Share your talents with Chesapeake-based, published poet Synnika Lofton

Are you a poet and want all to know it? Don’t blow it, attend the People’s Poetry Cafe.

This free open-mic night invites all itinerant, amateur, professional, published and unpublished verse-meisters to step up to the podium to deliver a verse.

Participants can offer an original work or deliver a favorite bit of iambic pentameter, but remember, keep the poem family-friendly.

The evening will be hosted by nationally known, published pro Synnika Lofton. He is a Chesapeake-based published poet, recording artist, producer and teacher of composition, and world and British literature.

Lofton has recorded more than 80 CDs, CD singles, mixtapes and albums of his own spoken word presentations and poetry.

He’s published 11 books of original verse and has had his works published in an array of magazines and poetry journals. He’s a founding member of the hip-hop group Black Lion Insurgents and founder of Riot Speech, a subgenre of spoken word and performance poetry that combine elements of rock, jazz and hip-hop, according to BlackLionMuzik.com. Lofton is also president of Guerilla Ignition, an independent recording, publishing and film company, and hosts his own annual People’s Poetry Festival in Chesapeake.

Lofton’s works have been heard around the globe including Japan, Norway, France, Switzerland, Haiti, Venezuela and Israel through his online initiative, the Global Poetry Project.

So join Lofton for an evening of scintillating wordplay and ideas. What could be verse? The cafe, held from 6:30-8 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Greenbrier Library, is free and open to all adults and teens in grades nine through 12.

Call 410-7058 for more info.

UP THE CANAL ... WITH A PADDLE

Online registration is now open for the popular Paddle for the Border outdoor self-propelled aquatic trek from the Tarheel State to Chesapeake.

Registration closes April 3 or when spaces fill. And, do it now. Slots fill up faster than a leaky canoe. Over the years participants have praised the event for its organization and opportunity to traverse a beautiful and historic canal through a pristine bucolic setting.

Participants will paddle their own canoes or kayaks along a 7.5-mile route through the historic Dismal Swamp Canal from South Mills, North Carolina, to the Ballahack Boat Ramp in Chesapeake near the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail.

Paddlers will enjoy a light breakfast before shoving off from South Mills and be treated to lunch after arriving in Chesapeake.

The fee is $45 per person. Call 382-6411 or email specialprograms@cityofchesapeake.net for more details.

TREE-MENDOUS

Did you know the Chesapeake Municipal Center on Cedar Road offers more than city offices and facilities? It’s also blessed with towering trees of several varieties.

So, don’t just hug a tree, walk around and enjoy them during the free guided tree tour from 9:30 until 11 a.m. Jan. 25.

Tree and nature lovers will gather at the Great Bridge Community Center at 212 Holt Drive to take the 1.1-mile loop through the municipal center. They’ll be guided by a Chesapeake master gardener who will point out and discuss the area’s majestic trees.

There’s no admission fee. Call 382-1359 and get to the root of this event.

PUZZLING GAMESMANSHIP

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Love to solve puzzles? Ready for some serious board and card play? Let the Chesapeake Central Library at 298 Cedar Road and the South Norfolk Memorial Library at 801 Poindexter St. get you in the game.

Both the Central and South Norfolk libraries will offer Tabletop Night with contemporary and classic board games and all manner of card play. Those in grades six through 12 are invited to free sessions of board and card games. Tables, chairs, games and cards of all varieties will be available.

The Central’s Tabletop Night is from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Jan. 21 and the South Norfolk gaming is from 5 until 6 p.m. Jan. 22. For more information and rules, call the Central at 410-7129 and the South Norfolk at 410-7048.

Are you puzzled? Or love to solve them? Come to the Central Library for Puzzlepalooza from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 25.

This free, all-ages event will offer various kinds of puzzles including logic, cryptic, word, mechanical, jigsaw, chess and even an escape room.

Players will compete for prizes at stations set up throughout the library. Call 410-7147 for more puzzling information.

Eric W. Feber, ewjfeber@gmail.com