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Their applause was muffled by mittens, and their steps were shortened by the slippery pavement, but Saturday afternoon's wintry weather could not cool their fiery convictions.

About 75 people met on the steps of the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum for the fourth annual Winchester Women's March, held concurrently with the national Women's March in Washington,D.C.

Participants said Saturday's marches in Washington, Winchester and elsewhere across the country were too important to cancel because of a few snowflakes or ice crystals.

"We are making great progress, but there's still so much to do," said Democratic U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, who skipped the Washington march to stand with her 10th District constituents in Winchester.

The first national Women's March, held one day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, was staged in protest of what participants considered to be sexist and offensive statements made by Trump leading up to his election. Winchester held its first Women's March that same day to join the fight against sexism, intolerance and gender inequality.

Irina B. Khanin, a Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Del. Christopher Collins for his 29th District Virginia House of Delegates seat in November, said she attended the first Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21, 2017, and it inspired her to run for office.

"It was a very important moment for me," Khanin said while waiting for Saturday's march in Winchester to step off.

Del. Wendy Gooditis, D-10th, was unable to attend the Winchester march, but sent a message that Kate Simpson, secretary of the Winchester-Frederick County Democratic Committee, read to the crowd.

"I want to commend each of you for your courage, and thank you for it, and hope to watch the results of that courage keep piling up," Gooditis wrote. "In your moments of discouragement, look at our accomplishments and take heart."

Those accomplishments, Wexton said, are impressive.

"A historic number of women ran for office and were elected" in the three years following the first national Women's March, she said. "The Democrats took 15 seats in the [Virginia] House of Delegates in 2017, and 11 of them were won by women. In 2018, we [Democrats] flipped the [U.S.] House of Representatives in historic fashion, and I now serve with the most-female class of the House of Representatives in the entire history of America.

"Not to be outdone, in 2019 in Virginia, we elected even more women, and it made a big difference," Wexton continued. "We have, for the first time in Virginia's 401-year history of the General Assembly, our very first woman speaker of the House of Delegates, Elleen Filler-Corn. And Virginia became, just a few days ago, the 38th and final state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment."

Following a sing-along of "This Land Is Your Land" led by Julia Kasdorf of Loudoun County, the marchers banded together and headed south on the Loudoun Street Mall. As they circled downtown Winchester, some waved signs that protested or praised public policies that target women, families, children and members of the LGBTQ community.

After completing a brief loop of downtown Winchester, the women, men and children who marched for equality headed back to the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum, where officials let them come inside to escape the cold and hear the rest of the day's speakers.

"Women are empowered, and we're not going away," Wexton said.