MISSOURI STATE POETRY SOCIETY'S REPORT TO NATIONAL
FEDERATION OF STATE POETRY SOCIETIES, 2007
The
Missouri State Poetry Society was certified November 1, 1998, as the
official organization of Missouri poets in the National Federation of
State Poetry Societies. Chartered as a corporation by the Office of
the Secretary of State in Missouri and recognized by the Internal
Revenue Service of the federal government and the
State Department of Revenue
as qualified for exemption as a non-profit organization, the Missouri
State Poetry Society is a non-political, non-sectarian literary society
with current headquarters at 523 N. Park Place, Bolivar, MO 65613.
The
Missouri State Poetry Society is comprised of members of poetry groups
throughout Missouri and members-at-large from Missouri and other states
who do not belong to local chapters. There are at present fifteen
chapters, located in Bolivar (two chapters), Cabool, Cuba, De Soto, Eminence,
Independence, Kansas City, Lebanon, Mountain View, Poplar Bluff, Raytown,
Springfield, St. Peters, and an online chapter. The
members-at-large come from ten communities as well as five other states.
As of April 15,
2007, the society had 241 members, including 24 members-at-large.
The fifteen local chapters in the order of their affiliation with the
state society are Poets & Friends in Springfield; Second Tuesday in
Bolivar; Rhyme & Reason in St. Peters; Cabool Poetry Society in Cabool;
Out of the Ozarks Poets' Guild in Eminence; Mountain View Poetry Society
in Mountain View; Lebanon Poets' Society in Lebanon;
The
Write Place in Independence; Thirty-Seven Cents online; Author
Unknown in Bolivar; On the Edge in De Soto; Kansas City Metropolitan Verse in Kansas City;
Crawford County Bombadils in Cuba; and PB Poets in Poplar Bluff.
Each group has a schedule of activities and a slate of officers.
The state
society's officers are President Dale Ernst, Vice-President Janice
Kroll, Secretary Tom Padgett, Treasurer Bill Lower, Youth Work Director
and state anthology editor Judy Young, state newsletter editors Don
DePriest and David Thomas, and Webmaster Darwyne Tessier.
The society's newsletter, Spare Mule, is issued quarterly, and
the state’s web site at http://www.nfsps.com/mo also helps keep members
informed of the national federation’s activities, the four state
organization’s activities, and the activities of local chapters.
The state-wide activities of Missouri State Poetry Society include a
winter contest, a spring anthology, a summer contest, and a fall
convention. The contests are open to any poet, and so far each contest
has attracted approximately 500 entries.
The fall convention for 2006 was held in Lebanon. Over 60 poets and
their guests attended the two-day event. Program personnel included
poets nationally known, John Leax and Walter Bargin. At the convention
luncheon, two members of the state society, Maria McCubbin and
Mark Tappmeyer were presented with
life-time honorary memberships for their poetry, their community work,
and their contribution to Missouri State Poetry Society.
Grist, the state anthology, in 2006 contained poetry of 119
members and guest poets who served the society as judges for the summer
contest in 2005 and the winter contest of 2006.
Poetry in the Park, an activity sponsored for several years by the Poets & Friends chapter
in Springfield, was jointly sponsored by Poets & Friends and MSPS this year.
At the state convention in 2006, the MSPS members attending voted for MSPS to pay up
to half the expenses for the annual event and count it as a National Poetry
Month celebration for the state. Approximately 60 persons,
including 16 readers, participated in the event in April of 2007.
David Thomas of Springfield directed this event.
Respectfully
submitted,
Dale Ernst, President of Missouri State Poetry Society.
