Annual Picnic

August 21 6:00 - 8:30 Shady Hollow Pavilion

Our Annual Picnic to celebrate Women's Equality Day and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment will be August 21 from 6:00 - 8:30 at the Shady Hollow Pavilion in Sand Run Metro Park. Please bring a dish to share. Plates and beverages provided. 

Our speakers will be Tina Merlitti and Adam Van Ho, who will share their experiences at the recent LWVUS National Convention in Dallas.

All members and friends of the League are welcome.  This is a great opportunity to introduce your friends to the important work of the League.

LWVO Regional Meeting

Saturday, August 16 10:00 - 12:30 at the University of Akron

LWVO will hold a Regional Meeting here in Akron in mid-August .  The meeting will be at the University of Akron and topics will include Campaign Finance and Sharing Ideas for Building a Stronger League.  All members are welcome and you can register online. This is a great opportunity to represent our local League and meet others from our part of Ohio. 

LWVAA August Board Meeting

August 21 5:30 Shady Hollow Pavilion Sand Run Metro Park

Our August meeting will be just prior to the Annual Picnic.

LWVAA September Board Meeting

September 4 6:00 - 8:00 380 Mineola Akron 44320

September's Board meeting will be at the church. Please note the time is 30 minutes later than last year.  Members always welcome.

Porch Rokr

Saturday, September 20 in Highland Square

LWVAA will  be registering voters and providing information about League membership and voting regulations on September 20 at the Porch Rokr (pronounced "porch rocker") festival in Akron.  This is a community event where bands play on the front porches of neighborhood houses.  Food vendors and other booths will be present as well. We need volunteers to work at our table to greet and register new voters and answer questions.  Please email lwvaa@lwvaa.org if you are interested in taking a shift at our booth.

Judicial Candidates Night

September 30 6:30 - 9:30 Hudson High School

The Leagues of Akron, Tallmadge, and Hudson are collaborating on a Summit County judicial candidates night.  All Summit County judicial candidates have been invited to attend.  Our Leagues were awarded a grant from LWVO to promote this event and we encourage all members and friends to join us for a night of questions and discussion.

Volunteers are needed to staff the tables as facilitators.  This forum is a wonderful opportunity to introduce your friends to the Leagues' work and give them a chance to see grass roots politics in action.

President's Message

Jill Cabe

I feel pretty confident that all members are voters, but I wish more voters were members.  We have so much offer young women and men in terms of opportunity, activism, and support. The League in general, and Akron in particular, is a wonderful place to learn and grow.  How can we reach out to the Millennials in our midst and encourage them to see what the League can offer them? We're on Facebook and Twitter - they don't even have to put down their phones!  How can we tap the Gen Xers who secretly maintain the ideals of their youth and are looking to strengthen their communities?  How can we benefit from the Boomers with their time and wealth of experience? Our League has a fantastic core of devoted members.  But we also have two Board positions that remain open.  I wish potential Board members could see these available roles as opportunities not obligations.   No one, regardless of age or political inclination, wants to die a slow death in a long series of meetings in a church basement.  That is not what community involvement and activism is about.  It's about working with like-minded neighbors and friends to improve our lives here at home and influence the national issues that affect us all.  Each of us knows someone who makes us think "Gee, she would be great for League."  Ask her!  And if she says no, ask her, "Why not?"  If she still says no, then ask her daughter and her husband to become members too.  Our work is too important not to invite our friends and relatives and co-workers to join us.

Speaking of like-minded neighbors and friends, the 2014 Voter's Guide is well underway.  Akron, Hudson, and Tallmadge all met last week to discuss the questions we will submit to candidates.  Gerry Hall graciously hosted us at her home and it was inspiring to see such cooperation and discussion between the various Leagues and their representatives.  Gerry and Diana Kingsbury will be editing the Guide this year. We will create one printed guide for all of Summit County and Hudson and Tallmadge will contribute to defray the additional costs.  Bruce Greer will continue to handle our on-line version, with its expanded questions. 

We have a huge slate of judicial candidates this year, so plan to attend our judicial candidates night to ask them questions and take the opportunity to see how they handle themselves in public.  We will be at Hudson High School on September 30 - another example of the our three Summit Leagues working together to educate our voters.  It's a perfect opportunity to bring that friend or neighbor along to see what it is we really do. 

Action Item: Lake Erie Basin Committee

The EPA and Army Corps (USACE) have jointly proposed The Waters of the US Rule to protect the small streams, headwaters, tributaries, and wetlands that feed our downstream waters such as the Great Lakes. Comments will be accepted by the EPA through 10/20/2014 but comments should be directed at your legislators NOW! The quantity of GOOD comments received by the EPA bolsters their case so comment now and ask your friends and family to comment too! The EPA website for comments: http://www2.epa.gov/uswaters.

The full text of the rule is also available here along with lots of helpful information and links. Click on “Submit a formal comment” Quick Talking Points:

• I SUPPORT the EPA’s Waters of the US Rule

• Headwaters and small streams MUST be protected in order to protect
larger rivers and lakes.

• Average Farmers were consulted during the rulemaking and SUPPORT this rule. This Rule does NOT change exemptions currently enjoyed by farmers.