WADENA — This month, the Poetry Walk at Green Island in Wadena, Minn., opens with poems that were recently included in Minnesota Voices 2022, an annual program of the Wadena County Historical Society. This May the poets featured are Kit Rohrbach, Willie James Johnson, Kathleen Wedl, Mary Jo Robinson-Jamison, Cate Belleveau and Susu Jeffrey.
Green Island is a 60-acre parcel of land within the city of Wadena, Minn., owned by Kent Scheer and Vicki Chepulis whose stewardship of the land includes making a space where people are invited to enjoy the peace and beauty of a carefully cultivated space for experiencing nature.
The land also includes a working orchard, gardens of rare herbs, wild deer, and white doves who coo softly from their dovecote. Dotted throughout the park-like atmosphere are sculptures created by Kent. There are also 12 small information stations along the trails on which the poems are posted, alternating with educational texts providing information on the purpose and function of Green Island's new forest.
Each month a different selection of poets will be featured on the Poetry Walk.
Green Island is located at 850 Scheer Drive, Wadena. It is open daily to the public, free of charge, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
