KC Parks News

Tom Watson Golf Academy to Open with Ribbon Cutting Ceremony April 30 at Heart of America Golf Course

The Kansas City Parks Department and The First Tee of Greater Kansas City are hosting a dedication ceremony for the new Tom Watson Golf Academy, a program that provides golf-focused learning and mentorship for Kansas City area youth to help build a further love of the game. The event begins at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, April 30 at the Heart of America Golf Course, 7501 Blue River Road.

Everyone is invited to the driving range in front of the clubhouse for the dedication and ribbon cutting at 11:15 a.m., and then Watson will conduct a free golf clinic for Kansas City youth after the ceremony starting at 11:30 a.m.

The Tom Watson Golf Academy offers affordable lessons for kids working to improve their golf acumen. Each class is offered as a program of The First Tee of Greater Kansas City and are open to any 10 to 17-year-old golfer wanting to improve their game. Introductory lessons are provided through The First Tee Life Skills Experience classes.

“We want to build the game by helping kids perfect their golf skills,” said Watson, a 39-time PGA Tour champion and World Golf Hall of Famer. “The Academy is a simple and affordable way to bring golf to the youth of Kansas City.”

Mark McHenry, director of the Kansas City Parks Board, and Brigette Chirpich, executive director of The First Tee of Greater Kansas City, will conduct the dedication. Watson will speak about the efforts of The First Tee in Kansas City and announce the newest partnership between The First Tee and Kansas City Golf Association, the Youth on Course program.

Youth on Course is a national program connecting golf courses and young golfers to provide lower fees and access to more golf courses.

“Youth on Course provides an inexpensive opportunity for young Kansas City Golfers to play a multitude of courses,” said Watson. “This will open the door for kids to play new courses and to connect with other junior golfers outside of tournament settings.”

About The First Tee of Greater Kansas City
The First Tee of Greater Kansas City (www.thefirstteekc.org) is a Missouri Not for Profit Corporation. Our mission is to impact the lives of young people in the Greater Kansas City area by providing learning opportunities and educational programs that promote character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf. The First Tee of Greater Kansas City serves 10,000 young people at six programming sites, over 30 local schools and through outreach programs. The First Tee of Greater Kansas also administers the Al Hoffman Scholarship Program. Currently, five alumni of the chapter are attending college with the financial assistance of this program. The Greater Kansas City Chapter is part of The First Tee Network of youth development organizations.

About Kansas City Parks and Recreation
Kansas City Parks and Recreation’s mission is to improve the quality of life, health and wellness of our community by providing socially equitable, community-driven programming and environmentally sound natural resource management.  We provide facilities, programs and recreational opportunities for the community that contribute to an aesthetically pleasing environment and enhanced quality of life. The department operates and maintains close to 12,000 acres of parkland including 220 parks, 135 miles of boulevards and parkways, 48 fountains, 87 ornamental structures, 10 community centers, 27 lakes, 100+ miles of trails and bikeways, 105 tennis courts, five golf courses and four museums. Visit www.kcparks.org to learn more.

About the Kansas City Golf Association
The Kansas City Golf Association (KCGA) is a full service regional golf association dedicated to the betterment of the amateur golf community of greater Kansas City. Founded in 1912, the Association is volunteer-based and governed as a non-profit 501(c)4 Missouri corporation. More than 60 volunteers (course raters and tournament committeemen) assist in course ratings, competitions and communications. For more information, visit www.kansascitygolfer.org.

KC Parks Received TRIM Grant

The Forestry Operations Division of Kansas City Parks and Recreation received a Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance (TRIM) grant from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). TRIM grants assist Missouri communities with the management, improvement and/or conservation of their trees and forests.

Kansas City was awarded a $1300 grant for forestry staff continuing education. The grant was used to send five staff members to the 70^th  Annual Conference and Trade Show of the Midwest Chapter of the International Society of Arborist and to the annual conference of the Missouri Community Forestry Council.

While at the conferences staff attended  a variety of educational seminars on topics such as urban tree root system management and care, soils, tree nutrition, urban wood utilization, and trees in municipal planning.

TRIM is a competitive cost-share grant from MDC in cooperation with the Missouri Community Forest Council and U.S. Forest Service that provides up to $10,000 for community tree inventories, removal or pruning of trees, tree planting and educational programs.

KC Parks Submits 2016 Gold Medal Award Application

KC Parks recently submitted its application for the National Recreation and Park Association’s Gold Medal Award. The Gold Medal Award honors communities throughout the United States that demonstrate excellence in long-range planning, resource management, and agency recognition. Each agency is judged on its ability to address the needs of those it serves through the collective energies of citizens, staff, and elected officials.

A panel of five parks and recreation professionals reviews and judges all application materials.  Judges are chosen for their considerable experience and knowledge in parks and recreation on both local and national levels. KC Parks has never won the award but was one of four Class I finalists in 2011 and 2015.

Read KC Parks 2016 Gold Medal Award Application>>

Watch 2016 Gold Medal Video>>

Rose Society Poetry Contest

Mother’s Day for Mother Earth- Tenth Anniversary Celebration!

Ten years and counting! StoneLion Puppet Theatre will celebrate Mother’s Day with Kansas City’s largest community arts project and giant puppet show, Mother’s Day for Mother Earth. Larger than life puppets, professional actors, dancers, community participants and you will celebrate spring on the lawn of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. This free event has attracted over 6000 audience members and grows annually. Viewers from as far away as Sweden and Pakistan have joined our local residents in a day of celebration for our planet and families with puppets up to 20’ tall.

This year’s theme is all about water. The Mermaid’s Tail (Tale) follows the journey of a giant plastic water bottle down a storm drain and eventually out to sea. Who and what will be effected?  Over 100 community volunteers from age 2 years to 75 will perform alongside StoneLion’s professional troupe. Crescendo Conservatory from Overland Park, KS is our featured partner supplying over forty dancers to the cast. Bring your picnic, set up a lawn chair, tour the museum, make your own puppet at our craft tables and enjoy the day.

Fact: Did you know Mother’s Day started as Peace Day protesting war? What better way to spend Mother’s Day than in the park with a beautiful and timely puppet spectacle about protecting the planet we live on for our children?

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Noon-4 p.m. interactive activities around the museum

2 p.m. Mother’s Day for Mother Earth giant puppet play

Where: South Lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak Street Kansas City, MO 64111

FREE for the entire family. Bring a picnic, blanket and/or lawn chair (lawn chair seating in designated areas only)

More>> www.stonelionpuppets.org

Sponsored by The Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, Kansas City Parks and Recreation, The Francis Family Foundation, KC Water Services, The ArtsKC Fund, Mid America Regional Council and The Law Offices of Lance Loewenstein.

Starlight Theatre Opens New Education Pavilion

The thousands of Kansas City area students who participate in Starlight Theatre’s performing arts education camps, classes and programs each year have a new place to call home when at the theatre. Starlight’s brand-new Education Pavilion, constructed on the site of its original 1950 Director’s Pavilion, provides 2,700 square feet of climate-controlled space for use by aspiring young artists and others associated with education at Starlight.

The Education Pavilion was officially unveiled at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 3 with representatives of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Starlight Board of Directors and Starlight donors and staff joining in the celebration.

Starlight President and CEO Rich Baker welcomed a crowd of about 75 people to the event and shared how his vision of transforming the former Director’s Pavilion, which had fallen into disrepair and was largely used as a storage space in recent years, had become reality and is now poised to help young people across the metro reach for their performance dreams.

“As the Starlight mission statement describes, Starlight is a place where performing arts share center stage with education,” Baker said. “Many times in the past, however, our education staff and programs had to compete for the limited physical spaces available within the Starlight venue. That won’t be the case now that this beautiful facility is open and ready for use!”

The new pavilion was even able to preserve part of Starlight history by repurposing much of the Director Pavilion’s original pine flooring and many of its support beams in the new building.

Among highlights of the March 3 event were:

• Special recognition of a $50,000 donation to the project made by The Deramus Foundation. Jean Deramus Wagner, a member of the Starlight Board, was joined at the ribbon-cutting by her sisters, Jill Deramus Dean and Nicky Deramus Bunch.
• A brief trip down memory lane was led by Donna Thomason, who leads Starlight subsidiary company EPIC Innovative Events but previously spent many a hot summer night as an actress rehearsing Starlight shows on the open-air Director’s Pavilion in the 1980s and ‘90s.

• A vocal performance by Blue Springs High School freshman Sam Aubuchon. Aubuchon is a current participant in two Starlight education programs, the Starlight STARS of Tomorrow and the Blue Star Awards. He wowed the crowd at the reception following the ribbon-cutting with his solo rendition of “Corner of the Sky” from the Broadway musical Pippin.

Following the event, Aubuchon’s mother, Lisa, shared her sentiments. “Thank you so much for giving Sam the opportunity to perform at the event. It was an awesome, positive experience for him,” she said. “He has loved every experience he has had at Starlight, from the awesome people to the performing. I know Starlight will put the pavilion to good use!”

Other speakers at the ribbon-cutting event were Starlight Board Chair Carolyn Watley of CBIZ Benefits & Insurance Services; Starlight Board Vice Chair for Education Tammy Peterman of KU Medical Center; Justin White, Starlight Vice President of Operations; and newly installed President and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Joe Reardon.