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Diversity Council finalizes plans for "Words Matter" panel and explores replacing Rockwell Festival
Summary
The council confirmed three panelists for a late-March Words Matter event, debated flyer and emcee strategy, discussed a "word drop" interactive piece and weighed whether nonprofits can replace the canceled Rockwell Festival with a smaller community event in August.
The Diversity Council used its Feb. 24 meeting to finalize logistics for an upcoming Words Matter event and to consider how the city might respond to the cancellation of the Rockwell Festival.
Organizers confirmed three panelists — a teacher, the town poet laureate and an author/grant writer — and discussed inviting a local on-air journalist to serve as emcee. Members debated whether to list panelists on printed flyers or to add names later to digital promotion; the committee agreed to aim for late March publicity and to meet again to finalize format and promotion.
The event will include a panel discussion followed by an interactive "word drop" portion in which attendees can speak about words that inspire or hurt. The committee discussed careful curation of words to avoid unnecessarily offensive triggers while still encouraging candid conversation.
Separately, council members confirmed that the West End Association will not run the Rockwell Festival this year. They discussed recruiting a coalition of nonprofits and city departments to stage a smaller alternative — suggestions included a block party or scaled-back summer kickoff in August. Members noted the event's logistics and vendor funding are substantial and recommended a special meeting to assemble interested partners and scope the work.
Other business during the meeting included a Cash Mob rollout (staff will compile a top-five list of businesses for community voting) and a note that a United Way resource sheet will be discontinued June 30, prompting the council to maintain its own resource listings.
