Kansas City magazine June 2024

40 Moments That Shaped Kansas City We scoured the history books and plucked the top historical moments that have brought us to where we are today

Plus: KC Boxing Legend John Brown Talks Fight Nights kansascitymag.com | June 2024 | $4.95

What’s The Buzz About?

A Look At KC’s Urban Beekeeping Movement Let’s Talk About Winstead’s

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OUR MISSION

We love Kansas City like family. We know what makes it great, we know how it struggles, and we know its secrets.

Through great storytelling, photography and design, we help our readers celebrate our city’s triumphs, tend to its faults and revel in the things that make it unique.

PUBLISHER

Kathy Boos

Allure In All Seasons

MANAGING EDITOR

Dawnya Bartsch ART DIRECTOR

Kevin Goodbar ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR

Molly Higgins FOOD EDITOR

Tyler Shane MUSIC EDITOR

Nina Cherry DIGITAL MEDIA STRATEGIST

James Lampone DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Alex Healey PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Dominique Parsow COPY EDITOR

Kelsie Schrader WEB COORDINATOR

Madison Russell WRITERS

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Kansas City June 2024

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J U N E 2 02 4

52 Cover Story: 40 Moments That Shaped KC

We took a look at the moments that made Kansas City what it is today

68 Fight Nights

Local boxing legend John Brown talks about training Tommy Morrison and today’s amateur fighters

12

Kansas City June 2024

48 Juneteenth Film Festival

A film on the life of Alvin Brooks will be one of several screenings at this year’s festival

78

Steakburgers and Skyscraper Shakes Our food editor takes a look a Winstead’s

DO TIME IN

JEFFERSON CITY

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IN THIS ISSUE

23 loop

31 beat

41 current

77 savor

23 What’s All the Buzz?

31 Chiefs Play Ball

41 Picnic in the Park

77 Artisan Tofu

Local beekeeping groups are populating the metro with beehives

Chiefs players will be playing softball for a good cause

We tell you how to pack the perfect picnic

A family-owned tofu shop supplies the metro

34 Parkville Jazz and Blues Festival

42 Ancient Techniques

78 Winstead’s

A local shoe designer uses centuries-old methods

KC’s iconic restaurant is still slinging burgers

46 Cicadas Are Coming

83 Perfect Day

What you need to know about the predicted deluge

SipSteady founders talk mocktails

48 Film Fest

85 Drink

North KC theater to host Juneteenth Film Festival

Check out this earthy matcha cocktail - The Green & White

26 Show MO Act Missouri’s first feature film to use the new tax credit is underway

27 Eye Candy A vending machine is doling out books, not sweets

English Landing Park will be home to the city’s first Juneteenth music festival and fundraiser

36 Backbeat Funk Rock band Friendly Thieves plays Boulevardia

IN EVERY ISSUE

Editor’s Letter................ 16 Up Front........................... 18 Calendar......................... 32 Surreal Estate............... 88

ON THE COVER:

Illustration courtesy of Kansas City Public Library

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Kansas City June 2024

86 ’Cue Card Smoked vegan dishes— they’re a thing

87 Newsfeed The latest in KC food news

Help ligHt tHe way for KC KiDS DoNate Building programs for • Anxiety • Depression • ADHD • Eating Disorders • Kids in Crisis

childrensmercy.org/illuminate A 501(c)3 non-profit health system

F R O M T H E E D I TO R

Walk Down Memory Lane HISTORY IS A funny thing. Sometimes we look back through the hazy lens of nostalgia, and other times

we don’t. We can wonder why we made certain decisions. Some were good and some … not so much.

When it came to crafting this issue’s main feature, The Moments That Shaped Kansas City, it wasn’t that different.

As we combed through the various events, moments and decisions that have shaped KC, some came across as brilliant and others felt like moments we might all want to collectively forget. For example, can we just bury the fact that corrupt political boss Tom Pendergast was paid untold thousands of taxpayer money to pour disturbingly large amounts of concrete into Brush Creek? Good. I thought we might all want to just skim over that. But it sure is fun to relive the Chiefs’ 2020 Super Bowl victory, the first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years. Let’s just revel in that moment as much as possible.

And like life itself, some moments are devastating and just too painful, yet they all have contributed to present-day Kansas City. And present-day Kansas City is a pretty good place to be.

If a trip down memory lane sounds good, don’t stop at the 40 moments we picked. Dive a little deeper and read Kansas City magazine food editor Tyler Shane’s write-up on Winstead’s. The iconic restaurant still holds a place in many

Kansas Citians’ hearts—as it should. Who doesn’t want a steakburger and a skyscraper shake?

Legendary boxer John Brown, another Kansas City icon, also talks history in this issue. Writer Ian Ritter spent an evening at Brown’s Fight Nights at KCK’s Turner Recreation Commission community center and later sat down with Brown to learn about his days training champ Tommy Morrison.

When this issue hits the newsstands, I plan to grab a Green and White matcha cocktail (you can read about it in our food section) and a magazine and read it all once more.

For posterity’s sake, I’m going to casually lay this issue on my coffee table and hope my kids decide to pick it up.

Dawnya Bartsch MANAGING EDITOR

dawnya@kansascitymag.com

Contributors

Shawn Edwards, Writer

Ian Ritter, Writer

Ryan Nicholson, Photographer

Journalist and film producer Shawn Edwards wrote a story in this issue about the Juneteenth film festival, as well as an online story on Oscar winner Kevin Willmott’s documentary about KC icon and civil rights activist Alvin Brooks.

This month’s feature on Fight Nights at KCK’s Turner Academy and legendary trainer John Brown was written by Ian Ritter, an independent Kansas City journalist who is currently working on a Missouri River research project.

This issue’s story about Bee KC was shot by local photographer Ryan Nicholson, whose childhood bedroom was directly above his father’s darkroom. Nicholson says he knew how to fold a reflector before he knew how to tie a tie.

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Kansas City June 2024

Get a Zoo Perspective.

stlzoo.org

UP FRONT

Feedback

Say What?

Numbers From This Issue

10,000 “Most people don’t find themselves in a cloud of bees. It’s a meditative experience.”

– David Friesen, founder of Bee KC

The number of kids, roughly, who have gone through John Brown’s boxing program at KCK’s Turner Recreation Commission community center.

Page 68

12,000

The number of people who rode the streetcar on opening day in 2016.

Page 65

28

The number of artists whose work is displayed at the new KCI airport.

High Tech An interview with Kansas City native Tech N9ne previewing his collaborative performance with the Kansas City Symphony drew endless praise from our readers for Tech N9ne’s talent.

A legacy that will last decades.

– Amanda Nichole

Saw Tech two years ago shortly after my dad passed away, and it was by far the greatest healing experience I’ve ever had. I’d love to see him again.

– Jilian Williams

Tech N9ne drops song after song, album after album.

He always has something new for me to listen to. And every song is a bomb. My favorite rapper.

– Lexa Cheyenne Malcom

18

Kansas City June 2024

Shout-out

A big thanks to Ryan Reed and the Kansas City Library for retrieving historic photos for this month’s feature on the moments that shaped KC.

Man is a legend! He used to come through the West Bluff on the West Side of KC and throw out his merch from his van.

–Herbie Hancock

Contact Us

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Email

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Behind the Scenes Scan the QR code to check out Kansas City magazine online.

Photographer Brandon Waldrop creating the perfect shot of this issue’s featured drink, Moon Bar’s Green and White matcha cocktail.

PHOTOGR APHY BY DARRYL WOODS; SHUT TERSTOCK; PROVIDED

Page 67

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L EAD ING T HE CONVERSAT ION IN KA NSAS C I T Y

David Friesen of Bee KC tends to hives on the roof of KC’s Tom’s Town Distilling Co.

Buzzworthy

Bee hives are scattered throughout the urban core and metro via innovative beekeeping groups

By Dawnya Bartsch DAVID FRIESEN describes the first time he was surrounded by buzzing bees as both electric

and peaceful.

“Most people don’t find themselves in a cloud of bees,” says Friesen, the founder of Bee KC, a nonprofit urban beekeeping organization. Friesen says the first time can boost your adrenaline, but then it becomes quite peaceful as you learn to navigate the bee swarm and tend to the hive. “It’s a meditative experience,” he says.

Photography by Ryan Nicholson

Friesen’s uncle has kept bees most his life. About 12 years ago, when Friesen was paying him a visit in California, his uncle taught him how to beekeep. Friesen took that experience and started keeping his own hives here in Kansas City.

Friesen, who founded Betty Rae’s Ice Cream but has since sold the business, dove into beekeeping full time about two years ago with the creation of his nonprofit Bee KC. (Continued on next page) kansascitymag.com June 2024

23

LO O P

B U Z Z WO RT H Y

“Bees pollinate essentially one-third of everything we eat. So one in three bites of your food is thanks to honeybees.”

Bee KC has installed and maintained about 150 honey bee hives in the greater metro area, as well as native bee homes at all the sites. The beehives are scattered everywhere from restaurant rooftops and urban farms to KU’s Medical Center botanical gardens and vacant lots. But Bee KC is doing more than just maintaining bees.

Friesen and his board members are out in the community teaching people about the importance of bees in the ecosystem through workshops and classroom visits.

“Bees pollinate essentially one-third of everything we eat,” Friesen says. “So one in three bites of your food is thanks to honeybees.”

Part of maintaining the hives is collecting the honey. The people and organizations hosting the hives get a portion of the honey collected by Bee KC to use or sell as they see fit, and Bee KC keeps the remainder, selling the honey at local markets.

Each hive’s honey has a distinctive flavor, depending on the plants the bees are pollinating, even within the confines of KC, Friesen says.

BEE KC ISN’T the only bee game in town. Just a few years ago, Dr. Mar-

ion Pierson was a pediatrician. Now she’s a beekeeper and the founder of Mo Hives KC, another nonprofit urban beekeeping organization.

Pierson’s organization focuses on placing hives in vacant lots in blighted community areas as a way of bringing life to the area. Her motto is “let’s clean it up,” and adding bees to the environment is a way to do that. Pierson reclaims many of these forlorn locations by adding bushes, flowers and other vegetation and then plunking down a few hives.

Pierson also sees her bee gardens as a way of connecting urban kids with nature and the sources of their food, teaching them how

24 Kansas City June 2024

to tend to gardens and grow food along the way. One way she does this is through Mo Hives KC’s long-term agreement with Community Builders KC for six lots that make up its Wabash Avenue apiary site (between 50th and 51st streets). These lots had been vacant for nearly a decade.

“What we’re really doing is converting vacant space that people see as a negative in the community into an asset in the community,” says Pierson, who was named 2021 Missouri Beekeeper of the Year by the Missouri State Beekeepers Association.

KC Area Bee Clubs For those interested in learning more about beekeeping, there are several local clubs: Northwest Missouri Bee Busters, beebusters2012@gmail.com Swarm Chasers, swarmchasers.org Northland Beekeepers, leeland55@gmail.com Midwestern Beekeepers, midwesternbeekeepers.org Cass County Bee Club, thekansasbeeco@yahoo.com Golden Valley Beekeepers, gvbeekeepers.com

Photography by Ryan Nicholson

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LO O P

M OV I E M AG I C

Homegrown Production

Missouri’s first feature film to take advantage of the state’s revived Show MO Act film credit is underway

By Reece Parker AT ONE POINT, Missouri was a “film state,” says Chase Elliot, a director who is

trying to revive the state’s filmmaking industry. His current feature film project is the first to take advantage of a newly reinstated Missouri film credit program.

“We’re the guinea pigs,” he says.

Last year, Governor Mike Parsons renewed the Show MO Act film tax credit program that had lain dormant for nearly a decade. The tax credit is intended to make Missouri a viable competitor in the film industry, offering incentives and tax breaks for productions filmed in the state. The passed legislation not only reauthorized the bill but strengthened it, allowing approved motion media productions to receive tax credits up to $16 million. The base incentive starts at 20 percent and could increase up to 60 percent if certain requirements are met, such as filming in a rural or blighted area. To ensure incentive money is spent properly, productions will undergo two audits: one by a licensed Missouri CPA and the other by the government.

For Elliot, taking advantage of the tax credit for At Niangua’s End, his feature film based on a short film of the same name, means overcoming several infrastructure challenges. Finding crew members is one of the highest hurdles. “We want to hire people from Missouri, as many as we can,” Elliot says. “The problem is Missouri doesn’t really have the infrastructure to do filmmaking because that’s not done here, and so finding crew, finding equipment—cameras, lenses, lighting, stuff like that—is hard.”

26 Kansas City June 2024

Elliot’s intent is to start developing the necessary infrastructure and hammering out the kinks. Eventually, he wants to film more projects here and help Missouri take off as a film state. So far, several of the production members, including Elliot, producer Gina Goff, and co-stars Bo Shore and Phoenix Buckner, are all Missouri locals.

“I’m excited to finally be returning home to make a movie,” says Goff, a film producer who grew up in Jefferson City before moving to Los Angeles. “What I think will be special about it is to not only see something finally shot in Missouri, but just all of these Missouri-based filmmakers and actors and crew members coming together to make a movie.”

In the past, several Missouri-based stories haven’t been filmed in the state due to lack of tax credit incentives, says Steph Shannon, director of the Kansas City Film Office. The Paramount Plus original series Tulsa King was originally titled Kansas City King, and the hit Netflix series Ozark, whose story revolves around Missouri’s lake region, was produced in Atlanta, Georgia.

“Every project is a business in and of itself,” says Shannon, who has been instrumental in luring film production to the state. “Each job can employ 300 to 400 people including actors, camera crew, lighting, audio and even jobs that aren’t quickly associated with filmmaking like plumbing, carpentry, catering and accounting.”

For instance, the hit movie Gone Girl poured close to $7.9 million into Cape Girardeau’s local economy, where much of the movie was shot, in a matter of weeks, Shannon says.

In Elliot’s case, most of the movie production will take place at the Lake of the Ozarks. Initially, Elliot and his team were concerned that they would not be welcomed by local lake communities due to its often unfavorable depiction in the media. “We were a little scared because of how Ozark portrayed the Ozarks,” says Elliot, who grew up in the area, as did Shore. However, their trepidation proved unnecessary. “They [locals] love the concept and that we’re…bringing eyes to the area.”

In the grand scheme of filmmaking, At Niangua’s End’s $1.6 million budget is low, so having the local community eager to get involved and support the project is huge.

“Being from the lake, we’ve always wanted to tell a story that’s at the Lake of the Ozarks because it has untapped potential,” Elliot says. Elliot and Shore, who also helped write and create the short film, wanted to create something distinctly recognizable by any Missourian, featuring local landmarks and businesses. They have also pulled inspiration from their own childhoods by dropping Easter eggs only Ozark locals would know.

Elliot has other ideas for projects that could be filmed in Missouri and believes this film is only the beginning. A lot rests on At Niangua’s End in proving the viability of the new program, but, Elliot assures, “it’s been a long time coming.”

PHOTOGR APHY PROVIDED

Director Chase Elliott on the set of the short film At Niangua’s End.

E Y E C A N DY

LO O P

Ashley Copple, Early Literacy Coordinator at Turner USD #202, stands with the vending machine.

Brain Food

A book-dispensing vending machine is proving irresistible to kids

By Susie Whitefield EVERYONE KNOWS vending machines filled with junk food goodies are irresistibly

attractive to children. Now, an innovative reading program that stocks vending machines with books is proving just as sweet.

The novel notion to pack machines that normally shell out candy to kids with books instead and install them at elementary schools was made possible through a partnership between three local nonprofit literacy programs: Lead to Read KC, Turn the Page KC and Literacy KC. The vending machines have space for approximately 250 books, which is around 20 copies each of 12 to 15 titles. Student favorites include the Dog Man series by Dav Pilkey, the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems and the Pizza and Taco books by Stephen Shaskan. Vending tokens are given to students as incentives and rewards, and they can use the tokens to “buy” a free book to take home.

Photography by Zach Bauman

“It’s a shiny machine that certainly gets everyone’s attention,” says Angela Pritchett, Lead to Read KC’s communication manager.

The program began last year at Turner Sixth Grade Academy in KCK, and now there are also vending machines at Trailwoods Elementary School and Kansas City International Academy, both in KCMO. According to Lead to Read KC, statistics show the crucial need for children to have easy access to books.

In Kansas City, only 21 percent of third graders are reading on grade level, Pritchett says.

If children are not reading by third grade, they are four times more likely to drop out of high school. Eightyfive percent of teens in the juvenile justice system are functionally illiterate. And illiteracy affects the rest of their lives—they are likely to face underemployment, unemployment and poor health outcomes, says Pritchett.

It’s these statistics that drive Lead to Read KC and its army of volunteers to bring books to where children are, and the vending machines are just another arrow in their quiver.

“We distribute 2,700 books a month through our program Reading Is Everywhere, which we have been doing since 2011,” Pritchett says. “A total of 53,000 books have been put in baskets every month in 65 locations where children are often waiting, such as in health care offices, barber shops, restaurants, social service agencies and salons.”

Reading mentors are also an integral part of promoting literacy. “We have mentors from Burns and McDonnell, H&R Block and American Century, among others, who come to read with children for 30 minutes every week,” Pritchett says.

“In 2011, Mauricio, a Whittier Elementary student in KCK, was paired with a reading mentor who was a civil engineer,” Pritchett says. “Mauricio and his family had emigrated from Mexico, and he knew only Spanish.” The two met once a week, and Mauricio learned English quickly.

Pritchett remembers that Mauricio’s favorite book was The Tale of Despereaux because he identified so much with the mouse.

Today, Mauricio is a sophomore at UMKC studying to become a civil engineer, just like his mentor. And just like his mentor, he works with students on weekends helping them learn computer coding.

“Mauricio still has his copy of The Tale of Despereaux, which his mentor inscribed and gave to him many years ago,” Pritchett says. kansascitymag.com June 2024

27

SPONSORED

Ari Shapiro Visits the Kansas City Public Library To Celebrate 150th Anniversary

By Anne Kniggendorf Kansas City Public Library

28 Kansas City June 2024

SPONSORED

ational Public Radio’s Ari Shapiro talks to strangers. And he’s made a living out of finding and broadcasting their stories to forge connections between even more strangers.

As part of the Kansas City Public Library’s 150th anniversary speaker series, Shapiro speaks at the Central location on Thursday, June 13 (visit https://kclibrary.org/events for details and to RSVP) about his book, The Best Strangers in the World: Stories from a Life Spent Listening, and the important nuances of storytelling that he considers every day.

Shapiro has been one of the distinctive voices of All Things Considered since 2015. Before that, he served as NPR’s international correspondent based in London, White House correspondent during the Obama administration, and justice correspondent during the George W. Bush administration.

Before the event, Shapiro and I spoke by phone about how individuals influence the stories they tell and, in turn, the world around them.

A huge part of this project is looking at the lasting marks you’ve made on journalism and culture. What did you discover about your “fingerprints” (your word) while writing this?

I kept going back to the part of the book about Savanna Madamombe in Zimbabwe. I didn’t want her story to simply be an easy comparison to your own work, but are you in a way saying that anyone can do some version of what you do?

I think of the book as a way of documenting both the way the stories that I’ve told have shaped me, and the way that the person I am has shaped the stories that I’ve told. I realized that in putting these stories down in a book, I’m able to extend the reach of so many of these people who’ve had such a big impact on me, the people who I write about in all of these chapters, who I call the “best strangers in the world.”

One small thread of that is my own evolution from thinking that journalism might not have a place for somebody like me, to realizing that journalism, like so many fields, is ever evolving. The people who gave me my start, the founding mothers of NPR, may have taken their first steps in journalism thinking there was nobody quite like them either. I’ve come to realize that uniqueness can be an advantage, not a hindrance.

I’m going to give you another story, and I think it’s relevant to the question you’re asking. There’s this whole chapter about fiction, and the story that comes to mind was an interview that I did with an author named Naomi Alderman. She wrote this novel called The Future, which is sort of an end-of-theworld novel. I asked her how every day she faces the problems confronting humanity, and she quoted a line from the Talmud, the Jewish sacred text, which says, “It is not up to you to complete the work, but neither are you free to refrain from it.”

Then Naomi said, “We don’t have to worry about some destination far in the future when all problems are solved.

Just start today. Go outside your house and pick up a piece of trash. Some final state of perfection is not the point. If God or evolution or whatever put us here thought perfection was important, we wouldn’t have ended up so imperfect.”

I guess what I’m saying, to bring it back to your question and the story about Sava, is you don’t have to transform your community, the country, or the world. You can plant flowers in a public flower box, you can pick up trash, you can make any small gesture. And that is enough. I think that if Savanna Madamombe could do that in the context of the dictatorial regime of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, I can do that in whatever challenging situation I might someday find myself, and I presently find myself, in. So can literally everyone else.

It seems like the flip side of what you’re saying is one of the other concerns in the book, the so-called “view from nowhere.”

The view from nowhere, as it’s generally described, is the idea that your life experience, and the person you are, has no bearing whatsoever on the stories that you tell as a journalist. It was always this kind of gold-standard aspirational idea that reporters should be able to set everything they know about the world aside and be able to report “just the facts.”

Getting the facts right and being thorough and nuanced and fair and expansive and accurate is all incredibly important.

Also, the view from nowhere was never really from nowhere.

It was from the perspective of the majority. Fish might not recognize the water they swim in, but I don’t believe that there is such a thing as an absence of identity.

We can all be the best whatever in the world.

Yeah, exactly. We have no right to give into pessimism, because if the people who I’ve met, with whatever limited power, influence, and voice they may have, are able to persist in optimism and attempting to change things for the better, then those of us with more power and more of a voice and more of a platform, have no right to throw up our hands and say it’s hopeless, everything is too hard, I give up.

THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED AND CONDENSED.

kansascitymag.com June 2024

29

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30 Kansas City June 2024

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W H E R E YO U WA N T TO B E I N J U N E

PHOTOGR APHY PROVIDED

CHIEFS SAFETY JUSTIN Reid and offensive

Charity Ball

Last year, the game raised more than tackle Trey Smith are hosting this year’s Kan$200,000 for charity, donating proceeds sas City Charity Softball Game at the home back to four Kansas City organizations: KC

By Molly Higgins of the Kansas City Monarchs, Legends Field.

Common Good, KC Mothers in Charge, CorThe duo are taking over for former wide receiver Marquez Valnerstones of Care and Community Linc. des-Scantling, who started the event last year. In last year’s charity This year, the Chiefs are back to raise money for a good cause with ball game, over 50 Chiefs teammates played a friendly softball game even more to offer at the second annual game. to raise money for Valdes-Scantling’s charity, Humble Beginnings There will be a pre-game tailgate and VIP passes Foundation. The foundation aims to help individuals in economically available for purchase, which include an on-field GO: disadvantaged areas receive aid and resources to help them achieve meet and greet, photo opportunities, an exclusive June 6. 6:30 pm. a sustainable and functional lifestyle. softball and more.

Legends Field.

↓

kansascitymag.com June 2024

31

june B E AT

WHAT YOU WA N T TO D O TH IS MO NTH BY MOL LY HIGGINS

1

Tacos and Tequila

Tacos and Tequila returns for the fourth year with a day of tacos, tequila and throwbacks. The event will feature music from T-Pain, Ashanti, Chamillionaire and more, along with lucha libre wrestling, a chihuahua beauty pageant, an exotic car showcase, a salsa and queso competition, art installations and, of course, plenty of tacos and tequila.

June 1. 2 pm. Legends Field.

5

Noah Kahan

Folk-pop singer-songwriter Noah Kahan gained fame with his breakout single “Hurt Somebody” in 2019. Kahan is hitting KC on his We’ll All Be Here Forever world tour with opener Ryan Beatty. June

Donny Osmond

Legendary entertainer and musician Donny Osmond is coming to KC as part of his tour, which brings his Las Vegas production to select U.S. cities this summer. Osmond’s show is a musical journey of his more than six decade-long career. He performs his hits, shares memories and introduces brand new music. There’s also an interactive segment where audience members can request any song from Osmond’s catalog. A dollar from each ticket sold goes to charity City of Hope. June 11. 7:30 pm. Muriel Kauffman Theatre.

32

Kansas City June 2024

5

James Taylor

Legendary singer-songwriter and guitarist James Taylor is a sixtime Grammy Award winner and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 for his illustrious 50-year career. Known for iconic songs like “Fire and Rain,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You),” Taylor is joined by his all-star band for this outdoor show in KC. June 5. 8 pm. Starlight Theatre.

6

Yo-Yo Ma

The Kansas City Symphony presents An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma. A world-renowned cellist, YoYo Ma has become one of the most famous classical instrumentalists in the world, continuously proving his talent and musicality for over four decades. For one night only, he joins the Kansas City symphony to honor his friend, conductor Michael Stern, in Stern’s final season as music director of the Kansas City Symphony. June 6.

7 pm. Helzberg Hall.

6

Lionel Richie

Alabama-born legendary singersongwriter Lionel Richie has been making waves in the music scene

PHOTOGR APHY PROVIDED; BEN TRIVE T T

11

5. 6:30 pm. Azura Amphitheater.

C A L E N DA R

for over half a century, making a stop in KC for his Sing a Song All Night Long tour, where he will be playing classics like “Endless Love” and “All Night Long.” He is joined by iconic soul-funk band Earth, Wind & Fire. June 6.

7:30 pm. T-Mobile Center.

6–9

Shawnee Days 2024 This weekend-long celebration in Shawnee features a carnival complete with rides and games, live music, crafts, souvenirs, food and drinks. Saturday morning starts with one of the largest parades in the state. This year’s theme, “A Day in Shawnee,” commemorates the beloved town.

June 6–9. Times vary.

Shawnee Town.

7

Jazzoo

Be a part of the wildest fundraiser in town. Party animals from across the metro will gather to enjoy unlimited food, drinks and entertainment—all while raising money for the Kansas City Zoo and Aquarium. June 7. 7:30

pm. Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium.

7&8

Arts in the Park

This two-day wheelchair accessible art festival features over 70 local artists and makers, live music and performances, a beer garden, local food trucks, a petting zoo, bounce houses and more. Arts in the Park also provides an opportunity for young artists to showcase their work through the Youth Artist and Entrepreneurship program.

June 7 & 8. Times vary. Macken Park (North KCMO).

9

Sarah McLachlan

“Angel” and “I Will Remember You” singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan rose to prominence with her now-iconic album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.

McLachlan is on tour for that very album, commemorating its 30th anniversary with earlyaughts indie singer Feist opening.

June 9. 7:30 pm.

Starlight Theatre.

13 Say Anything

L.A.-based rock band Say Anything rose to prominence in the early 2000s, in the height of the new wave of emo-rock that would define a generation of millennials. The Max Bemis-fronted band is on a 20th anniversary tour for its most iconic album ...Is A Real Boy. Say Anything is joined by openers folk punk band AJJ and rock band Greet Death.

June 13. 6:30 pm. Uptown Theater.

21 & 22 Q Kansas City BBQ Fest

The fourth-annual Q BBQ Fest returns for two days of smoking, grilling and eating, along with a live fire experience with celebrity chef Tyler Florence. This elevated barbecue festival gives guests the chance to sample the best barbecue from local and national pitmasters on the Chiefs’ home turf, with VIP tickets available for an additional all-you-can drink experience. June 21 & 22. Times vary. GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Lot C.

21 & 22

Stern’s Farewell with Sibelius and Barber

Kansas City Symphony presents Stern’s Farewell with Sibelius and Barber as the season’s closing program. To celebrate Michael Stern’s illustrious and triumphant tenure as conductor for the Kansas City Symphony, they are performing

Felix Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Overture, Samuel Barber’s “Symphony No. 1” and Jean Sibelius’ “Symphony No. 2,” each a powerful and moving testament to the longtime conductor and his musical craft.

June 21 & 22. 8 pm. Helzberg Hall.

23

The Flaming Lips

Formed in Oklahoma City in 1983, The Flaming Lips became an important fixture in psychedelic rock, though they didn’t reach mainstream popularity until the late ’90s and early aughts. This tour celebrates the 20-year anniversary of the album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. June 23. 7 pm.

Uptown Theater.

24

Pixies & Modest Mouse

Alt-rock band Pixies formed in

the late 80s and rose to prominence with their nowiconic album Doolittle, and they’ve remained enduringly popular with hits like “Hey” and “Where Is My Mind?”

The latter gained them renewed popularity when it was featured in David Fincher’s uber-popular 1999 film Fight Club. They are joined by late ’90s/early aughts “Float On” rock band Modest Mouse. Indie singersongwriter Cat Power opens.

June 24. 6:30 pm.

Starlight Theatre.

25

Amos Lee

Singer-songwriter Amos Lee’s musical style blends folk, rock and soul and has spanned over two decades, with hits like “Colors” and “Arms Of A Woman.” Lee’s performance is opened by American-Turkish soul singer Mutlu. June 25.

6:30 pm. Uptown Theater.

kansascitymag.com June 2024

33

B E AT

MUSIC FUNDRAISER

Banneker School

A Jazzy and Bluesy Juneteenth

By Rachel Layton PARKVILLE’S ENGLISH LANDING Park has long been a gathering spot for jazz and

blues musicians, so it made perfect sense to stage the city’s first Juneteenth Jazz and Blues Festival there.

The free festival, rooted in the park’s musical history, will host four bands, paying homage to the city’s long-standing jazz history. “The sound of [the music] carries all over Parkville,” says Dave Basse, a local musician and one of the festival’s producers. “[The music] reaches a lot of people, even the ones you don’t see.”

Along with celebrating the city’s musical legacy, festival organizers are working in tandem with the Banneker School Foundation to raise funds for the historic Parkville school. During the late 1880s, the one-room brick schoolhouse, built on land allocated by nearby Park University, was one of Missouri’s only schools where Black children could receive an education.

34 Kansas City June 2024

Banneker School is not far from English Landing Park and was named for Benjamin Banneker, a famous Black leader in the 1700s who was known for his academic prowess and his fight for the education and freedom of his people. The school building and its land, now deeded to the Platte County Historical Society, is currently being restored by the foundation, making the music festival a perfect fundraising venue for the school. Festival organizers hope to raise $150,000 to help with the foundation’s restoration project. The ultimate goal is to create a place where visitors can come and learn about the school and Parkville’s Black heritage.

It’s not just the school that’s significant—the riverfront location of the music festival at English Landing holds cultural significance in the Black community, too. “Parkville was significant to Black people who wanted to make their way out of [slave states] because Kansas was a free state,” says Basse. Black people often used Parkville location as a launching point to escape and head to the free state of Kansas across the river. “Some people even swam across the Missouri River,” Basse says.

The festival is a family-friendly event, and festival attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets and enjoy food and drink provided by Parkville’s many local restaurants. “It’s a family situation,” Basse says. “If you want to bring your kids, ride your bike, have lunch GO: Banneker School Juneteenth Jazz and or dinner in the town, you Blues Festival. June 8, can make it the kind of fes3 pm. English Landing Park, Parkville, MO. tival you want to have.”

↓

PHOTOGR APHY PROVIDED

The ultimate goal is to create a place where visitors can come and learn about the school and Parkville’s Black heritage.

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35

B E AT

B AC K B E AT

“The songs balance between this split mentality of enjoying the time we have while we have it and raging as everything burns down around us.”

Final Form

Funk rock band Friendly Thieves to take the stage at Boulevardia this month

By Nina Cherry ALTERNATIVE FUNK ROCK band Friendly Thieves has cycled through handfuls of

members since it first formed a few years back, but it looks as though the band has finally found its groove this past year.

“We’ve finally settled on our final form,” says guitarist Jamae Breeze, one of the band’s 2021 founding members.

“And now we can breathe,” says Sam Wells, the band’s vocalist who also plays electric ukulele. The band also includes saxophonist Ben Baker, bassist Sam Millard and drummer Matt Chipman, forming a tight, stellar quintet.

Last November, the band performed its first show in its “final form” at The Truman for a packed KC Tenants benefit show. Drummer Chipman had just joined and only had three days to learn the music before performing in the sold-out show.

36 Kansas City June 2024

“That was a moment where it really locked in for us,” says Baker, who joined the group a year after its formation. “It was kind of like some sort of blood oath right of passage when we all played that show.”

Now, Friendly Thieves is set to be a main stage headliner for the first night of the ninth annual Boulevardia music festival on June 14. Returning for its second year, the funk rock band will showcase familiar tunes from their recently released debut album, Til Death, as well as some new music for a reliably energetic performance.

Over the next few months, the band is also slated to release a string of what they call “hot summer singles.”

What do they all have in common? Being equal parts lively and existential, the band says.

“All of the songs ended up being pointed towards this juxtaposition we’re in as a society where no one gives a fuck and everyone cares a whole lot,” Wells says. “The songs balance between this split mentality of enjoying the time we have while we have it and raging as everything burns down around us.”

On June 7, a week before Boulevardia, Friendly Thieves will release the first of its forthcoming singles, “Get It Yourself.” The upbeat track features the commanding, gritty and growling vocals of Wells alongside Baker’s catchy saxophone riffs. The following night, they’ll officially celebrate the new release at Lemonade Park, an outdoor venue in the West Bottoms, alongside roots rock band Katy Guillen and the Drive.

“This year, we get to really enjoy the spoils of the credibility people have given us and really live our dreams,” Baker says. “It feels really great.”

↓ GO: Boulevardia, June 14–15, Grand Boulevard at Crown Center.

Tickets available at boulevardia.com. Friendly Thieves will perform on day one of the two-day festival.

Photography by Travis Carroll

S PEC I A L A DV E RT I S I N G S ECT I O N

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Their patient-centric approach ensures that each individual receives personalized care that addresses both immediate health concerns and long-term wellness goals.

One of the primary benefits of CenterWell is its multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals.

This team includes geriatricians, nurses, social workers, and pharmacists who collaborate to create customized care plans. This integrated approach ensures that all aspects of a patient’s health are considered, leading to more effective and coordinated care.

CenterWell also emphasizes preventive care and chronic disease management. By focusing on early detection and proactive treatment, they help seniors maintain their independence and quality of life. Their services include routine screenings, immunizations, and health education, which empower patients to take an active role in their health.

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In the heart of Overland Park is a popular senior living community, Tallgrass Creek. It offers a vibrant and supportive environment for seniors seeking a fulfilling lifestyle. One of the key benefits of Tallgrass Creek is its comprehensive approach to wellness, ensuring residents have access to top-notch healthcare services, including an on-site medical center and skilled nursing care. This proactive healthcare approach provides peace of mind for both residents and their families.

Tallgrass Creek boasts a wide array of amenities designed to enhance the quality of life. The beautifully landscaped campus includes walking trails, a fitness center, and an indoor pool, promoting physical activity and outdoor enjoyment. Social engagement is a cornerstone of life at Tallgrass Creek, with a robust schedule of activities, clubs, and events that foster community connections and lifelong friendships.

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CURAT ING A BE AU T I FU L L I FE

Lawn Party PHOTOGR APHY PROVIDED

By Molly Higgins BEFORE TEMPERATURES really start to rise, pack a picnic and head

to one of Kansas City’s iconic lawns to have a picnic party.

KC is filled with shady outdoor spaces perfect for a summer afternoon, whether it’s the Nelson-Atkins lawn with its iconic shuttlecock or Loose Park’s rolling green expanse.

If you want a DIY picnic experience, grab a quality blanket like those at KC’s Pancho’s Blanket, hit a local thrift store for a unique picnic basket, and fill it with your favorite local grocer’s (or farmers market’s) snacks and drinks.

If you want to make it a special occasion—whether it be a birthday, date night or engagement—boutique dinnerware rental and styled tablescape company Pop Up Picnics KC has got you covered.

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Whether you want to splurge on a truly unforgettable curated picnic experience or would rather DIY it, hit one of KC’s iconic parks and celebrate summer. kansascitymag.com June 2024

41

CURRENT

TREND

“We’ve been importing textiles, jewelry and clothing from Turkey for the last 15 years.”

Tradition With a Twist

Lawrence-based designer Courtney Vardar uses ancient Turkish techniques and traditional Uzbekistan styles for her clothing and shoe brand, Nida Lu

By Molly Higgins CLOTHING AND SHOE designer Courtney Vardar uses 700-year-old shoe-making

techniques and one-of-a-kind vintage textiles to create her inspired pieces.

While on a backpacking trip in Turkey nearly two decades ago, the Lawrence-based designer met her now-husband, and soon the couple began traveling the world together.

The many places and cultures they saw inspired them, embarking on various shoeand clothing-related projects through the years, including their company Nida Lu. They source all their fabrics for Nida Lu at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and manufacture garments in Seydisehir, a small town in Central Turkey. Nida Lu’s shoes are made in Gaziantep, Turkey, where locals have been making shoes for generations using a centuries-old tradition. However, that tradition is dying—only around 40 people in Turkey still use these methods to create shoes. The Vardars are

42 Kansas City June 2024

determined to make sure this tradition and skillset aren’t lost, and they’re attempting to preserve it by using it to make their company’s own products.

Nida Lu, named after the Vadars’ two daughters, started as a shoe company before expanding to clothing. Vardar took the ancient shoe design and modernized it for contemporary sensibilities. “They’re all handmade, sewn with cotton twine,” she says. “They mold to your feet because it’s all leather. They’re made for walking. Originally, Turks were a nomadic people and they needed a really comfortable shoe. They’re great for travel and stylish. We’ve also started turning some remnants from our clothing into shoes to use all of the textile—not waste any of it.”

Nida Lu is constantly evolving and expanding, “We’ve been importing textiles, jewelry and clothing from Turkey for the last 15 years,” Vardar says. “We were doing so well with the shoes, but I really love clothing and these textiles calleds Suzanis. They are hand-embroidered fabrics from Uzbekistan, and they’re made for women’s dowries. So they’re all vintage and they all have these really beautiful symbolic meanings to each pattern and shape. And so you really get the whole story of a person in these fabrics. These textiles are art in themselves, and to repurpose them into adornments for women came full circle for me.”

Earlier this year, Nida Lu’s Suzani cape was worn

by Egyptian musician Mohamed Ramadan in a music video with Future and was featured on billboards in Times Square and on Sunset Boulevard. Vardar is also showing her line in the West 18th Street Fashion Show in KC on June 8 and in Paris Fashion Week this fall.

Along with designing and selling their usual products, Vardar is busy putting together the collection for Paris Fashion Week. “It’s going to be about Mary Magdalene and her [journey] to France to escape Jerusalem,” she says. “I actually did a pilgrimage to that site when I was in college, so it’s full circle. It’s going to be an ode to Mary Magdalene. A lot of times the Suzanis have symbols in them—the pomegranate represents femininity and the symbolism of the tree of life. Everything will be very intentional, and I’m picking Suzanis that have symbolism that is intentionally feminine.”

Photography by Shawn Brackbill

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CURRENT

Cicada In

A Bigger Brood

What to expect from this summer’s cicada emergence Nicole Kinning

at least hear one, for that matter—because this year, the cicada emergence is twice the fun.

Brood XIX, which features four species of 13-year cicadas, spans much of Missouri, southern Illinois and Arkansas and extends eastward to Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia and southward to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Simultaneously, Brood XIII, which will have 17-year cicadas, will cover parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, northwestern Indiana and, possibly, the southern edge of Michigan. The last time XIX and XIII co-emerged was in 1803—the year the Louisiana Purchase was signed, Ohio was admitted as the 17th U.S. State and Lewis and Clark met.

The simultaneous emergence of these broods will likely cause higher than normal cicada activity, even if you travel outside of Missouri or Kansas. But Missouri Department of Conservation forest entomologist Robbie Doerhoff says that some areas of Missouri and Kansas may be more saturated with the insect than others.

46 Kansas City June 2024

“Nymphs and adults feed on deciduous trees, so the native trees that lose their leaves in the fall and native species,” Doerhoff says. “A healthy habitat for a periodical cicada is going to be forested with a lot of native species and no pesticides.” That means you’re way more likely to have a brood run-in if you live out in woody areas versus, say, Brookside.

The cacophony of loud, screeching hums that you hear around trees in the summertime? That’s the chorused mating call of male cicadas, signaling their

ILUUSTR ATION SHUT TERSTOCK

IF YOU HAVEN’T seen a cicada yet, there’s a strong chance that you will soon. Or

nvasion!

quest for mates to start the species’ life cycle over again. While these sounds are harmless to humans, they’re far from subtle. In fact, the calls can reach up to 100 decibels, similar to the sound of a running lawn mower, Doerhoff says. If you have any intimate outdoor events this summer where sound quality is crucial (like a wedding), this is definitely something to keep in mind.

Cicadas shouldn’t bother you aside from that.

They don’t bite or sting, and they don’t care to seek

shelter, so they won’t hide out in your house or garage like a ladybug or stink bug would. They also don’t care about your vegetable garden as other pests do—they’ll stick to sucking sweet sap out of deciduous trees.

Doerhoff does urge people to keep an eye on pets around cicadas. If your pet gets its paw on a cicada and ingests it, they may have issues digesting it due to the high protein content of the bugs. “Cicadas are also pretty crunchy, especially once they dry from their molting phase,” she says. The sharp texture could potentially irritate a dog or cat’s digestive tract.

If you notice anything concerning about your pet after a cicada run-in, promptly seek help.

The cicadas will die out after about four weeks of life above ground, and then they’ll decompose, providing a nutrient boost to the soil that will promote tree growth in the years to come. “From a nature and ecosystem perspective, [cicadas] are actually a really good thing.” Doerhoff says. “I’d encourage people to celebrate them for how cool they are.”

BUG BOOM

A PERIODIC CICADA’S LIFE CYCLE 1. They hatch from an egg.

2. They burrow underground. There, they’ll drink from plant roots to survive.

3. They emerge from the underground as adults.

4. M ale cicadas make mating calls to attract females.

5. M ales and females mate.

6. F emales lay fertilized eggs. Those eggs will eventually burrow beneath the soil, where they hatch and stay for 13 to 17 years, depending on the cicada variety.

7. The cycle begins again!

kansascitymag.com June 2024

47

Celebrating Alvin Brooks’ legacy

Oscar-winning filmmaker and KU professor Kevin Willmott shines a light on civil rights activist Alvin Brooks through film

By Shawn Edwards OSCAR-WINNING FILMMAKER Kevin Willmott’s documentary based on the life of

local civil rights icon Alvin Brooks is to be showcased at the second annual Juneteenth Film Festival in North Kansas City.

Willmott, who won an Oscar for co-writing BlacKkKlansman with Spike Lee in 2019, has established himself as a filmmaker with a unique voice. The Junction City, Kansas, native and current professor at the University of Kansas often uses cinema to examine and tackle social and political issues.

Willmott is arguably one of the most important filmmakers working today. No one has captured the Black experience through cinema better. From his first film, Ninth Street, and the brilliant satire C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America to the quietly powerful Jayhawker and the moving and insightful The 24th, Willmott has delivered keenly meaningful observations on race and culture.

48 Kansas City June 2024

His current project is no different. Willmott is directing and producing a documentary The Heroic True-Life Adventures of Alvin Brooks on the life of Brooks, a longtime local civil rights activist. The film was produced in conjunction with the Black Archives of Mid-America, which will also archive the film as official documentation on race relations in Kansas City.

Getting the project financed was a total community endeavor, with donations and support coming from area business leaders, politicians and supporters.

The film is based on Brooks’ 2021 memoir, Binding Us Together: A Civil Rights Activist Reflects on a Lifetime of Community and Public Service. The 92-year old has long been a stalwart of the Kansas City community.

The film explores his time as a police officer, detective, mayor pro tem of Kansas City and founder of the AdHoc Group Against Crime.

The film is an inspiring narrative that is inextricably linked to the nation’s past and present. In his book, Brooks shares engaging, funny and tragic stories about his life and his career of advocacy in Kansas City, and Willmott tells his story with insight and passion.

The Juneteenth Film Festival, one of the few in the country to celebrate the Juneteenth holiday, provides a platform for independent Black filmmakers to showcase their work. This year’s festival will primarily feature films written, directed and produced

by Kansas Citians. There will be two feature films and four documentaries.

In addition to the Alvin Brooks film, the festival will feature Kansas City Dreamin’, a documentary that chronicles KC’s Black music history. It features interviews with Melissa Etheridge, Tech N9ne, Bobby Watson, Oleta Adams, Lonnie McFadden, Willmott and more, along with segments on Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Janelle Monáe, Big Joe Turner and other Kansas City natives.

PHOTOGR APHY COURTESY ANDREWS MCMEEL UNIVERSAL; PROVIDED

CURRENT

LO C A L L E G E N D

From left to right: Alvin Brooks as a KC police officer; film director Kevin Willmott.

Below: Brooks with his young family.

The festival also includes The Pistol, a gripping documentary that delves into the real-life accounts of notorious local gangster Kenneth Rayford. Directed by Paul Rayford, the film details the exploits of Kenneth from his time as a youth growing up on the mean streets of KC through adulthood, when he ran the city’s streets. Through interviews with Kenneth and his accomplices combined with actual news footage, the documentary reveals the life of a real underworld crime figure. The Pistol paints a compelling portrait of a man who literally dedicated his entire life to the criminal underworld, maintained a solid reputation and actually lived to talk about it.

What’s N’ Kansas City? is a fun look at the businesses and establishments located primarily on the city’s east side that make Kansas City unique. Street journalist Skiem Hiem takes viewers on a unique guided tour of the places at the heart of Kansas City’s Black culture.

Feature films at the festival include Drout 2, the continuation of the underground hit coming-of-age crime drama Drout, which was released in 2021, and Underneath: Children of the Sun, which has become a festival favorite around the country. This mind-bending Afrofuturist story embarks on a breathtaking journey of galactic politics, heritage and destiny. In 1857, an enslaved person in Little Dixie, Missouri, is thrust into an intergalactic crisis after helping an alien from a crashed spaceship.

An ultra-powerful alien artifact passes through generations of bloody fingers and inheritors here on Earth, including the present, and ultimately leads to an epic battle for control. Underneath: Children of the Sun is St. Louis filmmaker David Kirkman’s feature film debut.

All films will be screened at the Screenland Armour Theatre in North Kansas City. For more information, visit Juneteenth Film Festival page on Facebook. Tickets can be purchased at screenland.com.

JUNETEENTH FILM FESTIVAL SCHEDULE June 4 Black Filmmakers Happy Hour hosted

by Film KC, Screenland Armour, 5 pm.

June 4 Film KC presents Underneath: Children of the Sun directed by David Kirkman, Screenland Armour, 7 pm.

June 5 The Pistol directed by Paul and Kenneth Rayford, Screenland Armourm 6:30 and 8:30 pm.

June 9 “We Hanging with Clarence” party hosted by rapper Roblo DaStar, The Velvet Freeze Daiquiris/Smaxx, 7 pm.

June 12 Film KC presents Kansas City Dreamin’ directed by Diallo Javonne French, Screenland Armour, 6:30 pm.

The film is an inspiring narrative that is inextricably linked to the nation’s past and present.

In his book, Brooks shares engaging, funny and tragic stories about his life and his career of advocacy in Kansas City, and Willmott tells his story with insight and passion.

June 12 What’s N’ Kansas City? Directed by Skiem Hiem, Screenland Armour, 8:30 pm.

June 19 Binding Us Together directed by Kevin Willmott, Screenland Armour, 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm.

June 26 Drout 2 directed by Isiah King, Screenland Armour, 6:30 pm. *The short film BF directed by Jamie Addison will screen before each feature every night of the festival. kansascitymag.com June 2024

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Final Voting Ends, Sunday, June 16

FINALS: Voting among the five finalists is now open. The final ballot closes on Sunday, June 16.

WINNERS: The winners will be announced at kansascitymag.com and in print on Tuesday, August 1.

Scan Here to Vote!

52 Kansas City June 2024

PHOTOGR APHY K ANSAS CIT Y PUBLIC LIBR ARY; SHUT TERSTOCK; WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

40 MOMENTS THAT SHAPED KANSAS CITY

We scoured the history books, took a look at the last 180 or so years of Kansas City history and cherrypicked the moments and movements that shaped the city we live in today. Some events called for instant celebration or quick action, others for somber reflection and disciplined planning, but each moment in time led us to where we find ourselves now.

By Dawnya Bartsch, David Hodes, Rachel Layton, Reece Parker, Ian Ritter and Hampton Stevens kansascitymag.com June 2024

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1800s 1850 Town of Kansas

The growing town was incorporated as Kansas, Missouri, on June 3, 1850. It later became known as the City of Kansas in 1853.

The Father of Kansas City

It is often said that John Calvin McCoy is the “father of Kansas City.”

McCoy, who was born in Indiana in 1811, moved to the area with his Baptist missionary parents. As a young man, he built a two-story cabin in the area that served as a store and his home. He eventually christened it Westport because it was the last place travelers could get supplies before heading into the Territory of Kansas on the California, Santa Fe and Oregon trails.

McCoy built his store in the hills, four miles from the Missouri River and away from the floodplain. He established a dock at a rocky point that he called Westport Landing between Main and Grand streets. To get to the landing from his cabin, McCoy followed an established trail, which would eventually become Broadway.

In 1838, McCoy and several others pooled their resources and bought a large farm that surrounded most of the area, including the landing, so they could expand their fledgling community.

They called it Kansas.

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This area had been a business hub since the early 1820s, when early French fur traders used the area as a trading post. It later became Westport Landing and, later still, the City of Kansas, where the first city hall was located. It was officially christened the City Market in 1857. It was a bustling network of vendors, restaurants and food stalls, similar to how it is today.

Union and Confederate soldiers clashed in a Westport battle that is often referred to as the “Gettysburg of the West” on Oct. 23. The battle ended the last major Confederate offensive west of the Mississippi, and for the rest of the war, Union forces remained in control of Missouri. The battle was one of the largest, with 30,000 soldiers battling it out.

As part of the strategy, a defensive line south of town along Brush Creek, perpendicular to the Kansas state line, was constructed. Missouri, a hotly contested border state, and the City of Kansas were firmly under Union control after their decisive victory.

PHOTOGR APHY K ANSAS CIT Y PUBLIC LIBR ARY; SHUT TERSTOCK

1838

1857 River Market

1864 Battle of Westport

1881

Massive Big Muddy Shift

1869 Hannibal Bridge

Perhaps one of the lesser known moments in the area’s history—but quite possibly the most important moment to truly shape the city— was the result of a large storm that swept through the area. Some 35 miles north of the city, a storm blew through, shifting the course of the Missouri River into an old Missouri River channel. This shift directed the Big Muddy about two miles away from the heart of Weston, where a dock and rail station sat, leaving behind a small channel for only a creek. The steam ships and paddle boats that had been stopping at Weston were diverted to the City of Kansas.

Before the storm, Weston was the second largest port on the river, surpassing both the City of Kansas and St. Joseph. At one point shortly after its founding, Weston claimed to be the second largest city in Missouri.

Construction of the Hannibal Bridge began shortly after the end of the Civil War and wrapped up in 1869. The bridge was the first permanent rail crossing of the Missouri River and helped establish the City of Kansas as a major city and rail center. The bridge was built for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, hence its name. Its construction also spurred the development of the city’s first large train station, Union Depot, which was later severely damaged by a tornado.

1889 A Tale of Two Cities

The modern day city of Kansas City officially formed when the cities of Westport and the City of Kansas decided to merge.

1871 Cowtown

In 1871, just west of downtown, the Stockyards were established on the Kansas side of the Kansas River and along the railroad tracks. In 1878, the Stockyards were expanded from their original 13 acres to 55, adding loading docks on the railroad tracks and sheds for hogs and sheep and developing one of the largest horse, mule and cow markets in the country. KC’s Stockyards were second in size only to Chicago’s stockyards.

In 1889, the American Hereford Association hosted a cattle judging contest in a tent in the Stockyards. The event evolved into the annual American Royal, a two-month livestock festival, and the city’s moniker “cowtown” became ubiquitous.

1896 Swope Park

Swope Park is named after Thomas H. Swope, a philanthropist who donated some 1,805 acres to the city in 1896 to create a grand park befitting a grand city. The park now houses the Kansas City Zoo, Starlight Theatre, soccer fields, baseball fields, a swimming complex, a golf course, botanical gardens, wooded areas and more. kansascitymag.com June 2024

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1900s The college received its official state charter in August 1910. The charter included the Academy of Rockhurst College and a secondary education school that later became Rockhurst High School. The schools sit on a 40-acre campus and serve as an integral part of civic life.

1914 Union Station

The now-iconic building, which has been the backdrop for everything from KC Symphony performances to the NFL draft, was built in 1914, replacing the small Union Depot that had been built about 40 years prior. In its heyday, its peak annual traffic was more than 670,000 passengers. However, the end of World War II ushered in the station’s passenger decline, and the station actually closed in 1985. At the time, some city leaders discussed demolishing the landmark building.

In 1996, a public-private partnership was created to reinvent the station, and three years later, it reopened with a suite of attractions, including museums, restaurants, a movie theater and a planetarium. In 2002, Amtrak deemed KC and the station a popular enough destination to make it a stop. Union Station is now the second largest train station in Missouri.

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1921 World War I Memorial

Soon after World War I ended, a group of prominent Kansas Citians formed the Liberty Memorial Association to build a memorial honoring those who served in the First World War. The group held a groundbreaking ceremony in 1921. Landscape architect George Kessler designed the park and sweeping grounds that connect the memorial to Union Station. The grounds have served as a gathering place, almost like a town square, for many civic events.

1923 Country Club Plaza

Developer J.C. Nichols debuted the Country Club Plaza, the country’s first regional suburban shopping center, in 1923. The 55-acre site is about four miles south of downtown and is designed in a Baroque and Moorish Revival style, reminiscent of Seville, Spain. Also part of Nichols’ grand plan was the development of the Plaza’s surrounding neighborhoods—a collection of upscale apartments, homes and mansions, a country club and Loose Park.

Although there are many positive aspects to Nichols’ urban planning, there is also a dark side. Nichols is responsible for creating residential covenants that restricted many marginalized groups, including Black and Jewish people, from living in his planned communities.

PHOTOGR APHY K ANSAS CIT Y PUBLIC LIBR ARY

1910 Rockhurst

1925 The Pendergast Era

From 1925 to 1939, Tom Pendergast, one of the country’s most corrupt political bosses, was an unelected city dealmaker and the leader of the Goat faction of the local Democratic Party.

Therefore, many pin 1925 as the beginning of his reign.

Under Boss Tom’s rule, Kansas City was the only major city in the states that largely ignored Prohibition. Pendergast was able to control City Hall for over a decade, running numerous businesses, both legal and otherwise, including his Ready Mixed Concrete Company and Riverside Park Jockey Club, an illegal race track.

1933 Kansas City Massacre

On June 17, 1933, outlaws Charles Floyd, Vernon Miller and Adam Richetti attempted to free fellow friend and felon Frank Nash while he was in custody and being escorted by police through Union Station. Nash, a prison escapee, had been apprehended after three years on the lam and was headed back to prison in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Nash’s friends wanted to set him free once again.

As federal agents and local law enforcement attempted to escort Nash from a car outside the station, gunfire erupted, killing four officers as well as Nash. This mass attack, which came to be known as the Kansas City Massacre, highlighted the rising crime issues across the country at large.

1927 Kansas City’s First Airport

A crowd of more than 25,000 people gathered in the sweltering August heat to attend the dedication that officially opened Kansas City’s first airport, the Municipal Airport (now the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport). Lou Holland, then-president of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, conceived the idea as something the city needed to build to stay current. Initially, city planner Henry McElroy dismissed the idea, as he believed flying was a trend that would soon go out of fashion.

However, just two years later, McElroy conceded his belief, and Holland’s idea came to fruition. kansascitymag.com June 2024

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With the rise of the suburbs and decentralization of Kansas City’s downtown power base, city officials decided they needed to take action to stop the declining tax base and halt urban decay. They decided Northland expansion across the Missouri River and into Clay County was the way to go.

It was not an easy maneuver, and there was much politicking involved. Many smaller Northland communities quickly started incorporating so as to not get gobbled up. Due to archaic voting rules, a wide swath of affected Clay County residents weren’t allowed to vote on what would directly affect them. After a fierce and heated election, the annexation of the Northland stalled with 39,978 yes votes to 37,920 no votes, falling more than 6,700 votes short of the three-fifths majority needed to win. Initially Northlanders thought they had won the battle. However, KC’s city manager L.P. Cookingham, who was hired explicitly to bring the city out of the corrupt Pendergrast years, wasn’t satisfied with the results. He took a deep dive into the law books to find the source of the three-fifths majority rule and eventually declared it didn’t exist. Although folks were initially dismissive of Cookingham’s claim, it turned out he was right.

The three-fifths rule for annexation had been changed to a simple majority requirement in 1920 and had not been reenacted when the state constitution was amended in 1945.

1951 Great Flood

1945 Harry Truman

Before his presidency, Harry Truman ran a small Kansas City haberdashery, but he set his sights on politics in the early 1920s. In 1922, with the aid of Tom Pendergast, Truman was elected as a county court judge in Jackson County, where he served until his election as a U.S. Senator for Missouri in 1934. Later, in 1945, Truman was elected U.S. vice president to Franklin D. Roosevelt. He served only 82 days before becoming president when FDR died while in office.

Truman became the 33rd President of the United States on April 12, 1945. That same day, the Kansas City Star reported that “the former Missouri farm boy [has moved] into the highest office in this nation’s giving.” Truman’s presidency is most noted for the deployment of two atomic bombs on Japan in retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, abruptly ending WWII.

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Days of heavy rains created flood conditions throughout the area that had devastating effects. Flood waters ran over from the Kansas River, and in some areas, water levels rose so high they reached rooftops. Nearly 15,000 people had to be evacuated. The flood devastated the Stockyards in the West Bottoms at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, prompting cattle farmers to negotiate directly with buyers rather than at the Stockyard market.

The Stockyards never fully recovered.

1955 Kansas City A’s

The Philadelphia Athletics became the Kansas City A’s on April 12, 1955. They weren’t the city’s first professional baseball team—other clubs, including the Monarchs, fit that bill.

But they were the city’s first Major League Baseball franchise. Granted, they were often terrible and sometimes felt like a Yankees farm club, and the city had to deal with the madness of owner Charlie O. Finley. But getting a big-league ball club put Kansas city on the map in a way it hadn’t been before. When that club bolted for Oakland just 13 years later, the city gained the Royals as compensation.

PHOTOGR APHY K ANSAS CIT Y PUBLIC LIBR ARY; SHUT TERSTOCK

1900s

1946 Northland Annexation

1963

Dallas Texans Become the Chiefs

Lamar Hunt, the son of an oil tycoon, originally tried to get an NFL expansion team in Dallas. When that failed, he started a league of his own, the AFL, and awarded himself the Dallas Texans. The NFL responded by giving Dallas the expansion team that Hunt had wanted: the Cowboys.

Hunt knew he had to move. He explored Atlanta and Miami as possible sites, but KC’s then-mayor Harold Roe Bartle promised Hunt 35,000 season ticket holders. Bartle delivered by enlisting business leaders as “gold coats” to push tickets. It worked. The team moved. A name change soon followed. So did a merger with the NFL, an appearance in the first Super Bowl and a win in Super Bowl IV.

1968 Riots

In response to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and outrage at the slow pace of civil rights reform, protesters in Kansas City took to the streets in April 1968. The four days of civil unrest that followed brought KC’s underlying racial tensions to the surface. The riots left six people dead, hundreds arrested and several blocks of the city in flames.

1969 The Royals

After Charlie O. Finley moved the Athletics to Oakland, people felt robbed. Stuart Symington, then a senator from Missouri, was among those chasing a replacement team for the city. Another advocate was local businessman and philanthropist Ewing Kauffman. Kauffman, the polar opposite of Finley, was deeply committed to the city. On January 11, 1968, he was announced as the owner of a new team, the KC Royals. On April 8, 1969, the Royals played their first game.

1971 Crown Center Opens

Before Crown Center became Crown Center, the area was filled with dilapidated parking lots and abandoned buildings. When it opened in the early 1970s, it reinvigorated the area and became one of the nation’s first mixed-use redevelopments, home to shops, hotels and event venues. kansascitymag.com June 2024

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1972

Arrowhead Stadium Opens

When the AFL and NFL merged in 1966, the league made a new rule: NFL stadiums had to seat at least 50,000 people. The Chiefs had been playing in the old Municipal Stadium and needed a new home. Jackson County offered a site on the eastern edge of Kansas City. Voters approved a $102 million bond issue on Aug. 12, 1972, to build a new, dual-stadium sports complex, unusual in an era when multi-use facilities were the norm.

They knew they were building a palace for football. They didn’t know they were building a venue for civic greatness. Long before the club’s current success, Arrowhead was legendary for having the loudest crowd in football. On Sept. 29, 2014, it even became official. During a Monday Night game against the Patriots, Chiefs fans registered an ear-splitting 142.2 decibels, setting a world record for the loudest crowd ever at a sporting event.

Arrowhead fans aren’t just the loudest, though. They’re also the best fed. College football may have invented tailgating, but Kansas City perfected it. The haze of blue smoke on game day and the orgy of smoked meats underneath is unsurpassed anywhere on the planet.

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In addition to the occasional Monster Jam, Arrowhead has also hosted a litany of musical superstars. If you like live music, chances are you’ve had a magical night there. Maybe it was Pink Floyd or The Jackson 5. Maybe it was the Allman Brothers, Elton John, U2, Parliament, The Eagles, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Garth Brooks, Guns N’ Roses, Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney or Beyoncé. The list goes on. Gray heads might remember an allday show in 1978 featuring Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and, weirdly, the Grateful Dead—proving the old hippie adage that the Dead is really just country music for people on acid.

Arrowhead’s long-term fate is up in the air. They may renovate again. They may build a new stadium on the Kansas side. The short-term future, though, is clear. There will be more concerts, more football, more food and more loud crowds, and in 2026, the stadium will play host to the biggest sporting event on earth.

1973 Worlds of Fun

Worlds of Fun was founded by the famed businessman and sports icon Lamar Hunt. The opening of Worlds of Fun in 1973 coincided with the rapid developmental growth of Kansas City during the ’70s.

PHOTOGR APHY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; K ANSAS CIT Y PUBLIC LIBR ARY

1900s

1976

Republican Convention

Kansas City had not hosted a major party convention since the 1928 Republican gathering that nominated Herbert Hoover. City leaders were determined to change that. In the early ’70s, they aggressively courted the convention planners of both parties, an effort famously detailed in Harper’s Magazine as “Convention Fever in Kansas City: Prime-Time Bacchanalia.” The Democrats passed, citing a lack of hotel space. Republicans, though, felt the city fit the Midwestern image of Gerald Ford.

In addition to being one of the last American political conventions where the vice presidency was still up for grabs, the RNC on Aug. 16 was a sort of coming-out party for Kemper Arena. The first major project of architect Helmut Jahn, Kemper’s then-revolutionary exterior skeleton meant a lack of interior columns obstructing views. That innovation earned Jahn an award from the American Institute of Architects. The design also, however, probably contributed to a roof collapse a few years later.

1977 Plaza Flood

Just past midnight on Sept. 12, 1977, heavy rain began falling on Kansas City. The downpour persisted into the morning. When a second wave of storms hit that night, the ground was saturated and couldn’t absorb the 16 inches that fell.

Brush Creek, designed for aesthetics rather than flood control, became an angry river. The creek’s low, ornamental bridges created choke points where debris quickly gathered, forming dams.

Rising water soon swept cars from roads and burst through the storefront windows on Ward Parkway. Finally, a damaged gas main ignited, and the resulting explosion started fires along 48th Street, creating an apocalyptic scene.

All told, 77 of 155 Plaza businesses were damaged. It was the worst flood to hit Kansas City in decades, claiming 25 lives and causing over $100 million in damages.

The city came back, though. By just a few weeks later, most of the businesses had reopened. The Plaza Art Fair—a rite of fall in Kansas City—went on as scheduled. Soon, the Brush Creek Flood Control and Beautification Project—locally known as the “Cleaver Plan”—was approved. The creek was deepened and widened to ease water flow. Bridges were replaced and raised to remove choke points. When a fountain and landscaping were added, America’s prettiest drainage ditch was born, hastening the Plaza’s shift from neighborhood shopping center to an upscale destination for dining and retail. kansascitymag.com June 2024

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1900s 1991 Stockyards Close

1981

Skywalk Collapse

When it opened in 1980, the Hyatt Regency at Crown Center was a showplace. The tallest building in Kansas City, the tower featured more than 700 guest rooms and was topped by a revolving restaurant. Three concrete and glass walkways, suspended from the roof by steel rods, crossed a spacious atrium lobby.

Barely a year later, on July 17, 1981, about 1,600 people gathered in that lobby for a festive Friday night. The men wore tuxedos and the women wore gowns. They danced to the big band sounds of the Steve Miller Orchestra. Dozens of partiers gathered on walkways, watching the festivities below.

Around 7 pm, the band played Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll,” and the 32-ton walkways began to gently sway. Guests heard popping noises and a loud crack. The fourth-floor walkway fell several inches, stopped, then crashed onto the second-floor walkway. Both structures then collapsed to the crowded lobby floor, crushing dozens. A moment of shocked silence was followed by horrifying screams. Ultimately, after a night of heroism in the face of terrible sorrow, 114 people died and more than 200 were injured.

It was the deadliest structural failure in the U.S. in more than 120 years, and it remained the second deadliest structural collapse in the United States until the World Trade Center fell. Years of litigation and recrimination followed, with billions of dollars of insurance claims, legal investigations and government reforms.

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1994 Bartle Hall

The Bartle Hall pylons are an engineering necessity. They allow for 388,800 square feet of column-free exhibit space to exist in KC’s convention center. Named after past KC mayor Harold Bartle, the hall is said to be the largest column-free convention environment in the world.

The art-topped pylons that soar into the sky stand out, of course, on what is a very innovative building to begin with. The convention space was dreamed up as a way to expand KC’s convention center, located in the heart of the city, where space is at a premium. It was built like a bridge over the six-lane freeway below.

1999 Union Station Reopens

In the early 20th century, Union Station was a bustling railroad station, but as railway use declined in the ’50s and ’60s, the station fell into disrepair, eventually closing in 1985. However in 1966, through a public-private partnership, Union Station underwent a $250 million renovation, restoring the building to its original grandeur. It was again opened to the public in 1999.

PHOTOGR APHY GE T T Y IMAGES; PHOTOGR APHY K ANSAS CIT Y PUBLIC LIBR ARY; SHUT TERSTOCK

Established in 1871, the Kansas City Stockyards were a huge reason the city flourished. By the turn of the century, they were the second busiest in the nation, behind only Chicago. Activity peaked in the ’40s, when the dollar volume ran $350 million a year.

The 1951 flood, however, was the beginning of the end. Nearby packing plants suffered, and many closed. Over the next few decades, farmers started negotiating directly with packers or selling their stock through smaller, regional auction houses.

By the ’80s, the Stockyards were practically a ghost town. Only the American Royal remained, a vestige of our city’s western past.

When the last cattle auction was held in September 1991, Kansas City’s cowtown era was officially over.

2000s 2006 World War I Memorial Reinvented

Below the base of the 250-foot Liberty Memorial, built in 1926, a revised World War I museum was developed. The $102 million, 80,000-square-foot expansion was designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates, one of the world’s leading museum planning and design firms and it opened to the public in 2006.

At the time, the new space featured a collection of 49,000 objects in a one-of-a-kind exhibition space, exploring the causes, events and consequences of World War I. The opening day ceremony featured a flyby by a pair of WWI biplanes that dropped thousands of rose petals.

The WWI museum has been a magnet for VIPs ever since. More than two million people have visited the museum since it opened, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, General Colin Powell, President Barack Obama (as a presidential candidate in 2008), Senator John McCain and actor Kevin Costner. Frank Buckles, America’s last surviving WWI veteran, visited the museum over Memorial Day weekend in 2008.

2008 Power and Light District

The district opened in May 2008, after a phased opening began in 2007. The nine-block, $850 million mixed-use district includes multiple bars, restaurants, shops and entertainment venues adjacent to the T-Mobile Center. It’s proved to be a popular attraction for huge, free public celebrations held at KC Live!, a twolevel, city-block-wide entertainment venue. Most recently, KC Live! was used as a venue for a Chiefs Super Bowl 2024 watch party. The Power and Light District boasts over nine million visitors each year.

The Power and Light District includes office space and three luxury loft apartment developments, all part of a surge of $6 billion in reinvestments to revitalize downtown. The district earned the 2009 Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence and was cited as the location of the largest pub crawl on record in the 2013 Guinness Book of World Records (4,885 participants visiting 10 pubs).

The Power and Light District opened in phases: first the opening of KC Live, then Cosentino’s Market Downtown and the Midland Theater. The district has functioned as the opening salvo to the city’s new urban development push, part of $8 billion in reinvestments to revitalize a downtown that has struggled to curb a steady decline over the last few decades. kansascitymag.com June 2024

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2000s 2011 Kauffman Center

In the early 21st century, KC embarked on a mission to revitalize downtown. That mission, by any reasonable standard, has seen dazzling success, with a new arena, tons of residential space, an entertainment district and, on Sept. 16, 2011, the opening of the $326 million Kauffman Center.

With a dramatic glass face overlooking the Crossroads, the Kauffman gave Kansas City a truly world-class facility for the performing arts—and, not incidentally, a vivid, postcard-worthy addition to the skyline.

2015

Although it’s been some 70 years since the city purchased the land along the riverfront between the Kit Bond and the Heart of America bridges, the area has only begun to see a real transformation in the last 10 years.

The city bought the land in the 1950s and literally used it as a dumping ground until the early 2000s, when much of the debris was cleaned up for the 2004 Lewis and Clark bicentennial celebration and a wetlands restoration project. The city named the area after former Mayor Richard Berkley when it created a heritage trail and park there.

After various failed development attempts for the area, Port KC finally convinced several developers to invest in multi-use projects, and a steady stream of projects has been underway since 2015, including apartments, a beer garden, a boutique hotel, a dog park, a pub, volleyball courts and, of course, the KC Current stadium.

Recently, a $800 million three-phase, 10-year mixed-use development project was announced along with a streetcar expansion. The streetcar extension will connect the area with other parts of the city, truly changing the city’s relationship with its riverfront.

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PHOTOGR APHY PROVIDED; SHUT TERSTOCK

The Berkeley Riverfront

2015 World Series Victory

After a shocking playoff run in 2014, the Royals of 2015 were no surprise. From the first day of spring training, the team was on a mission.

Unless you were around that summer, it’s hard to understand how thrilling it all was. The Royals were relentless. They had speed, dazzling defense and great pitching—especially out of the bullpen. They won close games with late-inning heroics and did it with a brotherly, infectious joy that swept up the city.

The TV ratings set records. The city buzzed. Everywhere you went, all summer—a party, restaurant or bar—the games were on the TV and radio, and people were talking about them. Everyone knew the players. Everyone knew the pitching matchups. Everyone held their breath in the playoffs. When it all came to a head with a five-game World Series victory over the Mets in November 2015, the city erupted in a giant blue party that lasted for a week.

2016 KC Streetcar

After years of proposals for a light rail system in the city and a reworking of proposed routes, the $102 million, two-mile downtown Kansas City Streetcar “starter line” opened on May 6 and 7, 2016. It quickly became a hit with Kansas Citians as a downtown travel option. The streetcar marks Kansas City planners’ hope that the city will become a true mass transit city, with new corridor construction development.

More than 12,000 people rode the KC Streetcar on opening day, with lunch specials all along the corridor, live music and entertainment along the route, and parties in the KC Crossroads District. The opening day also aligned with First Friday, a movie in City Market Park and fireworks at Union Station. kansascitymag.com June 2024

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PHOTOGR APHY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY; Z ACH BAUMAN

2000s 2023 KCI

At just over one million square feet and built with a budget of $1.5 billion, the new 40-gate terminal at Kansas City International Airport is the largest single infrastructure product in the city’s history.

Despite a few hiccups in the beginning, such as long pick-up car lines and general auto confusion, the new airport has been a hit, replacing the archaic three-terminal design of the old airport built in 1971.

A total of $5.6 million has been invested in artwork from 28 individual artists, including 19 KC area artists.

2017

The Chiefs Draft Patrick Mahomes

In the 2017 NFL draft, the Chiefs were slated to have the 27th selection. They traded up with the Buffalo Bills for the 10th pick overall, and on April 27, 2017, the Chiefs picked Patrick Mahomes.

You know what happened next. You lived it. You watched the games. You saw the comebacks. You cheered. You screamed. You went to the parade and bought the T-shirt.

Mahomes was named the starter in 2018 and promptly threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns, leading the club to the first of six consecutive AFC championship games and, ultimately, three Super Bowl victories. And counting.

Think it was inevitable? At the time of the pick, sportswriter Steven Ruiz of USA Today wrote: “Between his inconsistent accuracy due to poor mechanics, his tendency to bail from clean pockets and his lack of field vision, he’s going to leave as many big plays on the field as he creates. This was a risky pick.”

Ruiz wasn’t all wrong. Mahomes did have mechanical issues.

What no one anticipated was that he would fix or overcome them with the most astonishing improvisational ability the league has

ever seen. They didn’t know about his absolute genius for reading defenses, his fanatical will to win or how perfect his pairing with Andy Reid would be.

It’s hard to overstate what Mahomes brings to Kansas City, but the contributions go far past excitement on game day. Sustained greatness like that can change the very nature of a city.

Imagine a kid growing up in Charlotte or Cleveland. Week after week, year after year, you see your football dreams crushed and dismantled.

Now imagine you’re a kid growing up in Kansas City, maybe one of thousands who wear Mahomes jerseys and sport his haircut. Week after week, year after year, you see greatness. You see how hard work, luck and the sheer force of will can bring victory, riches and glory.

Having a model like that changes people—and not just kids.

Mahomes uplifts all of us. He shows us what’s possible. He helps us dream bigger and work harder to achieve those dreams. He transforms our spirit. An athlete doesn’t get any more impactful than that. kansascitymag.com June 2024

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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

MAKING

CONTENDERS OUT OF

FIGHTERS ★★★★★★★★

★★★★★★★★

LONGTIME LOCAL BOXING LEGEND

JOHN BROWN

TALKS ABOUT THE KIDS HE TRAINS AND HIS FIRST LOCAL PRO FIGHTER SINCE CHAMP TOMMY MORRISON

BY IAN RITTER PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHAWN BRACKBILL

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ kansascitymag.com June 2024

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YOU’RE REALLY NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOCK SOMEONE’S BLOCK OFF OUTSIDE OF A BOXING RING, ACCORDING TO LONGTIME LOCAL BOXING LEGEND JOHN BROWN, WHO LISTENS TO HIS OWN ADVICE MOST OF THE TIME.

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The beloved boxing trainer at KCK’s Turner Recreation Commission community center certainly wouldn’t advise any of his fighters to use their skills to harm others outside the ring. If they do, they’ll be in trouble.

However, Brown, 77, does make one exception to his no fighting outside the ring rule, and that’s dealing with bullies. But even then, Brown, who grew up in South St. Louis and was teased for having a cleft lip, advises holding back until there’s really no other option than to retaliate. “You win, you still go to jail,” he says.

Just a few days before this interview, Brown had to hold himself back, he says. An irate driver had cut him off and was approaching

Brown’s car on foot, screaming. Brown got out of his car to see what the motorist wanted. “I say, ‘Stop where you are,’” he says. “‘I might feel threatened here. Bad things are gonna happen, you know?’”

Brown is one of those naturally affable yet very capable-looking people who you’re afraid to even imagine seeing pissed off. He has white hair, a square jaw and, despite his bad knees, an unwavering gait. The guy left, and Brown didn’t break his rule—this time.

There is nothing the Shawnee resident—who trained the KC metro’s last world boxing champion 30 years ago, the late former heavyweight Tommy Morrison—cares more about than his boxing kids.

kansascitymag.com June 2024

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Left: Marco Romero. Above: Artem Lepekha.

On many Saturday nights, you’ll find quite the boxing scene in KCK’s Turner neighborhood, when the popular recreation center on South 55th Street transforms into Turner Boxing Academy’s Fight Night. April 13 was one of those nights.

Looking like a smaller version of a boxing match at MGM Grand or Madison Square Garden, Fight Night inside Turner’s brick gym can be disorienting for first-timers. The windows are blacked out and the interior is transformed into a bumping, almost club-like atmosphere, with loud music, merch tables and concessions surrounding a professional boxing ring.

Some attendees are dressed to the nines while others are busy, frazzled parents of fighters and boxers. With the action spilling outside onto the street, it resembles a block party with food carts. The coffee shop across the street, The Windmill KC, stays open late.

Brown is at the center of it all, the event’s showrunner. He smiles broadly in a Turner T-shirt as he poses for pictures with fighters, both girls and boys, who just withstood 19 bouts. Boxers representing teams from all over the area, including as far south as Wichita, stand with their bulky golden belts, just like the pros after a big win.

One such fighter that night was Artem Lepekha, a 17-year-old Ukrainian student attending Olathe East High School. He fled the fighting in Ukraine with his family earlier this year thanks to help from a local friend of his mother.

A participant in the 195-pound weight class, Lepekha gots a cut above his eye, prematurely ending his fight. But Lepekha, a determined offensive fighter, wasn’t deterred by the loss. His goal is to make a

mark in professional heavyweight boxing, and there’s little question whether the journey from Ukraine to Turner was worthwhile for the young pugilist’s future. Lepekha already considers Turner his “team,” and calls Brown a “very good coach.”

Brown’s been self-funding the boxing program at Turner since creating it 16 years ago, and fight nights are now in their 12th year.

The trainer estimates about 10,000 kids have come through the program’s doors, and he’s helped coach them all and place them in tournaments.

Brown pays for the bulk of Turner boxing’s operations out of his own pocket, including fighters’ flights and hotel rooms so they can compete at events across the country—because he can. Unlike many trainers, Brown found success outside the ring, too.

Everlast is likely the most-known boxing-associated brand on the market, but one of its close competitors, used by thousands of men and women in gyms around the world, is an apparel and equipment company called Ringside, which Brown founded in 1978. What started as a four-page catalog soon became “the goose that laid the golden eggs,” as Brown puts it. He sold the Lenexa-based company in 2012, but it has allowed him to fund his true love: training boxers.

Brown named his company Ringside after the St. Louis club where he learned how to box as a kid after getting teased and beaten up for his cleft lip. At Ringside, he fell in love with the gym’s mostly African American boxers. He gets tearful when recalling how at home they made him feel. “It was terrific that people just treated me so well,” he says. “I just fell in love with the sport.” kansascitymag.com June 2024

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Above: Angeline Anguiano.

Brown’s recalling of his past comes from his detached home office, a sort of man cave gazebo that’s filled with boxing paintings and photographs. The adjoining deck overlooks a peaceful pond, very far away from the sweaty, rhythmic, chaotic orchestra of boxers pounding away at bags.

Brown is on the cusp of taking another local and extremely talented boxer, Marco Romero, pro. The potentiality has caused Brown to reflect on Morrison, who Brown trained 30 years ago. The boxer’s insatiable appetites and wild behavior were eventually his undoing.

Brown says he told Morrison that if he would “have sex with one woman a day instead of five and stop doing drugs and alcohol, we’ll make $100 million.” Despite beating George Foreman, becoming the World Heavyweight champion and a earning role in the film Rocky V, Morrison’s career eventually faltered. An HIV-positive diagnosis came in 1996 and he succumbed to complications from AIDS in 2013.

After his time with Morrison, Brown shied away from professional boxing and stayed focused on amateurs. He was the president of USA Boxing, which oversees the Olympic boxing team, from 2015 to 2019.

“I could make you wealthy and keep you healthy” is what Brown says to fighters who want him to make them pro. “If you have a lifestyle that can’t keep you healthy, I won’t be involved in that.”

But Brown has once again decided to jump into the professional boxing world with Romero, a recent Olathe West High School graduate, his latest protege. The 18-year-old middleweight will make his professional debut this summer.

Romero missed his graduation ceremonies to fight in the 2024 amateur Detroit Golden Gloves National Tournament of Champions, where he won the National Golden Gloves title in the 165-pound

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class, his last as an amateur. He has amassed 18 national non-professional titles.

This June will mark Romero’s first professional fight, where he will compete as part of the Father’s Day Pro Boxing Classic at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine.

Romero, who often sports a megawatt smile, intends to bring a pro boxing title back to the Kansas City area within five years. “I’m hoping to be able to bring a world championship back home and be an inspiration to all the kids here in Kansas,” he says.

The last time a world boxing championship was associated with the metro was 1993, when Morrison won the World Boxing Organization heavyweight title with Brown in his corner against Foreman.

Guiding Romero toward boxing greatness might not be such a long shot. The 18-year-old is immensely talented and likable. Brown says, half-jokingly, that Romero was raised by such a supportive family and has such an affable demeanor that he might not have enough meanness to become champ.

But whatever happens, peer Bruce Silverglade is bullish on Brown’s return to professional training. The owner of Gleason’s Gym, in Brooklyn, New York, where champion fighters such as Muhammad Ali, Roberto Durán and Jake LaMotta all trained at some point, estimates that he’s known Brown for 45 years—maybe not as the closest of friends but certainly as consistent acquaintances. Silverglade, also 77, can relate to Brown’s determination.

“I love running my gym, and John loves training,” Silverglade says.

“When you’re a boxing guy and it’s in your blood, you never want to give it up. To have John say, ‘Hey, I’m going to jump back in,’ I absolutely wish him all the luck in the world.”

TURNER BOXING ACADEMY FIGHT NIGHTS Friday Fight Nights at the Academy (831 S 55th St, KCK) start at 5 pm.

Admission for bleachers is $10, $15 for floor.

The year’s remaining Fight Nights are: June 8 July 13 Sept. 7 Oct. 26 Dec. 7

kansascitymag.com June 2024

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MORE THAN 10,000 PIECES & OF SPORTS MEMORABILIA Named one of the nation's best sports bars -- Sports Illustrated People visit Chappell's to see the sports memorabilia but always come back for the food -- Jim Chappell

Chappell's Restaurant and Sports Museum 323 Armour Rd, North Kansas City, MO 64116 816.421.0002 - chappellskc.com

LET’S MAKE INSULIN INJECTIONS AND FINGERSTICKS A DISTANT MEMORY

KU Medical Center aims to expand its research in Type 1 Diabetes to pioneer new therapies in Kansas City.

Dr. David Robbins, director of the Cray Diabetes Self-Management Center, and David Block, founder of the Emilie Rosebud Diabetes Research Foundation, are leading a community fund-raising effort to help cure Type 1 Diabetes. The University of Kansas Health System is supporting with advanced equipment and space. The first step is to recruit a visionary program leader.

LEARN HOW YOU CAN HELP RAISE FUNDS:

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Kansas City June 2024

HWHEAT@KUENDOWMENT.ORG 913.562.2708

EATING AND DRINKING WELL IN KANSAS CITY

Tasty Tofu

A family-owned local tofu maker supplies restaurants across Kansas City

By Rachel Layton CENTRAL SOYFOODS, a family-owned and -operated tofu purveyor,

has been providing hand-crafted tofu to more than 30 metro restaurants and grocery stores for the past four decades.

Established in Lawrence in 1978, Central Soyfoods was close to shutting down about five years ago, prompting current owners and tofu lovers Martin and Danielle Maigaard to step in and keep the business Photography by Brandon Waldrop

going. Working with the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, the soyfood company gets its organic soybeans from the tribal run Ioway Farms in White Cloud, Kansas. Ioway Farms focuses on improving soil health, making its soy a key part of Central Soyfoods’ mission: “Keeping things simple and local.” The tofu is prepared daily, and the company produces more than 2,000 pounds a week.

The tofu shop focuses on three products: firm, smoked and hot chili tofu. All are great for stir-frying, but the hot chili tofu in particular is perfect for frying in oil. It crisps up in just a few minutes and retains the fluffy interior of quality tofu while still retaining its hint of chili heat. It’s an excellent vegetarian substitute and a quality product that can be picked up virtually anywhere around town. kansascitymag.com June 2024

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LE T’S TA L K A BOU T W I NSTEA D’S The beloved institution where nostalgia reigns supreme

By Tyler Shane Photography by Caleb Condit and Rebecca Norden

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REVIEW

ONCE AN INNOVATIVE burger and shake joint, Winstead’s is now a dying chain—or is it? Is nostalgia enough to keep the iconic KC restaurant open?

Winstead’s, home of the steakburger and one of KC’s longest-standing restaurants, is dwindling. Just seven years ago, the Midwest-born chain had nine area locations. Now, it’s down to two—the flagship on the Plaza and one at I-435 and Roe in Overland Park. Even so, you don’t have to wander too far to find a local who will happily vouch for Skyscraper shakes and a 50/50 side of onion rings and fries.

So, why is the chain’s future so precarious? Is the restaurant’s once-outstanding reputation strong enough to ensure its future, or will Winstead’s soon disappear?

As a KC native, I’m aware of the impact Winstead’s has had on the city, even if it wasn’t my family’s go-to diner. The restaurant’s hold on KC’s heart especially came into focus for me last year, when I was invited to talk about the best burgers in town with KC Shepherd’s Center’s Adventures in Learning program for older adults, which is described as a “lifelong learning program” on their website. I quickly opened the floor for comments (how many ways can I describe my love for smash burgers and mustard before eyes begin to roll?). Time after time, they mentioned Winstead’s. It was endearing to hear them fondly reminisce about visiting the burger joint back in the day, whether it was with their sorority sisters or for a birthday celebration. I wondered: What did Winstead’s have then that it lacks now? kansascitymag.com June 2024

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“H OW YA D OI N’, H ONE Y?” the waitress enthusiastically said before she took my order on a recent visit to the Plaza’s Winstead’s. The interior still has the classic ’50s diner vibe, but the ripped and worn mint-green booths combined with stained carpet give another meaning to the word “retro.” My husband, a Winstead’s fan since childhood, was delighted to be there.

I, on the other hand, was curious to see if the interior would reflect the food. The waitress and her congenial disposition gave me hope.

Memorable waitresses helped set the tone when Kathryn Winstead and her family opened the first Winstead’s drive-in in Springfield, Illinois. The popular restaurant then expanded to Jacksonville, Illinois; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Sedalia, Missouri. The fifth and most iconic location opened in 1940 on the Country Club Plaza (right when overlords Tom Pendergast and developer J.C. Nichols were in charge). The Plaza site was the first of the chain to be designed in the classic Streamline Moderne style and was not only a drive-in, but a restaurant, too.

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Daniel Coleman’s 2008 biography of Kathryn Winstead reveals that “many diners enjoyed car-side service as well as the interior’s 10 booths and two counters. Drivers backed into parking spots and flashed their headlights to hail a Winstead’s carhop, who was sure to arrive quickly and might be propelled by roller skates.”

When Winstead’s first opened, it offered little more than beefy steakburgers. Fries and frosty malts weren’t added to the menu until 1957. But even with an extremely limited early menu, Winstead’s took off. It was so successful that the family eventually bought the Plaza location from Nichols.

In the ’70s, native Kansas Citian Calvin Trillin, the lauded food writer and New Yorker contributor, referred to Winstead’s steakburger as “monumental purity” and firmly claimed it the best in the world.

Over the next several decades, Winstead’s restaurants popped up in Independence, Lee’s Summit, North KC, Lenexa, Overland Park and Olathe, among others.

But obviously, “the bigger, the better” concept didn’t pay off. The Haddad Restaurant Group, which bought Winstead’s in 1988, told the Kansas City Business Journal in 2018 that it planned “to double the number of its Winstead’s restaurants in the next three to five years,” despite the fact that multiple locations had already closed. The plan failed. In 2020, the company filed for bankruptcy and eventually liquidated. That year also marked the closing of the diner’s Leawood location, leaving only the two current locales.

REVIEW

What went wrong? I posed this question to a good family friend, Jan Harness, who remembers visiting Winstead’s as a child in the ’60s.

“The Winstead’s of my youth was better,” Harness says. “I wish they hadn’t expanded it locally. Going to the Plaza, to that original Winstead’s, was a treat that went beyond getting a burger and fries and the frosty malt. It was a special event.”

Is a trip to one of the two remaining locations still a treat? Online reviews are, well, spotty. Over the past 10 years, plenty of unsatisfied customers mainly complain about service and quality of food. On the other hand, for every negative review, there are positive and often nostalgic reviews stating the experience was just as diners remembered.

Sarah Hibbert, general manager of the Plaza Winstead’s, remains upbeat, crediting the great location and cheap prices to its continued success, even through the pandemic. Regulars, school field trips, late-night wedding catering and professionals on their lunch break keep the restaurant busy.

“Our customers come from all over, and we appreciate their dedication,” says Hibbert, who has been managing the Plaza location for four years. “Business is great, and this location will be around for many more years to come.”

When the friendly waitress took my order, it was a busy Friday evening. The place was packed, and the staff meant business—in a good way. A busser was consistently making rounds, and our waitress apologized for making us wait, even though we couldn’t have been

there for more than seven to eight minutes before she took our order.

My chicken sandwich wasn’t something that needs to be ordered again, but my husband’s steakburger with the works—ketchup, mustard, pickles, a whole onion slice and bacon—was greasy and satisfying.

It was strangely better than the one I had gotten through the drivethru just a few days earlier. The 50/50 side of onion rings and tots were nothing out of this world, but they were crisp, and, well, we ate the hell out of them. I will say my cherry limeade made me feel like a kid again. It was topped with a small scoop of green sherbert and a fresh-squeezed lime. Screw Sonic. This was great.

Maybe this will devalue me as a food critic to some, but I can still appreciate a spot that does it “just fine.” Nostalgia is a flavor, too, and I understood this well sitting in my ripped booth with a massive broken-down jukebox in sight and a table full of greasy fried foods that predate the health food movement.

But let’s get back to the big question: What does the future hold for Winstead’s?

With locations closing down left and right this past decade, my focus is on the Plaza site, the pillar of KC’s historic restaurant scene.

Under Hibbert’s care, my experience was prompt and overall satisfying.

And you can’t argue with substantial conveniences like 24/7 service, a drive-thru and the affordable, dirt cheap menu.

Winstead’s clientele is so loyal that there’s no need for any extremes like a rebrand. But the interior needs updating—some kind of “oomph” so it’s retro by design, not because it’s forgotten. Some TLC could do wonders to make a visit special again, a place where young Kansas Citians can create memories. I’m getting flashbacks to the 1989 film Field of Dreams: “If you build it, he will come.”

Is Winstead’s a dying chain? For all intents and purposes, yes.

But, for now, nostalgia prevails. My guess: The odds are … 50/50. kansascitymag.com June 2024

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No Alcohol?

No Problem.

SipSteady founders Kayla Mason and Sarah Pretorius are elevating KC’s mocktail movement—even in our sports stadiums Tyler Shane DESPITE MEETING OVER margaritas—or maybe thanks to—Kayla

Mason and Sarah Pretorius joined forces, creating SipSteady, a PR agency dedicated solely to promoting zero-proof brands.

According to Mason and Pretorious, the nonalcoholic beverage trend really gained traction when the pandemic hit. Folks were analyzing their lifestyle choices and, as a result, thinking about their health. Drinking less became a part of that, says Mason and Pretorious, who say they believe the trend shows no signs of slowing down—hence the creation of SipSteady, which they say is the first promotion agency dedicated solely to nonalcoholic brands.

“Our mission is to help nondrinkers of every stripe feel seen, welcome and supported in their alcohol-free journey,” Mason says. “By us being able to support these brands, we’re thereby able to help the end user, the consumer, as they go into bars and restaurants.”

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P E R F E C T DAY

The pair want to emphasize that their work is not about being anti-alcohol. While Pretorius, from Arlington, Virginia, is completely alcohol-free, Mason, a former engineer from Alberta, Canada, is a mindful drinker.

Whether they’re creating an N/A menu for the Boulevardia music festival or helping a company launch its hemp-infused line of beverages, SipSteady is about helping non-drinkers “feel seen and supported,” they say.

When asked why they think Gen Z has K AY L A been leading the no and low alcohol moveAND SARAH’S P E R F E C T D AY I N KC ment often referred to as NoLo, Mason and Pretorius attribute several factors. Gen Z is Rise and Shine the first generation to grow up with social Kayla: Sarah always media, and there’s a new anxiety to going laughs, but my go-to is out and knowing that they could be captured the pepperjack breakfast burrito at Waldo’s McClain’s publicly at any moment. On the flip side, and usually an iced matcha social media also offers opportunities that latte with a pump of vanilla preceding generations didn’t have, they say. and almond milk. But Café Corazón’s Spicy Mayan “What we noticed is [Gen Z] has so much Mocha is also to die for. more opportunity to be entrepreneurs with Sarah: I always get the pesto bacon egg sandwich social media,” Mason says. “They’re not from McClain’s. Otherwise, looking to be hazy or go out every night.

I’m going to Café Cà Phê They have legit ways to build on their perfor a Dirty Tiger and Mr. D’s Donuts. sonal brands from a very young age.”

But it’s not just Zoomers who want Afternoon Adventures more drink options when they go out. It’s Kayla: I’ll head over to Shawnee Mission Park for pregnant women, runners training for a a hike with my husband. marathon and even the sober curious. Cities By then we’re ready for another coffee, so we’ll hit on the coasts have even gone so far as to up Station 3 Coffee Shop. dedicate entire bars and stores to nonalcoSarah: My husband and holic beverages, such as STAY, a zero-proof I will go to the NelsonAtkins. Maybe we’ll bring a cocktail lounge in Los Angeles, and Gem picnic for the lawn or grab Life and Bar, the first female-owned N/A tacos from Tacos El Gallo in bottle store in New Jersey. Heck, even the the Crossroads.

Green Bay Packers’ stadium now dedicates N/A Drinks an entire section to nondrinkers—and Sarah: Slow Motion Goods is owned by our dear friend that’s what SipSteady sees next for KC. Hayley Santell and has “Something we’re very passionate an amazing alcohol-free about is really putting KC on the map as cocktail menu that uses adaptogens and elixirs. a sober-inclusive travel destination,” PreKayla: Justin’s of Lenexa torious says. “With our sports teams that has the largest N/A section might be counterintuitive, but the market of any store. But I love Green Dirt on Oak’s Jason is definitely growing here. So, Chiefs, KC Waterfalls mocktail and Current, Royals, we’re looking at all of them Wild Child’s Bearing Fruit mocktail. and would love to partner with them.”

Photography by Joe Zlatnik

SPRINGDALE , THE HUB OF NORTHWEST ARKANSAS The spot for Nature, Music, Recreation, Art & Culture!

ExploreSpringdale.com | 479.877.2222

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DRINK

People around the world know how Japanese people are very into the details, so [the cocktail] should be like that.

Moon Mixology

Saranya Hubbard puts the “craft” in craft cocktails with her Japanese-inspired drinks

By Tyler Shane FOR THE PAST couple years, Saranya Hubbard has been bringing a decidedly differ-

ent and international take to Kansas City’s thriving craft cocktail scene. Now, she’s found a permanent location to showcase her Japanese-style beverages.

Hubbard has been wowing folks with her pop-up bar Moon Bar, giving Kansas Citians their first taste of Japanese-style bartending. Her inspiration comes from New York’s iconic Japanese bar Angel’s Share, where Japanese mixology is much more popular. Detail and craftsmanship are extremely important in Japanese culture, Hubbard says, and bartending is no different.

“It’s like you’re imitating how a Japanese person would serve you a cocktail,” says Hubbard, who moved from Bangkok to KC in 2020. “People around the world know how Japanese people are very into the details, so [the cocktail] should be like that.”

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From the type of ice to the method of shaking, precision is at the heart of Hubbard’s cocktails.

Instead of the typical Boston two-piece shaker, Hubbard uses a three-piece cobbler shaker. Cobblers are smaller than the Boston shaker, so there’s less room for the ingredients to travel and mix, giving Hubbard more control over the flavor. You’ll never see her shaking your cocktail—just a calculated stirring motion does the trick. She also makes her own ice. It’s crystal clear, which makes it longer-lasting and harder to break.

As for ingredient prep, Hubbard doesn’t cut corners.

For Moon Bar’s earthy Green and White matcha cocktail, she mixes the matcha (from Japan) traditionally with a bamboo whisk. It’s then mixed with white chocolate, Thai jasmine rice syrup and Japanese whiskey and topped with a jasmine rice puff. “Easy to drink,” Hubbard says.

Moon Bar seems to always be in demand, popping up at favorite hotspots like Mitch e Amaro, Chingu and Swordfish Tom’s, but Hubbard will soon plant permanent roots in River Market’s historic Columbus Park neighborhood.

You’ll still be able to snag an evening Moon Bar cocktail at night, but during the day, the space will operate as Tian Tea House, where you can participate in a Chinese tea ceremony. Tian, which means “sky” or “day” in Chinese, will serve Chinese teas, matcha and hojicha.

Keep updated with the Tian Tea House and Moon Bar development on Instagram, @moonbar.kc.

Photography by Brandon Waldrop

FOR THE GRILL GUY

SHOP ONLINE MIDTOWN 1000 W 39th St, Kansas City, MO 816-255-3753

SOUTH 11051 Antioch Rd, Overland Park, KS 913-951-4500

LAWRENCE New Location Coming Fall 2024!

kansascitymag.com June 2024

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’CUE CARD

Don’t go in there expecting something that tastes “almost” like meat barbecue. Go instead to find out how smoke can be used to flavor dishes that combine the familiar and the unexpected in satisfying ways.

Smoke Screen

BBQ that’s not really barbecue

By John Martello WORDS LIKE “GREEN,” “fresh,” “delicate” and “subtle” aren’t typically used to

describe the fare at a barbecue joint. But Whole Harvest Kitchen isn’t a typical barbecue joint. In fact, it’s not a barbecue joint at all.

It’s a vegan (they prefer the term “plant-based”) whole-foods restaurant in Leawood’s Town Center Plaza that offers several smoked vegan dishes along with the expected array of salads, soups and wraps.

“It’s an absolute shout-out to Kansas City,” chef Bobby Morris says of the smoked items. “It’s the only reason it’s on the menu.”

Don’t go in there expecting something that tastes “almost” like meat barbecue.

Go instead to find out how smoke can be used to flavor dishes that combine the familiar and the unexpected in satisfying ways.

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Take the pulled BBQ jackfruit tacos, for example. The dish piles the jackfruit on blue corn tortillas with black beans, smooth avocado salsa, kale, radishes, cilantro and a heap of cabbage slaw, with a spicy dipping sauce made of tomatillos and fresno chilies on the side. The flavor profile is neither classic KC barbecue nor traditional Mexican. That’s not a criticism; it is its own unique thing, and it is delightful. The pulled jackfruit is subtly smoky with a texture remarkably similar to pulled pork.

The giveaway is the almost fat-free mouthfeel. Combined with the fresh slaw topping and sauce, it’s a bona fide treat. A caveat: The tacos are piled so high that treating them like finger food is a challenge.

One thing Whole Harvest shares with traditional barbecue fare is hearty portions. The three tacos come with a side of green salad and chunks of roasted sweet potato. (The lemon-herb salad dressing is one of the best low-fast dressings I’ve ever sampled.) It’s a lot to eat.

The BBQ mushroom pizza is also generous in both size and flavor. A tasty sourdough crust is ultra-thin under the toppings, light and airy on the edges. It’s topped with a spicy barbecue sauce, mushrooms, chunks of smoked tofu, pine nuts, red onion and cilantro. A mix of lion’s mane, shiitake and blue oyster mushrooms are roasted before topping the pie. The flavor leans more traditionally barbecue than the tacos in both smoke and spice.

The house-made sauce leaves a mild but lingering burn.

There’s no cheese, though—that was the only animal product I missed in any dish I sampled.

The decor proclaims plant-based, not smokehouse.

Blonde wood, white surfaces and high ceilings support the light and fresh vibe. Tables are well-spaced and comfortable.

The restaurant describes their take on whole food as “made from scratch with fresh (never frozen) ingredients,” with cooking methods that “use minimal sodium, no added sugars, and, whenever possible, oil-free cooking techniques.”

So it’s healthy eating, too? That’s a winner.

Photography by Zach Bauman

BITES

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Newsfeed

What’s new in Kansas City food and drink

By Tyler Shane

PHOTOGR APHY PROVIDED

Mexican-Inspired Cafe and Bakery to Open in OP

Mexican baked goods are prominent in KCK and north of the river, but you’d be hard-pressed to find them further south.

Professional bakers and husband and wife duo Javier and Kerianne Nuñez are looking to change that with their soon-to-open Mexican-inspired cafe and bakery in Overland Park.

Aurora Cafe and Bakery, located on the first floor of the BOK Financial building on College Boulevard and Metcalf (7101 College Blvd,, Suite 101, Overland Park), will bake Mexican breads like pan dulce, telera and bolillo rolls from scratch. The menu will also have sandwiches crafted on house-made bread, salads and other grab-and-go items.

Both Javier and Kerianne attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York.

In KC, Javier previously managed the bread department at Ibis Bakery and currently teaches pastry classes at Johnson County Community College (he helped develop the college’s current pastry program). Kerianne previously worked at North Italia Leawood making fresh pasta and desserts.

The bakery’s name is inspired by Javier’s maternal grandmother.

“Aurora was proud to be from Michoacán,” he says. “She was a talented home cook who had the ability to make a stranger feel like a part of her family through her food.”

Learn more about the bakery on Instagram, @auroracafeandbakery.

KC Chocolatier Debuts His Chocolate at Aspen’s Food and Wine Classic

Shawn Hall, a KC local and former chemist, will be debuting his red wine chocolate, Cocoavino, at one of the nation’s most

notable culinary festivals, Aspen’s Food and Wine Classic—the perfect stage for his unique product.

Hall is one of 150 vendors participating in the festival. Participants come from across the nation and are considered some of today’s top food and drink innovators. “From what I’ve been able to gather, I can’t find any other invitees that have been from KC, so I’m excited to be out there,” Hall says. “They make a big deal about where people are from.”

Cocoavino is certainly innovative. The dark chocolate is infused with a reduced red wine blend. The resulting product is a ganache, but it has a mousse-like consistency. Wine and chocolate aren’t a revolutionary pairing, but they are rarely both offered in the same product. When Hall looked into selling his red wine chocolate in 2021, he saw an opportunity.

“It’s a new flavor experience,” he says. “Up front you get a dark chocolate flavor that just hits your palate. As that melts away, you get this beautiful finish of wine. It takes away the bitterness of dark chocolate and smooths it out with a little bit of fruit and acidity.”

He credits his ability to understand the unique flavor profiles and processes of both wine and chocolate to his background as a chemist.

Hall is now a full-time entrepreneur who sells his product in more than 150 stores across the nation. Locally, you can purchase it at any Made In KC store. The chemist turned chocolatier recommends using it as a sauce or spread for charcuterie boards or pastries. One of its most popular uses is as a dip for strawberries.

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T H E S TO R I E S B E H I N D K A N S A S C I T Y ’ S M O S T E Y E- C ATC H I N G S T R U C T U R E S

surreal estate

“We hope to do renovations to the first and second floor to create suites for visiting artists and to be the home of our professional practice center and alumni relations office.”

Most Photogenic

By Sophia Lacy SAID TO BE one of the most photographed doors in Kansas City, the “Hobbit-styled”

door looks as if it’s from another world. Known as the Mineral Door, it is an historic representation of Art Nouveau architecture, so it’s fitting that this notable door is now a part of an art institute.

Mineral Hall, which features the door at its entrance, was designed by Louis Curtiss, a local architect known as much for his outsized personality as his unique style and innovative designs. The building took 14 months to build—between 1903 and 1905—and got its name from one of its first residents, Roland E. Bruner.

88 Kansas City June 2024

As a Kansas City mining company owner and president of multiple mining firms, Bruner employed Curtiss to design an addition to the house to hold his 10,000 mineral specimens. Curtiss even embedded minerals into the mortar of the walls in the addition, earning it the moniker Mineral Hall.

After being a residential home, the building was donated to the Kansas City Art Institute in 1968. In 1976, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. However, today, the building is currently empty.

“Mineral Hall is currently not being utilized,” says Chris Summer, KCAI’s vice president of institutional advancement. “We hope to do renovations to the first and second floor to create suites for visiting artists and to be the home of our professional practice center and alumni relations office.”

Thousands come to see and take pictures of the historic hall’s front door. The wooden door itself is shaped in an Art Nouveau manner with its curved patterns. The windows on the door, and on the building’s sides, consist of leaded and beveled glass that feature floral and lined patterns. Surrounding the door are receding semi-circular arches with green, yellow and copper tesserae. The mosaic tile, window patterns and wooden accents GO: create a striking visual and popular 4340 Oak St., photo backdrop.

KCMO

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Photography by Zach Bauman

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