Communities across the United States have plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — and that includes Hopkinsville.
Hoptown Chronicle will have a hand in one of the first local observances — the “I Declare” poetry workshop.
Starting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, at the Pennyroyal Area Museum, this event will give participants a chance to highlight the truths they hold dear through the art of poetry.
Hoptown Chronicle, the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County and Hopkinsville’s League of Women Voters will collaborate with Murray State University’s public radio station, WKMS, to engage local voices through the spirit of the Declaration of Independence.
Kentucky writer and Hoptown Chronicle board member Constance Alexander will lead the workshop with an aim to get participants thinking about personal declarations.
“You’ll be encouraged to express just one specific thought or idea, from silly to serious, earth-shattering to mundane, reflecting the range of cherished beliefs and attitudes,” event organizers at WKMS wrote in a Facebook post.
Alexander has led several well attended poetry workshops in Hopkinsville in the past five to six years. She has a talent for helping participants — even those who rarely, if ever, write verse — craft poems that express unique and interesting perspectives.
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.
