At our January Potluck, it was announced we would no longer be doing an annual Wine Tasting event.  When the League began this essential fundraiser to support our work, a wine tasting with homemade food from special recipes was a very unique event. The size and complexity of the Wine Tasting event demanded a significant number of League members to be “all hands-on deck” which has been an impressive team effort! 
After 45 years, however, increased competition among such events and the wine merchant donations which made them possible have resulted in a very different landscape. More members indicated they would prefer to donate rather than prepare food, even before the League rented a commercial kitchen for the great food we were known to serve.
We had a successful event tradition that faced increasing challenges. That then raised the question, Is it time for a new tradition for LWVBC? The LWVBC Board decided our League could be better served by pursuing other fundraising activities that might connect more directly with the work of the League.  We had suspended our annual fundraising letter plans in November because of the Camp Fire. But the work of our local League requires fundraising since our annual membership dues go to support the national and state leagues.  Therefore, we are exploring new avenues of support and creating new traditions to sustain our work. We welcome your insights and ideas on how we might best do this. Join the Fundraising Committee. Watch the League calendar and an upcoming e-bulletin for the date and time of the committee meeting. If you want to share your ideas immediately, please email  presidentlvwbutte [at] gmail.com.
The first major LWVBC event we will launch is The Power of 100 on Sunday, August 18 at Leon’s Bistro in downtown Chico.  This exciting event is for 100 people who will commit $100 towards celebrating the women who were essential to the League’s 100 years of history. We may even promote period dress (although perhaps this time we will leave out whale bone).  More details will be forthcoming soon about The Power of 100 so stay tuned. 
Let’s embrace the tradition of celebrating the amazing people who are Making Democracy Work!