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UPCOMING WDC EVENTS
Mark your calendars now for these upcoming events. For more information on locations and registration, watch for future e-mails and daisy cards - or visit our website at www.womansdemocraticclub.org.
Thursday, August 8
Happy Hour
5:30-7 p.m.
Lebanese Taverna
7141 Arlington Road, Bethesda
Want to meet new people and talk politics? Join us at the next WDC Happy Hour. Every second Thursday of each month, Democrats who are passionate about politics gather to relax and network with WDC members and their guests. Whether you want to meet elected officials, make new friends, form new business contacts or just have fun, the WDC Happy Hour is the perfect place to meet and greet fellow Democrats.
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UPCOMING ADVOCACY AND CAMPAIGN EVENTS
CLIMATE CHANGE 
Thursday, August 1
We Need To Act - Now! Climate Change Town Hall
6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Silver Spring Civic Center
One Veteran's Place, Silver Spring
Sponsored by Organizing for Action, Montgomery County and Co-Sponsored by Woman's Democratic Club
Join Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Mike Tidwell, Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), Dr. Cindy Parker, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, John Hopkins University, Dr. Don Boesch, President, UMD Center for Environment Science, Kathryn Magruder, Executive Director, Maryland Clean Energy Center, and Chris Hill, Chapter Conservation Representative, Sierra Club to bring the conversation on Climate Change to the forefront. Send a strong message to everybody that it is absolutely critical to act now! Let's pack the place and let our voices be heard - loud and clear! Click here for more information. The following events are listed for Action August, which is month-long effort by OFA volunteers to make their voices heard on the issues they care most about. These include Obamacare, comprehensive immigration reform, as well as climate change.
OBAMACARE
Sunday, August 4
Obamacare House Party at Alexandra Hayward's Home in North Bethesda. Join local supporters to learn how Obamacare is already working to improve access to health care in your community, and how you can help spread the word. For more information and to RSVP, please click here .
 Comprehensive Immigration Reform Phone Banks
Sponsored by Organizing for Action, Montgomery County
Comprehensive immigration reform passed the Senate, but now it's up to the House of Representatives to act. Join local supporters, where we'll remind the Congressmen that it is time to fix our broken immigration system.
Monday, August 5
WDC Board Member Linda Kolko's home in Takoma Park.For more information and to RSVP, please click here.
Susan Klein's home in Silver Spring. For more information and RSVP, please click here .
Alexandra Hayward's home in North Bethesda. For more information and to RSVP, please click
here .
Rhea and Howard Troffkin's home in Potomac. For more information and to RSVP, please click here .
Saturday, August 31
Susan Klein's home in Silver Spring. For more information and to RSVP, please here .
Alexandra Hayward's home in North Bethesda. For more information and to RSVP, please click here.
Margaret Hadley's home in Potomac. For more information and to RSVP, please click here .
PHONE BANKS FOR TERRY MCAULIFFE FOR VIRGINIA GOVERNOR
Tuesday, August 6 and Thursday, August 8 
5:30pm - 9:00pm (stay for as long or as little as you like)
MCDCC Office
3720 Farragut Ave., Suite #303, Kensington, MD
The Terry McAuliffe for Virginia Governor Campaign has officially kicked off, and we are working hard to spread the word to Virginia voters that they face a clear choice in this high-stakes election. The campaign to elect Terry is going to be a race to the finish, and we need your help once again to make sure that what we built in Virginia last year doesn't go away. Please click here to RSVP and join the campaign to make calls here in Maryland. For more information, call Jennifer Hosey of the McAuliffe campaign at 301-905-6779 or email jennifer.m.hosey2012@gmail.com.
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VOLUNTEER AT THE DEMOCRATIC TENT AT THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY FAIR
 As we do each year, WSDC has adopted a day to staff the Democratic Party tent at the Montgomery County Fair in Gaithersburg. With federal, state, and county elections coming up in 2014, we want to be sure that all Democratic voters are registered. The fair is also a great opportunity to recruit new Club members.
This year we will be staffing the fair with District 16 Democrats on Wednesday, August 14th from 10am to 10pm. We need volunteers to work two-hour shifts. Any member who volunteers for a two-hour shift is entitled to a free pass to the fair. Come to help the Democrats and stay to enjoy the fair. Email WSDC member Marc Korman at mkorman@gmail.com for more information and to volunteer at the Democratic Party booth.
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New Newsletter Feature - INTERVIEW
This month we are initiating a new regular feature for the newsletter, titled INTERVIEW. Each month will feature a different member of the board, beginning with the officers. The purpose is to make the board members better known to our general membership. This month's Interview features our newly elected President Beth Tomasello.
INTERVIEW edited by Bonnie Wicklund
Beth Tomasello
WDC's new president, Beth Tomasello, is an attorney by training and has worked in private law practice, specializing in real estate and environmental law, and as an enforcement attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A third-generation Bostonian, Beth moved to Maryland in 2000. Coming from a strongly Democratic family (her grandmother was an elector for FDR and her grandfather was an early influential Italian-American supporter of JFK's political career), she became more politically active on moving to the Washington area. She attributes this in part to meeting true Republicans in Washington, as distinguished from the Massachusetts variety.
In 2008, inspired by the historic candidacy of Barack Obama, Beth tried her hand at grass roots political organizing and fundraising. She enjoyed it and was pretty good at it! The Obama campaign invited Beth to be a member of the 2012 National Finance Committee.
Inspired by her experience in political fundraising, Beth transitioned from law practice to a career in non-profit fundraising. She currently works as the Director of Advancement and Strategic Initiatives for Sister to Sister: The Women's Heart Health Foundation. She lives in Chevy Chase with her husband, their 18-year old daughter and 14-year old son.
READING
I love reading and am in two book groups. I most often read fiction, but this summer I have found myself reading non-fiction. I recently finished The Patriarch, The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy. The book is a fascinating account of a complex, often misguided, but immensely influential man. I am currently reading The Unwinding, by George Packer, who is a terrific writer with a great ear for contemporary stories. The book is a must-read for anyone who has wondered, "What happened to my country?"
VIEWING
Between family, work, WDC, and books, I don't have time to watch much TV. I watch the PBS News Hour- particularly on Fridays to catch Mark Shields and David Brooks politely duel on the issues of the week. I also try to find time to watch the Boston Red Sox (more fun this season than last). I also watch NCIS reruns to bond with my son. I realized that I must actually like the show when, while watching the TV coverage of the day-long hunt for the surviving Boston marathon bomber, I remarked that, "Agent Gibbs would have found him by now."
For movies, I challenge myself to watch all the Academy Award nominees, at least as videos, every year. (That is getting harder now that there are so many of them.) I loved Argo, but my favorite of 2012 was Silver Linings Playbook.
LISTENING
When I'm not catching up on NPR news, my musical tastes are hopelessly rooted in the 1970s and 80s. Seeing Bruce Springsteen in Fenway Park last summer was a near-religious experience.
TRAVEL
While I used to be an adventurous solo traveler, vacations post-children have tended to be more family-friendly: Sanibel Island in the winter and New Hampshire in the summer. I am looking forward to my daughter's study abroad in Italy, which will give us an excuse to visit.
COLUMNIST
Although E.J. Dionne will always hold a special place after his wonderful talk at WDC in 2013, my favorite columnist is Gail Collins of the New York Times. She is simply the best in combining a keen political sense with an eye for the absurd - and hysterically funny.
FAVORITE POLITICIANS
It is hard for me to imagine a more exciting politician on the campaign trail than President Barack Obama, but I think that 2016 will offer a great Democratic political field. However, as president of WDC, I cannot comment on it! I admire all our Maryland Democratic Senators and House Members, and as an advocate for women's heart-disease prevention, I am a particular admirer of Senator Barbara Mikulski. Her amendments to the Affordable Care Act requiring coverage for women's preventative care may bring about the biggest change in the delivery of women's health care that any of us will see in our lifetimes. I am also a big Elizabeth Warren fan. She represents all hard-working people of this country who badly need a champion.
POLITICAL HIGH POINTS
Attending the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte (a bucket list item for me) and celebrating in Chicago on the night of November 6, 2012. I will never, ever forget these two incredible experiences.
TOP POLITICAL ISSUE
Our campaign finance and electoral systems are broken and need a complete overhaul. Until we rid our elections of corporate and Super PAC money from undisclosed donors, until congressional districts are drawn in a fair, non-partisan fashion, and until Republican efforts to suppress Democratic votes are stopped (more difficult now that the Supreme Court has gutted key parts of the Voting Rights Act), individual voters' voices will not be heard and respected by all elected representatives. Too often, we find our representative bodies making decisions that do not reflect the opinions of large majorities of our citizens, and it seems that the moral compasses of well-meaning elected officials are thrown off by the magnetic influence of campaign cash. I applaud Montgomery County Congressmen Chris Van Hollen and John Sarbanes for leading the fight on campaign finance reform in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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MAXINE DEWOODY TAYLOR HAMILTON, PhD, A LIFE WELL SPENT
 Longtime WDC member Maxine Hamilton passed away on July 23 rd. Her very full life spanned 85 years and three continents including Asia, Europe, and North America. Maxine can be remembered for the many roles she played throughout her life - as a wife, mother of one son and four daughters, grandmother of four grandchildren, and multiple careerist. She was a Foreign Service wife, school teacher both in the United States and abroad, and later became a tax consultant. She also should be remembered as a tireless advocate for those causes she believed in and held dear to her heart. Primary among those causes was developmental disabilities. Maxine served on the Board of Directors of the ARC of Montgomery County, MD, one of the largest and oldest nonprofit organizations in the state which serves individuals, families and employers affected by intellectual and developmental disabilities. She also served as President of the ARC's Residential Support Group for multiple years, and received many awards for her service.
Her commitment to disability issues extended to her activities in the WDC where she was very active on the Legislative Committee, and wrote the summaries of legislation that addressed disability rights. She served as a member of that Committee since its inception 8 years ago. It should also be mentioned that she spoke in favor of our name change, after having polled her daughters and found that they were in support of it. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 3, 2013 at the Inter-Faith Chapel, 3680 N. Leisure World Boulevard, Silver Spring, MD at 11:00 a.m. The family has suggested that memorial contributions may be made to The Arc of Montgomery County, MD. Their website is http://thearcmontgomerycounty.org/donate/donate-online.html. Their address is 11600 Nebel Street, Rockville, MD 20852. You may click here to view Maxine's obituary.
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JOIN OR RENEW NOW 
All current members will be receiving their renewal forms in the mail Mid-August. Membership renewals are due on September 1, 2014. Don't forget to renew now! If you have never joined WDC, join now and your membership will be paid through August 31, 2014. Click here to renew or join now.
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FACEBOOK PAGE
Don't forget to like us on Facebook; we're listed as Woman's Democratic Club, Montgomery County.
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POLITICAL BOOK CLUB
The September 18 selection is Louis D. Brandeis: A Life, the first full-scale biography in 25 years of one of the most important and distinguished justices to sit on the Supreme Court.Author Melvin Urofsky reveals Justice Brandeis the reformer, lawyer, and jurist, as well as Brandeis the man, in all of his complexity, passion, and wit.
The November 20 selection is The Hopkins Touch: Harry Hopkins and the Forging of the Alliance to Defeat Hitler in which David Roll shows how Harry Hopkins, an Iowa-born social worker who had been an integral part of the New Deal's implementation, became the linchpin in FDR's--and America's--relationships with Churchill and Stalin, and spoke with an authority second only to the President's.
The book club meets the third Wednesday of every other month, 10:30 a.m. at members' homes. A facilitator leads the discussion for each book. Want to join the conversation? New members are always welcome! For more information, contact Estelle Stone at estelles@webtv.net.
If you're interested in seeing what other books have been discussed, please go to www.womansdemocraticclub.org and click on Political Book Club, which is listed under Events.
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VOLUNTEERS: IT TAKES A VILLAGE
We need your help creating a vibrant Club and we solicit your ideas and participation. And the most valuable contribution you can make to the Club is - you guessed it - your time. Sharing your skills and expertise with us and joining a committee are fun ways to meet other members and make new friends while helping the Club accomplish its goals.
and click on "Get Involved" then"'Volunteer" to complete the volunteer form.
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| SUGGESTION BOX:
Do you have ideas for future programs? Do you know someone who would be a great speaker at a future WDC event? If so, please send an e-mail to wdcmcmd@gmail.com .
Keeping members better informed, better connected and more politically effective since 1957
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Woman's Democratic Club
Sybil Cantor
Email Coordinator
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