Tellico Village women are at the forefront of the revival of the Loudon County Democratic Women organization, a chapter of the Tennessee Federation of Democratic Women.
The county’s previous group disbanded nearly a decade ago but was relaunched in the spring following a well-attended interest meeting. Now nearly 70 strong, more than two-thirds of the group’s members live in the Village, President Cheri Musser said.
“Our mission is to promote Democratic ideas and values and to elect Democratic candidates,” Musser said. “We want to focus on things that are specific to women. The Loudon County Democratic Party gets involved in elections and promoting candidates, but we wanted an organization that really looked at issues that were specific to women.”
The organization welcomes guest speakers, is involved in women-specific community service, offers voter education and registration and operates a political action committee focused on women’s issues.
Since restarting, LCDW has hosted two programs. The first in June featured state Rep. Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, who shared about recent bills and laws being discussed in Nashville.
The second in September welcomed Corinne Rovetti, a former nurse practitioner at the now-closed Knoxville Center for Reproductive Health, and Tory Mills, former director of community engagement for Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, to discuss the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Candidates Mark Harmon and Jan Hahn were also featured.
“Our programs are, in the most part, informative, educational and on issues important to women,” Peggy DuPont, LCDW program committee chair, said. “The club is a good outlet to share information and to educate our members on important issues.”
At each event, attendees are asked to bring non-perishable items and feminine hygiene products. The donations go to local women in need through nonprofits such as the Good Samaritan Center of Loudon County as part of the organization’s community service efforts.
In addition to programs, the club established a political action committee. Lyn Cozadd, PAC co-chair, said the focus is on helping women achieve better lives.
“Political action, to me and to a lot of people, means a lot more than just making phone calls, walking door to door and campaigning for people during elections,” Cozadd said. “It means living your beliefs, trying to help people and making it a year-round project.”
A big area of focus for the committee has been the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the subsequent enactment of Tennessee’s trigger law, which bans abortions in all but very limited situations. Following the September visit by Rovetti and Mills, Cozadd said she and her co-chair were motivated to get involved.
“We were really concerned on the 25th of August when Tennessee’s trigger law took effect,” she said. “We were alarmed. I’m old enough to remember what it was like before Roe v. Wade and I sure know, personally, I didn’t want to see this country or certainly women go back to those times. … (The lecture) gave us an idea that this is something we would embrace as an outreach program, so we decided we would kind of adopt a women’s health care and reproductive rights initiative. We don’t have a lot of knowledge, but we have the information as to where women can go and we have a lot of commitment and a lot of passion for those things. We decided maybe that would be a really good focus on how we could make a little bit of a difference.”
LCDW works with Mountain Access Brigade, a volunteer organization that provides “secure and stigma-free support, education and advocacy for individuals seeking abortion care,” Musser said.
Cozadd said while LCDW is not an authority on the subject, directing people toward resources was the least members could do. The organization helps with gift cards for gas, hotels or food for anyone needing to seek out-of-state care.
“We’re funneling our information and trying to get it out there so that if there’s somebody there that’s full of fear they know that there are other organizations within the region that know what they’re doing,” she said.
Musser said the group is looking to work with Planned Parenthood. In addition, the club is helping Change Tennessee, a Democratic youth movement, expand across the state.
Although LCDW has an older demographic given its ties to the Village, Musser said she was encouraged by recent youth turnout in the midterm elections and looking to get more young people interested and learn what they, specifically younger women, would want the group to focus on.
While being a Democrat in a predominantly Republican state can feel lonely at times, Musser said she is thankful for being able to discuss ideas with like-minded individuals and is hopeful to see change over time.
Cozadd said Democrats might be inclined to stay silent in conservatives areas, but LCDW did not want to take a back seat regardless of those around them.
“At some point, don’t you need to stand up for what you believe in?” Cozadd said. “At some point, don’t you say this is who I am, this is what I believe in, this is how I want to help? I can’t understand doing it any other way. … I think our group is a group of women who want to do something to help and make the county, the region, just want to make things better. We have our beliefs, others have their beliefs. They’re entitled to them and so are we. I don’t see anything that has to be confrontational, there’s room for us all.”
The next planned program is 7 p.m. Jan. 31 at the Yacht Club. Jan Berry, state coordinator for the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, will speak about Enroads, an interactive program developed by the Sloan Business School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that demonstrates the effects of climate change and how to make a difference.
For more information on LCDW, email lcdw@lcdptn.org or call 865-245-5666.