The League of Women Voters of Los Alamos is honoring the 1920’s group that worked so hard to earn women the right to vote. League members will be at both drive thru lunches noon to 1 p.m. today at the Los Alamos and White Rock senior centers. Lunch reservations must be made by 10 a.m. today! Courtesy photo
LWV News:
The League of Women Voters of Los Alamos is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging informed and active participation in government.
The League influences public policy through education and advocacy and today the members will honor the 1920’s group that worked so hard to earn women the right to vote. The ladies will don their regalia and remind citizens to vote, as part of a Los Alamos and White Rock Senior center goal, to get seniors to vote this campaign season.
The 2020, “suffragists”, will help the local centers campaign at both drive thru lunch opportunities noon to 1 p.m. today!
Lunch reservations for lunch must be made by 10 a.m. today! Reservations for Los Alamos can be placed at 505.662.8920 and White Rock at 505.672.2034.
Chefs Fred Ortiz and Michael Mason will bring taste buds back to 1920, as they recreate chicken and dumplings for lunch today. The chefs and their staff work hard to feed seniors in our community, serving more than 9,000 meals last quarter. Members of the senior center can receive a meal for a $5 suggested donation, although money is never requested by staff. Membership for those 60 and over is free.
“The idea of this historic celebration was, as usual, a collaborative brain storming, but Ellen Mills made all the sashes, and Becky Shankland gathered together all the signs,” LWV member Jody Benson said. “I think our first in-white public appearance was at the 2019 Rodeo Parade.”
While August of 2019 feels like a lifetime ago, the ladies “wore their whites” in February at the New Mexico Legislature when the Governor celebrated the100-year founding of the League of Women Voters, when New Mexico ratified the 19th amendment. The suffrage centennial continues today to honor the plight as the ladies “wear their whites” to provide encouragement and awareness of early voting in person or to request an absentee ballot.
Benson joined the LWV when Elizabeth Best began a sustainability study in the late 1990s.
“Protecting the environment has always been primary in my life, but these women taught me the great advantage of participating in a study done by a very respected organization, and that would be paid attention to,” Benson said. “Their study resulted in guiding the County in its updated Los Alamos Sustainability Plan.”
Benson describes the LWV membership as one full of “any remarkable, inspirational women”. Her own mother was born Aug. 16, 1920 just days before the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Her mother’s mother, her sisters, and their German-born mother were suffragists. Now, 100 years later, the senior centers, along with LWV partners, honor their sacrifice and salute them with a small homage to history.
“The community wishes the County Clerk and her wonderful staff a speedy month in the midst of a pandemic and we have enjoyed spreading the word to vote.”