Gov. Andy Beshear’s call to use green lights as a symbol of compassion and renewal during the coronavirus outbreak has been heard in Hopkinsville.
Several homes, businesses and public buildings across the city are now illuminated at night in green.
A single green bulb glows on the front porch of Pam and Tom Glover’s house in the Mooreland-Latham-Alumni neighborhood. — where every afternoon at 4, the Glovers listen to Beshear’s daily press briefing about the coronavirus. Later in the evening, they take a drive to see where others are using green lights.
The Glover home in the Mooreland-Latham-Alumni neighborhood. (Jennifer P. Brown photo) 
The Mixer restaurant on Sixth Street. (Jennifer P. Brown photo) 
The Alhambra Theatre on South Main Street. (Jennifer P. Brown photo) 
Hopkinsville Municipal System (Jennifer P. Brown photo) 
Taylor and Karen Hayes’ house on Cox Mill Road. (Jennifer P. Brown photo)
Having a green light at the front porch is a way of showing “support and solidarity,” Pam Glover told Hoptown Chronicle.
“We drive around every night to see if others feel the same way. We maintain social distancing. We think it makes us feel closer to our fellow citizens,” she said.
The drive is part of their daily ritual.
Downtown, restaurant owners Heather and Graham Dawson framed two windows at The Mixer with a string of green lights.
“As we are all social distancing, I feel like there are ways we are able to still come together and unite and say we are all supporting each (other) and especially support those who have just lost someone dear to them,” Heather Dawson said.
She sees the lights as a reminder of sacrifices being made to help slow the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
“Like our governor says, we will get through this, we will get through it together — and I truly believe that,” she said.
Also downtown, the city has installed green lights over the main entrance to the Hopkinsville Municipal Center, and the Alhambra Theatre’s lobby is awash in a green glow from a large dome light.
The practice of using green lights started at the governor’s mansion.
It’s being observed across the state. At the University of Kentucky, more than 20 buildings are lit with green lights.
Statewide, there have been 917 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 40 people have died as a result of the disease, the governor said Sunday.
In Christian County, 28 people have tested positive for COVID-19, and 12 people were being treated at Jennie Stuart Medical Center for coronavirus symptoms, local health officials said Friday. Four of the patients at Jennie Stuart were on ventilators.
(Jennifer P. Brown is the editor and founder of Hoptown Chronicle. Reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org.)
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
