Through our 2019-20 season The Village Square will look for, talk about – and honor – people who stand up and make things happen where we live right here in Tallahassee. We’re calling these people “local patriots.” As far as we know there isn’t an official definition of our jumbled-up term, but we’re sure you know the kind of person we’re talking about.

Our special fall dinner guest Stephen Kiernan, author of Authentic Patriotism, defines authentic patriotism as “a person who sees a problem and declares that it cannot be allowed to persist in a country as great as ours.” Local Patriots aren’t waiting around for someone in Washington, D.C. to fix something, they work to make our community what they imagine it can become. They look at who and what is in front of them and they do something.

For our final dinner of the year (postponed due to COVID-19) we’ll gather (when it’s safe again) with some of these Local Patriots (who just happen to be our neighbors) for a conversation about trending ideas from near and far that inspire our imaginations, whatever our ideological bent. Learn more about the event and our futurist host here. This program is made possible through the generous support of Mad Dog Construction, Johnson & Blanton and The Tallahassee Democrat.

Meet the Local Patriots, below.