Are You Ready for I Love Mountains Day?

You cannot be a progressive/liberal/dirty-fucking-hippie in Kentucky unless you're part of I Love Mountains Day.

From Kentuckians for the Commonwealth:

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth’s annual I Love Mountains Day draws more than 1,000 Kentuckians to the State Capitol in Frankfort each year. Concerned citizens of all ages come together to call attention to the scale of destruction created by mountain-top removal coal mining in Kentucky and the need to begin a just transition to a more diverse, sustainable, and thriving economy in the mountains. This year’s I Love Mountains Day will take place on Thursday, February 14.

See below for more details, a schedule for the day, and registration.  Please tell your friends, schedule a day off from work, and make plans to join us again in Frankfort for this exciting day of action.

Schedule for the day

9 a.m. to 12 p.m. – Citizen Lobbying for the Mountains & Mountain Communities
Start your I Love Mountains Day off by arriving a little early for time to lobby your state lawmakers. To get started lobbying, visit Capitol Annex Room 111 to get a packet of lobby materials and have answered any questions you may have about citizen lobbying. Make sure to grab lunch before the march and rally begin.

12 p.m. — Gather at the Kentucky River Bridge
Begin your I Love Mountains Day experience at the foot of the Kentucky River. This is where we will all gather, practice a few songs and chants, and kick-off our march.

12:30 p.m. — March to the Capitol
Hold your home-made signs up high and raise your voice – we are taking our message to the Capitol! As a unified voice, hundreds of us will march together the ½ mile up Capitol Avenue to the front steps of the Capitol.

1:15 - 2:00 p.m. — Rally on the Capitol steps
Keep those chants going as we hold an energizing and fun rally on the front-steps of the Kentucky Capitol. Listen to rousing leaders who are leading the charge for an end to mountaintop removal and transition to a new, clean energy economy.

2:00 p.m. — I Love Mountains Valentine Delivery

Bring two Valentines!

Help share your love for the mountains by bringing two Valentine cards to Frankfort with you on I Love Mountains Day.

1.) Card for Governor Beshear:  We are bringing our love of the mountains directly to our Governor!  As a group, after the rally concludes, we will head into the Capitol building to drop off our Valentine Cards in the Governor’s Office to let share with him our love for clean water, our mountains, and our heritage! The power of hundreds of homemade Valentine cards arriving on his desk will help send a powerful – and passionate – message to our Governor that we need his leadership now to end mountain removal and move towards a clean energy future.

2.) Card for a KFTC grassroots leader:  Bring a card to share your love and appreciation for those working everyday to help save our mountains and mountain communities.  KFTC will have a basket in the Capitol for you to drop off your Valentine for a grassroots leader and we will deliver those Valentines after I Love Mountains Day. These everyday grassroots movement leaders are people who are standing up and speaking out in their communities for our mountains.  Your message to these leaders in the movement will help inspire and motivate them to continue the work beyond I Love Mountains Day!