Democratic Club of Willow Valley

June 2026 Newsletter
2026-06-01 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
to be posted when available

May 2026 Newsletter
2026-05-01 08:00 - 17:00

General Meeting: Church World Services Update
2026-04-28 13:00 - 14:00 | Cultural Center Education Room
Click here to access the slides:

Christian Nationalism: An Update
2026-04-21 13:00 - 14:30 | Cultural Center Education Room

How Democrats Can Win
2026-04-07 10:00 - 11:30 | Cultural Center Education Room
Here are links to the information that was covered and/or referenced.
We started with a half-hour talk by Ezra Klein (originally recorded before last November’s election):
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/opinion/democrats-liberalism-elections-crick.html
We then moved to the state of democracy in the U.S. As I then mentioned, there are three organizations that rate the state of democracy in countries around the world: Freedom House in the US, a think-tank associated with the Economist magazine in England, and V-Dem in Stockholm. The 2026 V-Dem report was recently released. One quick note from the Executive Summary of the V-Dem report says it all: “The USA loses its long-term status as a liberal democracy – for the first time in over 50 years.” Here is a link to the full 2026 V-Dem Report on the 2025 State of Democracy across the world:
https://www.v-dem.net/documents/75/V-Dem_Institute_Democracy_Report_2026_lowres.pdf
And then we talked about the need to do much more than just elect Democrats. Here is the link to the article noting that we cannot rely on the democracy we had to protect us! It failed us before and it can and will fail again! We must build the democracy that we were promised, but that was never fully delivered! (Thanks to Margaret Babcock for pointing me to this article!)
https://antiauthoritarianplaybook.substack.com/p/how-democracies-win
And here is a bonus: the 2026 state of democracy report from Freedom House (“The Growing Shadow of Autocracy”); although not quite as damning of American democracy as V-Dem, it notes the serious decline in the state of democracy in the U.S.: “Among countries rated Free, the United States, Bulgaria, and Italy have experienced the year’s largest declines. In the United States, an escalation in both legislative dysfunction and executive dominance, growing pressure on people’s ability to engage in free expression, and the new administration’s moves to undermine anticorruption safeguards all contributed to the negative score change. The United States lost 3 points on the report’s 100-point scale, bringing its net decline since 2005 to 12 points, more than any other country rated Free during the same period except for Nauru and Bulgaria.” Here is a link to the full report:
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2026/growing-shadow-autocracy#democracy-and-freedom-will-endure

April 2026 Newsletter
2026-04-01 08:00 - 17:00

General Meeting: Meet the Food Hub Team
2026-03-31 13:00 - 14:00 | Cultural Center Education Room

Our Broken Election System
2026-03-24 10:00 - 11:30 | Cultural Center Education Room

PA’s Budgets: Current & Future
2026-03-10 10:00 - 11:30 | Cultural Center Education Room

March 2026 Newsletter
2026-03-01 08:00 - 17:00
Click here to access the newsletter: Dems Club Newsletter 2026 March

Petition Signing Event
2026-02-26 09:00 - 11:00 | Major WV apt-bldg sites

Jess Branas, candidate for PA 197th House District.
2026-02-24 13:00 - 14:00 | Cultural Center Education Room

Who Pays State and Local Taxes?
2026-02-17 13:00 - 14:30
Who Pays State and Local Taxes? What are the different kinds of taxes? Which ones tend to be progressive (reducing income inequality)? In which states are the taxes focused more on the rich? And where do the taxes focus on the poor?

Click here to access the slides: Who Pays State Taxes

February 2026 Newsletter
2026-02-01 08:00 - 17:00
Dems Club Newsletter 2026-02 V2

Nancy Mannion speaks, candidate for Democratic nomination for US House of Representatives
2026-01-27 13:00 - 14:00 | Cultural Center Education Room
Dems Club General Meeting Slides 2026-01-27 V2

January 2026 Newsletter
2026-01-01 08:00 - 17:00
Dems Club Newsletter 2026-01 V2

December 2025 Newsletter
2025-12-01 08:00 - 17:00
Dems Club Newsletter 2025 Dec

November 2025 Newsletter
2025-11-01 08:00 - 17:00
Dems Club Newsletter 2025-11 V1

Kristy Gismot speaks about United Way Lancaster
2025-10-28 13:00 - 14:00 | Cultural Center Education Room
Kristy Gismot, VP Resource Development, United Way, Lancaster, PA
Solicitation of your ideas, suggestions and feedback

American Bar Association (ABA) Task Force for American Democracy
2025-10-21 10:00 - 11:30
ABA Task Force for Democracy 2025-10-21

October 2025 Newsletter
2025-10-01
Dems Club Newsletter 2025 Oct

David LaMotte speaks on how to change the world
2025-09-30 13:00 - 14:00 | Cultural Center Education Room
We will present David LaMotte’s video on how to change the world. It is not naive to think you can change the world, it is naive to think you could be in the world and not change it, but that change happens in community. Business meeting follows. Come join us. All are welcome.
Click here to see slides: Dems Club General Meeting Slides 2025 Sept
Click here to see the meeting minutes: Dems General Meeting Minutes 2025-09-30

Judicial Elections and Retention
2025-09-16 10:00 - 11:30 | Cultural Center Education Room
Our own Jerry Henige will discuss the importance of retaining existing Democratic judges as well as electing new ones. Come join us. All are welcome.
Click here to see slides from the event: UoD Judicial Retentions and Elections

September 2025 Newsletter
2025-09-01 - 2025-09-30
Dems Club Newsletter 2025 Sep

Hear from Three Local Candidates
2025-08-26 13:00 - 14:00
Meet our Democratic School Board candidates Sarah Cook and Kirk Williard, as well as West Lampeter Township Supervisor candidate Tracy Arnold.

Click this link to open. Dems Club General Meeting Slides 2025-08-26 V4
Click this link to open. Dems General Meeting Minutes 2025-08-26

Court Appointed Special Advocates
2025-08-19 10:00 - 11:30 | Cultural Center Education Room
Understanding Our Democracy: Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children; Tuesday, August 19th @10 am, Education Room at the Cultural Center
Erin Small is returning as our guest speaker. She will talk to us about CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children). Their Mission is to provide a qualified and compassionate court-appointed volunteer advocate to every child who is abused and neglected, to ensure the fundamental human right of having a safe, nurturing, and permanent home is met. To date, they have served over 1,200 children. Please join us; everyone is welcome.

August 2025 Newsletter
2025-08-01 08:00 - 2025-08-31 17:00
Dems Club Newsletter 2025 Aug V2

Field Trip to Milagro House Group Tour #2
2025-07-29 09:30 - 11:30
Join us for this second, identical tour of the impressive Milagro House to be held at 10 AM on Tuesday July 29th. This non-profit helps women with children achieve long-term success through education. Pre-registration is required: contact Ross Fairweather at rossfair63@gmail.com or 717-405-8447 to signup and schedule a ride to the event. (Allow two hours, door-to-door total duration.)
Click on this hotlink to learn more about Milagro House: Milagro House Field Trips

Field Trip to Milagro House Tour Group #1
2025-07-23 13:30 - 15:30 | 669 West Chestnut Street, 669 W Chestnut St, Lancaster, PA, 17603, United States
Join us for a tour of the impressive Milagro House to be held at 2 PM on Wednesday July 23rd. This non-profit helps women with children achieve long-term success through education. Pre-registration is required: contact Ross Fairweather at rossfair63@gmail.com or 717-405-8447 to signup and schedule a ride to the event. (Allow three hours, door-to-door total duration.)
To learn more about Milagro House, click on this hotlink: Milagro House Field Trips
