With the help of a Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance (TRIM) grant from the Missouri Department of Conservation, KC Parks Forestry staff conducted an inventory of trees in Kansas City, Missouri focusing on areas that have been developed since the last professional tree inventory was completed in 2001.
Over the past 14 years trees have been lost through construction, redevelopment, attrition, disease, or storm damage. Additionally, new trees have been planted through new residential developments, urban renewal projects, and on-going developments. Of particular concern to the City’s Forestry staff are the locations of ash trees that are under attack by the invasive pest, the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).
This recently completed survey added 8,248 trees to the City’s tree inventory bringing Kansas City’s total number of trees in publicly-owned developed areas to 135,500. Of these, 1,408 are ash trees that have now been added to the City’s EAB protection program.
TRIM is a competitive cost-share tree care program administered by the Missouri Department of Conservation in cooperation with the Missouri Community Forest Council.
Kansas City to be honored as TreeCity USA, free trees, tree planting ceremony and family activities
What: Bayer Advanced, in partnership with KC Parks and Recreation, will host a Healthy Trees for Life Arbor Day celebration event to give away trees and educate area residents on the importance of keeping trees healthy, and the threat posed by invasive pests such as emerald ash borer. We will also have fun activities such as kids’ scavenger hunt and free giveaways!
The Arbor Day Foundation will also be in attendance, including Foundation president Dan Lambe. They will honor Kansas City as a TreeCity USA, signifying the city’s commitment to caring for and managing its public trees.
When: Saturday, April 18, 12:30 – 4:30 pm (tree planting ceremony at 2:30 PM)
Where: Loose Park, Corner of 55th St. and Summit St., Kansas City, MO 64112
Participants:
Mark Randolph, area sales manager for Bayer Advanced
Douglas A. Spilker, Ph.D., ornamental plant pathologist and entomologist
Dan Lambe, president, Arbor Day Foundation
Maggie Stuckey, Senior Manager of Corporate Partnerships, Arbor Day Foundation
Mark L. McHenry, director, KC Parks
Background: Since its discovery in Michigan in 2002, the emerald ash borer has killed tens of millions of ash trees. The infestation has spread to 22 states and continues to grow. Healthy trees can be saved – preventative action can be taken to stop the borer before it does damage.
Make the most of KC Parks Community Centers Discover Day with these recommended agendas!
All activities are FREE.
Discover Day is Saturday, April 11:
FOR THE ATHLETE
9-10 a.m.: Water Aerobics | Tony Aguirre
11 a.m.-12 p.m.: Dodgeball | KC North
1-4 p.m.: Public Skate | Line Creek
3-5 p.m. Badminton | Hillcrest
4-5 p.m.: Tennis Carnival | Garrison
FOR THE KIDS
10-11a.m.: Face Painting | Garrison
11-11:30 a.m.: Kids in the Kitchen | Southeast
1-2 p.m. Picnic Lunch | Hillcrest
2:30-2:45 p.m.: Mini Skate Lesson | Line Creek
3-4 p.m.: Dance Team Workshop | Brush Creek
FOR THE ARTIST
9 a.m.-1 p.m.: Arts & Crafts | Marlborough
10:30 a.m.-4 p.m.: Teen Outdoor Graffiti Chalk Murals | Tony Aguirre
11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.: Ceramics | Southeast
3-4:30 p.m.: Arts & Crafts | Westport Roanoke
FOR THE FITNESS BUFF
9-10 a.m.: Cardio Tennis | Garrison
12-1 p.m.: Pilates and Zumba | Southeast
2-4:30 p.m.: Fitness Challenge | Marlborough
4:30-6 p.m.: Open Yoga | Westport Roanoke
FOR THE GAMER
9-11 a.m.: Ping Pong | KC North
11-11:30 a.m. Bumper Pool | Southeast
1:30-3 p.m..: Xbox | Hillcrest
2-4 p.m.: Video Game Challenge | Gregg/Klice
FOR THE COMPETITOR
9-11 a.m.: Pickleball | KC North
10-11 a.m.: Roller Derby | Tony Aguirre
12:30-1:30 p.m. Air Hockey | Southeast
2-5 p.m.: 3 Point Basketball Contest | Hillcrest
FOR THE ONE WHO WANTS TO TRY IT ALL
9 a.m.-1 p.m.: Open Pottery | Westport Roanoke
11 a.m.- 1 p.m.: Ping Pong | Marlborough
1-2 p.m.: Bootcamp | Southeast
1-4 p.m.: Public Skate | Line Creek
3-5 p.m.: Badminton | Hillcrest
The newly formed Brush Creek Royal Diamonds have been sweeping the competition this past month. The Royal Diamonds took third place in the drill team division in the Kansas City St. Patrick’s Day parade.
On March 21, they competed in the KC Sizzlers Annual March-a-thon and were the first place team overall. The competition also broke down into individual age groups. The age groups ranged from 3-5 years old, 6-8 years old, 9-11 years old and 12 years old and up. In the 3-5 year old division Decoria placed in the top five. In the 6-8 year old division Bre Bre placed in the top five. In the 9-11 year old division Linnell, Alex and Shaniya all placed in the top 10. And in the 12 and up division the captain, Mone’t, placed in the top ten and received a judge’s choice award. We are very proud of the Brush Creek Royal Diamonds and can’t wait to display more trophies at Brush Creek Community Center.
Watch a video of the Brush Creek Royal Diamonds in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. More>>
Katie Sowers demonstrates a touchdown dance at Ability Day, organized by the Recreation Council of Greater Kansas City. The event was held at a City soccer field.
Congratulations to #KCParks Athletic Director Katie Sowers for being featured in the KCMO Employee Newsletter!
“Since I can’t play football when I grow up, I will play basketball,” wrote an 8-year-old Katie Sowers in her second grade journal.
Sowers lived in a small town of 3,000 and shared a natural love for sports with her identical twin sister. They enjoyed watching football on TV, practicing in the backyard and playing with the neighborhood boys. Their best Christmas memory was a gift of old football jerseys, pads and helmets from Bethel College in central Kansas where their father coached basketball. But there seemed no future in their favorite game.
Still, the heart finds its own way. In college Sowers learned of a women’s tackle team in west Michigan and she traveled 90 minutes each way to play with them. Now, seven years later, she begins her third season with the Kansas City Titans, a semi-pro, full-contact football team in the Women’s Football Alliance. In 2014 she was named the alliance’s offensive player of the year, and in 2013 she traveled with the USA Women’s National Football Team to Finland, where the team won the gold medal.
She also works as athletic director for the City’s Parks and Recreation Department. One of her goals is to level the sports playing field for girls and women in the community. “Sometimes we tend to forget that part of the population—urban girls especially get left out of sports and team experiences,” she says. “There’s a huge benefit, but often we look past this.”
In Sowers’ ideal world, girls would be free to play football, boys would feel welcome on the volleyball court and coaches would never admonish the defensive line to “quit hitting like a girl.”
When she organizes the City’s youth sports clinics during the summer for bitty basketball, football and soccer, she makes a point to bring in female athletes (including fellow Titans team members) to make presentations. This not only inspires the girls—it offers the boys a new perspective as well.
“I want to break down barriers and open up opportunities for all kids,” she says. “It’s a culture change. A lot of it is so ingrained.”
In addition to organizing youth clinics, Sowers assists adult leagues, from flag football and basketball to softball and kickball. She manages field allocations, sets up competitions and schedules umpires and referees.
She hopes to leverage her experience and enthusiasm to boost the citywide leagues and the Kansas City Titans to new levels. “They’re both sleepers in a way,” she says, “but they’re gaining momentum.”
Women’s football is particularly unrecognized. “Most people don’t have a clue that this whole world exists,” Sowers says, noting the Titans’ first home game in 2015 is at Shawnee Mission South High School stadium on April 25. She’ll start as quarterback and her sister, Liz Sowers, will be a wide receiver.
“I don’t play football to be a rebel,” she says. “I play because it makes me happy. It’s totally against societal norms, but I’ve never been one to worry about what’s socially acceptable.”
And if she could step back in time and speak to her former 8-year-old self? “I’d say be patient and keep a positive attitude, but push the boundaries. People can do anything they want if they push hard enough.”
Original furnishings of the Long family and other historical artifacts are coming back into Corinthian Hall and the Carriage House of the Kansas City Museum in a new exhibition titled Divining the Museum: Visions of Past, Present, and Future, on display from May 7 through June 13, 2015. Curated by Max Adrian and Paige Beltowski, and featuring Kansas City artists and students from the Kansas City Art Institute, Divining the Museum is a temporary exhibition. Guided exhibition tours are free and will be available on the hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, May 7-30, and Wednesday-Saturday, June 3-13.
An exhibition-opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 2 from 5-9 p.m. at the Kansas City Museum located at 3218 Gladstone Blvd in Kansas City, MO, and it will include performative readings starting at 7:30 p.m. that tell stories inspired by the layered history of the Museum and its myriad inhabitants over the years. An RSVP is required for this reception as spaces will be limited. Please email your RSVP to anna.tutera@kcmo.org.
Divining the Museum showcases contemporary artwork including installations, sculpture, ceramics, and photography alongside original objects from the Museum’s collection. Adrian and Beltowski propose imaginative and modern relationships with the historical artifacts and materials to catalyze conversation about the reinterpretation, relevancy, and meaning of history. The exhibition delves into how and why the boundaries between fact and fiction are blurred, even subconsciously, when new audiences are learning about historic events. Divining the Museum poses this question and others in many forms to stimulate curiosity, dialogue, and dreams of the future Kansas City Museum.
Divining the Museum is the first exhibition of 2015, and it sets the tone for the year, aiming to honor past aspirations and boldly face existing ones.
“We are delighted to work with emerging artists and students to further enliven and activate the Museum,” Kansas City Museum Executive Director Anna Marie Tutera said. “There are many talented artists and creatives in Kansas City, and we endeavor for the Museum to make a meaningful contribution to the City of Kansas City’s ‘Arts Convergence Plan.’ Visitors have been asking to see original artifacts and archival materials, and it is time to display them so that we can all imagine and explore together how to hybridize historic and contemporary elements in the future Museum.”
Over many decades, innovators have worked tirelessly to advance and restore the Kansas City Museum. This year, the Museum celebrates its 75th anniversary as a public museum, and Tutera plans to actively engage Kansas City’s arts and culture community to plan for the Museum’s restoration and rehabilitation. Tutera notes that when the exhibition ends and the contemporary artwork is de-installed, the historical objects will remain on display through the end of 2015.
Built in 1910 as a private residence and converted to a public museum in 1940, Corinthian Hall and its estate stand as both a monument and palimpsest of Kansas City history. This true American palace—built by lumber magnate, civic leader, and philanthropist Robert Alexander Long—offers an architectural, artistic, and historic legacy rooted in a deep sense of place and creative vision. Currently under renovation, Corinthian Hall and the buildings that comprise the Kansas City Museum reveal visible and enduring traces of the past, as well as the promise of what is to come.
Many visitors to the Kansas City Museum are surprised to learn that the Museum has a very small collection of original furnishings from Corinthian Hall. After the deaths of Mrs. Ella Long and Mr. Long (1928 and 1934 respectively), the two Long daughters, Sallie America Long Ellis and Loula Long Combs (a world famous equestrienne and owner of Longview Farm in Lee’s Summit, Missouri), removed their favorite items from Corinthian Hall and had a two-day auction in 1934 to sell the remaining contents. In 1939 the Long daughters donated Corinthian Hall and its buildings to the Kansas City Museum Association to use for their new museum, which opened in 1940 as the Kansas City Museum. The original Corinthian Hall furnishings that are part of the Museum’s collection today were donated to the Museum from Long family members and others. In addition, the Museum has more than 20 of the Long family carriages, as well as Loula’s tack, trophies, and ribbons. For more information about the Kansas City Museum and the exhibition, visit www.kansascitymuseum.org.
Background on Kansas City Museum
Located at 3218 Gladstone Boulevard in the Historic Northeast community of Kansas City, Missouri, the Kansas City Museum is comprised of five original buildings, including the mansion Corinthian Hall, which was built in 1910 by Robert Alexander Long. The estate became a public museum in 1940. It is owned by the City of Kansas City, Missouri and operated and managed by the City of Kansas City, Missouri Parks and Recreation Department. The Collection contains more than 100,000 artifacts and several thousand more archival materials that interpret Kansas City and regional history.
With the help of a Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance (TRIM) grant from the Missouri Department of Conservation, KC Parks Forestry staff conducted an inventory of trees in Kansas City, Missouri focusing on areas that have been developed since the last professional tree inventory was completed in 2001.
