Everyone loves a parade, and the Bowling Green League of Women Voters hope their festivities draw
attention to voting — and voting early.
The league will hold a parade on Oct. 10, stepping off from the Woodland Mall parking lot, 1234 N. Main
St., at 10 a.m.
“The car parade is all about urging people to vote early,” said Lee Hakel, president of the Bowling Green
League of Women Voters.
Early voting for the Nov. 3 general election starts on Tuesday.
“We’re trying to call attention to it,” Hakel said.
The parade will feature over 30 vehicles, led by Tom Pendleton’s red antique fire truck, she said. There
will be 23 league members accompanied by town leaders. Those include Bowling Green State University
President Rodney Rogers, Bowling Green Mayor Mike Aspacher, former Mayor Richard Edwards and Bowling
Green City Schools Superintendent Francis Scruci — in a school bus.
They’ll be waving and honking horns from the vehicles, which will be decked out in streamers and
balloons.
The parade route is south to Walmart, back north on Main Street to Wooster Street, west on Wooster, then
east on Wooster, finishing at the BGSU campus. The direction is due to the fire truck being able to turn
around.
The league has created 10-feet-long banners with “vote early” and “go to vote411.org for more
information.”
Hakel said the league, which is non-partisan, felt an extra call to help out with the 2020 general
election. There are coronavirus concerns, a contentious presidential election and a lot of local races,
she said.
“We wanted to help with this election. We’re totally non-partisan — we’ve always been, just … providing
information,” she said.
The message will be to take advantage of early voting opportunities by using an absentee ballot or
visiting the Wood County Board of Elections to cast a vote in person during the month of October
“Get over the hump and do it it now,” Hakel said. “This year, we’re talking about election season, not
Election Day.”
She said the Wood County Board of Elections is prepared, but help is still needed.
“The board of elections is going to have to cope with things in a way they’ve never did before. We know
they can handle it, but we wanted to help,” Hakel said. “If we can spread it out, it will help them
out.”
Normally, this time of year, the league would be buzzing with packed events. The last candidate forum
that the Bowling Green group hosted had 278 people attending, Hakel said.
Due to coronavirus, Sunday’s forum will be held virtually, with some in-person attendance allowed at BGSU
(see separate story). WBGU-TV will also record the forum and have it available online.
The League of Women Voters, with 800 chapters around the country, is celebrating 100 years in 2020.
The league was officially founded in Chicago in 1920, six months before the 19th amendment was ratified
and women won the vote. Formed by the suffragists of the National American Woman Suffrage Association,
the league began as a “mighty political experiment” designed to help 20 million women carry out their
new responsibilities as voters.
Hakel said dues for the Bowling Green league start at $30 per year. They have 94 members.
“We’re always welcome to have new members,” she said. “People in the league can be as involved as they
want to be.”
The Bowling Green league also hosts educational forums. “Promoting Community Well Being: Wood County’s
Approach to Mental Health” will be held as a a Zoom meeting and presentation for league members on Oct.
21.
For more information, visit https://www.lwvbg.org or check out the league’s social media.
