The no-RSVP lunch is an opportunity to gather with old and new League friends in a relaxed setting. Here is the happy group that met last week at Les delices de Awa: Gail, Laura, Barb Feeney, Tracy, Jill, Andrea, Richard, and Wynona (MB not shown).

Although the no-RSVP lunch is usually on the fourth Wednesday of the month, we'll make it December 18 to avoid holiday conflicts. Meet at noon for Mediterranean food at Petra Bakery and Restaurant, 6119 Odana Road in Madison. Baklava, anyone?

More than 130 lives are lost to firearms every day in America (according to the CDC). Citizens are forced to live with the fear, the anxiety, the dread of public spaces that an armed society has created under the banner of freedom. But the norms of today are not the norms of American history and do not reflect the values of our founders. They are the product of a gun culture that has, according to the author, imposed its vision on an unwitting nation.

Historian Dominic Erdozain argues that we have wrongly ceded the big-picture argument on guns: As we parse legislation on background checks and automatic-weapons bans, we fail to ask what place guns should have in a functioning democracy. 

Thursday, February 27, 10– 11:30 a.m. via. Zoom

Saturday, March 1, 10 – 11:30 a.m via Zoom

Speakers Charles Franklin, Iuscely Flores, and Debra Cronmiller, with moderator Katrina V. Willis, discuss the impacts of past gerrymandering, whether the new maps had any effect on the Nov. 5 election, and what voters need to do to ensure future elections represent the will of the people, including considering alternatives to the Electoral College.

The forum page (linked below) has resource materials and a link to a recording of the forum.

Earnestine Moss (pictured) was honored Sunday at a festive member gathering. Moss is stepping down as co-chair of the Voter ID Coalition of organizations working to ensure that voters have the ID they need to vote. Moss will continue to work with the coalition to ensure that formerly incarcerated people know when their voting rights have been restored and are mentored through the process of registering and voting.

We also bid farewell to Drea Boeger, our Edgewood College intern, who spoke about her work organizing two voter registration events at Edgewood and doing voter outreach at many other League events. Best wishes, Drea!

Members attending also had the opportunity to provide suggestions on topics for program study in the coming year. Not a member? Use the button below to join!

League members Gail Bliss, Carol Carstensen, Mary Detert, Barbara Mortensen, and Joy Cardin attended the Election Symposium held by UW's Elections Research Center last week. Others may have participated by watching the livestream.

If you missed the Symposium, you can watch it on Wisconsin Eye here. You will need to create a free account to do this.