Congratulations to all those who voted in this election. For women, it is an historic occasion. We have the first woman Vice-President and the first woman of color Vice-President. This is truly a victory for women’s rights no matter how you feel about the politics. The other major victory in this election was the historic number of Americans who turned out to vote. It is estimated that 80% of those eligible to vote did so. Note, that is those eligible not those who are registered voters. That’s truly remarkable.

The other celebration we can have is we are moving forward with our local branch of AAUW despite the pandemic. We have now held our third branch meeting using Zoom and our second social time using Zoom. So far, from the responses I have been getting from various members, it looks like we are being successful. Although we will not be able to do our annual fundraising Christmas Bazaar this year, we are making headway on our fundraising. Not only did we have successful Lunafest and Footlighter events, but we also made around $900 on a fundraiser Toni Momberger arranged on the Haunting of Redlands. Toni, I believe, is also working on additional fundraisers during this year. The board will be reevaluating our budget for this year and making adjustments where necessary. Unfortunately, we did have a drop in membership, but that was to be expected in such unusual times. In the meantime, we have started a new Racial Justice Discussion Group that has become very active. If you’re interested in joining, contact our president-elect Erica Wilson.

The Program Committee will be meeting in December to consider what to do about our meetings in 2021. Much will depend on the University of Redlands and whether they will allow us to use their facility during the second half of our year. However, with COVID-19 cases on the rise it does not look hopeful. If you have any suggestions concerning our meetings or fundraisers, please let me know.