ROSCOE, NY — Join Sullivan County poet laureate Sharon Kennedy-Nolle and the Roscoe community as it honors one of its own, longtime resident and Vietnam veteran Vernon L. Francisco at the Roscoe Free Library on Thursday, April 25 at 10 a.m. 

Francisco’s poem, “A Day Off,” will be unveiled on a plaque for permanent installation in the Roscoe Library. 

This celebration marks the fifth poetry plaque installation in the Catskilled Poetry for Healing project designed by Kennedy-Nolle. Funded by an American Academy of Poets Laureate fellowship and made possible by the Mellon Foundation, the project aims to address the county’s mental health and substance use crisis through writing poetry as a therapeutic tool to self-empower individuals and their families affected by this crisis. 

The poems are the result of Kennedy-Nolle’s six-month series of poetry workshops with participating clients at various institutional support programs. 

Kennedy-Nolle’s project features a series of 14 permanent poetry plaque installations in the libraries, civic spaces and greenspaces throughout the county to celebrate the voices of those otherwise unheard.

These installations will constellate around an interdisciplinary symposium slated for May 24. 

The April 25 unveiling is the first in this series to commemorate the creative work of a veteran. 

This program is free and open to the public.

Learn more about the project at Sullivan County Poet Laureate on Facebook.