Hundreds of thousands of Virginians have secured their votes by participating in early in-person voting and mail-in voting and many others will be at the precincts on Nov. 3. The Lake of the Woods Democratic Club has been working diligently for months to inform voters about their choices and to support their access to the polls.
Club members expect sweeping Democratic victories, but — win or not — they will celebrate their efforts with a social event Nov. 12 at the Clearwater Grill restaurant, 4276 Germanna Highway. The party will be from 6 to 8 p.m. and will include appetizers and a cash bar. Guests will be welcome to move to the dining room to order dinner after the event if they wish.
The event will take the place of the club’s regular monthly meeting at 1 p.m. in the LOW Community Center.
Throughout the election season, club members have volunteered their time and effort to distribute information about Democratic candidates and issues, to deliver yard signs to those who request them, to knock on doors and to make telephone calls in neighborhoods outside Lake of the Woods, to answer questions and encourage voters, and to organize opportunities for voters to meet our candidates and discuss the issues that are important to them.
These efforts have resulted in a local political climate that is clearly changing for the better and empowering citizens to insist on government that is responsive to their interests.
Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi will be the guest speaker at the annual Holiday Luncheon of the LOW Democratic Club on Dec. 10.
The much-aticipated event will take place from noon to 2 p.m. at Kearney Pub at Old House Vineyards, 18351 Corkys Lane in Culpeper.
Lt. Gov. Hashmi was the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to serve in the Virginia Senate. As an experienced educator and advocate of inclusive values and social justice, her legislative priorities include public education, voting rights and the preservation of democracy, reproductive freedom, gun violence prevention, the environment, housing, and affordable healthcare access.
As a four year old, Ghazala emigrated with her mother and older brother from India to the United States where they joined her father in Georgia just as he was completing his PhD in international relations and beginning his university teaching career. Ghazala grew up in that small college town, at a time when public schools were being desegregated, and so she saw firsthand how communities can be built and dialogue promoted through intentional efforts to bridge cultural, racial, and socioeconomic divides. After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class and receiving multiple full scholarships and fellowships, Ghazala earned a BA with honors from Georgia Southern University and her PhD in American literature from Emory University in Atlanta.
Ghazala and her husband, Azhar, moved as newlyweds to the Richmond area in 1991, and she spent nearly 30 years as a professor, first teaching at the University of Richmond and then at Reynolds Community College. While at Reynolds, she also served as the Founding Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). She and Azhar have two adult daughters who both graduated from Chesterfield County Public Schools and the University of Virginia.
The cost of the luncheon is $30 per person, which includes a plated entree with a side salad and dessert buffet as well as water and a self-service coffee bar. A cash bar will also be available.
Please select your choice of four available entrees at the time of registration.
Smoked Duck Salad — Field greens tossed with dried seasonal fruits, pickled red onions, crumled goat cheese, and toasted almonds
Roast Beef Crostini — Herb roasted and sliced over crostini with a caramelized onion and Old House Bacchanalia demi-grace served with a side house salad
Quiche — Homemade carmelized onion and gruyere quiche with a side house salad
Grilled Salmon — Grilled salmon, creamy polenta, superfood claw and roasted red pepper sauce
All luncheons include a Dessert Buffet of assorted mini desserts: sea salt caramel brownies, lemon bars, pecan bars and chocolate chunk cookies.
Payment may be made online by clicking the “Pay Now” button below or by sending a check to P.O. Box 1351, Locust Grove, VA 22508. No payments will be accepted at the door per Old House catering policy.
Register early because we are limited by the venue to 75 guests.
If you pay online, be aware that the club will incur a transaction fee. Please consider offsetting this fee by paying by check or by including the fee with your payment.
The LOW Community Center was buzzing when a large crowd of happy Democrats showed up on June 19 for the LOW Democrats’ annual Flag Day picnic. Guest speaker for the occasion was Shannon Mort of the Orange County African-American Historical Society, who spoke about Gordonville’s “waiter-carriers,” the ladies who sold chicken and other food to to train passengers in the mid to late 19th Century.
The Lake of the Woods Democratic Club will hold its annual summer picnic on Juneteenth, June 19, from 5-7 p.m. in Marion Pronk Hall at the LOW Community Center.
The program for the event will be a presentation by Shannah Mort of the Orange County African American Historical Society on Gordonsville’s “waiter-carriers,” the “Fried Chicken Ladies” who sold food through the windows of trains passing through the town of Gordonsville in the 19th and early 20th century.
Tickets purchased in advance are $15 per person, which includes a fried chicken dinner with lots of sides — mac & cheese, potato salad, baked beans, and coleslaw and dessert. They can be purchased by credit card through the link below. Admission on the day of the event will be $20.
Journalist Jeff Schapiro congratulated local Democrats on their impressive victories in the the fall elections, but was careful to warn them not to get “too cocky.” Schapiro, a scholar from the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, regaled attendees at the club’s annual holiday luncheon with anecdotes about his long experience as an observer of Old Dominion politics and his expectations for the success of Abigail Spanberger as Virginia’s first woman governor. More than 80 people attended the gala event at the Old House Vineyard in Culpeper County and saw a new slate of club officers be elected for the 2026 calendar year.
