Honoring New Lifetime Members of LWV-PA
At our June 18 Annual Meeting, we are pleased to honor four new Lifetime Members: Rae Aaselund, Claire Bogaard, Bill Bogaard, and Petite Morrison. Lifetime Members are those who have been League members fifty years or more. All our honorees joined the League in 1971. Let me introduce you to them.
Rae Aaselund first attended the Alhambra LWV unit meetings in Alhambra in the late 1960s with her sister and mother. Living in La Cañada, Rae officially joined LWV-PA in 1971 because it was important to her to be with others who were interested in making the world a better place and less interested in hair, makeup, and fashion. Rae has especially enjoyed working with the Natural Resources Committee on ways to fight climate change.
Claire Bogaard's neighbor in Inglewood was very active in the League of Women Voters and urged her to join. That was probably in the late 1960s. Then, in the early 1970s, Claire and Bill moved to Pasadena and immediately signed up to participate in the League here. "I was always impressed with the sound reasoning of the League members and of their dedication to and support of the League. I have always been equally impressed with the League's written materials—especially when it is time to vote and one is looking for fair and correct information on issues."
Bill Bogaard joined with Claire as a member of the Pasadena League at the urging of Sam Soghomonian, a government professor at Pasadena City College and a popular speaker on public affairs. He and his wife Maria became good friends soon after the Bogaards arrived in Pasadena in 1970. Bill took great pride in being a member of the Pasadena League. He once told me, "My joining the League was motivated by a desire to access thoughtful, fact-based information about current public affairs. The League could be counted on for thorough research and objective analysis. As we know today more than ever before, that kind of knowledge is in short supply and is needed for the vitality of our democratic system."
Petite Morrison first joined LWV in 1971 while living in Tucson, then joined LWV in Philadelphia. When she and husband Larry moved to Pasadena, she joined LWV-PA. Petite joined the League because she wanted information from the many interesting programs that were presented and wanted to learn about issues that the League studied. Petite especially enjoyed serving as President of LWV-PA in 2009.
Everyone, please join us on June 18, as we congratulate Rae, Claire, Bill, and Petite for their fifty-one years of membership in the League. We look forward to their continued support as part of LWV-PA.
—Marilynne Kennedy Wilander, Membership Committee
