For many years, Hopkinsville leaders searched high and low for a claim to fame that would lend itself to memorable slogans and iconic images. Something that would be a point of pride.
So they pondered over historic figures and events, like clairvoyant Edgar Cayce and the very tall tale of the Little Green Men. They considered famous native sons and daughters, people like drummer Steve Gorman and writer bell hooks. They tossed around ideas about the deep well of talented athletes who hail from Hopkinsville. They even stewed a bit over the potential of burgoo.
But nothing ever seemed to, uh, what’s the word? Stick.
Until Brooke Jung took up the challenge.
Jung — who runs the local tourism office and helped put Hopkinsville on the map as the chief marketer and logistics guru for the Aug. 21, 2017, solar eclipse — found the answer to Hopkinsville’s claim to fame question in the farm fields surrounding the town and in three large milling companies that produce a slew of baking products from local grains.
She announced the idea Tuesday at the annual Salute to Agriculture breakfast in the James E. Bruce Convention Center.
“Henceforth, I am proud to unveil, that Hopkinsville, Kentucky, USA, will be known and officially trademarked as … Is everybody ready? Are you excited? … as The Batter Capital of the World!”
The crowd of about 375 people broke into cheers.
Jung and others have been working on the Batter Capital idea for months. It’s based on the community’s farming economy and the history of milling, which began in the county in the 1790s.
Christian County is now the largest producer of winter wheat in Kentucky and consistently ranks in the top five counties for corn and soybean production, according to the Kentucky Agriculture Statistics Service.
Three milling companies — Hopkinsville Milling, Siemer and Continental Mills — produce baking mixes, including Krusteaz pancake, waffle and muffin mixes, Sunflower corn meal mixes, Sunflour flour, Ghirardelli Chocolate Brownies, Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Mix and others that are sold by Target stores.
Hopkinsville Milling is the oldest industry in the county, dating to 1874. Siemer came in 1995 and Continental followed in 1998.
“We look forward to transforming our community with public art installations that will be announced in the coming weeks,” Jung said. “So stayed tuned for those. We’ve got some really cool things that will be added to our cityscape here in Hopkinsville. … You are going to want to take photos in front of all of these awesome things coming to our community.”
There’s now a huge Batter Capital logo on the floor of the Hopkinsville-Christian County Convention and Visitors Bureau on East Ninth Street. It’s possible that huge mixing bowls and whisks will be appearing around town.
At the conclusion of Jung’s announcement, Mayor Wendell Lynch and Judge-Executive Steve Tribble read a joint proclamation endorsing the community as the Batter Capital.
Everyone who came to the breakfast was offered a box of Krusteaz pancake mix with a tiny bottle of Kentucky maple syrup aged in a Casey Jones Distillery bourbon barrel as they left.
Jung said restaurants are invited to share recipes that include batter for a special project. The tourism office plans to organize behind-the-scenes farm and mill factory tours. At some point, there might be a batter-inspired festival, and the community could even land a Guinness World Record with a huge confection made with Hopkinsville batter.
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.
