Democratic Women's Club of the Lakes Area
Stay current with DWCLA upcoming news and events through Facebook and Instagram.
Current Events & News
Previous Events & News
Equality for All Roundtable
If you are worried about your safety as an immigrant, person of color, gay person, differently abled person, or woman, come share your experiences with us and search for solutions.
Wine & Cheese Meet and Greet
We welcomed new and potential members at our meet and greet event at the Melrose Community Center. Current members got to know new members and just have a good time.
NO KINGS!!!
Annual Community Dance - 2025
On September 20 he Democratic Women's Club of the Lake Area held their annual community dance at the Keystone Heights Woman's Club in Keystone Heights, Florida.
Raftus Brown and the Melrose Horns provided the music for our dancing pleasure. Proceeds of the dance will go to support area families and kids at Christmas.
The Democratic Women's Club was there on October 18th, 2025, to make our voices heard along with eight million others nationwide. Click on the images to the right to visit the Google Photos archive of this event.
If you are worried about your safety as an immigrant, person of color, gay person, differently abled person, or woman, come share your experiences with us and search for solutions. Local and area leaders will be there, including Phillip Miner and Lucia Sanchez. A free, welcoming event, the Equality for All Roundtable was held on June 14 at 2:30 pm in the community room of Faith Presbyterian Church, 2738 SE Hwy 21, Melrose. This is midway between Melrose and Keystone Heights. For further information, call 386-972-4324. Celebrate Pride! Black Lives Matter! Immigrants Rights! Women's Rights!
Equality For All Roundtable Resources:
Equality For All Resources - PDF
Equality For All Resources - DOCX
The Democratic Women's Club of the Lake Area celibrated their tenth anniversary in 2025!
We Are Ten Years Old!
2025 DWCLA Annual Plant Sale Fund Raiser
The Democratic Women's Club staged it's annual plant sale to raise money for the club.
2024 Merry Melrose Christmas Parade
We did it again. The Democratic Women's Club once again participated in The Merry Melrose Christmas the parade,
Charity Gift Wrapping
Each year, the club works with the local schools to identify and adopt struggling families. We enjoy shopping for the children and the annual gift-wrapping party. It's a great way to celebrate the generous spirit of Christmas.
The Fourth Annual Walk Against Hate (2024)
Our 34th Annual Walk Against Hate was held on Sunday October 20th at Melrose Heritage Park. Speakers were Linda E. Maurice, James Stockton, George T. Hill, LaShonda Holloway. The Walk Against Hate has grown each year and we had a great turnout this year.
October Meeting Speakers
The October 23rd meeting featured speakers Bobby Brady, Candidate, State House Dist. 10 , B. George T. Hill, Candidate, State Senate Dist.7.
Dance, Dance, Dance!
On September 21st The Democratic Women's Club of the Lake Area held their annual dance. The event was held at The Keystone Heights Women's Club in Keystone Heights, Florida. Once again live music was provided by the Crooked Counsel.
September Meeting
The September meeting featured a presentation byJane Edwards, Environmental Advocate
August Meeting Speaker
Tony Connolly canidate for House District 20 (Putnam and South Clay Counties) spoke at the August DWCLA meeting
2024 June Meeting Recap - Debbie Mucarsel-Powell & Yvens Pierre-Antoine
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
A breath of fresh air could be heading to the U.S. Senate. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell spoke Wednesday night at the Democratic Women’s Club of the Lakes Area in Melrose. She told the crowd of about 40 that she is a proud mother, Latina, and immigrant running to be Florida’s next U.S. Senator.
Her success in the House of Representatives gave her the experience and confidence that she can beat Rick Scott if she becomes the Democratic nominee for Senate in the November election. She says she knows how to work across party lines on issues like legal pathways for immigrants to achieve citizenship while protecting our borders. She will fight to protect Social Security and Medicare as well as women’s reproductive rights and making healthcare affordable. She sees the need for government action to make housing and home insurance affordable. Perhaps because she lost her father to gun violence, she has been a lifelong advocate for gun safety, most recently working for Giffords.
After her speech, which was around 9 pm, Mucarsel-Powell headed for Miami where she lives with her husband Robert and their three children.
Yvens Pierre-Antoine
Yvens Pierre-Antoine, running for State Attorney, 8th Judicial Circuit, dropped by our June meeting and spoke with us about his priorities. He has been a mentor in Gainesville, showing young African-American children that they can aspire to greatness. With over 20 years as a practicing attorney, he understands what we need to make our area a safer, more equitable place to live. Our members in Alachua and Bradford Counties can vote for him in November.
2024 May Meeting Recap - Pat McCollough
When she spoke to our May meeting, Pat McCollough gave an inspiring, funny, energizing talk about what it takes to carry out a winning campaign. Pat was the campaign manager who wrote the winning strategy and led the diverse team for Donna Deegan who became the first female Mayor in Jacksonville, and Pat became Deegan’s first appointed Black Chief of Staff. Pat’s current role is Assistant to the Mayor on Civic Engagement and Youth Participation. She loves Melrose, having grown up part time in Hawthorne and part time in Ashley Lake.
David Vaina of the Sierra Club Was Our Speaker in April
In April, David Vaina spoke to our meeting on Zoom. Among other things, he is on the political team for the Suwannee - St. Johns Chapter of the Sierra Club, and gave a run-down of what happened in the FL Legislature this session. For example, DeSantis has signed a bill that prohibits the installation of wind energy, prohibits using the phrase “climate crisis,” and blocks cities and counties from trying to protect workers by requiring water and shade breaks. On the positive side, the budget contains $450 million for endangered species and wildlife corridors. David made a plea for staying engaged in advocacy in Tallahassee, because sometimes it really works!
2024 Febuary Meeting Recap
The Club held our monthly meeting on Saturday, February 24, 2024. It was very well-attended. Guest Speaker Evelyn Foxx, Chair of the Alachua County NAACP spoke on “The Necessity of Engaging Voters in Rural Areas”. Evelyn stressed the need to mobilize, educate and engage voters using effective strategies such as phone calls, door knocking, texting, postcards, and tabling. Electronic tools, such as VAN and REACH were discussed to help connect us to people in our contact lists and in our communities to generate lists for outreach. They also warned us about the new Republican laws that make voting more difficult. She brought with her the President of the Alachua County DWC, Doris Harvey, and chair Diane Dimperio of the ACDEC Voter Registration team.
Commissioner Spooner at the DWCLA March Meeting
“Who are you? How do you describe yourself? I am a woman of Democracy, a daughter of Democracy. I am a defender of Democracy. The coming 2024 election will be the most important in our lifetime.”
This is how Carolyn Spooner began her speech at our March meeting. She gave a brief herstory of the women who came before her on the Bradford County Commission, all four.
Then, in 2020, Ms. Spooner and Diane Andrews were both elected in their respective districts. Ms. Spooner is the first African-American woman elected to the Commission and now serves as their Chair. When she was elected, she said she was a representative for all of Bradford County, and she hears from residents all over the county.