The Highland Lakes Democratic Women invite you to join us for our meeting luncheon at Hidden Falls Bistro and Bar, 220 Meadowlakes Drive, Meadowlakes TX 78654 on Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 11:30 am, check-in at 11:15.

Lunch will be served for $20, payable at the door.
Please RSVP to Connie Stein at connie.stein@me.com

Our speaker will be Julie Oliver with Ground Game Texas.

Julie was born in poverty and relied on Medicaid for prenatal care as a teenager in Texas. The community of support around Julie – the family and friends that generously gave their time and resources to help her raise her baby and finish high school, then go on to college and law school – instilled the sense that nobody bootstraps it alone. And like millions of American families, this country’s failed and disastrous war on drugs has affected Julie in personal ways, with one brother succumbing to addiction in 2018, and another brother in a cycle of pre-trial detention for possession that has overturned his life.

The contours of her life experience are what inspired her to co-found Ground Game Texas in 2021. As an organizer, Julie is proud to have fought with communities across Texas, building sustainable organizing infrastructure, coalitions that outlast the boom and bust of the candidate cycle, and achieving real, impactful local wins in multiple elections across the state. And Julie knows how to build for scale, having taken on the entrenched political status quo, massively increasing turnout in neglected precincts over years of work all over Texas.

The Highland Lakes Democratic Women invite you to join us for our meeting luncheon at Hidden Falls Bistro and Bar, 220 Meadowlakes Drive, Meadowlakes TX 78654 on Thursday July 27, 2023 at 11:30 am, check-in at 11:15.

Our speaker is Dawn Davies with a talk about Dark Skies. Dawn brings over a decade of astronomy outreach and dark sky preservation experience to Hill Country Alliance as the Night Sky Program Coordinator. Before joining HCA, she served on the board of the Austin Astronomical Society and as a volunteer advocate for the International Dark-Sky Association. A dedication to education and accessibility led her to become an ambassador for the Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassador Program and the International Astronomical Union.

Originally from San Francisco, Dawn spent a large portion of her youth outdoors, camping, hiking, and attending astronomy events. By high school, she was speaking at local schools about the fundamentals of space science. These passions led to a degree in Culture, Ecology & Sustainability from New College of California. Working with HCA, she hopes to bring to the forefront the importance dark sky preservation plays in the everyday lives of animals, plants, and us.

Dawn and her husband moved to Austin in 2006, where they live with their son, two dogs, and a cat. Outside of work, she enjoys camping in the Hill Country, kayaking the Highland Lakes, and of course, amateur astronomy.

Please RSVP to Connie Stein at connie.stein@me.com

The Highland Lakes Democratic Women invite you to join us for our meeting luncheon at Hidden Falls Bistro and Bar, 220 Meadowlakes Drive, Meadowlakes TX 78654 on Thursday July 27, 2023 at 11:30 am, check in at 11:15 am. Lunch will be served. Cost is $20.

Our speaker will be Lucy Murphy, Executive Director of the Community Resource Centers of Texas. She has been with CRCTX since 2018, starting as the Director of Development in 2018 and moving into the Executive Director role in 2021. She has 15+ years of experience in nonprofit grant-seeking, along with strategic project management, organizational learning and development, and call center management. Lucy also spent time as an educator at Faith Academy of Marble Falls.

She and her husband, Pat, have two daughters and live in Marble Falls. She is a bibliophile, avid gamer, and enjoys planting veggies hoping they live.

Please RSVP to Connie Stein at connie.stein@me.com

This should be the biggest and best Marble Falls Pride Fest ever!

• 30+ booths have signed up to be at Pride this year - From handmade pottery to Mojo's drinks
• Bear King Brewery is once again setting up a 21+ only beer garden AND a pizza oven!
• The Hill Country Humane Society is hosting an adoption event so you can find your furrever best friend.
• The amazing Texas Hill Country Homeschoolers group will be setting up with fun crafts, experiments, and more.

HLDW will be there doing voter registration, giving out pride flags and red flags (gun control). We are also giving away coozies to anyone joining HLDW.  

Be sure to visit the Burnet County Democratic Club's booth, located next to HLEC. They will be doing voter registration, member registration, festive Pride-themed temporary tattoos, TWO crafts – rainbow clay-making (Ornaments! Suncatchers! More!) AND chalkboard (poster board) art. They will also be selling T-shirts, tote bags, BCDC Pride-themed decals and stickers, and both Democrat and Pride-themed pet bandannas! They also have a special offer that will not last long: A BOGO offer!  Buy ONE tote bag and get ONE free item from the Grab Bag of BCDC merchandise! It will be HOT, so they’ll also be giving away water.

The Highland Lakes Democratic Women invite you to join us for our meeting luncheon at Hidden Falls Bistro and Bar, 220 Meadowlakes Drive, Meadowlakes 78654 on Thursday June 22, 2023 at 11:30 am, check in at 11:15 am. Lunch will be served. Cost is $20.

HLDW will hear from speaker Becca DeFelice, Emerge Texas Executive Director, a GVP advocate/organizer, mom, and former state house candidate living in San Antonio with her husband and daughter. As an advocate, she’s proven she can deliver for Texas families through her years of advocacy with Moms Demand Action and her work with State Senator Roland Gutierrez on SB 1380, a rural mental health bill that passed in the legislature during the 87th session.

A transracial adoptee who grew up on a working farm, Becca’s unique life experience gives her the perspective necessary to build strong relationships across Texas’ diverse communities. She believes that every campaign run by a Democratic woman has value and holds important lessons for us all to learn for future success.

Becca is committed to ensuring that Texans have a deep bench of qualified women to run for office at every level, and that every woman candidate is the candidate our communities deserve to have fighting for us. Her goal is to prepare every Emerge Alum to manage the unique challenges that women face while running, have a comprehensive understanding of the policy and operative knowledge needed to run a successful campaign, and to confidently move forward post-election, win or lose.

Please RSVP to Connie Stein at connie.stein@me.com

Highland Lakes Democratic Women were entertained and educated by NASA Engineer Marybeth Edeen at the April meeting.  Ms. Edeen spent 35 years as a civil servant at NASA's Johnson Space Center. She started out in the Engineering Directorate working on Advanced Life Support System development and testing.  Next, was a move to working on International Space Station Environmental Control and Life Support Systems before her last move to leading the Space Station Research Office.  Ms. Edeen holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas and a Masters in Chemical Engineering from Rice University. 

Ms. Edeen shared amazing stories about the history and advancement of the Space Station during her tenure. HLDW was honored to welcome her to the meeting. 

HLDW meets the 4th Thursday of the month at Hidden Falls Bistro and Bar, 220 Meadowlakes Drive, Meadowlakes TX 78654. Cost for meeting and lunch is $20 per person.