FIVE women are currently serving as mayors in Okanogan County: Winthrop, Twisp, Omak, Pateros and Tonasket. We invite you to gather together for a very special, virtual conversation about women, civic leadership, and voter participation.

A conversation not about politics or campaigns. But about women leading in our communities by serving as mayors.

Thursday, October 22 - 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. via ZOOM.

Link will be available here 10/22 at 6:00pm.

This event will be recorded and available on the Shafer Museum website.

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION FOR THE PANEL HERE BEFORE 10/21 or email staff@shafermuseum.org

Panelists:

Mayor Carlene Anders, Pateros

Mayor Cindy Gagne, Omak

Mayor Soo Ing-Moody, Twisp

Mayor Marylou Kriner, Tonasket

Mayor Sally Ranzau, Winthrop

Moderator:

Kate Wallace Johnson, Shafer Historical Museum

Who inspired these women to “join the fray” and to step up and serve? What does it mean to be a political figure in 2020, and one who is also a woman? What can we all do to encourage more women to participate in government? How do these mayors rise and lead during the hardest times, such as those we are currently living? What advice do they give to future women who might consider a political role in Okanogan County? And what do these leaders want future women here to know about our times right now?

Pandemics. Wildfires. Floods. Economic Downturns. Voters’ Drives. Public Libraries. Garbage Pick-up. Schools. Of course we know Okanogan County women have long faced local challenges head on, and have been central to organizing solutions and to governing in our local communities! But when Shafer Museum researchers searched the archives of the Okanogan County Historical Society and its affiliated museums, little was found to show how Okanogan women were affected by the expansion of voting rights or Washington’s less restrictive laws on women’s political participation 100 years ago. So today, as we celebrate the Centennial of the passage of the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote in federal elections, the Shafer Museum invites everyone to time to stop, reflect, and record this unique moment in the history of women’s political leadership.