Dear friends,
I won’t ask if you are stressed and anxious. We are living through one of the most challenging moments in our history.
At our Newburgh meet-up this month the 95-year-old aunt of LWVMHR board member Anne Sandor, here from her home in Paris, agreed that this feels like the childhood years she spent in Germany. So unless you welcome chaos and cruelty and think that government is useless, anxiety is unavoidable.
Trying to ease my own anxiety, I looked up some quotes and especially liked this from Eleanor Roosevelt: “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” Not easy, but wise.
One obvious anxiety antidote is taking action in as effective a way as possible. This currently means welcoming opportunities to tell our elected officials how we feel but focusing, even better, on our state and local governments.
I hope you saw the March State Voter (emailed to you on March 4) and saw a link to a letter sent to the Congressional leaders from the nationaland all state LWVs on behalf of all of us. It is long and full of helpful details. It is comforting to see the issues laid out so well and to hear the appropriate tone of outrage and determination. I know that many of you are also finding some satisfaction in attending town halls and marches.
And I hope you will take advantage of our many MEET-UPS. There is already one happening regularly in each of our three counties and another planned for April 15, 4 pm, at the Kings Valley Diner in Kingston. There is always time for some venting, but there is also happy conversation too and plenty of discussion of issues we care about. Meet-up notes and pics get posted regularly in this monthly newsletter and you can drop in occasionally, regularly or even just once! New people – including potential members – are always welcome. Social connections are vitally important in times like these.
Our advocacy efforts have continued as we have completed or are still planning visits with all seven of our state Assembly members and all three of our state senators.If you’d like to get in on our last few, let me know. We have also visited with all three county boards of elections and all three county executives. These visits are always interesting and sometimes even surprising. We will also be scheduling meetings with many of the state level
folks in their Albany offices on May 7th- the League’s Advocacy Day. We carpool and there is always room for one more. Watch for more information and plan to join us!
Meanwhile read “Your Weekly Legislative Update from LWVNYS” that arrives in your email every Friday when the legislature is meeting . It comes from our state League Executive Director, Erica Smitka, and is always very readable.
The League has weathered 105 years of challenges to our democracy already and I hope you find it eases some of your anxiety to be part of it, of us.
Dare Thompson, President darethompson@gmail.com
845-236-3074 (preferred) 845-591-3445 (cell)