Shown are the women who attended the first Darke County Democratic and Independent Women’s Club.

Submitted photo

GREENVILLE — The inaugural meeting of the Democratic and Independent Women’s Club was a success. “We were thrilled with the turnout at our first organizational meeting,” stated group member, Jenny Clark. “We know Darke County has a lot of women democrats and independents and there is not a local organization to support them,” she said. Thirty-eight women attended the meeting with many expressing the need for such a group.

The evening speaker was Beka Lindeman, professor of English at Edison State Community College and Red, Wine and Blue point of contact for Miami, Shelby and Darke counties. She spoke on women’s reproductive rights, the petition being circulated in Ohio to let voters decide the future of abortion in Ohio, and the impact of HJR1. She encouraged women to be sure to vote no in the special election on Aug. 8 to defeat the Ohio Republican Party’s attempt to basically ask Ohioans to give up the power of our majority vote, and elevate minority rule in Ohio. It calls for immediately raising the winning threshold for a citizen-led constitutional amendment from a simple majority to a 60 percent supermajority.

The Darke County Democratic and Independent Women’s Club invites women who would like to know more about current issues to attend their next meeting on Wednesday, June 21, 7 p.m., at Shawnee Prairie Preserve and Nature Center, 4267 St. Rt. 502, Greenville.

For more information about the group, visit Democratic and Independent Women’s Club on Facebook.