ALAMOSA — The 2020 version might not have been as large as the inaugural San Luis Valley Women’s March four years ago when close to 300 participants took to the streets for the event.

If Saturday’s event was not as large as the first one, it had to be pretty close as between 275 to 300 people — accompanied by the Adams State University Drum Line — carried signs and marched in unison.

The participants marched from Main Street (Highway 160) and Richardson, before going east to Ross Ave. Then they traveled south on Ross to 6th Street. On 6th, they went to West Ave., from there, they trekked north, back to Main, before veering west on Main back to Richardson. Then they went to Carson Auditorium.

The theme of this year’s presentations at Carson Auditorium was 2020 VISION, and more than a half-dozen speakers discussed issues, including climate change,

reproductive rights, immigration rights and, of course, the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. There also were various other topics of discussion.

SLV Women’s March organizer Dr. Elizabeth Kinney said she thought the march went well.

“It’s always a time when we enrich ourselves,” Kinney said. “We feel better about how things are going.

“We try to build a movement here in Alamosa.

“It has not been — maybe — as big as it has been in years past, but I think the enthusiasm is still here and we’ll keep on keeping on.”

When she was told that there were between 275 and 300 people marching this year, Kinney said, “Yeah, that’s great.”

Mother Nature had mercy on the marchers, as the temperature was mild considering it was late January in Alamosa.

“It’s a good turnout and I’m grateful for the sunshine,” said Mary Van Pelt, who is an Adams State University graduate and has been an Alamosa resident for 40 years. “And the ice was minimal at the intersections, so that was a concern.”

Margrett Geist compared Saturday’s march to some of the others.

“I was at the first one,” Geist said. “Last year, I didn’t come.

“I was sick.”

Geist said she thought there were more people at this year’s march than the one in 2019, even though she was not there a year ago.

She said she heard that there were more people at the first march than any of the other ones.

“So, I think it did pretty good,” Geist said. “I think the first year was somewhere around 300.”

The number of people who marched this year was comparable to the inaugural one, which means it was very close to matching the first one.

Geist said it has been 100 years since women have gotten the right to vote, and it has been 126 years since they were allowed to do so in Colorado.

“But we weren’t even a state at that time,” said Geist about Colorado.