In This Issue
- Date of next "In League with Kindred Spirits" Happy Hour revealed!
- Highlights of LWVLC's Ranked Voting Education Campaign
- Reflections on NO KINGS II and Planning Future Actions
- How to Donate to the LWVLC Holiday Gift Card Program
- News from Our Issues Teams & Education Groups
- Things You Should Know
| In League with Kindred Spirits!
October’s “In League with Kindred Spirits” happy hour at Intersect Brewery in Fort Collins was a glass-raising success.
Don’t miss the next one at Verboten Brewery in Loveland on Tuesday, December 2, 4:30-6 pm. Register ahead through the League calendar and get ready to meet some new faces and say hi to old friends.
| LWVLC Went ALL IN This Fall to Educate on Ranked Voting in Fort Collins
In collaboration with both the Fort Collins and Larimer County clerks’ offices, the Election Reform and Voter Services teams stepped up big time this fall to educate Fort Collins voters about the inaugural use of ranked voting in the city’s November municipal elections. Thanks in part to the League’s advocacy efforts in 2021, ranked voting was referred to the Fort Collins ballot and passed by Fort Collins voters in 2022 with over 58% of the vote. The education effort was a multi-pronged approach involving nearly 100 volunteers, 80% of whom were LWVLC members:
- Two OLLI presentations were given by Kathleen Schmidt, co-lead of the Election Reform team, assisted by Linda Thomas, Sara Tarr, and Linda Mahan. Kathleen also gave an overview and a demonstration of ranked voting at the League’s fall meeting in early September, assisted by friends of the league, Robbie Moreland and Jody DesChenes.
- Heather Sulgrove, Voter Services lead, and Hannah Sellnow had the brilliant idea to put the Larimer County Voter Guide on the Poudre Library Libby app, which included detailed information on ranked voting.
- Voter registration and ranked voting information sessions were held at five assisted living locations organized by Barb Applegate and assisted by Jane Everham, Cathy McCarty, Kathleen Schmidt, Janet Schultz, Sonia Koetting, and Pat Burger.
- On National Voter Registration Day, Pam Franzen, Carole Hollander, Judy Weaver, and Betty Marshall tabled at each Fort Collins library, registering voters and giving out ranked voting information.
- Jorie Kramer, host of Larimer County Snapshot News, engaged Sam Houghteling, Program Manager for Public Service at CSU’s Straayer Center; Tina Harris, Larimer County Clerk & Recorder; and Delynn Coldiron, Fort Collins City Clerk, in a great interview about ranked voting.
- In August and September, during three Larimer County Farmers’ Markets, Linda Thomas, Mary Kate Stonaker, Kathleen Schmidt, Sara Tarr, Janet Schultz, Carole Hollander, and Jane Everham handed out information on ranked voting.
- After being approved by the City Clerk’s Office, Launie Parry designed a beautiful new Vote411.org door hanger that was hung in conjunction with the city’s ranked voting hanger. Marge Norskog was a great help with printing logistics.
- Organized by Janet Schultz, 72 volunteers (50 of whom were League members) placed 30,000+ Ranked Voting and Vote411.org hangers on doors in 85 different Fort Collins neighborhoods from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. The following members walked MANY steps for this initiative:
| | Victoria Alexander
Barb Applegate
Mary Bledsoe
Pat Burger
Susan Canney
Jackie Creason
Amanda Crose
Beth DeHaven
Angelique Dietz
Katherine Edelblut
Jane Everham
Mandie Gill
Patty Griego
Patti Hill
Shelby Hinze
Joyce Honea
Wendy Jones
Melissa King
Jane Laupus
Ixchel Levendosky
Kathy Maher
Ted Manahan
Betty Marshall
Susan Massa
Cathy McCarty
| | Jeanette Meyer
Brenda Miles
Jenna Milliman
Patty Nekonchuk
Michael Nekonchuk
Carol Newlin
Becky Orsi-Hunt
Launie Parry
Sheila Purcell
Karyl Rice
Donna Richardson
Kathleen Schmidt
Janet Schultz
Trisha Sellers
Hannah Sellnow
Judi Sevel
Julie Stackhouse
Tamie Stadnick
Janeen Stubbs
Mary Kate Stonaker
Leslie Taylor
Sara Tarr
Linda Thomas
Sue Tungate
Pam Turner | | | Left: League member, Kathleen Schmidt, presents ranked voting at the second of two OLLI sessions.
Right: Becky Orsi-Hunt hanging doors in her neighborhood.
| Left: Even a mid-day shower didn’t stop Jenna Milliman, and the husband of Amanda Crose, Josh Osterbur, from hanging doors.
Right: A great collaborative team! From left to right: Delynn Coldiron, Fort Collins City Clerk; Tina Harris, Larimer County Clerk & Recorder; Michele Mihulka, Larimer County Elections Director; Kathleen Schmidt, Co-lead, Election Reform team, LWVLC
| Affordable Housing Team Notes
The Affordable Housing Team welcomed Vanessa Fenley, Fort Collins Senior Housing Manager, as our guest speaker in October. Vanessa shared the strategic plan and strategies being developed by the city as it reaches for the goal of stable and affordable housing for everyone.
Changes are taking place at the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Trump administration. These changes include cuts in funding and also changes in the use of voucher programs which help fund housing for low-income people. The AHT will be studying these changes and looking for ways to share this information with the community during its next meetings.
On October 23, we co-sponsored a panel with the Loveland Affordable Housing Task Force on housing challenges in our community. Loveland is searching for answers to this question and continues to struggle to establish a homeless shelter.
Our next Zoom meeting is November 13 from 1:30 - 3:00 pm.
Dustin Barrington from L’Arche will present about the two apartment buildings at Heartside Hill that will serve people with physical and mental disabilities. Please join us by registering on the Calendar.
| Upcoming Meetings & Events
(Gosh! We're a BUSY League!)
TODAY! NOV 1, 12:00-3:00 FREE!
Dia de Los Muertos Celebration
hosted by Heart & Sol and the Loveland Museum
Pulliam Community Building, 545 Cleveland Ave, Loveland
This is the first event being held at this historic community center following
nearly a decade of restoration work!
Now - NOV 24 Holiday Gift Card Program
NOV 7 Day of Action for Higher Ed (a nationwide action)
Lory Student Center, CSU, 10:00-12:00, and 6:30 screening of The Librarians
hosted by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) & CSU Students
Many local groups have been invited to involve the broader NoCo Community.
Details still coming together. LWVLC will have a table at this event!
NOV 16 FREE Native Seeds! Gardens on Spring Creek, 11:00-2:00
| |
2025 Holiday Gift Card Program
League of Women Voters of Larimer County
The holiday season is approaching… a time when our League gives back to our communities. Goal: $3,000
| | | This will be the 5th year donations have been made to local non-profit organizations helping to provide basic needs for their families.
Increasing costs of housing, food and utilities leaves little if any discretionary monies to use for gifts for Latinx community members served by La Familia and El Sueño Latino (The Latino Dream).
El Sueño Latino/The Latino Dream works to build a community where everyone is welcomed.
La Familia works alongside diverse families to provide high quality childcare and supportive services for the Latinx community.
To make this project easier, members are being asked to make donations through the League website. Donations in increments of $30 will be used to purchase gift cards at Target and WalMart. Your donations will give parents the opportunity to purchase warm winter coats/boots for their children or groceries needed by families.
How to make your donation:
Use the DONATE button on the League website, choose Local Programs, and note "Gift Card Project" in the COMMENT section under Contribution Details.
Donations due Monday, November 24th
Contact Trish Warner (trishwarner27@gmail.com) if you have any questions.
Thank you for helping make the holidays a bit brighter for families in our communities!
| GREAT DECISIONS
Upcoming Zoom meeting: November 3, 2025, at 11:30 a.m.
We will discuss: AI and American National Security, Chapter 7, in the 2025 Great Decisions book.
The AI revolution is the leading edge of a larger high-tech revolution which promises to transform the world. Experts argue that international cooperation is needed to expand the opportunities these new technologies hold while protecting societies from their dangers. What are the key policy debates in this area, and what are the opportunities and limits on global AI rules of the road? How will the AI revolution impact American national security? What are its policy options to secure the benefits of AI and guard against its dangers?
Great Decisions is on the LWVLC calendar and you can register there. A Zoom invitation will be sent to all previous participants. If you are new to GD, and wish to participate, contact Annette DeMartine.
For more information about Great Decisions, please contact Karen Heckman.
Great Decisions books for 2026 will be available to order by email to Annette DeMartine. The books cost $30 again this year and will be available for pick up in January, 2026. Our first Great Decisions meeting of 2026 will occur in February, 2026.
Upcoming meetings are always announced in the League Lines, and you can find us at https://www.lwv-larimercounty.org/, under EDUCATION GROUPS in the OUR WORK tab.
Great Decisions meetings are held on the first Monday of each month from February to June and October to December.
| Informed Citizen Book Club
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM In-person meeting, 2nd Wednesday of the month.
7:00 - 8:30 PM Zoom meeting, 2nd Wednesday of the month.
Morning attendees will meet at Epic Egg, 1477 E Eisenhower Blvd, Loveland, CO 80537.
Please join us for a lively discussion of our November book on November 12th:
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned to consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowing together to circle toward a central argument: the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgement and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the world. Once we begin to listen for the languages of other beings, we can begin to understand the innumerable life-giving gifts the world provides us and learn to offer our thanks, our care, and our own gifts in return.
Please join us on the second Wednesday of each month.
There will be no Informed Citizen Book Club meeting in December.
Our next meeting will be January 14, 2026, book TBA.
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The News Access and Literacy Task Force invites you to this timely talk on governmental transparency. Please register here for a Zoom link to the meeting.
|
What happens to democracy when local news disappears?
Across the country — and here in Colorado — local newspapers are closing and communities are losing access to credible, independent information.
Join the League of Women Voters of Denver for Challenges to Freedom of the Press, a virtual discussion on what’s at stake for democracy when journalism erodes — and how we can protect it.
Featuring Larry Ryckman, Editor of The Colorado Sun, and David Wolfgang, journalism professor at CSU, this conversation builds on the powerful PBS documentary Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink.
Watch the film first on PBS, then join us (lwv-denver.org) for this free community conversation about the future of a free press.
| Health Care Team News
Please note the change of location for the November meeting!
November 13, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Harmony Library Community Room
4616 S Shields St
Fort Collins, CO 80526
You are invited to our upcoming Health Care (HC) Team meeting on November 13th.
Our agenda will include a discussion about the potential use of AI to report on issues of interest from the monthly Health District of Northern Larimer County and Board of Health meetings.
We will continue discussion about how to strengthen our local impact by partnering with community health care organizations. We are looking for actionable opportunities to support our public health partners.
The team will give updates on current gun violence prevention legislation & activities, community behavioral health care events, and other current health care access topics.
Please register here:
Health Care Team Meeting - 11/13/2025
Highlights of the October HC Team meeting:
-- Three HC team members distributed 1,300 Ranked Voting doorhangers to Fort Collins households.
-- A letter to the Editor of the Loveland Reporter-Herald was submitted regarding the impact of Medicaid cuts for Larimer County residents and Coloradans overall. The letter included a Call to Action for residents to participate in the LWV's Unite & Rise 8.5 initiative.
We look forward to seeing you at our November meeting for ongoing discussion about priority health care issues!
| Photo: Larimer League President, Pat Burger (holding white Defend Democracy sign) runs into
George and Martha Washington at the Windsor No Kings II rally.
| Unite & Rise 8.5 – Larimer League Style -- Wants YOU!
On Saturday, Oct. 18, an estimated 7 million people in America (plus many around the world) raised their voices in peaceful, but alarmed protest. LWVLC was an official No Kings II partner with IndivisibleNOCO, tabling at the Loveland rally and providing safety marshals in Fort Collins. Larimer Leaguers were also well represented in the crowds that packed the Windsor, Berthoud, Loveland, and Fort Collins rallies.
LWVLC member Terri Paschetag, who volunteered for the first time as a safety marshal in Fort Collins, reflected: “One of my friends was calling for unity, but I couldn’t get a handle on that motivation because I was feeling so polarized. Yet at the Fort Collins rally there was a clear message that we all love our country and we all love democracy. The emotion I felt was elation. For the first time in months, I feel hopeful.”
The LWVLC Unite & Rise 8.5 team leaders, Beth DeHaven, Pam Franzen, Kathy Maher and Janet Schultz couldn’t agree more with Terri’s reaction: No Kings II WAS inspiring, restored hope AND should serve as a springboard to DO EVEN MORE.
That is what the LWVUS Unite & Rise 8.5 initiative is all about – doing all we can between now and the 2026 mid-term elections.
| |
So, here’s an urgent CALL TO ACTION for our local members. Let’s keep the momentum building by continuing to fight for our democracy.
Our League’s Unite & Rise 8.5 team invites one and all to learn more about this “quick strike” reaction squad by joining them on Thursday, November 13, 1:30-3 pm, Harmony Library Community Room for an informational and planning meeting.
| | | Photo: The march in Fort Collins was over a mile long with a police-estimated crowd of 12,000,
led in true western style by a flag-bearing horse.
| Attention, Issues Teams!
Time to claim your General Meeting!
The following months are available for Issue Teams to plan a general meeting: December, February, March, June, July, August. Complete the “Add Event to Calendar” form with details at least one month in advance. Contact Trish Warner (trishwarner27@gmail) with any questions.
| Social Media Corner
If you would like to spread the word around the work you are part of on social media platforms, come to a zoom meeting November 14 at 2pm.
This is a monthly meeting to build a schedule 3 months out to plan posts. It is important to look ahead to help make a plan. If you have a message related to any of your work in December, January, February consider attending this meeting!
Register on the calendar to attend. Meetings are open to ALL members that have an interest in using social media to spread the messages of the League.
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COMMUNITY EVENTS OF INTEREST
| November 7 Day of Action for Higher Ed
Lory Student Center Plaza, CSU
On November 7, college students and workers across the country are coming together to demand college affordability, the freedom to teach, learn, and research without partisan interference, and safety for vulnerable members of our campus communities. Will you join this wave of higher ed rising?
This Day of Action at CSU is hosted by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) & CSU Students. Many local groups have been invited to involve the broader NoCo Community. Details are still coming together, but LWVLC will have a table at this event!
10:00 AM: Tabling and donations collections
11:00 AM: Rally on the Plaza (speakers TBD)
NOON: Campus March (approx. 90 minutes)
"As an unprecedented wave of book banning is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy."
| | Fundraiser Gala -
Night of Dreams
Saturday, November 15
5:00 - 7:00 pm
Lifespring Covenant Church
743 S Dotsero Dr
Loveland
| | | Fundraiser Gala - A Night of Dreams
As you may be aware, Lovelanders have been collecting food, toiletries, and financial donations for our immigrant neighbors for months now. In partnership with The Latino Dream (El Sueño Latino), we are beyond excited to invite you to The Latino Dream’s first-ever Gala — A Night of Dreams — the very first immigrant-led gala in Loveland!
This special evening celebrates the power, resilience, and heart of our immigrant community right here in Loveland.
Join us as we come together to break bread, share stories, and build bridges of hope. You’ll enjoy a delicious authentic Mexican dinner, handcrafted mocktails, live cultural performances, a silent auction, and an inspiring short film that offers a raw and beautiful glimpse into the lives of our immigrant neighbors — their strength, their dreams, and their love for this community.
This is not just a fundraiser—it’s a heartfelt celebration of the incredible impact we can make when we unite with a shared purpose. Your presence and support are vital in helping us sustain our vital work, offering emergency assistance, resource navigation, engaging youth programs, and nurturing community spaces that cultivate a sense of belonging for everyone. Together, we can create a brighter, more unified future for Loveland!
Be part of history. Be part of the dream.
Reserve your seat today and stand with us as we create lasting change in Loveland.
With gratitude and excitement for the future of Loveland,
Dawn Morehouse & The Latino Dream Team
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JUST ONE LAST THING BEFORE YOU GO...
| | Our youngest door hangin' RV educator: Julie Stackhouse’s grandson lends a hand! | |