Monday Morning Muddlers don’t let masks silence their voices

This article is reprinted from 2018.

Since the election, a group of women have quietly met at the Base Camp Café in Mazomanie and powerfully let their political opinions be known. The Monday Morning Muddlers have written and mailed out over 600 postcards over the past 20 months to figures across the political landscape in the government.

The election in 2018 sparked the creation of the group. “We decided that we really needed to do something, rather than talk about it,” explained member Janet Brandt. “As a citizen we have important responsibilities: to vote, and to let our leaders know how we feel about certain things. That’s what we’re doing.”

The group writes about 50 postcards a week. They found that due to security measures, letters in envelopes took a long time to reach officials. “A lot of the issues their voting on immediately,” said Brandt.” “So, we write postcards, which are faster.”

The group has a box full of old postcards which were donated. The postcards, containing pictures from each state, are divided neatly.

They write to federal, state, and local legislators, as well as governors and secretaries. They also write to corporations—especially those that “stand for democracy.”

“Sometimes we write thank yous”, said Nancy Bruins. “There’s no credit given to people who make hard decisions,” said Brandt. “I think the support is really important, otherwise you’re just complaining and whining, and really festering in your own juices,” explains Sally Mather. Brandt continued, “There’s a lot going on that’s pretty negative, so it’s hard to stay up about this and keep our energy level, but all of us feel that it keeps us really informed.”

Brandt noted that they were all well-informed during the Obama administration, but something changed in the most recent election, and they felt they had to act. They aren’t completely partisan, however. “We write Democrats and Republicans,” explained Brandt.

Each week a member is assigned an ‘Issue sheet,’ where they research relevant issues and provide summaries. From there, everyone writes their postcards, using their return address and personalizing each one. They try to make each message personal, looking for family connections to the legislator’s area or to the issue at hand.

The group isn’t complacent with 50 postcards a week, however. They’re looking to expand. “We welcome anybody and everybody. Whoever you are, we’d like to add to the group,” said Brandt.