League of Women Voters host Freedom Riders

From staff reports

The League of Women Voters Leelanau County (LWVLC) will host the six Leelanau County high school students who participated this summer in the “2013 Freedom Tour” on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Leelanau Government Center. The students will be there at 6:30 to meet the audience. Refreshments will be provided.

The six Leelanau County students joined 31 Detroit students for a two-week trip that retraced the steps of the civil rights “Freedom Riders” who traversed the Deep South in the 1960s. Their goal was to secure voting rights for eligible citizens who previously had been denied the right to vote. The trip was sponsored by the Michigan Coalition of Human Rights and locally organized by attorney Dean Robb. This will be the first presentation by the group to be held in Leelanau County.

Students Alexander Bennett and Jackie Zarzycki (Glen Lake), Brennan Deckrow (Leland), Olivia Kinker (Northport), Shayna Sumner (Lake Leelanau St. Mary) and Theo Noffsinger (Suttons Bay) will relate experiences and show photos from the two-week adventure. Robb, who also participated in the trip, will introduce the students and offer a slide show.

For more information, call (231) 386-5106 or (231) 271-5600, or visit LWVLeelanau.org.