Growing Greenup
Greenup’s Renaissance – by Marsha Applegate
The main portion of this week’s column was written and submitted by a special guest, Marsha Applegate. Marsha is a longtime friend and mentor of mine. She is a retired teacher with a wealth of knowledge and passion for our community. I asked her to share about the recent happenings in downtown Greenup from her perspective, and she said, yes! Please continue and enjoy reading about this exciting time in downtown Greenup.
The Greenup Renaissance
By Marsha Applegate
I have lived in the city of Greenup for 61 years. I came here as a young teacher, a graduate only four years older than my first senior class. I have always been aware of Appalachian culture, having been born in a coal mining hollow just outside Charleston, WV. The students I taught in Greenup, however, educated me more than I them.
As time passed, I interacted with my former students in many ways; doing business with them, becoming close friends with some of them, watching them build families here where they came from, all of them displaying a deep love for the place where their roots are.
In all those years I have never witnessed what is happening right now in our beloved hometown. I call it the “Greenup Renaissance”. The right people, with the right skills and talents have come together all at once to begin a revitalization and restoration of this, one of the oldest cities in Eastern Kentucky. It is an expression of love, and a sense of place that its inhabitants have always had in their hearts, and struggled to express.
Jesse and Naomi Dean Stuart would be proud! Leaders have emerged, buildings have been purchased and restored, vigorous new young people from other areas have joined and invested, residents have offered their skills and talents to help. It is amazing to witness or be a part of as we celebrate Greenup County’s 221st birthday on December 12th!
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Thank you, Marsha, for that inspiring message! I agree that we, as residents in the City of Greenup, are seeing changes that will truly make a positive difference in our future. There is so much more to come!
Greenup County, as a whole, is experiencing a boost under the leadership of our Greenup County Tourism Director, Jaime Bloss, and the many volunteer groups who are out there doing the work to make our communities better. Jaime is able to promote those events and stories to a greater audience by using the Tourism channels of communication in order to lift up everyone together. I love watching it happen!
As the county seat, downtown Greenup has always been known as the place you go to pay your taxes and attend court when necessary – neither of those two things are usually pleasant. The addition of year-round downtown events, new businesses, and the newest of news: The Majestic showboat coming to permanently dock behind the courthouse, is a welcomed change and a positive push for Greenup to be an entertainment destination. As the only town within many miles that sits on the riverside, unencumbered by a flood wall or train tracks, Greenup has beauty to offer than no one else has! It is time that we embrace the opportunity to connect to the river that is part of our community and turn our attention to being part of the greater river town community. Greenup’s first name was Riverton for good reason. Our roots are coming back to show us the way into the future.
For more information, contact Anne Stephens, Agent for Community Arts and Development in Greenup County. 606.836.0201 anne.stephens@uky.edu 35 Wurtland Avenue, Wurtland, KY 41144 The Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment is an Equal Opportunity Organization with respect to education and employment and authorization to provide research, education information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function without regard to economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, physical or mental disability or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Kentucky Counties, cooperating.
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