56 days – GVI, pick your spot for Saturday the 12th!
GVI Weekly Actions & Events
September 8, 2026
This week — three things to do
- Thursday, September 10: Come to the meeting, 6:30 PM. It’s the last regular one until October.
- Saturday, September 12: Pick which of the four things you’re going to
- Thursday, take flyers: The candidate meet-and-greet on the 24th needs a room full of people
Four Places to Be on Saturday
Four different things are happening on Saturday, September 12. There’s a rally in Avon, the E Pluribus Music Festival in Geneseo, banners going up at Gateway Park and over 390, and a table outside the Democratic headquarters on Main Street. Go to whichever one fits your day. If you want to choose one of the two activities where an extra person counts most, they’re the voter registration table at the festival and the GVI information table on Main Street.
The Avon rally, 12:00 to 1:00
Avon Village Circle Park, 100 Park Place. The Events Team chose Avon because the Genesee Valley Cycle Challenge and the Livingston County Farm Festival at the Coyne Farm both run there that day, bringing traffic into the village from both ends. A good share of the people who see us won’t be from around here. Bring your best signs for Alissa Ellman, and RSVP so we know roughly how many to expect.
The voter registration table, 11:00 to 7:00
E Pluribus Music, Geneseo Village Park, free. We’re running a nonpartisan voter registration table under the festival tent, and students from Peace Action Geneseo have offered to help staff it alongside our volunteers. It’s the easiest shift on the list, because people are already out and in a good mood and some of them turn out not to be registered.
The festival runs all day, so an hour or two covers a real slot. Festival details are at geneseojamfund.org, and you can email us to volunteer.
Upstate Bannering Project
The Upstate Bannering Project’s second event once again spans from Buffalo to Albany! Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace will host a local bannering event at Gateway Park, across from Wegmans, 11:30 to 1:00. Come share GVCP’s messages of peace and the power of voting!
GVI has a bridge brigade going out the same day. If you’d rather join that one, email us and we’ll send you the details.
Tabling on Main Street
There’s a second table that day, outside the Livingston County Democratic headquarters at 128 Main Street, running during the E Pluribus Music Festival in the park. To help out, ask at Thursday’s meeting or email us and we’ll point you to the right person.
Two Thursdays Without a Meeting
Worth putting in your calendar now so nobody drives to St. Michael’s and finds the lights off. September 10 is a normal meeting, 6:30 as always, and then there isn’t another one for two weeks.
- Thursday, September 17 — no meeting, but two things instead. There’s a pop-up rally in Warsaw first, timed to catch people heading to the Bills home opener, and then the Social Team’s watch party for the game itself, with food and drinks and a TV. Go to one or both. Save the date; we’ll send times and places for each once they’re settled.
- Thursday, September 24 — no meeting, because that’s the night of the candidate meet-and-greet at the Government Center.
Meet the Democratic Candidates, September 24
The meet-and-greet is Thursday, September 24 at the Livingston County Government Building, Room 205, 6 Court Street in Geneseo. Doors open at 6:15 and the program starts at 7:00. Yes, all three candidates will represent all of Livingston County as well as neighbors outside LivCo. We’re co-hosting with the Geneseo Democratic Committee, and all three Democrats on the ballot will be there to take questions:
- Alissa Ellman — Congress, NY-24
- Michael Mills — State Senate, NY-54
- Gladys Flores Garcia — New York State Assembly, 133
The room holds about sixty, so this is one where turning up early actually matters. We’re also collecting non-perishable food for the Geneseo/Groveland Emergency Food Pantry, so bring something if you can.
Flyers are on the table at Thursday’s meeting. Take one or two and put them up somewhere you already go, like work or the senior center or the pharmacy, since that’s how most people hear about a Thursday evening in a county building.
Interested in Knocking on Doors?
A member came back from the canvassing training last week and reported roughly what everyone who has ever done it reports, which is that almost everybody is civil and the worst outcome is a short answer at the door. We’ve already got volunteers covering Mount Morris and Nunda, and there’s room for more people in most of the other villages.
The advice from people who’ve been doing it a while is to go in pairs. One drives, one knocks, and you swap partway through. If you’ve never done it, you can shadow somebody experienced for a round before you take a clipboard yourself. The campaign uses the MiniVAN smartphone app that hands you the list of addresses and the script. More training sessions are being scheduled.
Town and Village Democratic Committees are still sorting out their respective plans for canvassing, a broader political term that includes knocking on doors. The Livingston County Democratic Committee (LCDC) will organize canvassing in towns that don’t have their own committee. For more information, start with the LCDC website, ask Steve, Pat M. or Sue B. at Thursday’s meeting, or email us and we’ll connect you.
Coming Up
| Thu, Sep 10 | GVI Community Meeting — the last regular one until October 6:30 PM · St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Geneseo |
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| Thu, Sep 10 | No Kings: Vote Early — national launch call 8:00 PM · online · after our meeting lets out |
Register |
| Sat, Sep 12 | Stand Up, Fight Back Saturdays — Avon 12:00–1:00 PM · Avon Village Circle Park, 100 Park Place · bring your best signs for Alissa Ellman! |
RSVP |
| Sat, Sep 12 | E Pluribus Music — GVI voter registration table 11:00 AM–7:00 PM · Geneseo Village Park · free · volunteers needed |
Details |
| Sat, Sep 12 | Upstate Bannering Project — second event 11:30 AM–1:00 PM · Gateway Park, Geneseo (across from Wegmans) · hosted by Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace |
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| Sat, Sep 12 | GVI bridge brigade — over 390 (part of the Upstate Bannering Project) Email us for the time and the meeting spot |
Email us |
| Sat, Sep 12 | Tabling outside the Livingston County Democratic HQ 128 Main St, Geneseo · during the E Pluribus Music Festival · volunteers needed |
Email us |
| Thu, Sep 17 | Pop-up rally in Warsaw, then the Bills watch party — no regular meeting this week Rally first, party after · times and places to come |
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| Sun, Sep 20 | Ewing Forum: how elections are actually secured 4:00 PM · Fort Hill Performing Arts Center, Canandaigua · Ben Spear and Kathleen McGrath of the NYS Board of Elections, moderated by Evan Dawson · ticketed: $35.36 card, $34 cash |
Details |
| Mon, Sep 21 | Peace Rally — International Day of Peace 5:00–6:00 PM · Village Park, 132 Main St, Geneseo · hosted by Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace |
Further out: the candidate meet-and-greet on Thursday, September 24; marshal training and a rally for the International Day for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, both on Saturday, September 26; and the third bannering event on Saturday, October 10. Finally, note that October 24 is both the last day to register to vote and the first day of early voting. You can visit the Livingston County Board of Elections, 6 Court Street, Room 104, Geneseo, NY 14454. On this one magical day, you can register and vote in the same visit.
A Few Short Things
- Thirteen thousand five hundred postcards. That’s where Phil’s count stands for the year, written by 25 to 30 people at kitchen tables and at the back of St. Mike’s parish hall during the Thursday meetings.
- Marshal training, Saturday, September 26, 10:00 AM to noon, Bailey Hall 101 at the college, hosted by Peace Action Geneseo. About a dozen of the thirty seats are taken. Marshals are the people who keep a rally calm and legal, and the ones who’ve been trained are why most of our events pass without any drama at all. Sign up here.
- Write a letter to the editor. The Livingston County News has the biggest local circulation, and its sister paper the Daily News in Batavia often runs the same opinion pieces, so send to news@livingstonnews.com and news@batavianews.com both. The Democrat and Chronicle, the Finger Lakes Times, Orleans Hub and the Buffalo News all take submissions through their opinion pages too. Our how-to is here if you’ve never done one.
- Alianza Agrícola is looking for allies. They’re joining the Stop the Build rally in Batavia against a second ICE detention facility, and they’re putting together a fundraising committee for family support. If you want in on either, talk to Holly at the Thursday meeting. Or contact Alianza directly about their Ally Monthly Meeting, on Zoom the third Friday of every month — this month on September 18.
Stand Up, Fight Back Saturdays: Leicester
People turned out for Leicester on a holiday weekend, into about the best weather we’ve had for one of these. Signs went up along the curb around the park, with small flags stuck in the grass down the length of the line, and the sun lit up our display.
The traffic was friendly. We got honks most of the hour and thumbs-up out of car windows, and one Canadian visitor pulled over just to say hello and tell us they appreciated what we’re doing.
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Most of the signs were homemade, including one that read ELLMAN WILL WORK FOR NY-24 in blue marker. The member holding it worked the whole hour from a camp chair, which is worth mentioning because plenty of people assume they can’t do one of these if they can’t stand at a roadside for an hour. You can bring a chair.
The big banner reads Show Up, Speak Up, Vote, the same name as one of the four Democracy Drop Cards. Somebody had brought a hand-painted workers’ rights sign for the holiday and propped it against the banner.
What comes through in the pictures is that people were enjoying themselves. Plenty feels heavy right now, and an hour in the sun with people you like is still one of the better hours in a week. That’s a good part of why we rally.
Fifty-Six Days
That’s what’s left between this email and November 3. The postcards, the drop cards, the flyers for the 24th, the literature on the tables at Avon and Geneseo on Saturday — all of it is printing and postage, and Phil has been buying stamps a thousand at a time to keep up with the postcard writers.
And if you’re giving political money this fall, the campaign itself is still where it works hardest. Contribute to Alissa Ellman here.
Same Time, Every Week
- Thursday meeting — 6:30 PM, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Geneseo (red door in back)
- Geneseo Visibles — Wed & Fri, 4:00 PM, Gateway Corner Park
- Hemlock Rising protest — Wed, 4:30 PM, Rt 15A & Rt 20A
- What’s the Plan? — Thu, 3:00 PM Register
Full calendar & ongoing ways to plug in →
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Postcards, every week. Email Phil at paj12147@gmail.com to get a batch to write at home, or write them at the Thursday meeting — the Artist’s Team keeps a postcard station going. Order by Wednesday for Thursday’s meeting. The suggested donation for a packet of 10 postcards with stamps and an address list is now $7.00.
Know someone who should get this? Forward it, and send them to sign up →
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