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player ready...Longtime Wilmette resident Trudy Gibbs works with the League of Women Voters of Wilmette and the Go-Green Wilmette environmental advocacy group.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself and how long you’ve lived in Wilmette.
A: We’ve been here about 45 years. During my career, I was a medical writer.
Q: How are you involved with the League of Women Voters and with Go-Green Wilmette?
A: I’ve been with both about 10 years. I’m the secretary for Go-Green Wilmette ( and for the League ( I’m the voter services chairperson.
Q: Can you remember when you first became politically aware?
A: I think I grew up that way. This may date me, but I can remember (President Dwight D.) Eisenhower. I still remember going to vote with my parents.
Q: As a League of Women Voters’ member, what would you like us to know about voting and democracy?
A: In the League, we try to educate people in a neutral, non-partisan way about political and community issues. When people say they think their vote doesn’t make a difference, I say that they absolutely can make a difference. We registered 184 students at Loyola Academy yesterday and we hope to do 200 or more at New Trier (High School) next week, and the kids are really excited about it.
Q: Putting on your Go-Green Wilmette hat, what can you tell us about the 2016 “Going Green Matters” environmental fair () presented by your group and the village?
A: This year the fair takes place Sunday, March 13, at the Michigan Shores Club (911 Michigan Ave., Wilmette.) Our theme this year is ‘Sustainable Suburbs.’ The fair is a family affair. We like to see families come with their children. It’s an opportunity for them to learn together.
Q: Do you have a cause, other than the League or Go-Green Wilmette, that you’d like people to be aware of?
A: The Brain Research Foundation (https://www.thebrf.org/).
Q: Finally, a less formal question – is there any television that you like to watch?
A: I’ve been enjoying ‘Downton Abbey,’ partly because of the issue of change, how the characters had to change after the First World War. And also because of Maggie Smith!
–Kathy Routliffe, Pioneer Press
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Twitter: @pioneer_kathy
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