing Conversations discussion series, Dorothy Bauer, has ideas. Lots of them. Mostly about how to keep folks on the island connected — particularly those that might otherwise be forgotten to the world around them.

The 94-year-old’s latest endeavor, “Take a Senior to Lunch Day,” is focused on getting islanders to actively engage with people who might not otherwise get out into the community much, if at all. As she tells it, the idea stemmed from her 90th birthday party.

“A few years back when I was turning 90, I decided to have a party for all seniors to come celebrate their birthdays,” she said. “My family wasn’t doing anything, so I figured ‘What the heck,’ and I advertised it in the paper to invite all islanders. For people to come, they had to bring a senior and a donation to the food bank.”

The party was reportedly a great success that became an annual tradition until last summer when Bauer was recovering from back surgery.

It was with this idea of connecting the community in mind that she set to work on her plan.

“I just got on the bus and went to all of the restaurants and talked to them,” Bauer stated, matter-of-factly.

As a result, the 28th of each month is now Take a Senior to Lunch day on Vashon. Those who take part should look for special cards on the front counters of participating eateries, or mention it to their servers to receive 10 percent off the bill.

Vashon Senior Center staff said that one of the center’s members was taken to lunch in the last couple of months, but as yet, the campaign has not really taken off.

“Hopefully we’ll get the word out,” Bauer said.

As for her other ideas, the author of the “Islanders, Meet Your Neighbors” series of books has someone from VYFS coming to talk about mentoring disabled adults at her next Continuing Conversations discussion, because, as she questioned, “What happens when these people age out of school?” And she has also been after the island’s Eagle Scouts to consider putting benches in various places around town and other Vashon spots “where it would be good to be able to rest” when out walking or waiting for a ride.

“Oh I’ve been working on it,” she said. “I have a lot of ideas. You just have to get out and talk to people if you want to get things done.”

— Sarah Low

Restaurants currently participating in Take a Senior to Lunch days include Zombiez, Subway, The Hardware Store Restaurant, Cafe Luna, Green Ginger, Pure and Saucy Sisters.