Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Members of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC) : Sheryl "Brandy Your a Fine Girl Alexander" Johnston, Jennifer "Whiskey Daisy" Gottschalk, Jennie "Black Monday" Benford and Sharon "Mama" Spell hanging out at the Lava Lounge on the South Side. Click photo for larger image.

It's Women's History Month, and to celebrate, a little group of local ladies is really pouring it on.

You're hereby forewarned of the "full-on cocktail assault on Pittsburgh" being stirred up by the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails, or LUPEC.

"I wanted it to be 'Broads United,' but 'BUPEC' didn't sound as good," says Jennie Benford, one of the founding members and "spokesbroad" for this saucy organization dedicated to having a good time while "dismantling the patriarchy."

They'll be doing both all this month, under this year's theme of "Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make History."

Their opening event on Thursday night is a Frick Art and Historical Center "gallery walk-through" that's subtitled "So Where Were All the Women, Anyway?"

The Point Breeze museum is hosting a traveling "Victorian Visions" exhibition of drawings by only male artists. For this one night, LUPEC is swooping in to remind show-goers -- by reading poetry and showing slides -- that there also were great Victorian female artists, such as Christina Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti's sister.

Museum programs director Tom Smart, who will provide insight into the artists and their times, says, "It's going to be a very open-ended evening of discussion and fun -- and refreshments."

In true LUPEC style, the ladies also will be serving cocktails -- only clear ones, out of respect for the Frick's floors -- including a concoction honoring Queen Victoria.

They'll continue to spread their classic cocktails and feminist agenda across town with events ranging from a women's history brunch to a butch/femme bash.

They want other women and men to misbehave with them, especially at the "Bad Girls Party" they're holding March 20 at Kelly's Bar and Lounge in East Liberty.

The retro-hip hangout is a natural habitat for Pink Squirrel, Whisky Daisy, Frivolous Filly and other drink names, which is how LUPEC members refer to each other.

One of their better known members, Sharon "Mama" Spell, goes by "Sapphire," as in the straight Bombay gin, which she insists is the only ingredient that should go into a real martini. ("They don't make chocolate Manhattans, so don't make chocolate martinis," she says, dryly.)

Benford -- Carnegie Mellon University archivist by day, "Black Monday" by night -- started the group with several friends about three years ago as a way to ensure seeing each other as they got wrapped up in their 30-something lives. At first, they took turns hosting monthly chi-chi cocktail parties where they tried and rated three classic cocktails, made with vintage bar ware, along with real hors d'oeuvres.

To this day, part of their mission reads: "In a post-millennium world of beer and prepackaged Chex Mix, LUPEC works tirelessly to breed, raise and release cocktails that are endangered or even believed to be extinct."

But before long, they went public in hopes of breeding a heightened appreciation for something else: Women.

Hence last year's Women's History Month events: A "Homefires Burnin' " toast (at Kelly's) to "all the Rosies who riveted during WWII" and a celebration (at Zythos) of "Queens of the Tarot Frontier."

Meanwhile, these spirited dames have become a popular presence as hostesses-for-hire for events at venues ranging from Cafe Allegro to the Blue Ruin Gallery.

For the Mattress Factory's 25th anniversary, LUPEC served Silver Bullets and a cocktail called The Barbara, for executive/artistic director Barbara Luderowski. At last spring's Urban Garden Party there, the always dressed-for-fun ladies wore floppy hats, and revelers lined up 20 deep to get their drinks, says museum development/communications officer Jessica Coup. She would love to have these entertaining-yet-professional ladies back this summer, and she frequently fields calls from other groups wanting to contact them. "The whole experience is just fun."

But as always the ladies are dispensing more than one-liners and double drinks.

For a Presidents Day appearance at another of their favorite watering holes, South Side's Lava Lounge, they came up with one of their typical cocktail creations:

The Betty Ford.

The cards they handed out had on one side the recipe -- 1 1/2 shots of Absolut Citron, 10 ounces Sprite and 1/2 ounce grenadine with ice. But as bracing was a quote from Betty Ford: "The search for human freedom can never be complete without freedom for women."

The pink card's other side pointed out that Betty Ford was more than an alcoholic who started a treatment center for the stars. She also was an outspoken supporter of controversial issues such as Roe vs. Wade, shared her fight with breast cancer and still campaigns for cancer and AIDS research funding.

So in addition to poking gentle fun, the card concludes, "LUPEC salutes her today for being a champion of women's rights and women's health issues, and for showing women in the volatile ['70s] that it was possible to be both a devoted wife and mother AND a tireless proponent of equal rights for all."

While sipping on a Betty Ford during an interview for that night's Talk-Talk show there, member Sheryl Johnson (a k a "Brandy 'You're a Fine Girl' Alexander") told the audience, "It's not about the sauce. The sauce is how we lure you in."

As Benford sums it up, "LUPEC is all about subversion."

Clicking through their Web site, www.lupec.org, you might not even notice anything sober, so intoxicating are the ladies as they present cocktail history, recipes, reviews and more.

But Benford says they're very serious about their mission, so serious that they don't let just anyone join. (Men are out, of course, but they claim many "screwdrivers" as supporters.) Their profile pumped by positive plugs by Yahoo, Bust magazine and -- just this past Friday -- USAToday.com, the ladies are working on bylaws to govern the opening of additional LUPEC chapters elsewhere.

That goes right back to the heart of their mission: "To continue the 150-year American tradition of dangerous women calling themselves 'Ladies' and getting together in groups, clubs and societies to work undercover while they chipped away at the patriarchy."

One drink at a time.

LUPEC'S Women's History Month

Thursday -- "So Where Were All the Women, Anyway?" Gallery walk-through of "Victorian Visions" exhibition at Frick Art and Historical Center, 7227 Reynolds St., Point Breeze. From 6 to 8 p.m., LUPEC will celebrate art by Victorian women and honor Queen Victoria with a cocktail. Admission is $5 members, $7 non-members/guests. Call 412-371-0600.

Saturday -- Special Women's History show on "Rhythm Sweet and Hot" with Mike Plaskett and Ken Crawford, WDUQ-FM (90.5). From 9 p.m. to 12 a.m., this internationally syndicated show will spotlight ladies who played and sang in early jazz bands.

March 12 -- "Back Room Gals Butch/Femme Party" at Eon Grille, 106 E. Eighth Ave., Homestead. From 8 to 10 p.m., all sorts of gals and guys welcome (butch/femme attire optional) in this newly restored Art Deco hotel, home to The Surf Room in the back. 412-462-4626.

March 14 -- Women's History brunch at Quiet Storm, 5430 Penn Ave., Friendship. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., LUPEC hosts a spread catered by Herbs and Spices featuring favorite recipes of famous women. Entrees are $6 to $8. 412-661-9355.

March 20 -- "Bad Girl Party" at Kelly's Bar and Lounge, 6012 Penn Circle, East Liberty. From 8 to 10 p.m., thematic cocktails, quizzes, prizes and "a special, very naughty Guest of Dishonor." 412-363-6012.

March 25 -- American Shorts Reading Series: DIVAS! Women in Fiction, Society for Contemporary Craft, 2100 Smallman St., Strip District. The series kicks of its 2004 season from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., with Carnegie Mellon University professor Judith Schachter and performer and author Vema Sam. Admission is $3. 412-578-2464.