A Few Minutes of Your Time Will Help Make Kansas City a Better Place to Live, Work and Play! Kansas City Parks and Recreation is conducting a public forum to establish priorities for the future improvement of parks, recreation facilities, programs and services within the Kansas City community. Your voice and opinions are very important to us. The time you invest in coming to this meeting will aid KC Parks in taking a resident driven approach to making decisions that will enrich the future of our community and positively affect the lives of our residents and children.
The City of Kansas City, Missouri, advises motorists that two races will affect traffic in Kansas City this weekend. Please observe caution and obey all posted detours, barricades and no parking signs.
The Dress for Success 5K takes place Saturday, June 21 from about 7:15-11 a.m. and will temporarily close the following streets:
Troost Avenue, between 31st Street and Armour Boulevard
Armour Boulevard, between Troost Avenue and Harrison Boulevard
Harrison Boulevard, between Armour Boulevard and Harrison Parkway
Harrison Parkway, between Harrison Boulevard and East 39th Street
East 39th Street, between Harrison Parkway and Charlotte Street
The Tour of Kansas City Circuit Races take place Sunday, June 22 from about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will temporarily close the following streets to through traffic:
Cliff Drive/Cliff Drive Scenic Byway/Cliff Drive Access Road, between East Lookout Point Drive and Gladstone Boulevard
Gladstone Boulevard, between Cliff Drive Access Road and St. John Avenue
St. John Avenue, between Gladstone Boulevard and Bellefontaine Avenue
Bellefontaine Drive, between St. John Avenue and Lebelle Drive
Lebelle Drive, between St. John Avenue and Lexington Avenue
Lexington Avenue, between Lebelle Drive and Prospect Avenue
Prospect Avenue, between Lexington Avenue and East Reservoir Drive
East Reservoir Drive, between Prospect Avenue and East Lookout Point Drive
East Lookout Point Drive, between East Reservoir Drive and Cliff Drive Scenic Byway
As a service to our residents, the City sends occasional notices about temporary road closures due to outdoor races to help residents better plan their weekends and avoid inconvenient road closures or delays.
Artists, grab your easels! Pick your favorite fountain! Join other artists painting this summer to help repair Kansas City fountains!
On June 15, artists will be painting at area fountains as cyclists participating in the Ride the Fountains bicycle tour pedal past Kansas City fountains. Both the artists and the cyclists are using their talents and energy to support the repair of Kansas City’s flowing treasures.
Artists are invited to continue to paint their favorite fountains until August 20 and deliver one framed painting to the Buttonwood ArtSpace, 3013 Main Street, on August 25 and 26. All fountain artwork will be on display at the Buttonwood ArtSpace for First Friday, September 5. A live on-line auction of the paintings will begin that day with artists and the campaign for the fountains each receiving 50% of the final bid. The auction ends on September 25 and buyers can pick up their purchases at the Buttonwood ArtSpace on September 29 and 30.
The goal of the on-line auction is to have 100 artists and 100 paintings that will raise $10,000 for the fountain repair campaign.
The 22nd season of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival will feature a production of The Winter’s Tale.The play will be performed from June 17 through July 6, 2014 in Southmoreland Park, Tuesday through Sunday evenings and Monday, June 30. There will not be a performance on July 4. Admission to the Festival will continue to be free, but donations are gratefully accepted.
The production features Festival veterans Bruce Roach as Leontes, Cinnamon Schultz as Hermione, and John Rensenhouse as Polixenes. They are joined by talented local Shakespearean veterans, Mark Robbins as Camillo, Jan Rogge as Paulina, Scott Cordes as Old Shepherd, Robert Gibby Brand as Antigonus, Matthew Rapport as Autolycus, and Emily Peterson as Perdita. Rounding out the cast are actors Ben Auxier, Andy Perkins, Daniel Frederick, Taylor St. John, J. Will Fritz, Nathan Bovos, and Mark Glen Fredrick. Actors making their Festival debut are Frank Oakley III, Maya Jackson, and Nicole Greenberg. Youth cast members include Marek Burns, MaKenna Lockhart, Leah Wilczeski, Trevor Harr, Paolo Laskero, Colton Richards, and Lysle Hartnett.
Executive Artistic Director, Sidonie Garrett says that she wants to bring The Winter’s Tale to life for the Kansas City community because the Festival has not yet presented this Late Romance in the park. The Winter’s Tale is considered one of Shakespeare’s ‘problem plays’, as it features three acts of tragedy and two acts of comedy, and is not produced as often as his more well-known titles. However, Garrett believes the Festival’s audience will connect with the story because the talented cast will bring the play’s themes of friendship, jealously, loss and restoration to life.
This year’s production will feature live music. A trio of musicians will perform onstage to help the company tell the story. Garrett notes that this play also contains the most famous of Shakespeare’s stage directions, [Exit, pursued by a bear] (The Winter’s Tale 3.3), and that the audience should expect to see a bear.
Garrett will direct The Winter’s Tale . She directed last season’s As You Like it, Antony and Cleopatra and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2012), Macbeth (2011), King Richard III (2010), The Merry Wives of Windsor (2009), and Othello (2008), Romeo and Juliet (2007), King Henry V (2006), Much Ado About Nothing (2005), Julius Caesar (2004), Hamlet (2003), The Taming of the Shrew (2002), and Twelfth Night (2001).
Founded in 1991 by Tony-Award-winning Broadway-producer Marilyn Strauss, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival launched its first season in 1993 in Southmoreland Park. Since then, over half a million theatergoers from 42 states and 11 countries have enjoyed the classical, professional productions the Festival presents each summer.Support for the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, Kansas City, Missouri Parks and Recreation, the ArtsKC Fund a host of leading foundations and corporations and hundreds of generous individuals. However, Garrett cautions the Festival does not have an endowment and must raise its entire budget every year.
“We need the on-going support of all our donors and fans to keep the Festival strong,” she says. Information on making donations to the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and details on the 2014 season can be found on the Festival’s website at www.kcshakes.org or bycalling 816.531.7728. Follow the Festival on Twitter @kcshakes.
Kansas City Parks and Recreation in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), has received a $ 30,000 grant to support its out-of-school time healthy food access and nutritional literacy programs. The gift is part of a $2.3 million grant NRPA received from the Walmart Foundation to support out-of-school time programs in 50 park and recreation agencies. The purpose of the grant is to:
Increase the number of healthy meals children in low-income communities receive through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) during out-of-school times.
Provide evidence-based, age-appropriate nutrition literacy to children that create behavior change by teaching the importance of healthy eating.
Implement nutrition and physical activity standards that increase access to healthier foods and increase opportunities for physical activity.
Parks and Recreation grant will help increase access to healthy foods and improve opportunities for physical activity. Grantees will also receive additional support for meals provided through USDA afterschool and summer feeding programs as well as nutritional literacy materials to help ensure life-long healthy habits for Kansas City’s youth.
This grant supports NRPA’s new campaign—Commit to Health—which encourages the implementation and evaluation of Healthy Eating, Physical Activity (HEPA) standards in park and recreation sites across the country. NRPA’s goal is to have at least 2,000 participating sites in five years.
According to the USDA’s 2010 Hunger report, 16.2 million American children live in food-insecure households. The same report finds that 19.5 million low-income children receive free or reduced meals during the school year, but fewer than 3 million of these children participate in the Summer Food Service Program. During summer months, these children may not have access to quality food to help them grow—making Parks and Recreation work during out-of-school times that much more critical.
“Across the country, community parks and recreation are a vital health resource for all people,” said Barbara Tulipane, President and CEO of NRPA. “This generous grant from the Walmart Foundation will allow park and recreation agencies to expand the critical work they do to improve quality of life and foster life-long healthy habits among the youth in their communities.”
The City of Kansas City, Missouri, advises motorists that the Hospital Hill 5K, 10K and Half Marathon will temporarily affect traffic in the Crown Center area on Friday evening and Saturday morning.
The Hospital Hill 5K takes place Friday, June 6 and will temporarily close the following streets from about 6:45-8:30 p.m.:
Grand Boulevard, between Pershing Road and 26th Street (4:30 p.m. Friday. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday)
Pershing Road, between McGee Street and Gillham Road
Gillham Road, between Pershing Road and 29th Street
29th Street, between Gillham Road and the Paseo
The Paseo, between 29th Street and 27th Street
27th Street, between The Paseo and Holmes Road
Holmes Road, between 27th Street and 25th Street
25th Street, between Holmes Road and Pershing Road
Pershing Road, between 25th Street and Grand Boulevard
The Hospital Hill 10K and Half Marathon takes place Saturday, June 7 from about 6:30-11:30 a.m. and will temporarily close the following streets:
Grand Boulevard, between Pershing Road and 26th Street (4:30 p.m. Friday. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday)
Grand Boulevard, between Pershing Road and Truman Road (3-9 a.m.)
Truman Road, between Grand Boulevard and Oak Street (6:45-8:15 a.m.)
Oak Street (turns into Gillham Road), between Truman Road and 45th Street (6:45-8:45 a.m.)
39th Street, between Gillham Road and Broadway Street (7-10 a.m.)
45th Street, between West Gillham Road and Rockhill Road (6:45-8:45 a.m.)
Rockhill Road (south), between 45th Street and Meyer Boulevard (6:45-9:30 a.m.)
Meyer Boulevard (west), between Rockhill Road and Brookside Boulevard (7-9:30 a.m.)
Brookside Boulevard (north), between Meyer Boulevard and Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard (7-10 a.m.)
Main Street (south), between 62nd Street and 61st Street (7-10 a.m.)
61st Street, between Main Street and Brookside Boulevard (7-10 a.m.)
Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard, between Brookside Boulevard and JC Nichols Parkway (7-10 a.m.)
JC Nichols Parkway, which turns into Broadway Boulevard (north), between Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and 31st Street (7-10:45 a.m.)
31st Street, between Broadway Boulevard and Wyandotte Street (7-11 a.m.)
Wyandotte Street, between 31st Street and Memorial Drive (7-11 a.m.)
Memorial Drive, between Wyandotte Street and Main Street (7-11 a.m.)
Main Street, between Memorial Drive and 27th Street (7-11 a.m.)
27th Street, between Main Street and Grand Boulevard (7-11 a.m.)
Please note, police are prepared to allow motorists to cross the routes when they deem it safe for race participants. Please observe caution and obey all posted detours, barricades and no parking signs.
As a service to our residents, the City sends occasional notices about temporary road closures due to outdoor races to help residents better plan their weekends and avoid inconvenient road closures or delays.
