10th Anniversary Fredericksburg League Of Women Voter‘s

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Theodore Blackwell, President

League of Women Voters of the Fredericksburg Area

president@fredericksburglwv.org

League Of Women Voters of the Fredericksburg Area Marks A Decade Of Community and Civic Engagement

Local League enters its next decade with renewed leadership, broader regional engagement, and an enduring

commitment to our shared community.

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — The League of Women Voters of the Fredericksburg Area is marking ten years since

its reconstitution in June 2016—a decade spent bringing neighbors together, helping voters participate with

confidence, and strengthening civic life throughout the region.

First organized locally in the 1970s and reconstituted in 2016, the nonpartisan League serves the City of

Fredericksburg and Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania, and Stafford counties.

Over the past decade, League members have registered and educated voters, organized candidate forums, provided

reliable election information, published voter resources, studied issues affecting the region, advocated on adopted

League positions, and created opportunities for residents to learn about government and engage with one another.

“Although our members bring different backgrounds, experiences, interests, and perspectives to this work, we are

united by a common purpose: empowering voters and defending democracy,” said Theodore Blackwell, president of

the League of Women Voters of the Fredericksburg Area. “The League is not simply an organization. It is a community

of neighbors and friends who believe that democracy is strongest when people have the information, access, and

encouragement they need to take part.”

The anniversary also marks a new chapter for the League, one centered more deliberately on people, relationships,

and community.

The Fredericksburg Area League is led and sustained by local residents. Its members are neighbors, students, retirees,

working people, parents, educators, and community volunteers who contribute their time because they care about the

place they call home. The League’s local work grows from the interests, ideas, and voluntary efforts of those members,

consistent with its nonpartisan principles and democratically adopted positions.

“We are not an outside organization arriving with a predetermined agenda,” said Blackwell. “We are people who live

here, coming together to serve our own community. Our members help decide what we study, what we organize, and

where we can make a meaningful contribution.”

Advocacy remains an important part of the League’s work, but it is only one way the organization serves the region.

The League is placing greater emphasis on community-centered programming: public conversations, educational

events, voter support, student engagement, informal gatherings, and partnerships that help people meet one another

and become more connected to civic life.

Some gatherings will have a program or a specific public purpose. Others may simply offer members and neighbors

an opportunity to share a meal, enjoy a conversation, or get to know people they might not otherwise meet. Both

matter.

“One of the most democratic things we can do as Americans is simply come together—whether or not we arrive with

an agenda,” Blackwell said. “Democracy depends on more than institutions and elections. It also depends on

relationships, trust, curiosity, and our willingness to see one another as neighbors. We are stronger when we come

together.”This community-first approach also shapes how the League understands accessibility. Making democracy accessible

means more than explaining how to register or where to vote. It means creating welcoming places where people feel

comfortable asking questions, learning at their own pace, sharing their experiences, and discovering that civic

participation belongs to them.

The League welcomes people with different backgrounds, life experiences, political views, and levels of familiarity

with government. Members do not have to agree about every public question. They share a commitment to respectful

participation, informed discussion, nonpartisanship, and the belief that ordinary people should have a meaningful

voice in the decisions affecting their lives.

The League does not support or oppose political parties or candidates. When it advocates on an issue, it does so on

the basis of established League positions developed through study and member agreement, not at the direction of a

party, candidate, or political campaign. Its local leadership is elected by its members, and its work is carried out

entirely by volunteers from the communities it serves.

As it begins its next decade, the League hopes to become not only a trusted source of civic information, but also a

stronger community in its own right: a place where neighbors become friends, members develop into leaders, and

people find practical ways to work together for the region they share.

“We want people to feel that this is their League and their community,” Blackwell said. “You do not need to be a

political insider or an expert. You only need to care about your neighbors, believe that participation matters, and be

willing to join us.”

Residents are invited to attend an event, join a gathering, volunteer, or become a member. More information about the

League of Women Voters of the Fredericksburg Area is available at fredericksburglwv.org.

About The League of Women Voters of the Fredericksburg Area

The League of Women Voters of the Fredericksburg Area is a nonpartisan, member-led civic organization serving

the City of Fredericksburg and Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania, and Stafford counties. Through voter services,

civic education, community engagement, study, and advocacy, local members work together to encourage informed

participation, strengthen community connections, and make democracy more accessible. The League does not

support or oppose political parties or candidates.

Photo Caption

Members of the League of Women Voters of the Fredericksburg Area gather at our first Member Social on August

1, 2026, at a member’s home. The member-led organization is marking ten years since its reconstitution and

beginning a new chapter focused on civic participation, friendship, and community across the Fredericksburg region.