‌

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS - HILL COUNTRY P.O. Box 290303 Kerrville, TX 78029

THE VOTER July 2019

There's lots of news this month! Check out the headlines here and scroll down for the details... Message from the Leadership Team LWVTX Summer Regional Training, July 27 Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce Business Expo, August 2-3 Llano County Historical Society luncheon, August 24 Women's Equality Day, August 26 Volunteer Deputy Registrar training LWV Texas 100th Anniversary luncheon, October 19 This and That - Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce Welcomes New Member Update on Belk Charity Day How Women Got the Vote, a Quiz Publication of Texas Women and The Vote eBook by the Texas State Historical Association

Message from the Leadership Team

At our annual meeting on May 16th, the following persons were elected to serve on the Leadership Team for 2019-2020: Treasurer – Mary Ellen Summerlin (second term) Membership Coordinator – Julie Sentell (second term) Voters Service – Jeanette Ruark (second term) Webmaster – Cathy Learoyd Members-at-Large – Bunny Bond (second term) Maggie Megee (second term) Alicia Boyett Kat Walker We were honored to have member Patricia Alvarez, Justice, Texas Fourth Court of Appeals, administer the oath of office and install the newly-elected members of the leadership team. As was the case last year, the Leadership Team will function in place of an elected president. The president’s responsibilities, including conducting meetings and serving as spokesperson, were divided among the team members at their June 21st Leadership Team meeting, as follows: President’s email – Cathy Learoyd Newsletter “The Voter” – Julie Sentell Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce liaison - Maggie Megee Facebook administrator - Kat Walker Unit liaisons - Janice Zitelman (Gillespie County), Bunny Bond (Blanco County) Press releases - Bunny Bond Save these dates! General membership meetings, which will be planned and chaired by a Leadership Team member, are tentatively scheduled for the following dates: Thursday, September 19, 2019 Thursday, November 21, 2019 Thursday, January 16, 2020 Thursday March 19, 2020 Next year's Annual Membership Meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, May 21st. The Leadership Team will be calling on members to help with all of these tasks. Think about the activities that interest you and offer your help. It's a great way to get acquainted with other like-minded individuals and to contribute your gifts and talents to the League's mission. It takes all of us! And please feel free to contact any of the Leadership Team members with any questions, suggestions, or concerns you may have.

LWVTX Summer Regional Training, July 27

The League of Women Voters-Hays County is hosting LWVTX Summer Regional Training on Saturday, July 27th, from 10:00am to 12:30pm at The Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, 101 West Spoke Hill Drive, in Wimberley. LWVTX Issue Chair Stephanie Swanson will be the keynote speaker on Census & Redistricting, the latest advocacy issue of the League, including activities for 2019-2020. All members are invited to attend. The cost is $10 per person, plus a $2.37 fee. Click here to purchase your ticket and register your attendance. Plans are in the works for carpooling to Wimberley. If you plan to attend and would like to share a ride, please contact Bunny Bond either by email addressed to [email protected] or by phone at 830-955-1880.

Chamber of Commerce Business Expo, August 2-3 The Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring its annual Business Expo August 2-3 at the Hill Country Youth Event Center, 3785 Hwy. 27. Our League will have a booth there again this year and will offer the opportunity for participants to register to vote. The schedule is as follows: Friday, August 2nd - First Friday Wine Share and Business Expo Kick-Off. Set-up is from 12 noon until 5:00 pm. The event opens at 5:15 pm and closes at 8:00 pm. Saturday, August 3rd– The Expo opens at 10:00 a.m. and closes at 3:00 p.m. If you are interested in helping set up the booth on Friday, staffing the booth Friday or Saturday (Volunteer Deputy Registrars are needed) or disassembling the both Saturday afternoon, please contact Maggie Megee at [email protected].

Llano County Historical Society Luncheon, August 24 The Llano County Historical Society is hosting The Women’s Suffrage Movement Luncheon  on Saturday, August 24, 2019 from 11am – 1pm in the Community Room at the Llano School Administration Building, 1400 Oatman Street in Llano.   Our own Bunny Bond will be the guest speaker during the luncheon!   Tickets will be available for purchase at the beginning of August. Plans for carpooling to Llano will be made as the event draws nearer. If you're interested in attending, please contact Bunny Bond either by email addressed to [email protected] or by phone at 830-955-1880 .

Women's Equality Day, August 26 Save the Date! In honor of Women's Equality Day, our League will host a dinner on Monday, August 26th, beginning at 5:00 p.m. Our guest speaker for the event will be author Jo Ivester. Further details will be included in the August newsletter. About Women's Equality Day... Less than 100 years ago – nearly 99 to be exact - if you were a woman,  you didn’t have the right to vote in the United States. Women’s Equality Day is celebrated to commemorate the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on August 26, 1920, granting women the right to vote. “This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York." (https://nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/resources/commemorations/womens-equality-day/)   In 1971 and again in 1973, Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY) introduced a resolution to designate August 26 as Women’s Equality Day. Congress approved the resolution on August 16, 1973. It states that “the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote...” Every president since Richard Nixon has issued such a proclamation.

Volunteer Deputy Registrar Training

T he Kerr County Elections Department will be offering Volunteer Deputy Registrar Training in the next several months, as follows: Wednesday, July 17, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, August 21, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 18, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 16, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. All classes will be held in the Kerr County Commissioners' Courtroom in the Kerr County Courthouse, 700 Main Street, Kerrville. There is no charge for the training. If you are interested in becoming a Volunteer Deputy Regiatrar , please contact the Elections Department at 830-792-2242 to sign up for one of the sessions. And just a heads-up: National Voter Registration Day is Tuesday, September 24, 2019.

LWV Celebrates 100 Years Strong! LWV Texas will be commemorating 100 years of "organizing agitating & educating" at its 100 Year Anniversary Luncheon on Saturday, October 19, 2019, at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio, the very place where the League was founded in 1919! Speakers include Patricia (Trish) Cunningham Nicholson, the great grandniece of Minnie Fisher Cunningham, who will speak on the "Power of Women," and Dr. Jessica Brannon-Wranosky, Ph.D.,  who will address the heroic struggle to achieve full voting rights for all women in Texas.  Individual tickets are $119 plus a $9.27 fee and are available for purchase here . For information about table sponsorships, please contact Bunny Bond at [email protected].

This and That... Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce Welcomes New Member LWV-Hill Country recently joined the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce, and Janice Zitelman attended a Chamber Mixer in June (shown here with Chamber President/CEO Penny McBride). At the event, new members were invited to introduce themselves and tell about their business or organization. Janice took the opportunity to expand awareness of the non-partisan information the League provides for elections. Penny also mentioned that the League had partnered with the Chamber for several city council forums. We're glad to be a part! * * * * * Belk Charity Day Update From Treasurer Mary Ellen Summerlin: " Belk Charity Day this spring was an outstanding success for our League!  Members purchased discount coupons for $5 each which our local League keeps.  Sales totaled $585 this spring.  That was excellent effort by 17 members.  (Last fall’s Belk Charity Day raised $660 from 18 members.)   "In addition to the coupon sales, the League receives a percentage of the total sales for the day as a donation from Belk.  Last fall that contribution was $113.83, and last spring is was $160.  But this spring it was a whopping $343! "Special thanks to Joyce Schlechte for organizing the volunteers for the day, and to everyone who participated by buying coupons or staffing our table on sale day!" * * * * * How Women Got the Vote, A Quiz Check out this interesting quiz from The New York Times and see how well you do . Some of us have taken it and discovered we need to go back to school! Cathy Learoyd did research on a few of the questions as she was taking the quiz and "found some interesting facts and trivia." If you're interested in reading what she found, send her an email and ask her to send it to you. [email protected] * * * * * Publication of Texas Women and The Vote eBook by the Texas State Historical Association To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Texas's ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, the Texas State Historical Association has published an eBook titled Texas Women and The Vote . The League of Women Voters of Texas is a sponsor. The eBook profiles 30+ Texas women (including Minnie Fisher Cunningham, a founding member of the League of Women Voters) "who played a crucial role in woman suffrage and the longer voting rights movement." (https://www.tshaonline.org/texaswomen/suffrage/) Click here to download a free copy.

Mark Your Calendars Wednesday, July 17 - Volunteer Deputy Registrar training Saturday, July 27 - LWVTX Summer Regional Training in Wimberly Friday/Saturday, August 2-3 - Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce Business Expo Wednesday, August 21 - Volunteer Deputy Registrar training Saturday, August 24 - Llano County Historical Society luncheon Monday, August 26 - Women's Equality Day Wednesday, September 18 - Volunteer Deputy Registrar training Tuesday, September 24 - National Voter Registration Day Wednesday, October 16 - Volunteer Deputy Registrar training  Saturday, October 19 - LWV Texas 100th Anniversary luncheon in San Antonio April 17-19, 2020 - LWVTX Convention in Austin

Join Us! Be a member of the League; we invite you to join us!  A membership form can be found on our website or you may contact Julie Sentell, Membership Coordinator, at [email protected].   Our League’s annual dues are $60 for an individual or $85 for two in a household, and $5 for student memberships.  Dues are prorated from January. Please include your name(s), address, email address, and phone number. Make your check payable to LWV-Hill Country and mail to LWV-HC, PO Box 290303, Kerrville, TX 78029-0303.  Join the League and help make democracy work.   And consider giving a membership to a student, as they need only be 16 years of age to join.

League of Women Voters-Hill Country - Leadership Team Treasurer : Mary Ellen Summerlin Membership Coordinator: Julie Sentell Voters Service:  Jeanette Ruark Webmaster : Cathy Learoyd Members-at-large : Bunny Bond, Alicia Boyett, Maggie Megee, Kat Walker President’s email ([email protected]) :  Cathy Learoyd Facebook Administrator: Kat Walker

Stay Connected Visit our website: League of Women Voters-Hill Country Like our Facebook page : Facebook/League of Women Voters-Hill Country The LWV-Hill Country welcomes your questions! Post to our Facebook page or submit questions via e-mail to  [email protected]

About the League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters is a local, state, and national nonpartisan organization.   Please visit the LWV-Texas state website,  my.lwv.org/texas .  There you will find more voter information and the League positions on a variety of issues.  The League develops its positions after study and consensus. The LWV-Texas position on the issue of human trafficking in Texas: The League of Women Voters of Texas is opposed to all forms of domestic and international human trafficking of adults and children, including sex trafficking and labor trafficking.  We consider human trafficking to be a form of modern-day slavery and support measures to prevent the use of force, fraud or coercion to exploit a person for sexual or labor purposes, to prosecute traffickers and to protect victims.    Go to  http://lwvedu.org for the free, four-hour TEA continuing credit course on issues of human trafficking. Teachers, take note of this!   This is the online course for which we received the state award.  The national League, LWVUS,  lwv.org ,  is actively working to influence public policy through education and advocacy.  Go to this website and see the range of issues from voter rights, voter turnout, reforming money in politics, and defending the environment.

Please Consider . . . Helping fund our State League, LWV-Texas. Do you purchase from Amazon? Please donate 0.5% of your purchase to LWV-Texas.  Instructions can be found on the State League's web site, www.lwvtexas.org. Scroll down - it's way down there. Or just save these instructions:  On your Amazon account:  Search out Amazon Smile; select League of Women Voters of Texas Education Fund as your charity.  Thereafter, for your purchase to count for the donation, log into http://smile.amazon.com  The program will send you an email to install buttons into your browser to make this step easier.

League of Women Voters - Hill Country, Texas [email protected] www.lwvhillcountrytexas.org

Visit our Website ‌