Democratic Women's Club of the Lakes Area
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Current Events & News
A New Meeting Location
Monthly DWCLA membership and board meetings are moving to the Melrose Center in 2025. The Melrose Center is located at 307 & 309 SR-26, Melrose, FL 32666, United States. There is free parking onsite. We hope to see you there!
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Previous Events & News
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!
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.
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.
Changes to Voting by Mail in Florida
There is a new requirement that Floridians who vote by mail must request a mail-in ballot every general election cycle.
This means you’re no longer eligible to vote by mail in Florida’s next election until you re-enroll with the Supervisor of Elections.
Please note that the new law!requires you provide your Florida driver’s license number and the last four digits of your Social Security number!when signing up to vote by mail. The numbers you provide must match what you provided when you registered to vote.
Last year’s law, S.B. 90, created new hurdles for voters!such as retroactively canceling mail ballot requests, forcing voters to make redundant requests for mail ballots,eliminating most ballot drop-boxes, and reducing the options for early voting. All of
these measures make it tougher for everyone to vote, but especially the elderly and mobility-impaired. In addition to yourself, think about whether anyone in your life needs to sign up for vote-by-mail and get them the information.
You can sign up now for your vote-by-mail ballot, so you will be ready for the next election. You can check your registration status and request a Vote-by-Mail ballot from your county Supervisor of Elections website, or you can call them at one of the numbers listed here:
Alachua County: votealachua.com or (352) 374-5252
Bradford County: bradfordelections.com or 904-966-6266
Clay County: clayelections.gov or (904) 269-6350
Putnam County: soe.putnam-fl.com or (386) 329-0224
Myth: A voter can’t vote in person if they have received a Vote-By-Mail ballot.
Fact: A voter can decide to vote at the polls instead of using their Vote-By-Mail ballot. The Supervisor of Elections will check that the vote-by-mail ballot has not been received and if it hasn’t, then they can vote using a regular ballot at the polling location. Voters are not required to bring their vote-by-mail ballot when voting in person at their polling location.
Myth: Vote-By-Mail is less secure than voting in person and someone could hack it.
Fact: We use paper ballots, including vote-by-mail ballots, which are more secure than electronic voting. Vote-by-mail ballots are opened and tabulated beginning one week before Election Day, then ballots are processed daily upon receipt. All ballots are accounted for and ballot counts are verified.
2023 Merry Melrose Christmas Parade
The Democratic Women's Club will participate again this year, and our float depicted the theme of the parade, "Peace on Earth".
Charity Gift Wrapping / Christmas Party / Parades
“On Saturday, 21 January, new members (who joined in 2022), got together with longer-term members at an afternoon tea and social event. We talked about “who we are, what we do and how we do it", and heard from our new members’ about ideas and expectations for the organization.”
We had a busy holiday season that included participating in the Melrose Christmas parade. 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.
January 6 Candlelight Commemoration
January 6, 2022 commemorates the one-year anniversary of the failed attempts to overthrow the fair and legal 2020 election. We will work to defend democracy from those who seek power through deceit, fraud, voter suppression, and force. We are reminded that democracy requires vigilance and action.
The Third Annual Walk Against Hate (2023)
Our 3rd Annual Walk Against Hate was held on Sunday October 22nd at Melrose Heritage Park. Speakers represented organizations in North Central Florida that advocate for the rights of Black people, gays, women, Jews, and the right to vote generally. The Walk Against Hate has grown each year and we had a great turnout this year.
Another Successful Dance Party!
On September 30 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. Live music was provided by Crooked Counsel.