September 2022: Small Towns

A LO O K I N S I D E T H E K A N SAS O P I O I D E P I D E M I C

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small towns We Love 12 Charming Destinations a Short Drive From KC

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we’ll show you around springfield Whether it’s enjoying a refreshing beverage at one of the many local craft breweries or cruising down a scenic water trail on a kayak, we love our city and know the best places to eat, drink and play. See you in Springfield, Missouri!

Point your smartphone camera at this QR code to find out more about things to do in Springfield.

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 kathy@kansascitymag.com

Garmin Kansas City Marathon

T

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Martin Cizmar martin@kansascitymag.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Mary Henn mary@kansascitymag.com EDITORIAL INTERNS

Molly Higgins Liz Schroeder Olivia Augustine

HE GARMIN KANSAS CITY MARATHON, one of

the largest and most popular road races in the Midwest, returns on Saturday, October 15, 2022! The route, which begins between the south lawn of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Theis Park, takes runners on a scenic tour of Kansas City.

Participants experience historic neighborhoods like the 18th and Vine District, iconic landmarks such as the World War I Museum & Memorial, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, and many of the city’s most beloved fountains. And, waiting for you at the finish line is a day of celebration that includes live entertainment, barbecue, beer and much more!

This Kansas City tradition welcomes competitive runners, first-time participants and thousands of spectators. With multiple distances, including a half marathon, 10k and 5k, the Garmin Kansas City Marathon has a race option for everyone.

As the Kansas City Sports Commission’s largest fundraiser, this event directly impacts projects like the 2023 NFL Draft, FIFA World Cup 2026 and Big 12 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. So, throw on your running gear, lace up your shoes and race for a good cause this fall!

Visit kcmarathon.org for additional information.

ART DIRECTOR

Katie Henrichs katie@kansascitymag.com ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR

Makalah Hardy makalah@kansascitymag.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Kayla Masisak

DESIGN INTERN

Natalea Bonjour Heeral Patel

COPY EDITOR

Kelsie Schrader WEB COORDINATOR

Madison Russell SALES

Angie Henshaw angie@kansascitymag.com WRITERS

Dawnya Bartsch, Nina Cherry, Natalie Torres Gallagher, Kim Horgan PHOTOGRAPHERS & ILLUSTRATORS

Zach Bauman, Caleb Condit, Kim Horgan, Jeremey Theron Kirby, Samantha Levi, Vicente Martí, Rebecca Norden

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KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

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JEFFERSON CITY, MO

Housing unit 4 Still stands After a two-year hiatus and ongoing preservation efforts, Housing unit 4 will return to tours in 2022. Experience the prison’s oldest building once again.

Tour season: March – November

SEPTEMBER 2022

48 THINK SMALL

38

62

94

Perfect Pairings

An Evolving Crisis

The Báhn for Mì

Three local home renovation projects that feature ‘great room’ layouts

12

KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

How the opioid epidemic is shifting and impacting Midwestern states

We searched for the city’s best bánh mìs—here are our top five.

PHOTOGRAPHY OF WESTON BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

12 small towns around KC that make for a perfect fall weekend getaway

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In This Issue SEPTEMBER 2022

S WAY

35

T H E LO O P

21

Road Rules

TA S T E

Dreamy Designs

Throw pillows stuffed with personality

Big flavors at Hummus and Pita in Overland Park

Surprising facts about the safety of KC’s streets for pedestrians

36 38 44 24

26

School Scramble

Not So Swell

Kansas and Missouri are both facing extreme teacher shortages.

Local finance pros weigh in on inflation.

Fall Flowers

A local florist and TikTok guru reveals the hottest floral trends for autumn.

Sitting Space

Home design projects from Midwest & Co. that feature open layouts

Purrfect Pet

You voted on KC’s cutest pet. Here are the results.

E V E RY I S S U E

16

Editor’s Letter

29 Calendar 32 Backbeat 102 Scene

A LO O K I N S I D E T H E K A N SAS O P I O I D E P I D E M I C

09.2022

12 Charming Destinations a Short Drive From KC

104 Surreal Estate

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SMALL TOWNS WE LOVE | THE K ANSAS OPIOID E PIDE MIC

small We Love towns

O N TH E C OVE R

Photography by Caleb Condit and Rebecca Norden at the Benner House in Weston, which is being renovated to become Mandrake Place.

SPECIAL SECTIONS

46 Fall Events 69 Faces of Kansas City

kansascitymag.com

14

93

Hummus-zing

KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

94

Whatta Báhn Mì

Kansas City’s best bánh mìs

96 97 98

Perfect Day DJ Brent Nuro shares his favorite KC food finds.

Newsfeed

The latest in KC food news

Limited Lager

Border Brewing is pouring limited-edition brews every Thursday.

AVA I L A B L E N O W Experience views that inspire in the coveted Stonehaven at Loch Lloyd.

Offering new wooded, acreage homesites located in Missouri and Kansas.

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FROM THE EDITOR

C O N T R I B U TO R S

Mary Henn

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

This month’s news feature on the Kansas opioid epidemic was written

by Associate Editor Mary Henn, who was recently featured on Crime Stories with Nancy Grace for her essay on Angela Green, which appeared in Kansas City earlier this year.

Kim Horgan

WRITER/PHOTOGRAPHER

Our cover package features heavy contribution from longtime contributor Kim Horgan, an adventurous traveler based in Prairie Village who always comes back with great recommendations from her journeys.

Liz Schroeder

EDITORIAL INTERN

This month’s issue also includes a story about how small-time investors should look at inflation.

It’s written by Liz Schroeder, our summer intern who is an MFA candidate at UMKC.

16

KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

ILLUSTRATIONS BY VICENTE MARTÍ & JOANNA GORHAM

I

spent most of the last month on the road.

Not for our September cover feature on great small towns around Kansas City, but because I love traveling—especially during the height of summer humidity—the remote work routine has opened that possibility in a way I’d never dared hope before the pandemic. My parents were both teachers, so I grew up doing epic summer road trips that left me a little disoriented when returning to my regular routine. It turns out I’d missed that.

I’ll spare you the details of my trip, but I started writing this note while seated at the Starbucks at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, which had wifi as fast as my house and an amazing view of lower Manhattan. Manhattan is, of course, as far as it gets from small-town Kansas or Missouri.

Except it’s really not.

Everywhere, I’m increasingly convinced, is a small town.

I was walking around the West Village when I was struck by the busy patio at a very cool bar called the White Horse Tavern. I’d never heard of the place, but it claims to be NYC’s second-oldest bar and is best known as the favorite haunt of the poet Dylan Thomas. I started reading up on the White Horse and discovered that it had been the flashpoint in a bitter neighborhood battle over gentrification that culminated with neighbors staging an Irish wake on the streets in protest of the bar’s sale.

Like I said: Everywhere is a small town.

What makes smaller small towns—some of the dozen featured in this issue have only a few hundred residents—so fun to visit, for me, isn’t just that the pace of life feels a little slower. It’s that you can spend a couple of days there and leave feeling like you have a real sense of the people and place.

I had that experience when spending some time in Hermann last fall. After a few days of wandering around in the rain drinking, looking and talking, I hopped on the train back to KC feeling like I’d made new friends and come to understand the unique culture of a corner of the world I’d never been to. Our frequent contributor Kim Horgan wrote about Hermann for this issue, but I took from her piece that she’d had a similar experience on a more recent visit.

A dozen spots in this month’s feature all offer an opportunity to breathe some clean air and get a new perspective for a few days.

Especially now, as the busyness of autumn schedules starts to hit, I hope you’re able to sneak away for a few days of renewal in Martin Cizmar one of these towns or somewhere else that EDITOR IN CHIEF MARTIN@KANSASCITYMAG.COM freshens your spirit.

Healthy Aging, Healthy You Monday, September 12 4:30 – 6 pm Information is power when it comes to staying healthy as you age!

Stop by Anthology of Olathe to gain valuable insights from the many senior living, aging and transitional experts that will be onsite during this event. Refreshments will be served. Some of our experts will include: Real estate transitional specialist

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COURTIER

BEHIND THE SCENES NUMBERS FROM THIS ISSUE

13

Percent of traffic deaths that are pedestrians, although the group only makes up six percent of travelers.

ANCHORS UP!

The strongest reactions to any story in our August issue came in response to a news story about the probable departure of the Arabia Steamboat Museum, which has signed a letter of intent to move across the state. The museum is a popular attraction, but because of lawsuits settled with the city many years ago, its presence means there can’t be restaurants, bars or concerts at the River Market as long as the museum remains. Readers had mixed responses.

Contributing photographer Caleb Condit flies a drone over Weston for the opening spread of this month’s feature on great small towns around KC.

PA GE 2 1

107K+

The record-breaking number of drug overdose deaths that occurred in the U.S. in 2021.

PA GE 6 2

40

The number of pints of Border Brewing’s weekly releases that will be available every Thursday.

PA GE 98

Losing this will be terrible for Kansas City. This museum and the Nelson are the two best places for visitors and locals. Everyone we take to this museum is as amazed as we are. It is a treasure.

—Rita Blanchon Maurer City Market doesn’t want to renew their lease… too many restrictions that impact the rest of the market, no concerts as the sound waves damage precious artifacts— no other tenants in the building can have water, so a leak doesn’t damage artifacts, hence no bars/restaurants.

—Alan Johnson I hate that they are probably moving out of KC. This museum is so unique, and is always a huge hit with out-of-town visitors. It may not be the right fit for City Market anymore, but I wish they could stay in KC. — Scott Lessman

“

I’m not only disappointed in the City, I’m disgusted. The

Steamboat Arabia museum is one of the most unique IN THE WORLD! Why isn’t the city offering tax incentives to the family like they so freely give to out-of-state developers? As the daughter of a prominent museum curator, I can say that if my father was still alive, he would explain to the city that what these families have accomplished is just short of miraculous, as they are not trained archeologists or restoration specialists. The museum is amazing.

How can we work together to keep them here?

—Julie Perry Sherriff

KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

Our August issue also misstated the name of the Tiny Pantry Times (tinypantrytimes.org), the site associated with an Overland Park family’s DIY food pantry.

CONTACT US

Concerts! I saw some great shows at City Market before the music was “too loud” for them. —Santiago Escobar

P.O. Box 26823 Overland Park, KS 66225-6823 (913) 469-6700 EMAIL: editor@kansascitymag.com

—DJ BRENT NURO EXPLAINS HOW HE STARTED DOWN HIS

18

Our August issue misstated the name of Cannon Small, son of the owner of EaRationale (instagram. com/earationale131).

Kansas City does not need more restaurants and bars. It is the only thing we already have too much of. The Arabia is one of the most unique and interesting attractions in the city. —Dan Renzi

I was always the guy that was taking my hard-earned lawn mowing money and going to the record store.”

LIFE PATH, PAGE 96.

CORRECTIONS

Our Best of KC Readers Choice results mistakenly omitted Camp Bow Wow, which tied for first place in Best Doggie Daycare.

Kansas City

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L E A D I N G T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N I N K A N S A S C I T Y

BEYOND DRIVEN PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

9 surprising numbers about the safety of KC’s streets for cyclists and walkers

BY M O L LY H I G G I N S A N D L I Z S C H R O E D E R

KANSASCITYMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2022

21

TH E LO O P BEYOND DR I V EN

157

2030

That’s the target date for having no traffic fatalities inside KCMO. In May 2020, the city council signed onto the Vision Zero movement and committed to adopting traffic calming programs like adding speed humps and curb extensions, upgrading traffic signals and expanding thirty more miles of protected bike lanes. Vision Zero is a decadesold international movement that started in Sweden—it’s basically the Kyoto Protocol of traffic safety. “They’re currently working on an action plan that’s basically the road map, no pun intended, to how we get to eliminating traffic injuries and fatalities,” says active transportation advocate Michael Kelley of BikeWalkKC.

44

Pedestrian deaths in Kansas City so far in 2022, outpacing a total of thirty-three deaths at the same time last year. “There are bad sidewalks in all areas of the city,” KCMO councilman Kevin O’Neill says. “In many lower-income areas of our cities, where citizens use alternative modes of transportation, we need to make sure that they have access to bus stops and connectivity to jobs, medical and retail areas.”

$7.5 MILLION 22

13%

Of the 1,485 crash fatalities in the Kansas City metro since 2017, pedestrians made up thirteen percent—more than a hundred and ninety deaths—although they make up only six percent of travelers. “Deaths are increasing, and they’re happening on roads that communities know are unsafe,” Kelley says. “The inequities in walkability and who’s impacted by those inequities are disproportionately Black Americans, Native Americans, older Americans and Americans walking in lower-income communities.”

3x

In pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people nationwide, Black people are three times more likely to die from walking. The only other group more likely to have pedestrian fatalities were American Indians or Alaska Natives, who were nearly five times as likely. In KC, although Black residents make up twenty-eight percent of the population, they make up thirty-five percent of traffic fatalities.

The amount that the GO KC Sidewalk program will receive each year until 2037 to evaluate, inspect, repair and replace sidewalks around Kansas City. This includes initiatives to make sidewalks more accessible with corners and ramps.

KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

43

Kansas City is currently ranked forty-third for pedestrian safety and thirty-fourth for bike safety out of the fifty-one most populous cities in America, according to data from the Alliance for Biking and Walking. The big issue, Parks-Shaw says, is that there’s a big backlog of infrastructure improvements that are planned but not funded. “Unfortunately, in years past, this had not been a priority,” Parks-Shaw says.

“But I’m excited that this council has made this a priority, and so we are starting to see more of the budget being allocated.”

47%

Reconfiguring roads into so-called “road diets” have been shown to decrease crashes by almost half, according to the Federal Highway Administration, which found that the threat of fatal crashes “increases exponentially” over twenty miles per hour.

$1 BILLION

The city’s backlog of sidewalk repairs isn’t just time-consuming—it’s costly.

There’s currently $150 million allocated for a $1 billion backlog. “If we want to be able to fully fund the repairs that need to happen, we need to figure out how to increase that funding,” Kelley says. “We have to have a serious conversation about what we want to fund.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

Kansas City has signed onto the ambitious Vision Zero movement to eliminate traffic deaths.

These numbers show how far the city has to go.

Kansas City reported one hundred and fifty-seven pedestrian deaths between 2016 and 2020, according to the Dangerous By Design 2022 Report. Councilwoman Ryana ParksShaw’s fifth district holds three of the intersections for the highest pedestrian fatalities in KC. She is a supporter of Vision Zero and has advocated for traffic calming, protected bike lanes and upgraded traffic signals. “Those are some things that we actually pledged to do in year one, and I think they are still working on that,” she says.

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TH E LOOP EDUCATION

TROUBLE FOR TEACHERS Kansas and Missouri are both facing extreme teacher shortages, but Missouri seems to think it has the perfect fix.

BY O L I V I A AU G U S T I N E

S

M A L L S A L A R I E S , S T U D E N T L O A N D E B T , political agendas, angry parents—and an important job to do on top of it all. Teachers have been struggling with these things for years, and it’s starting to show through staffing shortages in both Kansas and Missouri. Missouri now has a solution, but is it really fixing the problem or is it just another way to devalue teachers?

Earlier this summer, Missouri loosened its teacher licensure requirements, making it much easier for aspiring teachers to enter the classroom. Teachers no longer need to pass their exams to receive a license. Now they can score just below a passing grade if they have maintained a 3.0 GPA in their college coursework and student teaching.

The policy for substitutes has been relaxed as well. As opposed to having to complete a set number of semester hours, Missouri’s Department of Education has made it so anyone completing their twenty-hour online certification program can sub.

While steps to fill open teacher positions are appreciated, many are left wondering if all it does is lower the bar for the profession.

Dr. Paul Katnik, an assistant commissioner in the Missouri education department, says that teaching quality is not at risk with the new licensure requirements and that the changes show support for Missouri school districts. The state’s leaders are “doing all they can to support schools during this challenging time of greater staffing issues,” he wrote in an email to Kansas City magazine.

Jason Roberts, president of the Kansas City Federation of Teachers, disagrees, believing that loosening the requirements is essentially devaluing education. However, Roberts also said that removing a standardized test from the mix isn’t the worst idea.

24

KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

“

This is one of the biggest challenges we’ve ever faced... to remove barriers while retaining quality.”

“We should not be doing things to lighten up the expectations of who can teach our children,” he says. “We have to hold ourselves to high standards. That being said, I was not opposed to the removal of the requirement to pass a standardized test in order to be a teacher. The reason for that is because historically, teachers have said you cannot judge a student’s growth or knowledge based on a standardized test.”

Though torn on the topic of licensure, Roberts believes there are other things Missouri could do to better support teachers, starting with raising their pay. According to the National Education Association, Missouri ranks third from the bottom nationally in average teacher salary. Roberts says that teachers also need better benefits and trust from their districts to do their jobs. A major factor in teachers moving from the profession, he says, is political accusations coming from politicians and angry parents.

On the Kansas side, educators have been less impressed with Missouri’s way of handling their teacher shortage.

Jill Johnson, the NEA president for the Shawnee Mission school district, says Missouri’s tactics are not something she would like to see replicated in Kansas. She believes it would bring people into the profession who are not passionate about it. A better solution would be to decrease the cost of college education.

“I understand that the issue is dire and we need teachers in classrooms, but to lower the standard like that could just be very risky,” Johnson says. “I think that it’s making it so our profession is not seen as professional.”

Janet Waugh of the Kansas State Board of Education says that Kansas is in crisis with the current teacher shortage in the state but doesn’t want to see the quality of instruction suffer.

“This is one of the biggest challenges we’ve ever faced,” she says.

“We are trying to find ways to get people licensed to be teachers, to remove barriers while retaining quality. To me, that’s the important thing. I want to remove the barriers to teaching, but there’s a quality piece there that I want.”

The Junior League of Kansas City, Missouri, is eagerly preparing for Holiday Mart 2022, the largest non-profit shopping event in Kansas City! Join us at Bartle Hall, 301 W. 13th Street, KCMO, to shop and celebrate our 35th year!

Thursday, September 29, 2022, 4 pm – 8 pm* *Exclusive Preview Party, Special Ticket Required

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25

THE LOOP MONEY

GROWING PAIN Inflation makes for a topsy-turvy economy.

We asked local experts what regular folks and small-time investors should know.

BY L I Z S C H R O E D E R

A

F T E R A T O P S Y-T U R V Y two years, gas prices are finally falling and unemployment is down. But a cloud still hangs over the American economy as inflation hits historic highs in the United States, leaving consumers and businesses to navigate uncharted financial waters.

“The U.S. economy hasn’t dealt with sustained inflation since the early 1980s,” says Erik Olsen, chair of the UMKC Department of Economics. “When I was an undergrad, it was in our memory. It’s become less important because we’ve had thirty-five years of sustained price growth and low rates of inflation.”

While some point to the 2021 American Rescue Act as a significant cause of inflation, it’s a global issue driven by supply chain disruptions and changing consumer habits. Inflation is now at a record high in the U.S., though the country still ranks somewhere in the middle among global economies, according to Forbes, which found that the U.S. inflation rate placed twentieth out of forty-four advanced economies.

“Panic buying has become a normal part of our experience,” Olsen says, and it can contribute to price hikes. But Kansas City residents’ dollars go further than others. CNBC’s Top States for Business Study ranked Missouri and Kansas among the cheapest states to live, scoring Kansas second and Missouri sixth.

26

KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

For people without inflation-adjusted income, including retirees, investing isn’t easy. “Employees expect regular pay raises to combat inflation,” says Jon McGraw, the president of the Buttonwood Financial Group. Austin Kuehl, a financial advisor with BMG Advisors, has seen a “fifty-fifty” split between clients investing less and more: “Some people see this as an opportunity to buy investments at a lower price and want to put cash to work rather than watch inflation eat away at it.”

Decades of low interest rates have been a boon for borrowers, notably fueling an exploding housing market during the pandemic. They also led investors to “flock toward stocks to get a better rate of return,” Kuehl says. Though as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, bonds could potentially “provide better income to retirees than they have in some time.”

Rising rates also mean new opportunities to earn “legitimate, non-negligible amounts of money on savings,” Olsen says. While it’s unclear how long higher interest rates will stay in place, saving can be simple and low-risk.

Feeling panicked? “There’s an old saying in finance that I like,” Kuehl says. “It’s sometimes attributed to Warren Buffet: ‘Don’t do something, just stand there.’ It’s meant as advice during a time of market volatility.” It can be difficult advice to follow, though, Kuehl says, because it’s now how most people are wired.

“If you bought a stock at $30 and thought it was a good investment, and the price declines to $15, the rational response is to buy more of it, assuming your initial estimate of the growth potential was valid,” Kuehl says. “But most people have an urge to buy high and sell low.”

Often, the easiest way to make money is, of course, to have money. Funding inflation-linked investments like I-Bonds are a good option, Kuehl says. But consistent, good habits are key.

One advantage younger people have is time, McGraw says, “and thus the amazing power of compound interest.”

Will inflation lead to a recession? A “blowout jobs report” released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in early August suggests it won’t. CNN Business reported unemployment is at three and a half percent—matching the same “half-century low” from February 2020.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Democrats, also hopes to curb inflation by reducing the deficit, but recession rumors could change consumer habits in the coming months anyway.

“There’s no difference between economic conditions whether it’s labeled [a recession] or not,” Olsen says. “It’s really just psychological.”

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NOVEMBER 5–13

LOVE IS ON ITS LAST BREATH.

Bad girls make good opera.

One of the most popular operas of all time.

A heartwrenching, romantic drama about forsaken love.

Dad hasn't been himself Lately OR literally.

The father of the modern musical.

An operatic version of Stephen King’s 1977 horror classic.

An intimate look at the father of the modern musical.

A SPECIAL OFFER FOR KANSAS CITY MAGAZINE READERS:

SCAN ME

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PURCHASE TODAY FOR 25% OFF SINGLE TICKETS.

Scan the QR code to visit kcopera.org/kcmag or call (816) 471-7344. Mention or use promo code KCMAG25.

Limit four tickets per household. Offer expires August 31, 2022.

KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL HARRISON

WHERE YOU WANT TO BE IN SEPTEMBER

September

10

GO: September 10, 9 am–4 pm. Sar-Ko-

Par Trails Park, 87th Street Parkway & Lackman Road. Free. lenexa.com.

LENEXA SPINACH FESTIVAL

Believe it or not, Lenexa was once known as the Spinach Capital of the World. Today, Popeye would surely be disappointed—unless he happened to sail in during the city’s annual celebration of its history.

Lenexa earned the label “thanks to a really amazing crop of spinach during the Great Depression during the times of drought,” according to Susanne Neely, the face behind the festival for the past ten years. Legend has it a “buyer from Chicago came to the

MORE FESTIVALS

Kansas City market looking for quality spinach” and was so “delighted” to find the quality product available in Lenexa that he bought as much as they could grow, rebounding their economy.

Popeye and Olive Oyl make an appearance, dressing the World’s Largest Spinach Salad, served in a bowl “the size of a kid’s swimming pool.” Festivalgoers compete in spinach recipe competitions, with dessert inviting some particularly innovative creations. Rock skipping, balloon artists, pedicabs and face painting provide a classic fall festival atmosphere. —L IZ SCH ROEDER

Scan for a full list of local fall festivals.

KANSASCITYMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2022

29

“Weird Al” Yankovic September 2, 7:30 pm Best known for his outlandish parody songs, Weird Al’s The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent Ill-Advised Vanity Tour seems right on brand. However, the extensive North American tour will be a scaled-down version of what he is best known for, with limited production and no costumes, props or video screens in smaller, more intimate theaters, and his setlist will be composed “almost entirely of his original (non-parody) songs.” Both fans and haters should be curious to see what this departure will be like.

September 2, 7:30 pm.

Kauffman Center.

Bar K 5K September 3 The premiere dog-friendly 5K in the country is back this fall. Run with your dog or alongside the dogs of others through Berkley Riverfront Park and along the Riverfront Heritage Trail. The race starts early and ends at the Bar K Afterparty in their twoacre dog park. Competitive runners, novices, walkers and poodles are welcome. September 3. Berkley Riverfront Park. $40 registration.

Twelfth Night September 6–25 The KC Rep’s season is kicking off with Shakespearean comedy Twelfth Night, a tale of mistaken identity and unrequited love. Directed by Associate Artistic Director Nelson T. Eusebio III, this contemporary twist on a beloved classic features original music composed just for the production. September 6–25.

Spencer Theatre.

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KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

09

KC Symphony: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in Concert September 7–11

The magic of Harry Potter’s sixth year comes to life at the KC Symphony with big-screen showings of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince accompanied by the transformative music of our very own world-class symphony orchestra.

And who knows? Before you can say Felix Felicis, you might realize the music was the best part all along. September 7–11. Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Luke Bryan September 8, 7 pm Country superstar and American Idol judge Luke Bryan has been making music for twenty years, songwriting and singing country hits revolving around beautiful women and equally beautiful pickup trucks. Country girls, get ready to shake it for him. September 8, 7 pm. T-Mobile Center.

Twenty One Pilots September 9, 8 pm Columbus, Ohio, “rap rock” duo Twenty One Pilots has been cranking out drum-heavy melodic radio hits for the past decade.

Don’t get “Stressed Out”—there are still tickets available for their nationwide The Icy Tour. September 9, 8 pm. T-Mobile Center.

Hanson September 10, 8 pm One of the most iconic boy bands of the nineties, brothers with long blonde hair and nearly identical baby faces, Hanson has been riding the “MMMBop” gravy train for decades. Now, they’ve founded The Hanson Brothers Beer Co. in their native town of Tulsa and occasionally go on tour to inspire a new generation of boy-now-men band fans. September 10, 8 pm. Uptown.

Chiefs vs.

Cardinals September 11, 3:25 pm The first game of the season for the Chiefs finds them facing the NFL’s oldest and most cursed team, the Arizona Cardinals, another squad with an MVP-caliber QB that had its playoff hopes crushed earlier than

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY RESPECTIVE VENUES, ABOVE: TWENTY ONE PILOTS

W H AT YO U WA N T TO D O T H I S M O N T H

September

T H E B E AT C A L EN DA R

anticipated last year. Patrick Mahomes visits Kyler Murray in Glendale for this anticipated matchup. If you want a game-day atmosphere, head down to the Power and Light district, where the game will be broadcast on the largest big screen in the city.

September 11, 3:25 pm. KC Live! at Power and Light.

Free, all-ages.

Bill Maher September 11, 7:30 pm Hate him or tolerate him, political commentator and satirist Bill Maher has been making jokes and thrusting his political opinions on anyone willing or unwilling to listen for decades.

September 11, 7:30 pm.

Uptown Theater.

Panic! at the Disco September 13, 7 pm Originally a pop rock band from Las Vegas who skyrocketed to fame with edgy lyrics and catchy melodies in the wave of the mid-2000s punk boy-band fame alongside groups like Fallout Boy, Panic! at the Disco is now only lead singer Brendon Urie. Although the band has changed, Urie is still churning out nostalgic, angsty tunes.

September 13, 7 pm.

T-Mobile Center.

The National September 13, 8 pm Formed in Cincinnati in 1999, Brooklyn-based The National has been a staple in the moody rock scene ever since. Lead singer Matt Berninger’s croony, indifferent vocals alongside melodic guitar riffs will make you bob your head in rhythm or wonder if you need to up your Zoloft prescription. September 13, 8 pm. Grinders.

Mother/son September 15 The Melting Pot Theatre begins its season with Mother/son, written by KC native Lewis Morrow and directed by Nicole Hodges Persley. Set in the midst of the Covid pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s a dark comedy-drama about a mixed-race man and his white mother who’s in denial about her own racism and addiction.

September 15–17 and 21–24, 7:30 pm. September 18, 2 pm.

Melting Pot Theatre.

New Dance Partners September 16–17, 8 pm The ninth annual festival of contemporary and modern dance is back. Each night features performances by four local dance companies: Kansas City Ballet, Owen/Cox Dance Group, Störling Dance Theatre and the Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company. The “ultimate dance collaboration” brings four choreographers to Kansas City to create original works each year. September 16–17, 8 pm.

Yardley Hall in the Midwest Trust Center.

Collect-A-Con September 17–18 Did you ever think you would see Vanilla Ice and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the same stage again? We did not see that coming, but it only makes Collect-A-Con that much more exciting. This convention offers a space for people to nerd out over their favorite things and claims to be the nation’s largest trading card, anime and pop culture convention. September 17–18, 10 am–6 pm. Kansas City Convention Center.

Tour de Bier September 18 BikeWalkKC and Head for the Cure are teaming up for a day of cycling, beer and philanthropy. The social bike ride around Kansas City’s craft breweries and

14

Jimmy Eat World September 14

A recent headline from The Hard Times, a punk rock version of The Onion satirical newspaper, read: “Jimmy Eat World Issues Formal Apology for Telling Us Everything Everything Would Be Just Fine.” That is very funny and also a little painful. Immerse yourself in poppy early noughties emo and forget everything after the summer of 2001 at this show. Or you can buy in on their comeback single, “Something Loud,” which has renewed their relevance by racking up more than a million Spotify plays.

September 14. Uptown Theater.

historic neighborhoods doubles as a fundraiser for safer streets and local brain tumor research. September 18.

Berkley Riverfront Park and Riverfront Heritage Trail. $65 registration. bikewalkkc.org/tourdebier.

live music, kid-friendly fun, and of course, delicious barbecue at the Kansas Speedway. September 28–October 2. Kansas Speedway. americanroyal.com/bbq.

Carmen

Kick off the Christmas shopping season at the largest non-profit shopping event in the city. The Junior League of Kansas City’s annual holiday mart is in its thirty-fifth year and will have a large lineup of retailers ranging from Kendra Scott to Messner Bee Farm. September 29–Sunday, October 2. Times vary. Kansas City Convention Center.

September 24–30 Even after a century and a half, Carmen is still that femme fatale. The popular opera tells the story of an ill-fated romance, touching on themes of jealousy, obsession and bullfighting. Performed in the original French with English subtitles.

September 24–30, 7:30 pm.

Muriel Kauffman Theater.

American Royal World Series of BBQ

Holiday Mart September 29

Living in Vitality Conference September 30

September 28 How many barbecue contests are there in the world? We don’t need to count—the American Royal’s World Series of Barbecue is the biggest. A longstanding Kansas City tradition, the World Series brings global competitors together with a backdrop of

Now in its twenty-fifth year, Advent Health’s annual conference aims to help attendees have a healthier mind, body and spirit.

This year’s breakout sessions include presentations on how big tech hijacks our attention (and how to fight back), the effect that stress has on the microbes in our gut and how to make the most of big transitions in your life. September 30. 8 am–4 pm. Overland Park Convention Center.

KANSASCITYMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2022

31

WITH LOVE Saxophonist Adam Larson’s new album pays homage to KC. He’s releasing it just before headlining the Prairie Village Jazz Festival.

BY N I N A C H E R R Y

I

N

MARCH

OF

2019,

Adam Larson found himself at a crossroads: The saxophonist didn’t end up in the doctoral program he’d planned to start, and he received notice of a hefty rent increase for his New York City apartment just after his second child was born.

“My wife and I sat down and wrote down some cities we thought would be cool to live in,” Larson says. Among the list was Kansas City. “I have some friends here, and it’s in the middle of the country.”

Two months later, Larson, along with his wife and two children, moved here.

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KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

“I really just moved here to get out of New York,” Larson says.

Now, only a few years later, KC has already gained a special place in Larson’s life, so much so that he’s releasing an album to pay tribute to the city this month, With Love, From Kansas City.

The album is a part of a trilogy of albums dedicated to each of the cities—and the powerhouse musicians that reside in them—that have played an important role in Larson’s journey.

The first album of the series, With Love, From Chicago, was released earlier this year in February, and the final album of the series, With Love, From New York, will be released in April 2023.

Larson is joined by bassist Ben Leifer and drummer John Kizilarmut

to form a tight trio for the album. The trio’s powerful chemistry resulted in an efficient studio session. According to Larson, it only took two and a half hours, straight through, to record the entire album. “One or two takes was enough,” Larson says. “It’s a lot different from the way I recorded my first five records. I was nit-picking everything.”

The album features many of Larsons’ originals along with compositions from prevailing KC jazz musicians: “ChiChi” by Charlie Parker, “Beatitudes” by Bobby Watson, and contemporary KC standard “REL” by Peter Schlamb.

The album doesn’t have any heavy edits or overdubs and captures the raw, unfiltered artistry of the composer and saxophonist. Larson showcases his compositional prowess and a wide timbral range across the seven tracks as he switches between tenor, alto and soprano saxophones.

But Larson isn’t the only one showcased. This intimately captured album highlights all of the trio members’ unique voices.

All dimensions of drummer Kizilarmut’s playing are on display in the album, from more nuanced moments as heard in Larson’s “Simple Beauty” to the more fiery, robust playing frequently heard throughout the rest of the album.

But regardless of volume or intensity, Kizilarmut’s playing is, without fail, intensely poetic. Ultimately, bassist Leifer is the strong foundation, simultaneously contributing to the interplay that makes this trio so tenacious.

This month, Larson is headed on tour for nineteen performances and seventeen educational clinics. He kicks off the tour on September 2 with his official album release party at The Ship. Among his tour stops is Prairie Village, where he’ll be headlining the city’s annual jazz festival on September 10.

But after the tour, Larson won’t catch much downtime. He’ll be spending his time gearing up for his next album release and tour for With Love, From New York.

GO: With Love, From Kansas City album release, Friday, September 2, 7 pm. The Ship, 1221 Union Ave., KCMO. Larson headlines the Prairie Village Jazz Festival on Saturday, September 10, Harmon Park, W. 77th Place and Delmar Street in Prairie Village.

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY ADAM LARSON

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C U R AT I N G A B E A U T I F U L L I F E

PILLOW TALK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAMANTHA LEVI

One quick way to add a pop of color to a space is with throw pillows. But the right pillows are important— they can determine the personality of a room. Carrie Kiefer and Morgan Georgie of Ampersand Design Studio (@ampersandstudio) make artwork and home decor that brighten a space with vivid colors and bold patterns.

They recently launched a line of quirky pillows in vibrant colors and designs.

If you’re looking to make a statement, there are wordprint options like “Come Together,” “Hi,” or our favorite, “Heck Yes!” You can also opt for a subtle design like a heart, peace sign, rainbow or flower. These pillows range in price from $50–$64 and are created in collaboration with Peking Handicraft.

They’re made of one hundred percent wool hook and cotton velvet with a polyester fill. —OLIVIA AUGUSTINE

KANSASCITYMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2022

35

FLOWER POWER The ins, outs and how-tos of emerging flower trends from Kansas City’s floral TikToker

BY O L I V I A AU G U S T I N E

have belonged to the colorful seasons of spring and summer. But according to Kansas City TikToker and florist Lexi Nardini, there are some autumn floral trends beginning to surface for the upcoming season.

Nardini graduated from Mizzou last year with a major in event management, a plant science minor and a floral design certificate. Soon after, she opened the floral division of Platinum XP, a preexisting event-planning business focused on corporate events. Now, Nardini is in the process of rebranding the division to focus entirely on weddings, her greatest passion regarding flowers.

Nardini has grown a following on TikTok. She’s most popular for her vlogstyle “day in my life as a florist” videos.

She shares videos of herself driving boxes H I S T O R I C A L LY, F L O W E R S

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KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

of flowers around the city and setting up beautiful arrangements and also gives a glimpse into her life as a young person living downtown. From building a bouquet to documenting her nightlife in the city, Nardini is truly the flower girl of Kansas City.

What is the reason behind the emerging obsession with autumn floral arrangements? Fall weddings.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, wedding planning was one of several industries to take a punch. With several of those spring and summer weddings canceled or postponed, it seems the desirability of getting married during that time of year declined as well.

Wedding planners are finally starting to regularly book events again, and their most popular season isn’t spring or summer—it’s fall.

“Usually it’s spring, but fall is completely booked,” Nardini says.

“Everyone wants a fall wedding, which I understand because the color scheme is really pretty, the warm tones.”

Fall is the new wedding season, Nardini says, whether the color palette matches classic autumn reds, yellows and oranges or leans into a more sleek black-and-white look.

Another surprising floral trend resurfacing: The return of baby’s breath. Nardini says that she, like most florists, can’t stand the dainty filler flower, but it has been a popular request throughout the summer season, and she doesn’t see that changing. Nardini says she is warming up to the approaching trendiness of baby’s breath. “I recently did a wedding and it was just completely baby’s breath with white roses,” she says. “It was actually very pretty and modern.”

Nardini offers some tips about how to create the perfect arrangement on your own. “It’s all about the prep work,” she says.

Begin by stripping the stems of all additional leaves, especially toward the bottom—this creates a more elegant look. Next, cut the stems to the desired length. A common mistake, Nardini says, is cutting the stems too short. Ideally, a great arrangement has a variety of flowers at a variety of lengths.

When picking out flowers, Nardini recommends getting a big flower, a couple of accent flowers and a filler. The biggest flower is usually something popular like a rose or peony. The accent flowers should be smaller. The filler, often baby’s breath, is used to fill in the gaps.

As we move into September, with autumn air nearly in reach, think about adding a floral arrangement as your centerpiece. With new trends like fall palettes and baby’s breath emerging, there’s an easy blueprint to follow. If you can’t seem to figure it out, you can always hop over to Nardini’s TikTok (@lex.n.lilacs) for some floral inspo.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATALIE DERKS

S WAY T R EN D

SEPTEMBER 24–OCTOBER 2

Bad girls make good opera.

One of the most popular operas of all time.

Join us for our 2022–2023 Season!

Tickets start at just $25. kcopera.org

| (816) 471-7344

The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts KANSASCITYMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2022 37

S WAY HOM E

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KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

WIDE OPEN SPACES Three local home design projects by Mid-West & Co. that feature ‘great rooms’—trendy combinations of kitchen spaces and living rooms

BY DAW N YA B A R T S C H | L AU R A F O OT E P H OTO G R A P H Y

F

OR

DESIGNING

DUO

JANNA

COGLIZER

and Megan Shepherd, the Covid lockdown was a defining moment. Stuck at home, these corporate world co-workers and good friends concluded it was time to recalibrate.

“Covid was a reset for both of us,” Coglizer says. Working from home without the office buzz, Coglizer was left with just her work and the realization that it was the people she worked with who made her professional work life interesting. She thought, ‘This is what I do?’ Coglizer wanted to do work that she felt more passionate about.

Her longtime friend Shepherd, who worked for the same software technology company as Coglizer, came to a similar conclusion: “Life is very short, and how are we spending our time? Does this bring us joy?” Shepherd’s job in the corporate world wasn’t doing it for her, either.

Shepherd and Coglizer had been remodeling and designing spaces on the side. Finally, they decided to follow their passion for design and build a business with one mission in mind: Love your home. That’s how their design business Mid-West & Co. was born.

“How we spend our time is very important; our homes are very important,” says Shepherd, who describes their style as a combination of mid-century modern, Western and Southwestern styles.

Their objective is to incorporate these ideals into all their designs, and that most often starts with a combination kitchen and living space or “great room.” This trend of kitchens and living areas melding into one vast space without walls, where families cook, entertain and work together, continues to gain in popularity.

“The great room is the heart of the home,” Shepherd says.

“It serves as more than just a living room or formal sitting room.

Our goal is to create a cozy yet functional space that the entire family can enjoy together.”

And that’s exactly what Mid-West & Co. is doing.

KANSASCITYMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2022

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1

1

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KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

1 THE MCKENZIE HOUSE Jennifer and Nick McKenzie, who have three young children, bought their 1990s Overland Park home just over a year and a half ago. It needed to be not only updated but also transformed into a space where the McKenzies could comfortably live their daily lives and entertain.

Coglizer and Shepherd came in and completely gutted the space, altering the layout to fit the family’s needs.

“It’s a traditional house and they were able to update the space, give it a modern edge, but still have it blend with the rest of the house,” Jennifer says.

The light fixtures and hardware, for instance, are trendy yet classic, fitting with other traditional elements in the home.

For the kitchen island, Coglizer and Shepherd designed a half-octagon shape rather than the ubiquitous rectangle, creating additional usable counter space and making it easy to work in the kitchen, keep an eye on kids and socialize all at the same time.

The McKenzie’s kitchen and great room are a mix of down-home comforts, such as raw wood beams, Windsor spindle dining chairs, glam touches of shiny brass drawer pulls and a gold sunburst mirror above the fireplace.

The built-in bar that sits in between the kitchen and living area is stained a warm brown color, mimicking that of the island but serving as a contrast with the white kitchen cabinets.

The backsplash was created using white and gold tiles, giving the bar area an adult, sophisticated feel even with kids playing nearby.

2

KANSASCITYMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2022

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S WAY HOM E

2

2 THE COULTER HOUSE Although a very beautiful, traditional Leawood home, Kerry and Whitney Coulter didn’t feel like their home quite reflected their style, says Shepherd, who grew up with Kerry.

“It didn’t feel like home to them,” Coglizer says.

Coglizer and Shepherd were able to update the space without changing the footprint of the kitchen and great room. They gave it a more modern color scheme by trading out countertops, tile, fixtures and other hardware throughout the space.

“Several of our choices in this house were bold and unique but not too dramatic—we wanted to make sure it went well with the rest of the house,” Coglizer says, referring to the sage color used for the island and ceiling in the eating nook.

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KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

Originally, the cabinets framing the oven hood had glass doors. Coglizer and Shepherd replaced the doors with a custom-made brass mesh grill, which still allows a peek inside yet updates the look with something both unique and traditional.

Handmade and hand-painted white tiles from Spain were chosen for the backsplash.

“The tiles aren’t perfect, and they add a lot of texture,” Coglizer says. “They’re very special.”

Always looking to add personal touches to their projects, Coglizer and Shepherd surprised the homeowners with a custom oil painting of a Midwest landscape by Brianna George of Studio St. George. George is a childhood friend of Kerry who grew up in Kansas City but now resides in London.

Right now it’s proudly displayed in the kitchen above the range.

3 THE BOAN HOUSE One of Whitney Boan’s favorite things in her Mid-West & Co.-designed great room is her boucle upholstered chair.

“It’s like a big teddy bear,” she says. “Every morning I have my coffee there.”

Whitney and Brad Boan built their home in Olathe from the ground up. The process was a bit overwhelming, which is why they decided to enlist the help of Coglizer and Shepherd.

“We have kids, and [Coglizer and Shepherd] helped us pick out things that they really can’t destroy,” Whitney says. They even kid-proofed her white Crate and Barrel sofa, which was upholstered in a performance fabric.

“It’s not as scary as it sounds,” Whitney says. “Red wine was spilled on it, my daughter got chocolate on it, I have two dogs—it’s all come off.”

The Boans were excited about the personal touches that Coglizer and Shepherd sprinkled throughout their large living space, including a small sculpture of a golf ball, a nod to Brad’s hobby, and books on gardening and flowers, one of Whitney’s passions. She owns a floral business called Adorn Floral Design.

Several of the landscapes in the Boan home were done by local artist Katie Mulder of Katie Mulder Creative and framed in vintage frames found by Coglizer and Shepherd on one of their antiquing adventures.

3

3

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CUTEST IN KC!

PRESENTED BY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENNIFER STARR, FIX YOUR IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHY | FIXYOURIMAGES.COM

ZIWI PETS

CUTEST IN KC!

PET CONTEST

W

e’ve spent the summer searching for the cutest pet in the Kansas City metro area and we’ve finally crowned a winner.

After more than 750 entries and a month-long voting process, our readers have named “Otis”, the cutest in KC. He was chosen from among ten finalists and is featured here alongside the other notable “cuties”.

Otis receives a prize package of premium dog food and chews from Ziwi Pets and a 3-night stay in Kansas City’s newest luxury pet hotel, K9 Resorts, which is fit for a king. Congratulations Otis!

44

KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

W IN N ER

OTIS MEET OTIS “He is 50% Pomeranian, 50% Shih Tzu and 100% cute”, says owner, Samantha Blair.

She also describes him as “a well- traveled little guy”, having been to 10 states and flown more than 5 times.

Otis is 6 years young and always has a smile on his face, according to Samantha.

NER

UP

I G G I B RU N

FINALISTS

E

OTIS

BIGGIE

BISCOTTI

GEORGIA LYNN

JAX

JETER

MEET BIGGIE This is biggie! He is a few months old, and his full name is Big Kitty. He was named after the owner’s boyfriend’s cat passed away, who was named Little Kitty. Biggie is honoring his legacy! He is a golden tabby kitten, which doesn’t refer to his breed, but rather the coat pattern he exhibits.

WINNER’S PRIZE PACK

$500 in Pet Food courtesy of ZIWI Pets

3-Night Stay in a Luxury Pet Hotel provided by K9 Resorts, valued at $300

CHECK OUT THE WINNING IMAGE AT KCMAG.COM/PETCONTEST

JOEY

NUTMEG

OSCAR & GEORGIA

SUSIE Q

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

KANSASCITYMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2022

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

2022

1

Fall in KC Fall is right around the corner and that means it’s the time of year for festivals and events around the region. There are a wide variety of events that celebrate this time of year, so you can get out and enjoy the season! We’ve highlighted a few of the September festivities, but there is something going on throughout the Fall months for everyone to enjoy.

2

Cinder Block Brewery If you’re looking for more than a weekend of fall entertainment, join Cinder Block Brewery for their weeklong, 9th anniversary celebration. Stop in for daily promotions, events, live music and beer releases. From some of the finest handcrafted beers in KC to a variety of ciders and spritzers, you won’t want to miss out on the biggest party of the month during celebration week at Cinder Block. September 25–30.

Visit cinderblockbrewery.com for additional details.

Location: 110 E. 18th Ave., N. Kansas City, MO 816.298.6555 | cinderblockbrewery.com @cinderblockbrew

Overland Park Fall Festival Returning for 2022, the Overland Park Fall Festival is one of the most highly anticipated city traditions drawing tens of thousands to the historic downtown Overland Park district.

The annual event features the finest fare from resident restaurants and dozens of food trucks and vendors.

There will be the ever-popular farmer’s market with loads of fresh produce, locally crafted food products and all of your farm-to-table favorites. The celebration is only made more festive with live music performances from Kansas City’s favorite local bands playing throughout the day while shoppers browse the beautiful wares of more than 50 local and regional artisans, makers and creators.

Free for visitors of all ages, you should plan to stay and play all day as entertainment designed to engage our youngest citizens and the young at heart are scheduled throughout the day.

Location: 7935 Santa Fe Drive, Overland Park SAT (9/23): 5PM–8PM, SUN (9/24): 8AM–5PM

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KANSAS CITY SEPTEMBER 2022

3 Greek Food Festival The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church presents the 60th Annual Greek Festival! You’ll experience authentic Greek food and pastries, live Greek music and dancing, along with church tours and Saturday night Vespers. Free admission and free parking. Come join all of your friends at the Greek Fest September 9th, 10th, and 11th. OPA! For more information, visit www.greekfoodfest.org

Location: 120th & Wornall, Kansas City, MO www.greekfoodfest.org | @KCGreekFoodFest

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KANSAS CITY

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down home 12

Small Towns Around KC to Visit This Fall WORDS: MARTIN CIZMAR, MARY HENN, MOLLY HIGGINS, KIM HORGAN PHOTOGRAPHY: CALEB CONDIT & REBECCA NORDEN

Autumn is the best time of the year here in the lower Midwest, where the days stay warm almost into November and the nights start getting a little crisp. Make time for a short weekend trip, somewhere life moves a little slower. Here’s our guide to a dozen cute small towns within a short drive of KC that are rich in history and charm and have just enough—but not too much—to keep you entertained.

Weston Hospitality W E S TO N , M O . | P O P U L AT I O N 1 , 7 5 9

H

AVE YOU BEEN LOOKING FOR BIGFOOT?

KANSAS CITY

If the answer is yes, Weston leads a massive Bigfoot Search in April.

And if you’re not interested in that, the small Missouri town hosts plenty of other festivals and events throughout the year, including its renowned Applefest in October.

You’ll find the inviting town about forty minutes outside of downtown Kansas City.

It’s one of the best small towns in Missouri, with the Historic Weston Orchard and Vineyard (18545 Co. Road H), Snow Creek (1 Snow Creek Drive) and Weston Bend State Park (16600 MO-45) all within its borders.

Where else in Missouri can you find snow skiing? Snow Creek has over sixty snowmaking machines, and its entire terrain can be covered in just seventy-two hours when temps are cold enough.

Weston was first settled in 1837 by two soldiers from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. By the next year, 1838, one of the town’s first entrepreneurs, Ben Holladay, had arrived. He built a small tavern that laid the foundation for Holladay Distillery.

Holladay Distillery (1 McCormick Lane) is the oldest distillery in the state, remaining American-owned throughout its entire one hundred sixty-six years of existence. Today, Holladay Distillery is the house distillery for McCormick, which distributes liquor nationwide and internationally to over seventy countries.

Liquor isn’t the only business upon which the town of Weston was built. Its original settlers’ main source of income was tobacco farming. As early as 1840, tobacco was farmed and shipped out of Weston to St. Louis and Cincinnati by steamboat. Tobacco is still cultivated in the area—Weston Tobacco (357 Main St.) sells handmade cigars and hosts an annual tobacco festival.

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Just off Main Street, you’ll find Pirtle Winery (502 Spring St.), a winery in an old church building built by German immigrants in the late 1800s. Back on the main strip, the street is lined with niche boutiques like the Celtic Ranch (404 Main St.), where you’ll find a newly-renovated whiskey snug upstairs. With over eleven hundred domestic and international whiskeys, The Whiskey Snug & Gin Joint claims the largest selection of Irish whiskey, single malt scotch and unusual bourbons and ryes in the Midwest. You can enjoy tastings and curated whiskey flights in the snug, and you can buy bottles to take home. We recommend letting a whiskey ambassador guide you through your experience.

If the whiskey has you hankering for a second dose of Irish culture, Weston is home to O’Malley’s Pub (540 Welt St.), located in three vaulted limestone cellars of Weston Brewing Company. The pub hosts nationally famous Irish entertainers on the reg—that, coupled with the snugs in the top cellar and the bottom cellar fifty-five feet below ground, transports you from Missouri to Ireland in seconds.

—Mary Henn

Cute For Sale Buy your own tiny Missouri town.

DRIVE TIME

R I G H T : O ’ M A L L E Y ’ S P U B B Y K AT I E C U R R I D

A B O V E : D O W N TO W N W E S TO N B Y C A L E B C O N D I T A N D R E B E C CA N O R D E N

45 min.

Want to own a cute small town of your very own? In central Missouri, you can do that for the price of a nice suburban home. A twenty-acre nineteenth century-style theme park near Warsaw is up for sale, and it could be yours for only $295,000.

The bizarre pioneer-era tourist attraction started out as a boyhood dream for Marion Shipman when he was six years old and visited Silver Dollar City in Branson for the first time.

After his family purchased this large plot of land (24025 Cumberland Gap Ave.) in 1966, they began building a small antique town that included a jail, blacksmith shop, schoolhouse, general store, post office and tavern.

The Shipman family purchased and made old furniture, tools and products like dolls and quilts to complete the vintage feel of the town.

The tiny schoolhouse is still an echo of the past, with several wooden desks, a large chalkboard, a wood-burning heater, lanterns hanging from the ceiling and a hanged, framed portrait of then-president Abraham Lincoln.

Twenty separate structures were erected on the property, including two authentic cabins from the 1830s. An eight-hundred-square-foot, one-bedroom and one-bathroom log cabin is the only livable structure at the park. This is where the current owner is living until the property sells.

After opening in 1979, in its heyday, the tourist attraction cost three dollars for a ticket and held festivals in the fall that drew sizable crowds. Dwindling interest and costly upkeep caused the park to close in 1995.

Now, virtually untouched since its closing nearly three decades ago, skeletons of wagon carts punctuate the expanse of land that is far from being used to its full potential. Without sidewalks or roads, the land has been overtaken with varying levels of tall grass, fallen trees and brush that prohibit easy transportation.

However, current owner Shipman is hopeful that someone else will come along who is ready to invest in his pioneer-life passion project. —Molly Higgins

Arrow To Cross

DRIVE TIME

2 hours

A R R O W R O C K , M O . | P O P U L AT I O N 3 7

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P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y K I M H O R G A N

A

RROW ROCK was founded in 1829 on the bluff above a ferry crossing at the intersection of the Missouri River and the Santa Fe Trail. There’s so much history there that in 1963, the entire town was designated a National Historic Landmark.

When the Civil War began, Arrow Rock reached its peak population of a thousand people. To get a feel for the history of that time, take a stroll through the streets of this now-quiet little village lined with historical buildings. Markers are in place detailing information about each site. A visitor’s center museum features exhibits that explain how Arrow Rock played a role in westward expansion, state commerce, slavery and the Civil War. Explore the old courthouse, the stone jail and the home of artist George Caleb Bingham.

Stop for lunch at Catalpa (302 Main St.), a surprisingly modern restaurant with chef-made hamburgers, pizza and cocktails. The food is delicious and the decor is cool and contemporary, but the gold toilet in an Instagram-worthy bathroom is the talk of the town.

After lunch, peruse the antique shops. Arrow Rock Antiques and Mercantile (314 Main St.) features antiques, pottery, unique gifts and jewelry. Stop in to The Badger’s Hideaway (306 Main St.) for a homemade ice cream cone. The Arrow Rock Mud is one of their most popular flavors—caramel with a muddy fudge layer. Need a handcrafted powder horn? You can pick one up at Thunder Lodge Trading Company (212 High St.).

Plan your visit around a show at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre (114 High St.), housed in an old church. The Lyceum started in 1961 and continues to entertain audiences with Broadway-caliber productions by professional theater artists from around the country. Your trip wouldn’t be complete without a stop across town at the J. Huston Tavern (305 Main St.) for dinner. The Tavern was established in 1834 for travelers along the Santa Fe Trail to stop and get a meal, and it has been in business ever since.

It claims to be the oldest continuously serving restaurant west of the Mississippi River.

You won’t find a hotel chain in Arrow Rock, but you will find some charming Airbnb rentals, like the Latch House and The Lindsey House. For an old-fashioned inn experience, but with modern amenities, try the Flint Creek Inn (507 Seventh St.). If you prefer the outdoors, Arrow Rock State Historic Site (39521 Visitor Center Drive) has camping areas for both tents and RVs. —Kim Horgan

A B O V E : T H E B AT H R O O M AT C ATA L PA B E L O W : A R R O W R O C K LYC E U M T H E AT R E

Match the Courthouse Test your knowledge of these Kansas and Missouri courthouses.

1 A

Marshall County Courthouse MARYSVILLE, K AN.

2 B

Jasper County Courthouse CARTHAGE , MO.

3 C

Gasconade County Courthouse HERMANN, MO.

4 D

Chase County Courthouse COTTONWOOD FALLS, K AN.

5 E

Woodson County Courthouse MARSHALL , MO.

6 F

Saline County Courthouse MARSHALL , MO.

A Fine Collection R O C H E P O R T, M O . | P O P U L AT I O N 2 2 6

S

INCE BEFORE COLONIZATION, Rocheport, Missouri, has been a great stopping point due to its location on the north bank of the Missouri River.

Early residents came from the East and reproduced the simple, classical architecture they knew well. Those buildings are what give Rocheport its charm today. The town, with a population of just over two hundred people, has eighty historically significant buildings dating from the first quarter of the nineteenth century. In this small area, you will find antique shops, cafes and businesses.

A great place to start your visit is the Art & Antiques and Blacksmith Shop (605 Third St.), located in a pre-Civil War house where you can find original art, antiques, a working blacksmith shop, estate jewelry and gifts. Then walk on over to Southern Provisions (204 Second St.) for everything from home goods and textiles to cigars.

Rocheport is a beloved stop on the Katy Trail, which carries cyclists across Missouri. After shopping, stop in for lunch at the Meriwether Cafe and Bike Shop (700 First St.). You can sit outside at one of the many tables topped with colorful umbrellas. After you eat, rent a bike and head out for a spin. The cafe is just steps from the Katy, and the crushed limestone trail takes you along the river and under a canopy of trees. You can head east and ride along the steep bluffs or go west through the picturesque old railroad tunnel.

Post-bike ride, head to Les Bourgeois Vineyards and Blufftop Bistro (14020 W. Hwy BB) for dinner at the full-service restaurant with indoor or outdoor dining. Plan to be there early in the evening so you can enjoy a glass of award-winning wine while watching the sunset on the river. For a more casual experience, try their A-Frame Winegarden.

There are several quaint places to stay in Rocheport. If you are on a cycling trip, we like the Katy Trail B & B (101 Lewis St.), an affordable option located right on the trail with a stocked kitchen to make your own breakfast. If you prefer a more traditional B&B experience, try the School House Bed and Breakfast (504 Third St.) situated in a wonderfully restored three-story brick building that originally served as Rocheport’s public school. —Kim Horgan ART OFF THE TRAIL, 203 CENTRAL, ROCHEPORT

DRIVE TIME

2 hours

ANSWERS:

A2, B4, C3, D1, E6 , F5

DRIVE TIME

3 hours

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Small and Swedish L I N D S B O R G , K A N . | P O P U L AT I O N 3 , 2 9 4

L

INDSBORG, KANSAS, was settled by a group of Swedish immigrants in 1869 and has since become known as Little Sweden. This gem is located in McPherson County, just three hours from Kansas City.

The buildings in downtown Lindsborg date to the late 1800s—stick close to the square for the cute shops, delicious restaurants and charming Dala horse sculptures.

The Swedish flag also flies on street corners and in front of many businesses.

Start your day by fueling up with coffee and a house-made pastry at Blacksmith Coffee Shop & Roastery (122 N. Main St.), located in an old blacksmith shop. The historic building still houses the original forge and anvil, along with an antique lumber wagon turned into an espresso bar.

Just across the street, you will find the wonderful shop Hemslojd Swedish Gifts (201 N. Main St.). They sell custom handmade clothing, Swedish food, books, music, and Dala horses just like the ones you’ll see all over town.

Peruse a few local galleries, like Small World Gallery (127 N. Main St.), featuring the stunning photography of Jim Richardson and the handmade jewelry of Kathy Richardson.

Walk a few blocks to the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery (401 N. First St.), a gallery dedicated to the work of artist Birger Sandzén, a Swedish painter and printmaker who taught for years at Bethany College in Lindsborg.

Grab a bite and a beer at Öl Stuga (Ale House) tavern (119 S. Main St.). Two things to know about Öl Stuga: First, Mikhail Gorbachev stopped in at Öl Stuga for drinks while visiting Lindsborg to deliver a speech at Bethany College in 2005.

Second, their famous Brent Nelson sandwich was featured on Good Morning America.

Satisfy your sweet tooth with Swedish pancakes smothered in whipped cream, lingonberries and syrup at The White Peacock (124 S. Main St.), a cozy little coffee shop that serves breakfast and lunch.

FA R L E F T : H E M S LO J D SWEDISH GIFTS A B OV E : ROSBERG HOUSE BED & B R E A K FA S T

Make sure to pencil in time to take in the gorgeous view at Coronado Heights, a stone castle overlook built during the Great Depression and named for the explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. A ten-minute drive from town, it’s a favorite spot to gather with friends and picnic at sunset.

Lindsborg is a relatively quiet town, but crowds gather for festivals. They have a Midsummer’s Festival that takes place in late June that features Swedish food, music, dancing and the raising of the Midsommarstång (Midsummer Pole.)

The largest festival, Svensk Hyllningsfest, is held every two years and honors the Swedish immigrants who first settled the town in 1869. It features art and crafts, ethnic music, a parade and, of course, an authentic Swedish Smörgåsbord with six thousand meatballs.

In December, the St. Lucia Festival, a favorite Swedish holiday tradition, celebrates the legend of Lucia, the Patron Saint of Light.

While nothing can replace the excitement of Lindsborg during a festival, this small Kansas town delivers a big dose of charm any time of year.

Stay at the Rosberg House Bed & Breakfast (103 E. State St.), a charming Queen Anne Victorian home just steps away from downtown Lindsborg with a large front porch and beautiful gardens.

—Kim Horgan

West of Philadelphia H E R M A N N , M O . | P O P U L AT I O N 2 , 3 7 5

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P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y K I M H O R G A N

C

DRIVE TIME

coun3 hours try has its appeal, but have you seen the traffic? For a more low-key, relaxing wine weekend, head to Hermann.

In 1836, the German Settlement Society of Philadelphia formed.

Its purpose was to establish a colony where German language and customs could be preserved. Settled in 1837, Hermann was chosen for its luscious green scenery and rolling hills reminiscent of the Rhine River Valley.

This river town is steeped in character and surrounded by wineries, many of which have been in the area since the town was established. After a pause for Prohibition, the wine industry resumed in Hermann and continues to grow. The downtown area is filled with nineteenth century brick buildings. You’ll find restaurants, antique shops and coffee shops, as well as a vending machine stocked with meat.

Start your Hermann trip with a wine tasting. Stone Hill Winery (1110 Stone Hill Highway) is our favorite. Established in 1847, Stone Hill was at one point the second biggest winery in the United States. It shut down during Prohibition and became a mushroom growing facility (supplying shrooms to Campbell’s Soup) before reopening. Take the winery tour—it’s free and full of fascinating history. Then head to the tasting room and try some of their award-winning pours. We like the Ozark Hellbender.

If you want a break from wine, try the Tin Mill Brewing Co. (114 Gutenberg St.) in downtown Hermann, where the beers are made in accordance with the German Purity Law of 1516, meaning they include only the traditional ingredients of water, hops and barley. They have twenty taps, four year-round stalwarts and the rest rotating.

When planning your Hermann visit, keep in mind that Their outdoor seating area is perfect for a crisp fall day.

Oktoberfest is the busiest time of the year, with activities For lunch, walk over to The Concert Hall and Barrel and celebrations all month. You’ll need to plan ahead to Tavern (206 E. First St.). They have a comfortable, welget accommodations. Don’t feel like driving? Amtrak will coming vibe and a wonderful flat crust pizza. Built in drop you just steps from downtown. Want to get outside 1878, the Concert Hall claims to be the oldest continually between wine tastings and beer flights? Bring your bike. operating tavern west of the Mississippi.

The Katy Trail is just a mile north of town.

If you’d like to go a bit more upscale, check out Fernweh Book a room at the Vinchester Inn (vinchesterinn.com) Distilling Co. (4 Shiller St.), a small-batch distillery with for its prime location and homey, hip charm. Bring a bota beautiful bar and restaurant. The spinach artichoke dip tle back to your bistro table for two—they even supply a is house-made, whipped and indescribably wonderful. wine opener and glasses. —Kim Horgan ALIFORNIA WINE

GUIDED TOUR

Springdale

P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y K E N S TA F F O R D

A R K . | P O P U L AT I O N 8 0 , 4 3 3

ROOTS: The town was known as Shiloh originally before incorporating as Springdale in 1878. The region was once famous for its many apple orchards.

Today, Springdale is home to the world headquarters of Tyson Foods, the nation’s premier producer of protein.

Springdale is also home to one of the largest Hispanic populations in the state and the largest population of Marshall Islanders in the world outside of the Marshall Islands. The influx of Marshallese to the area has helped fuel Springdale’s economic growth. The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale is a wonderful resource for learning about the history of the area.

POINTS OF PRIDE: Springdale residents are typically proud of what they refer to as their “can-do attitude.” Springdale is one of the state’s top job-producing cities, and it’s blessed with a diverse economy. Taxpayers have consistently approved bond issues to fund municipal infrastructure and quality of life. Home to the state’s largest and most innovative school district, with more than fifty different languages spoken in students’ homes, the state’s fourth-largest city stands strong in a region known for entrepreneurial success.

DON’T MISS: Springdale is the home of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals minor league baseball team, the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

Cycling is big in Northwest Arkansas, and Springdale is no exception. For mountain bike enthusiasts, Fitzgerald Mountain trail, known as The Best Trail Ever, is a big draw. For more casual riders, the forty-mile Razorback Greenway paved trail runs through the heart of Springdale. The Arkansas & Missouri Railroad is a historic railroad based in Springdale that offers excursion rides through the Boston Mountains on restored train cars.

EAT UP: Springdale has a thriving culinary scene, with both new and staple restaurants that have been making great food for generations. To name just a few: Na’guara (a Venezuelan food truck), Taquería don Güero, AQ Chicken House and Big Sexy Food. —Wesley Oliver, Springdale Chamber of Commerce

Chasing Waterfalls

DRIVE TIME

2 hours

C OT TO N W O O D FA L L S , K A N . | P O P U L AT I O N 8 1 7

A

BOUT TWENTY MILES WEST of Emporia, in the scenic Flint Hills, lies Cottonwood Falls. Fewer than a thousand people live in the small town, which was first settled as a cattle ranch along Cottonwood River in 1854. By 1872, the Chase County Courthouse (300 Pearl St.) that sits at the head of Broadway Street was built. Broadway is just short of three blocks and home to art galleries, boutiques, antique shops and a few bars. The street is still cobblestoned, and at the opposite end of the courthouse is the historic Cottonwood River Bridge (108 Broadway St.), a stone bridge just two blocks from the Flint Hills Scenic Byway and one of the eight wonders of Kansas.

The courthouse is a French Renaissance-style building of limestone known for its distinctive red mansard roof. It’s also the oldest Kansas courthouse still in use. If you’re in Cottonwood Falls, touring the courthouse and climbing its three-story spiral staircase made from walnut trees from the Cottonwood River is a must.

Of the handful of businesses on Broadway, two are antique stores— Tallgrass Antiques (314 Broadway St.) and The Vintage Bulldog (315 Broadway St.). Tallgrass has larger antiques, like furniture, signs and light fixtures. The Vintage Bulldog has smaller knick knacks, including an impressive collection of vintage Pyrex and glassware.

In addition to a couple of art galleries, an ice cream shop and a coffee shop, there’s Doghouse Saloon (311 Broadway St.), a charming bar with brick walls and a tin ceiling. While the space became Doghouse Saloon in 2020, the historic building preserves the small-town bar charm, complete with billiards in the back.

If you want to know more about the area, the Chase County Historical Society & Museum (301 Broadway St.) is on the main strip, too. The museum and library are housed in two native limestone buildings and have local artifacts from the mid-19th century to the present. Like the rest of the quaint Cottonwood Falls, it provides a slice of preserved history. If you’re traveling west from Kansas City, Cottonwood Falls is a great spot to get out, stretch your legs, explore and take in views from the top of one of the greatest courthouses we’ve ever seen. —Mary Henn

Little Town on the Prairie

I

N BETWEEN TOPEKA AND WICH-

KANSAS CITY

ITA, among the open grasslands of Kansas, is Emporia, one of the bigger small towns on our list with a population of just over twenty-four thousand. Emporia was founded by five men from Lawrence in 1857 and was the first Prohibition town in the world—more than sixty years before the national booze ban. By the 1880s, two colleges had been established in the area. Today, Emporia State University is known for its Teachers College, and Emporia is still very much a college town.

There are a handful of local landmarks that have made it on the National Register of Historic Places, like the Granada Theater (807 Commercial St.) downtown, which was restored in the early 2000s as a concert venue and community space.

Just a few blocks from the theater, you’ll find Radius Brewing (610 Merchant St.), the town’s first brewery since prohibition. While Radius keeps some traditional brews on tap, they also experiment some with creations like their Chile Margarita Gose. They also have a full food menu and a happy hour with prices that remind you just how far outside Kansas City you are.

DRIVE TIME If you’re looking for something a little stronger, 1.5 hours you can head just a mile south to Trolley House Distillery (502 S. Commercial St.), a moonshine distillery that opened during the pandemic. Trolley House makes six different flavors of moonshine, including butterscotch. They also offer moonshine cocktails—and trust us, one will do the trick.

Last but not least in the Emporia bar roundup is Mulready’s Pub (717 Commercial St.), a spot with classic college bar vibes. Mulready’s was recently dubbed the best bar in the Flint Hills, and it has the largest selection of craft beer in the area, with twenty-three taps. There’s also a beer garden in the back, perfect for sipping on a nice day or listening to the live music that comes through.

There is more to do in Emporia than drink, however. There are parks, like Peter Pan Park (425 S. Congress St.), which sits against the Cottonwood River. There are also small museums and historic sites, like the Historic Home of William Allen White (927 Exchange St.), a Pulitzer-winning journalist from Emporia.

Whatever you decide to do in Emporia, it’s worth a visit if you’re looking for a quick escape from city life, and there’s enough in Emporia to keep you busy for a few days. —Mary Henn

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RADIUS BRE WING BY JEFF GALLEMORE

E M P O R I A , K A N . | P O P U L AT I O N 2 4 , 6 3 1

GUIDED TOUR

Grand Lake O K . | P O P U L AT I O N 2 0 3

ROOTS: Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees started with the construction of the Pensacola Dam, a project of the Works Progress Administration that was completed in March 1940, creating the lake behind it. At five thousand six hundred feet long Pensacola Dam is claimed to be the longest multiple arch dam in the world. Locals lobbied for that dam for generations—eventually making their case directly to President Franklin Roosevelt, who was coming through on a train, by passing an ordinance that said “any train bearing the President of the United States” had to stop so the President could make a ten-minute appearance on the platform.” A crowd of five-thousand and a massive sign convinced him to pursue the project.

POINTS OF PRIDE: Grand Lake was the first large lake in Oklahoma and is still the state’s most popular. There are eleven major marinas, numerous smaller marinas and community docks, and more than six thousand private docks. Grand Lake is a mecca for boaters and is also one of the premier bass fishing lakes in the U.S. Anglers also flock to the lake for the huge catfish, hybrid stripers, crappies and bluegill.

The lake also has the distinction of being home to more prehistoric paddlefish than anywhere else in the world.

Grand Lake is a surprisingly short drive from the Kansas City area and offers a much less

Silver and Gold B R A N S O N , M O . | P O P U L AT I O N 1 1 , 5 2 6

I

N SOME WAYS, Branson is the opposite of what you picture when you think of a small town—the bright lights of the city’s showrooms draw tourists from all over the world to the Ozark Mountains.

But despite the resorts, racetracks and roller coasters, Branson remains a small town, with twelve thousand people and down-home charm bursting from between the cracks of the downtown strip. If it’s not a small town in a traditional sense, then it’s the theme park version, which suits us just fine.

Plan your trip to Branson around a stop at Silver Dollar City, which, since 1960, has sat on a peninsula jutting into Table Rock Lake. The park is situated on the area’s original tourism draw, a massive cave that had once been a lead mine. The park takes its theme from settler life in the years after the Civil War, with coasters like Powder Keg and Outlaw Run playing on the past. While the thrill rides are the main draw, Silver Dollar City puts more

effort into entertainment (live bluegrass) and ambiance (blacksmithing, a cow-milking display, Sunday services at an old Ozarks church) than most modern theme parks. For country music fans, September is an especially good time to visit, as the park’s amphitheater hosts a series of shows.

Branson has classic comfort food on nearly every corner—the gravy flows like water here—but being a big small town with lots of tourists, you’ve also got a half-dozen sushi restaurants to choose from. The bento boxes and rolls at Mitsu Neko Fusion Cuisine & Sushi (1819 W. 76 Country Blvd.) are low-key, inexpensive and a welcome break from fried chicken. You’re right next door to Billy Bob’s Dairyland (1829 W. 76 Country Blvd.), a legendary cash-only local diner with killer banana splits.

The other can’t-miss activity in Branson is go-karting—a way of life in these hills. The Track Family Fun Parks (bransontracks.com) operates fourteen different tracks up and down the strip in Branson, ranging from standard flat ovals to a wooden spiral that climbs four rickety stories before dumping you back down the hill.

When it comes to picking a place to stay in Branson, we recommend The Chateau on the Lake (chateauonthelake. com), which sits a little outside of town away from the hustle and bustle of the strip. The large resort hotel is perched on a hill overlooking Table Rock Lake and has its own marina and spa in addition to a pool that overlooks the lake.

—Martin Cizmar

congested lake than Missouri destinations.

It’s almost exactly three hours straight south on I-49.

DRIVE TIME

3 hours 15 min.

DON’T MISS: The lake and the establishments on it—many have their own docks.

Prior to construction of the Pensacola Dam creating Grand Lake, northeastern Oklahoma was a very poor area, with farming as virtually the only income opportunity.

Today, Grand Lake is widely referred to as “The Crown Jewel of Oklahoma,” offering virtually every imaginable option for dining, drinking, boating, swimming, camping, golf, pickleball, tennis, wake surfing and more.

EAT UP: Shangri-La is the top choice for lodging. The newly renovated Shangri-la Golf Club and Resort is situated on Monkey Island, an island within an inland, and includes a world-class golf course, marina and lots of ways to entertain the family.

Thousand Oaks Resort offers private cabins with hot tubs, fire pits, a swimming pool and outdoor activities. Pine Lodge Resort offers log cabins for around $150 per night.

Bernice State Park is known as the "crappie capital of the world.” It is also a popular campsite with primitive tent sites and RV hookups. —Mike Williams of Shangri-La T H E T R A C K FA M I LY F U N PA R K

Hills of Healing and Haunting E U R E K A S P R I N G S , A R K . | P O P U L AT I O N 2 , 3 9 7

CHARMS

OF

EUREKA

KANSAS CITY

start with the scenery: The Arkansas town lies in the mountains midway between the Natural States’ Boston and Ozark mountain ranges. Buildings are scattered along steep hillsides and nestled in the winding streets of the city, each one unusual and with different architectural influences. Streets were laid out following old pre-settlement paths, which followed the way of least resistance to the springs and remain winding and wonderfully loopy.

Many of the buildings are Victorian-era, brightly painted, surrounded by the beauty of the green, rolling hills. The town is steeped with the history of healing waters and haunted happenings but with a dose of religion sprinkled on top. You’ll see pride flags, biker bars and ghost tours all on the same block.

In the 1830s, visitors came seeking the healing powers of the natural spring waters, and the town springs became popular as a Victorian health resort.

The city was officially founded and named on July 4, 1879. As word of Eureka’s miraculous healing waters began to spread, thousands of visitors flocked to the area. Visitors still flock there today to shop the local businesses, ride the mountain bike trails, enjoy casual cafes and walk around the historic downtown.

Start your visit at Mud Street Cafe (22 S. Main St.). This cozy basement restaurant with stone walls filled with artwork serves breakfast and lunch. Try the Frisbee-sized pancakes and phenomenal cheese grits. Go early to avoid the lines.

After breakfast, wander and check out the shops and galleries. The downtown area has a huge variety of businesses including gift shops, clothing stores, a magic shop, jewelry and toy stores. You will undoubtedly find something that interests you. Be sure to stop in the Town Shop (9 Spring St.) for gifts, local handcrafted items, jewelry and pottery.

When walking around town, notice the unique artwork, like Humpty Dumpty sitting on a wall, and the architecture, like the Flatiron Building dividing Main and Spring streets. The entire downtown area is on the National Register of Historic Places. And don’t miss the famous rainbow staircase just off Center Street. You’ll want to go down to snap a photo looking up, so prepare your legs for a workout. Just across town, you’ll find the site of the Great Passion

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SEPTEMBER 2022

DRIVE TIME

4 hours

Play and one of the most famous area landmarks: Christ of the Ozarks, a sixty-five-foot-tall colossal statue of Jesus.

For dinner, be sure to try Ermilio’s Italian Home Cooking (26 White St.), authentic Italian food in a charming little house just a few blocks from downtown. They start with fresh-baked bread with butter and crushed roasted garlic. Order the stuffed mushroom appetizers. After that, you can’t go wrong with any item on the menu. They don’t take reservations, and it is typically busy.

Make time to drive just outside of town to see Thorncrown Chapel (12968 US-62), a beautiful glass and wood structure tucked into the trees. Designed by E. Fay Jones, the American Institute of Architects voted it one of the ten most important building designs of the twentieth century.

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ROOTS: Italian immigrants settled in the St. James area of the Meramec Highlands in the late 1800s. The railroad carried them to new and inexpensive land where the immigrants built a life and eventually began to use their agricultural knowledge to grow Concord grapes. Initially, these grapes were used predominantly for juice and jelly, but over two hundred wineries surrounded St. James by 1922. This community of winemakers helped make Missouri the second-largest wine-producing state in the U.S. until Prohibition wiped out the family wineries that had come to define the region. After Prohibition was repealed, the area was not home to any more wineries until the industry was revitalized when Jim and Pat Hofherr opened up St. James Winery in 1970.

POINTS OF PRIDE: People are always blown away by how St. James is a small town yet has everything from fine dining to beautiful hikes and crystal clear rivers. [At the winery], I’m most proud of our efforts to make our wine production and facilities sustainable. We’re a multi-generational business, and we do everything with the future generations in mind. We fine-tune our irrigation system and constantly monitor our soil moisture data to use less water while growing our grapes. We use the most efficient harvesting equipment available.

The big things make a difference, too, like the refrigeration system we installed to save energy while still meeting the needs of Missouri’s largest winery.

Eureka Springs offers plenty of outdoor opportunities as well. There are a variety of trails for mountain bikers of any experience level, from beginners looking for a scenic ride to avid cyclists looking for a challenging day on the bike. Lake Leatherwood Park has over twenty-five miles of hiking and biking trails surrounding the spring-fed lake.

Our favorite spot to stay is the 1886 Crescent Hotel (crescent-hotel. com). This historical hotel is surrounded by well-maintained gardens, features a spa, has the best view from the fourth-floor restaurant and bar and offers a ghost tour and a hotel cat. It’s not often you find that combination. —Kim Horgan

DON’T MISS: I absolutely love Meramec Spring Park. It is one of the largest springs in Missouri and is perfect for kids, families and dogs. There are places to hike around, and they also have several large events all throughout the year.

EAT UP: For fine dining opportunities, Sybill’s St. James cannot be beat. The food is always excellent, and they have the cutest gift shop with tons of unique items. —Brandon Hofherr of St. James Winery

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KANSAS IS DYING HOW FENTANYL IS PUSHING THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC INTO NEW, MORE DANGEROUS TERRITORY AND WHY KANSAS SAW THE NATION’S SECOND-HIGHEST INCREASE IN OVERDOSE DEATHS LAST YEAR

WORDS BY Mary Henn

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IT WAS THE MIDDLE OF LAST APRIL WHEN SHELBY WAHL WAS FOUND CURLED UP AT THE BOTTOM OF A LOCKED CLOSET IN A HOME THAT WASN’T HERS. She had been living with a man twice her age, the man who first introduced her to injecting heroin and fentanyl.

She had already overdosed twice the morning she was found and was revived both times with Narcan.

At that point, Wahl had just turned twenty-four. She grew up in Wyandotte County and moved to the Missouri side after the third grade. She graduated from Oak Park High School in 2014 and began working as a waitress. As she was on the cusp of turning twenty, she moved into her own apartment and had a daughter.

Local police had been searching for Wahl for some time when they entered the home to find burnt spoons, needles and heroin littering the floor. Wahl—tucked away in a closet—was the last to be seen as officers searched the back bedroom. After finding her, arresting officers handcuffed her and walked her out of the home. “When we got to the car, they asked me if I wanted help,” Wahl says.

“That’s all I’d ever wanted. All I ever wanted was help.” ast year, the state of Kansas saw the nation’s second-largest percentage increase in drug overdose deaths.

In 2020, there were four hundred and seventy-eight recorded drug overdose deaths in Kansas, and in 2021, six hundred and eighty. The CDC shows that overdose deaths in the state increased by forty-three percent last year alone. That spike is linked to the increase in fentanyl in the area.

While the Midwest’s fentanyl crisis is seeing a surge, America’s opioid epidemic at large is worse than ever before. In 2021, the nation logged a record-breaking 107,622 drug overdose deaths.

The evolution of the opioid crisis is often broken down into three categories: prescription pain pills, heroin and fentanyl. The U.S. witnessed a surge of overdose deaths from prescription drug abuse in the ’90s. By 2011, more than 115,000 Americans had died and many opioid users turned to heroin, a cheaper alternative to pills. Since 2013, fentanyl has overtaken prescription pills and heroin as the leading cause of overdose death among Americans.

Fentanyl is a synthetic and highly addictive opioid that is fifty times more potent than heroin. Experts say there’s no end to the crisis in sight as drug cartels continue to flood the country with shipments of fentanyl—often in the form of counterfeit pills made to look identical to prescription painkillers.

Two experts, Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz, Pulitzer-winning investigative reporters for The Washington Post, recently released American Cartel, a book exposing how some of the nation’s largest corporations created and perpetuated the initial phase of the nation’s opioid crisis in the ’90s. In recent interviews, Higham explains that the drug cartel has watched millions north of the border become addicted to opioids.

Because fentanyl is such a cheap and easy drug to manufacture and smuggle, it has created an enormous and highly profitable market for the cartels. s a teenager, Shelby Wahl suffered mild back pain from spinal stenosis, a condition that puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves. While pregnant, Wahl sustained a fall.

After giving birth, her back pain became increasingly worse.

When she sought treatment for her pain, she was given hydrocodone. She says her doctor did not give her any other treatment options. Typically, treatment for spinal stenosis involves physical therapy and sometimes surgery.

At first, Wahl says she was given a monthly prescription of one hundred and twenty tablets of ten-milligram hydrocodone. As she became dependent on the pills, her doctor increased the prescription to two hundred and forty tablets a month. At twenty-one years old, Wahl, a new mother, was prescribed and taking about eighty milligrams of hydrocodone daily. When the hydrocodone stopped cutting it, Wahl’s doctor prescribed her oxycodone on top of the hydrocodone.

“It got to the point where I was taking them throughout the day just to function,” Wahl says. “I took care of my child. I went to work, and she went to daycare. I made dinner and put my daughter’s dad’s lunch together before

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“IT GOT TO THE POINT WHERE I WAS TAKING THEM THROUGHOUT THE DAY JUST TO FUNCTION.”

he went to work. When I tried to stop taking the pills, I would go into withdrawal.”

Wahl was aware that she was developing an addiction. “I woke up one day and just didn’t want to do it anymore,” she says. “I didn’t want to take the pills.” But when she went to her doctor for help, he fired her as a patient. “He cut off all of my prescriptions and didn’t do anything to help me detox.

At that point, I was probably taking three hundred and fifty hydrocodone a month. My body went into shock.” year ago, on September 27, 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration in St. Louis released a public safety alert for the first time in six years. It warned against a sharp increase in fake prescription pills: “DEA warns that international and domestic criminal drug networks are flooding the United States with lethal counterfeit pills.”

The public safety alert noted that those pills, often made to look like hydrocodone and oxycodone, are “killing unsuspecting Americans at an unprecedented rate.”

In 2021, the DEA in St. Louis seized one hundred and seventy-nine kilograms of fentanyl, nearly as much as the previous two years combined, according to Todd Zimmerman, special agent in charge of the DEA St. Louis Division, which includes Missouri, Kansas and southern Illinois.

When asked why Kansas has seen such a sharp increase in overdose deaths related to fentanyl, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Rogeana Patterson-King says it’s

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because Kansas is “a trend shipment area and all of the major highways run through it.”

“We’ve seen that fentanyl and counterfeit pills are coming up through Kansas from Mexico, through El Paso and Houston,” Patterson-King says.

“They’re also trickling in from the Southwest and West Coast. Ultimately, with so much being transported through “ULTIMATELY, Kansas, drugs are being dropped off and distributed in this area.”

WITH SO MUCH BEING Patterson-King is the head of the TRANSPORTED Kansas City District Office, which is THROUGH part of the St. Louis Division of the KANSAS, DEA. She oversees DEA offices and DRUGS ARE activities in the state of Kansas. With BEING DROPPED more than twenty-three years of law OFF AND enforcement experience, she has DISTRIBUTED IN THIS AREA.” experience working on international conspiracy investigations targeting narcotics traffickers in Mexico, Pakistan, Canada, South America and the Eastern Caribbean. She has also engaged in multiple international and domestic undercover operations.

“We’re seeing it [fentanyl overdose] more and more among youth,” Patterson-King says. “High schoolers will think they’re taking an Adderall or something from a friend, but it’s actually a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl.”

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ooper Davis was just sixteen when he and three friends decided to split two Percocet tablets one Sunday afternoon last September.

The boys had traveled from Shawnee to Missouri to purchase the pills, which they believed to be thirty-milligram Percocets—commonly referred to as “Perc 30s”. While it’s unclear what form of communication was used to buy the pills that Sunday, it is known that two of the boys had prior contact with the same dealer via Snapchat.

“Each boy took half a pill, and three boys survived that day,” Cooper’s mother, Libby Davis, says. “Cooper did not.”

This time last year, Cooper had just started his junior year at Mill Valley High School. “He was independent and very outgoing,” his mother says. “He certainly lived life like he was invincible. There wasn’t much that scared him, and he would try anything. He was just that kid.”

Three things were present in Cooper’s toxicology report: caffeine, Narcan and fentanyl. There was no evidence of legitimate, pharmaceutical-grade Percocet. The other three boys had no reaction to the fake pills. Even the one who took the other half of the same pill Cooper consumed had no response.

None of the other boys required any medical attention.

The DEA uses the analogy of chocolate chip cookie batter to explain how one pill could have such dramatically different effects when taken. When making chocolate chip cookies, some of the cookies will end up with more chocolate chips than others.

“The cartels are not chemists, they’re not scientists, and there’s no quality control,” Libby says. “It only takes the

equivalent of a few grains of salt to be considered a lethal dose of fentanyl.

Those few grains of salt could be on one-quarter of a pill.”

Fentanyl is odorless and tasteless.

Without laboratory analysis, it’s impossible to tell whether a single pill has been contaminated with fentanyl, let alone how much of it.

Libby is a nurse and her husband, Randy Davis, Cooper’s father, is a nurse anesthetist. Both Libby and Randy have administered hospital-grade fentanyl throughout their careers. “My husband, ironically, provides fentanyl to his patients regularly because he’s an anesthetist,” Libby says. “In the hospital, fentanyl is administered in two forms, either as an IV or as a patch. There’s no such thing as a fentanyl pill in the medical world.”

“If you ask me, what happened to Cooper wasn’t an overdose,” Libby says. “These kids are being deceived to death. One Percocet wouldn’t have killed Cooper. Half a Percocet wouldn’t have touched him.

These kids are getting fentanyl in what they believe to be Xanax, for instance, and they’re taking it because they are struggling with anxiety and just want to relax.”

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hat happened to Copper Davis is not uncommon. Contaminated pills—Perc 30s specifically— have been killing people in the Kansas City area frequently in recent years.

Along with fake prescription pills, fentanyl is contaminating street drugs, too.

Those who are overprescribed opioids often turn to illicit drugs when they are cut off from their doctors, pharmacies and hospitals after becoming entirely dependent on prescription medications like oxycodone and hydrocodone.

When Shelby Wahl was cut off from her doctor without warning, she checked into a detox program at Research Medical Center, where she was given methadone. Methadone is a synthetic analgesic drug similar to morphine in its effects but longer-acting, and it’s often used in treating opioid addiction. Upon checking in, however, her daughter’s father called to tell her that he and her daughter would be gone if she stayed a week to detox.

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“THE CARTELS ARE NOT CHEMISTS, THEY’RE NOT SCIENTISTS, AND THERE’S NO QUALITY CONTROL.”

“I couldn’t stay there, not with the thought of losing my daughter,” Wahl says. “So the center gave me my first dose of methadone and sent me on my way. But I knew I still needed help. I wanted help.”

After that, Wahl found a methadone clinic. For the first sixty days of treatment, she would drive forty-five minutes each way daily to be administered methadone. After two months, she’d make visits every other day, and then eventually, she’d make monthly trips where she’d receive methadone to take at home. Wahl actively sought treatment at the clinic for almost two years while being completely sober from prescription pills.

“It was great,” she says. “I was doing really well. It was costly, though—it cost me around $100 each week.”

Near the end of those two years, Wahl and her daughter’s father split up, and a few months later, methadone treatment became unaffordable. “I couldn’t afford to go anymore,” she says. “If you don’t pay, they just stop giving you the medication.”

During the months in between, Wahl had an ulcer rupture through her intestine from years of taking pain pills. In severe pain from the ruptured ulcer, Wahl sought medical attention at two different hospitals but says she was denied treatment. The ruptured ulcer caused her to become septic, and she required emergency surgery at a third hospital that finally accepted her. She was there for a few weeks, and she was started on fentanyl.

“They [the medical staff] knew about my methadone treatment but refused to give me methadone while I was in the hospital,” Wahl says. “All they would give me is fentanyl.”

When Wahl was discharged from the hospital, she was given a new prescription of hydrocodone for post-surgery pain. She only had a hundred milligrams left of methadone. r. Daniel Warren, who runs a methadone clinic in Wichita, predicted this increase in fentanyl-related overdoses in the Midwest. Having completed a fellowship in addiction medicine in Portland, Oregon, he witnessed fentanyl become a burgeoning issue in western states before reaching the Midwest.

“Like anything else, fentanyl took longer to make its way to the Midwest,” Warren says. “Everywhere else, it was already exploding. I was here saying, ‘Something bad is going to happen.’ Then, it made its way to Kansas.”

About two and a half years ago, Warren started to see more positive test results for fentanyl at his clinic. He calls it a drug contamination crisis. “The amount of drug poisoning that’s happened because of fentanyl is remarkable,” he says, “and unfortunately, the drug treatment infrastructure in Kansas was not really prepared for that.

“You see these reports of high schoolers having overdosed,” Warren says. “Between 2019 and 2020, the number of fatal overdoses in Kansas for minors tripled.”

In 2021, drug overdose deaths increased again. In the first six months of 2021, at least three hundred and thirty-eight Kansas residents died of drug overdoses, according to data from the Kansas Department of Health. That number represents a fifty-four percent increase from the same

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“ECONOMICALLY, IT’S MORE PROFITABLE, AND THAT’S WHY IT’S BEING MIXED WITH ALL OF THESE OTHER SUBSTANCES.”

six-month period in 2020. Nationally, the number of overdose deaths increased by about fifteen percent from 2020 to 2021, according to data from the CDC. “I don’t think fentanyl is going to go away,” Warren says. “Economically, it’s more profitable, and that’s why it’s being mixed with all of these other substances.” ot long after having surgery, Shelby Wahl couldn’t afford to go to the methadone clinic for treatment anymore. During her stay in the hospital and just after, she wasn’t working—she wasn’t able to. She fell behind on payments at the clinic and couldn’t catch up.

When Wahl stopped taking methadone, she went into withdrawal. “People say coming down off methadone is worse than coming off heroin,” she says.

“I felt like my bones were breaking.”

That’s when two other patients from the clinic offered to help Wahl detox. She believed the two would share some of their methadone with her because she couldn’t afford her own prescription anymore. But what they gave her wasn’t methadone—it was heroin mixed with cocaine. By this point, Wahl's mother and grandmother had moved to Georgia. Her daughter’s father had taken their daughter and left.

“I had nobody,” Wahl says. “I didn’t know what to do. And the more I hurt, the more I started to use what I learned was heroin.”

Over the next few months, Wahl began stealing to support her addiction. She spent time in and out of jail, which eventually helped her get off of heroin for the time being. She also began making court appearances for her daughter to obtain visits. After a court hearing granting her daughter’s father custody, Wahl attempted to turn to the family she had left in the area and reached out to someone she says is like a stepmom to her.

“My stepmom said she’d take me to cheer me up after the court hearing,” Wahl says. “And I was devastated.” That’s when Wahl was introduced to meth and set up with a dealer who was twenty years older than her.

With no other place to go and out of work, Wahl moved in with the dealer.

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The seventh annual Faces of Kansas City focuses on the individuals and groups whose experience and expertise make them leaders in their fields. These professionals work diligently to provide the best service to the residents of our city. Get to know the faces behind the businesses that want to share their passion and commitment with you.

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Residential Development Rodrock Development Brian Rodrock Jeff Reglin Jeff Gifford 9550 DICE L A NE , L E NE X A , KS 91 3.681. 2 12 1 | RO D RO CK .CO M

A name synonymous with integrity in the Kansas City area for nearly 40 years, Rodrock is dedicated to helping families find a place to match their life and style. Brian Rodrock, Jeff Reglin and Jeff Gifford grew up and raised their families in Johnson County and contribute to the communities where they live, work and play. Rodrock’s breadth and depth of experience is thoughtfully and intentionally incorporated into the planning of its signature communities that are rich in amenities and embrace the best in family living. Rodrock is honored to have earned the trust of thousands of families with one of life’s most important decisions—where to call home.

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Leadership in Long Term Care Method Healthcare Betsy Reynolds, Director of Pharmacy Consulting, PharmD Rodney Whittington, CEO 1170 9 RO E AVE ., ST E D # 153

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Betsy Reynolds and Rodney Whittington are redefining what long term healthcare looks like for residents and patients by working closely with the facilities who care for them, by utilizing a combined 30 years of professional experience in the industry. Together, they are keenly tuned into the competitive marketplace, keeping up with challenging regulatory demands and optimizing operations for their communities. By bringing a wealth of insight and experience they offer optimal success to their long term care partners.

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Comprehensive Dentistry Kasiya Family & Cosmetic Dentistry 11538 W 119 T H ST. , OVE RL A ND PA RK , KS 9 13.9 40.35 8 5 K A SIYA D E NTA L .CO M

Every good relationship begins with a smile. Dr. Kasiya and Kasiya Dental uses cutting-edge technology including a 3-D scanner that shows patients the simulated outcome of their Invisalign treatment. They provide comprehensive and preventive dental services across all age groups.

Our friendly, compassionate and well-trained team will create a luxurious, personal and pleasant experience.

Our newest team member, Shasha, is a hypoallergenic goldendoodle emotional support dog that provides affection, comfort and support to patients. Follow Shasha’s adventures on her Instagram, @shasha_kasiya_dental_dog.

Dr. Kasiya earned her DDS at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry; CLS (Clinical Lab Scientist), IMMC, Des Moines, IA; and BA Medical Technology, Wartburg College, Waverly, IA. New patients of all ages are welcome. Weekend, early morning and evening appointments available. Like us on Facebook @KasiyaDental.

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You Move Me 9875 W IDM E R RD. , LENEXA, K A NSA S 913.70 8.8 744 YOUMOVEME .CO M

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Your Best Move Ever

When it comes to the best moving experience in the city, look no further than You Move Me Kansas City, a part of the Southwind family of businesses. You Move Me continues to revolutionize the moving industry. They completed over 7,600 moves in 2020 and continued to grow despite a global pandemic.

They work with HGTV Star and Kansas City’s own Tamara Day and have even moved local celebrities such as Travis Kelce. You Move Me continues to develop and train their people to become leaders and have already expanded into other territories outside of Kansas City.

Whether you’re moving across town or even across the country, You Move Me will make it your Best Move Ever!

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Pediatric Dentistry Michael LeBlanc, DDS LeBlanc Dentistry for Children K A NSA S CIT Y | O L AT HE OVE RL A ND PA RK | P RA IRIE VILL AG E 9 13. 38 7.350 0 | K ID S MIL E KC .CO M

Dr. Michael LeBlanc formed LeBlanc Dentistry for Children in 2005 to create the best dental experience for infants, children and adolescents, including those with special health care needs. Dr. LeBlanc and associates are board-certified pediatric dentists who provide a compassionate team of experts, professional dental cleanings and the best restorations for children, oral health education and a kidfriendly environment that will put your child at ease. Dr. LeBlanc completed his pediatric dental residency at Children’s Mercy Hospital and actively participates in dental educational research to continue to provide the highest level of dental care.

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Laser Vision Correction Durrie Vision William C. Cheek, OD Jason E. Stahl, MD Kelly F. Grosdidier, OD 8300 COLLEGE BVL D. SU IT E 2 0 1, OV ERL A ND PA RK , KS 9 13. 49 1. 3330 DURR IE VISIO N.CO M

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Durrie Vision is a refractive surgery center and research facility specializing in laser vision correction to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia. Offering the most advanced combination of diagnostic and treatment technology available, Durrie Vision is dedicated to delivering exceptional results through customized vision correction procedures, including SBK advanced LASIK, Phakic IOL, Refractive Lens Exchange and Refractive Cataract Surgery.

Why choose Durrie Vision?

• Phenomenal patient experience • World-class doctors • The best available technology When it comes to patient care, Durrie Vision pays attention to the little details that make a big difference. Visit www.durrievision.com to schedule your complimentary consultation.

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HVAC, Electric & Plumbing MVP Air Conditioning, Heating, Plumbing & Electric 9 851 WID ME R RD.,

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Whether you need your air conditioner or furnace fixed, light switches installed, or even your sewer repaired, you can trust the team at MVP! MVP is a part of the Southwind family of businesses and believes in doing things the right way, not the easy way. Since they joined Southwind in the fall of 2019, MVP has grown exponentially and even added a new plumbing department late last year. As a homeowner, you never know when you’ll have an emergency when it comes to your AC, heat, electrical or drains. But one thing you do know is that you can ALWAYS trust your MVP! Rated A+ by the Kansas City Better Business Bureau, your MVP comfort advisor is available 24/7 and works hard to assure you are satisfied!

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Insurance American Family Insurance Kimberly Hower, Agent 1 04 04 ME TCA L F AVE OV ERLAN D PA RK , KS 913. 6 49.2 0 0 2

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Kim Hower is the newest FACE of KC in insurance. Although she has been associated with American Family Insurance since 2012, she only recently became an agency owner in December, 2021. Her ten year career with the company has spanned from being a CSR/Marketer to corporate roles of management assistance and operations to her current role as an agency owner serving the Overland Park community.

Kim Hower & Associates LLC provides an extensive range of insurance products to help protect customers and help them feel safe and secure throughout their lives. From commercial and small business insurance to life, vehicle and property protection, her team is committed to delivering the very best in the services they provide, ensuring that clients are fully and appropriately protected.

Hower’s team philosophy is based on respecting and valuing all people and being good citizens in the communities they serve and living life adventurously.

They focus on diversity, realizing it takes people with different ideas, strengths, interests, and cultural backgrounds to make their company succeed. As the company leader, she fosters an environment in which employees can work hard, have fun, explore our world and be rewarded and contribute to their communities. Her goal is to attract top talent for the agency, so they can provide the best experience to clients with every interaction.

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Staffing Staffing Kansas City “PERSO NNE L S E RVICE S W ITH A PERSO NA L TO U CH ” 9930 CO L L EG E B LVD., OV E RL A ND PA RK , KS 9 13.6 6 3. 56 2 7

“Personnel Services with a Personal Touch!”

Staffing Kansas City sets itself apart as an employment partner.

They listen to and solve clients’ hiring challenges. The dynamic team has, collectively, over 90 years’ recruiting experience, placing Top Talent with 800+ companies.

Staffing Kansas City is independently owned & WBE Certified.

With hands-on owners and powerhouse recruiters, clients trust their office hiring needs are in good hands.

The Women of Staffing Kansas City are honored to be the faces of the staffing industry. They attribute their continued success to their drive and love for being a part of small business growth and employing 500+ people a year.

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PICTURED: Shelley Seibolt, President; Marie Phelan, Associate VP of Recruiting; Roses Ammon, Vice President; Ashley Gardner, Recruiter; Michelle Lee, Recruiter; Alex Gearin, Recruiter

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Sleep Medicine Maniza Ehtesham ExcellHealth Sleep Center 10 6 40 W 87 T H ST, OVE RL A ND PA RK , KS 9 13.2 0 3. 40 40 E XCE L L H E A LT H SL E E P.CO M

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Dr. Maniza Ehtesham is a board-certified sleep physician and the medical director at Excellhealth Sleep Center. She is an associate professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and enjoys teaching medical students and residents. She has also served as an associate residency program director at UMKC. She is currently a staff physician at Advent Health Shawnee Mission and Excellhealth Sleep Center. Excellhealth Sleep Center offers comprehensive sleep care services by board certified sleep specialists for patients in and around Johnson County and is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).

Excellhealth provides inpatient sleep consultations, as well as home sleep studies and in-lab sleep studies. If you or your partner has a problem with snoring, insomnia, sleep apnea or any other sleep related disorder, Excellhealth can treat it.

Every Minute Matters Know where to go in an emergency.

Your family’s health is your top priority. It’s ours, too. If you or a loved one are injured or experience chest pain, stroke symptoms or severe stomach discomfort, don’t hesitate.

You’ll find expert emergency physicians at the AdventHealth ER standing by to help you. When minutes matter most.

Four Locations in Johnson County

Prepare for emergencies by locating the ER nearest you at AdventHealthKC.com/ER.

E AT I N G A N D D R I N K I N G W E L L I N K A N S A S C I T Y

REAL BABA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

BABA OH REALLY

Baba ganoush is made from roasted eggplant, but it tends to be creamy and beige. The “real baba’’ at Hummus and Pita (8039 Santa Fe Drive, Overland Park) is a different beast altogether. It’s darker and chunkier, but it retains some of the purple fruit’s original form after being smoked, mashed and blended with pomegranate sauce, lemon, olive oil, walnuts and tomatoes. What’s different? “I made it,” says Dhiaa Eid, a Palestianian raised in Jordan who owns and operates this bustling Middle Eastern spot in the former Snack Shack. Gyros and shawarma are served up alongside an earthy and rich avocado shake, a specialty of Jordan, and chicken tikka that’s brightened with a creamy yellow sauce. Everything other than the pita is scratch-made, which Eid says is uncommon of American Middle Eastern restaurants. The flavors at Hummus and Pita are big and—judging by the early crowds—very much appreciated.

—MARTIN CIZMAR

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Pho Lan 315 Cherry St., KCMO. Order: Bánh mì, $5 PHO SAI GON

BÁNH, BABY, BÁHN We searched for the city’s best bánh mì, a sandwich of infinite variation. Here are our five favorites.

BY N ATA L I E TO R R E S G A L L AG H E R P H OTO G R A P H Y BY C A L E B C O N D I T A N D R E B E C C A N O R D E N

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H E N T H E F R E N C H C O L O N I Z E D V I E T N A M in the late nineteenth century, they could not comprehend a diet without their precious baguette, fine cheeses and coffee. Wheat was imported so that the French could enjoy their casse-croûte—a baguette served with cold cuts, butter, cheese and rich goose liver pâté. And as it has been throughout history, food became a weapon of colonialism and white supremacy: Vietnamese people could generally not afford the expensive French imports, which were poorly suited to the climate anyway. (And just as the colonists had little interest in local foodstuffs, they deemed their cuisine too refined for the natives.)

This attitude shifted somewhat with the advent of the first World War, but it wasn’t until colonial rule ended in 1954 and the French pulled out that a Vietnamese take on that genteel sandwich began circulating. Mayo—more shelf-stable in the tropic heat—replaced butter. Cheese was scrapped. Pork pâté was preferred, and local vegetables were piled on. When the Vietnam War ended in 1975 and waves of Vietnamese refugees emigrated to the United States, the bánh mì (Vietnamese for “bread”) came with them.

Here’s where you can find some of the best bánh mìs in Kansas City.

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If you know, you know. That’s the unofficial slogan of Pho Lan’s off-the-menu bánh mì, a five-dollar pick-me-up that you can find daily at the Columbus Park restaurant—at least until they run out of baguette.

“We don’t list it on the menu because we have a limited quantity,” explains owner Aiden Truong. “We pick up the bread every morning from Mercado Fresco on Independence Avenue, and we don’t use second-day bread, so when it’s gone, it’s gone.”

With supplies for only about fifty bánh mìs a day, Pho Lan usually sells out. It’s a crushable sandwich: Homemade butter is mixed with pork pâté and spread inside the light and springy roll, followed by the restaurant’s own sweet soy sauce, then layered with a trio of cold cuts (Vietnamese pork roll, tendon and char siu) and fresh vegetables.

An even distribution of textures and flavors makes for a miniature masterpiece.

“I don’t think bánh mìs have to be made a certain way,” Truong says. “It’s a street food in Vietnam, and every vendor does it a little differently. What I like most about bánh mìs is that every vendor’s sauce is unique, and I love getting to try all the variations.”

Broken Rice & Pho Restaurant 6597 N. Oak Trafficway, Gladstone Order: Special sandwich, $7

There are five bánh mì variations at Broken Rice, including a meat-free fried egg option (in Vietnam, bánh mìs are primarily a breakfast and lunch meal). But you’re going to want the “special sandwich,” boasting Vietnamese ham (also called pork roll or chả lụa), char siu (barbecue pork) and shredded pork skin. The latter is listed on the menu as pork rinds, but they are not the crunchy kind: These arrive at the restaurant dehydrated, and the kitchen gives them an hour-long bath in warm water before triple-washing them in cold water and zapping them with rice powder and garlic oil, effectively converting them into glassy noodles with a vaguely porcine memory. There is a generous slather of medium-smooth pâté, imbuing each bite with a pleasant tinge of iron. Like most local Vietnamese restaurants, Broken Rice outsources the production of its baguettes.

Unlike any other area restaurant, though, husband-wife owners Viet Cow and Oanh Mai have a commercial oven specifically

BUN MEE PHAN

for toasting those baguettes to order.

Ninety seconds at super-high heat gives the exterior a surface that is simultaneously bubbly and porous.

San’s Sandwiches 6579 N. Oak Trafficway, Gladstone Order: Meatball (xui mai) bánh mì, $6

You feel like you know what a meatball sub tastes like—until you order the xui mai bánh mì from San’s Sandwiches.

Xui mai are bouncy pork meatballs served in a tomato sauce that you could almost call marinara if it weren’t for the hint of fish sauce. They would make a satisfying meatball sub for any grinder enthusiast, but the bánh mì version asks you to consider what the addition of cilantro, cucumber and pickled sour slaw would do for the palate. (It does wonderful things, for the record.) The baguette at San’s is just chewy enough to be satisfying without making your jaw ache. If you’re dining in, your sandwich will be served with a cup of the lovely house pho broth.

Pho Sai Gon 14861 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park Order: Vietnamese sandwich, $7

Photos of entrees are tacked on the wall next to the walk-up counter at Pho Sai Gon. There is just one option for a bánh mì, and it is labeled simply “Vietnamese sandwich.” Order with confidence and you will be rewarded with a robust, hot, two-hands-required sub. Pho Sai Gon’s baguette

is custom-made for the restaurant by the local Hy-Vee, and it is an effective vehicle (dark crust, fluffy crumb) for the grilled pork tenderloin glistening in a provocatively spiced marinade. The vegetables are extra vibrant, with crispy pickled carrot and daikon and a bouquet of cilantro that bursts from the baguette. This bánh mì does not feature any pâté, but a zippy orange mayo helps keep everything from falling into your lap.

Bun Mee Phan 4011 N. Oak Trafficway, KCMO Order: Special, $7; caramelized pork belly, $8

Six-year-old Bun Mee Phan belongs to Kaylee Nguyen, who emigrated at age eleven from Vietnam to Garden City, Kansas, with her family. There are eight bánh mìs on offer at her counter-service restaurant, including one with fried tilapia (a popular order during Lent) and a vegan lemongrass tofu option. Bun Mee Phan’s most popular bánh mì is the caramelized pork belly, which finds a bounty of tender, lightly sweet cubes inside an oversized baguette (sourced from a local bakery). The second best seller is the house special bánh mì, which distinguishes itself from the crowd thanks to the ruby-hued slices of headcheese, a Nguyen family recipe that transforms pig tongue, ear, cheeks and snout into a silky terrine. This is paired with warm char siu, chilled Vietnamese pork roll and a pâté-butter mixture that Nguyen makes in house.

“To me, a bánh mì without pâté is not a bánh mì at all,” she says with a laugh. “That’s what people love about it!

Then again, different regions [in Vietnam] have different takes on it. There’s a bánh mì for everyone.”

ALSO VISITED: Pho La La (Lee’s Summit),

iPhotower (Kansas City), Nguyen Pho and Grill (Kansas City), Pho Tuoi (Gladstone), Mi Gia KC (Gladstone), My Xuyen Vietnamese Cafe (Gladstone)

A N ATO M Y O F A BÁNH MÌ There’s no one way to make a bánh mì, but there are a few staples that you can usually count on.

BREAD

A bánh mì baguette shares some DNA with its French predecessor, but you’ll note key differences in the crust (thinner, flakier, delicately crispy) and the interior (light and spongy).

SPREAD

Pork pâté is common in Vietnam, and you’ll often find it mixed with butter.

Many shops use either a pâté-butter compound or mayonnaise (and sometimes both).

SAUCE

The sauce you find on a bánh mì varies from chef to chef. Oanh Mai, co-owner of Broken Rice, uses a family recipe for her sweet and salty soy-based sauce.

Traditional recipes will call for Maggi, an earthy, inky sauce made from fermented wheat.

FILLING

The most popular bánh mì fillings are pork-based—char siu, pork roll, grilled pork, meatballs.

PICKLES

Sliced carrots and daikon get a good punch of vinegar, adding a sour burst to balance out the savory filling.

FRESH VEGETABLES All include veggies like sliced cucumber, jalapeños and cilantro.

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TA S T E PER FECT DAY

P E R F E C T DAY

DJ Brent Nuro shares his perfect day of eats.

BY M O L LY H I G G I N S

for twenty years, experimenting with different house and techno styles to bring music that you’d be more likely to hear in Berlin than in Johnny Kaw’s.

Nuro’s passion for music has been lifelong, but his DJing career really began when he used his high school graduation money from family to buy records instead of a laptop. Nuro admits this probably wasn’t the smartest decision, but it put him on “a path that has led to a lot of good times.”

Nuro went to high school at Blue Valley and didn’t always fit in with the trends at the time. “I was always the guy that was taking my hard-earned lawn mowing money and going to the record store, buying new CDs and finding music that wasn’t necessarily the stuff that normal high school kids from Overland Park were maybe listening to at the time,” he says.

Starting out, Nuro was playing at house parties or field parties out in places like Lawrence or Gardner. He came up through the rave community, playing in warehouses, which led to more connections and eventually bigger gigs, where he now plays a mix of different genres like house, disco and funk. Nuro views his craft like he does cooking: “Anything can go in the pot. I’m not afraid of mixing different flavors.”

Now, he’s settled into a more relaxed lifestyle, slinging pastries at Blackhole Bakery on Troost and mixing tunes at night in some of KC’s favorite venues like miniBar and The Ship.

We talked to KC native Nuro about some of his favorite spots around the city.

B RE N T N U R O H AS BEEN IN T HE KC C LUB S C E NE

GO: Brent Nuro DJs at miniBar on

September 10, Woody’s on September 17 and The Ship on September 24.

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Late Night I usually go to the Peanut on Main and see Jessie or Camille because they’re my favorite bartenders. I love their tenderloins and I love their BLTs. Obviously, everybody likes the wings. But you know, sometimes you gotta branch out and get a pork tenderloin. They do it in-house—it’s all hand-breaded. It is just a great sandwich. You can put your own toppings on it—lettuce, tomato, all that stuff. They hate when I ask for this, but I usually ask them to dip the tenderloin in the wing sauce. Then I get it with a side of blue cheese. I love trashy food, but like, in the best way. I’ll get that with some chili cheese fries, and then I’ll go home and probably pass out.

Something Sweet I’m gonna go get ice cream from High Hopes on Troost across from Blackhole.

Ice cream is like my poison. If I’m going to get in trouble, it’s because I’m going to eat the whole pint.

If I don’t have to DJ, I will go get some ice cream, sit at home and have a quiet night watching TV. My favorite flavor is probably Caught in the Rain based on that song called “Escape”—you know, the Pina Colada song. They also have a Mango Chamoy Sherbert that is fantastic. Put a little bit of that Tajin spice on top?

Out of this world.

Blackhole My current favorite at Blackhole Bakery is the everything bagel with dill pickle cream cheese. It is so freaking good. People think it’s going to be like biting into a pickle, but the cream cheese really subdues the dill pickle-ness of it, you know? That is top-notch. When customers come in for the first time, I always tell people if it looks good, go for it, because if I’ve learned anything in the last few years, it’s that tomorrow is not guaranteed and neither are pastries.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATALEA BONJOUR

THE MIXER

Brunch I’m very community-oriented, and it’s the same with the places that I try to go to. Usually, if I’m going to go to a restaurant, I go there because I want to see a person, but I also want to have the food. If I’m going out for breakfast, my partner and I will go to You Say Tomato because I love their quiche—and Annie. She’s amazing and always makes me feel really good when I come in. They always have a rotating quiche. So I get that for breakfast and usually have tea.

TA S T E B I T E S

Sarah’s on the Hill

Be Kind, Rewind

NEWSFEED

WHAT’S NEW IN KANSAS CITY FOOD & DRINK

SARAH’S ON THE HILL AND HOUSEWIFE PHOTOS BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

Smoke Clears

Plowboys Barbeque closed both of its locations in mid-August as co-owners Todd Johns and Audrey Johns pivoted to a booming business in rubs and sauces. “We made the decision, the decision wasn’t made for us, and that felt good to us,” Todd says. “We’re finishing in a way that feels good. It feels good to end on our own terms.”

Plowboys opened its first location in Blue Springs in 2013 and followed up with a downtown location in 2015 and a franchise in Nebraska. They also opened and closed a location in Overland Park, which is now Buck Tui. Plowboys was doing record business going into the pandemic, Todd says, with sales at the downtown location up almost thirty percent. Plowboys did “dip a little bit” and “had some ground to recover,” he says, but the plan had been to continue.

Negotiations on renewing their lease for another five years sparked a deeper conversation about the future of the business, fueled in part by Todd’s reading Finish Big. “We’re all ten years older—that was a big factor,” Todd Johns says. “I was recommended a book earlier this year called Finish Big. It talks about how we, as entrepreneurs, put a lot of energy into our concept, launch and vision, and then we either hand those things off or we operate them. But we don’t put the same amount of energy into what the end looks like.”

The decision was made easier by the runaway success of Plowboys’ sauces and rubs, which are available in thirty countries.

Their top product, Yardbird Rub, moves a hundred thousand pounds a year.

Sarah’s Sold

Speaking of departures, Sarah’s on the Hill, one of our favorite spots in Strawberry Hill, has been sold to a new owner and is now Chentes on the Hill (612 N. Fifth St., KCK). The restaurant was opened by Sarah Breitenstein in 2019 and then was taken over by her brother John. Vincent Galicia of Chentes Pizza took over and plans to keep the pizza recipes the same while adding asada and chorizo Mexican pizzas.

If you’re one of those people who deeply misses the vibes of Blockbuster Video, there is a place. The basement of the Screenland Armor Theatre in North KC has been turned into a bar called Rewind Video and Retro Dive (410 Armour Road, North Kansas City)— and the bar even plans to do video rentals. The space is decorated with old tube TVs, classic game consoles and posters for movies like Pulp Fiction and Clerks. The drink menus are in DVD cases and list the period-appropriate “Adult Capri Suns” along with hazy IPAs and kombucha (no Josta or Zima).

There will soon be a rental library of VHS tapes, DVDs and Blu-rays for rent, pulled from the personal collection of co-owner Adam Roberts, who is “wrapping up cataloging the couple thousand movies into our system.” The rental system will be a flat membership fee per month, and they hope to have it active in September.

Pull of Gravity

The former Blue Moose in Prairie Village is now home to Gravity (4160 W. 71st St., Prairie Village), a new spot by the same owner which has a “Mediterranean-inspired” menu with an “American sensibility” (think: fried calamari, lamb chops). KC Hopps owned Blue Moose and also owns Gravity, but the inside of the Moose has been brightened and accented with abstract art by local painter Kelley Neill Carman. In a news release, KC Hopps mentions that the menu is “almost entirely gluten-free” and that almost any dish with gluten can be modified “at one’s request.”

Jazz Hands

New Wife

One of our favorite brunch spots is adding a general store. Housewife in Grandview (801 Main Street, Suite 104, Grandview) has become a destination for its scratch-made pastries, sandwiches and soups. Now it’s taking over the “cute blue house next door” to open a Truman General in October. The store’s offerings are headlined by homemade ice cream, charcuterie, new and used books, records and housewares.

A new piano bar in Midtown aims to bring both jazz standards and impromptu jams to the corner of 34th and Main streets. Uptown Lounge (3400 Main St., KCMO) hosts regular performances by standout locals like Eboni Fondren and co-owner Alan Stribling. The bar was “built for musicians, by musicians” and claims “unparalleled” acoustics from careful speaker placement and room design.

The drink menu includes a handful of house cocktails as well as a nice selection of high-end spirits.

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TA S T E DR I N K

GOTTA BATCH ’EM ALL Border Brewing is now pouring super-limited one-offs every Thursday.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY K AYLA MASISAK

BY M A R T I N C I Z M A R

in the Crossroads, it was the first brewery in a neighborhood that’s now as dense with brewtanks as any in America. “The neighborhood has changed so much in just seven years,” says brewer and owner Eric Martens.

At the new Border Brewing, which took over a space that had been a DIY venue down the street from Border’s original location, there’s plenty of room for people and beer—plus one of the city’s greatest patios tucked away in the back. The new space meant a new brewing system. “We got a newer system which is bigger, which is great— we make bigger batches, they last longer, and we can do a little distribution,” Martens says. “But we’re getting frustrated with not doing as many releases. We still wanted to experiment and scratch that itch.”

Enter Test Batch Thursdays. Every Thursday, Border is putting a new batch of a recipe they’ve never done before on tap. To make the beers, Border cobbled together a small system using pieces of their old system and some homebrewing equipment. That system is small— the test batches will just have enough beer for forty pints or fiftythree twelve-ounce pours.

“If we’re tapping it on Thursday, it will be gone on Thursday—you’ve gotta be here on Thursday to get it,” Martens says.

The second release was a variation on Border’s Patio Pale Ale, which substituted their traditional Cascade and Simcoe hops for hops a new supplier is bringing in from South Africa. The version of Patio Pale made with Southern Passion hops was heavy on the berry, juicy up front and dry in the finish, with the strongest currant flavor I’d ever tasted in a beer.

I’d never had a beer with South African hops before—which is the point of the project.

“We hadn’t either, which is part of the fun,” Martens says. “We’re all experiencing it together.”

Look for a Red IPA and an amber chili beer spiced with poblano peppers in the next few weeks.

WHEN BORDER BREWING OPENED

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KANSAS 0 IS DYING HOW FENTANYL IS PUSHING THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC INTO NEW, MORE DANGEROUS TERRITORY AND WHY KANSAS SAW THE NATION’S SECOND-HIGHEST INCREASE IN OVERDOSE DEATHS LAST YEAR

WORDS BY Mary Henn

0 6 2

KANSAS IS DYING CONTINUED FROM P. 67 At the methadone clinic, Dr. Daniel Warren sees patients from the ages of sixteen to seventy-nine. While opioid prescriptions have gone down per capita since 2021, the nation’s demand for opioids is still high among a wide range of people. Since supply-side solutions pushed by doctors haven’t been met with other solutions that would make treatment for opioid addiction accessible, people seeking opioids have been left with fentanyl.

“Supply reduction is not going to be a successful strategy,” Warren says. “We are going to do our best to take away the most potent and lethal of the pills, but if that’s not coupled with other interventions, it just makes the problem worse.”

Things like fentanyl test strips, Narcan and needle programs are tertiary prevention responses, but they’re not solutions to harm-reduction strategies. “With those tertiary prevention responses, we’re not trying to prevent the disease; we’re trying to prevent other stuff associated with the disease,” Warren says.

Still, he’s in favor of fentanyl test strips being readily available to those who need them. “I think harm reduction strategies would be helpful for Kansas,” he says. “There’s good evidence that needle exchange programs have substantial health benefits and that fentanyl test strips save lives and money. What’s important is that we communicate to

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number two cause of death, surpassed only by homicide and liver disease, respectively.

“I don’t know how to make people care,” Warren says.

Rogeana Patterson-King of the DEA says she does what she does because, as a kid, she was affected by the crack epidemic. “I had family members that became addicted to crack cocaine,” Patterson-King says. “I always wanted to help.”

In 2020 the DEA’s Kansas City District Office seized seven kilograms of fentanyl and around thirty thousand counterfeit pills in Kansas alone. In 2021 they seized forty-two kilograms and about seventy-seven thousand counterfeit pills. From January to April 2022, they seized twenty-five kilograms of fentanyl and fifty thousand counterfeit pills in the state of Kansas.

Even for the DEA, it is difficult to determine whether a pill is counterfeit or not.

“They [counterfeit pills] look just like the real deal,” Patterson-King says. “We are at the point now where we just send what we seize directly to the lab.”

Patterson-King says that fentanyl is contaminating every street drug, too. This February, there was a mass overdose in St. Louis in which seven people died using crack cocaine that had been contaminated with fentanyl. There were others among the group who overdosed but did not die.

The recorded number of overdose deaths related to fentanyl only accounts for cases in which a toxicology report has determined the presence of fentanyl. Sometimes, however, as the DEA points out, fentanyl isn’t always tested for in toxicology reports if other drugs are present. There are also instances of overdose where first responders, for instance, may arrive on the scene to revive a person. Those overdoses that don’t lead to death often go unreported.

people who use drugs that we’re willing to help, that we care.”

Currently, fentanyl test strips are not legal in Kansas and Missouri. They are considered drug paraphernalia. Kansas is also one of three states in the country that does not have a good samaritan law as it relates to drug overdoses. Such a law would protect someone who calls for help in the case of an overdose.

Warren also points to a narrative that’s been circulating since the early 2000s, near the origins of the opioid epidemic.

There’s been a whitewashing of the opioid epidemic, Warren notes. “You know, in the ’80s, crack killed, largely, people of color and those incarcerated,” he says.

“Of course, everybody has been affected by drugs, but it’s still, even with the rise of fentanyl, been more predominant in lower-income communities.”

Findings from Families Against Fentanyl, collected directly from CDC reports from 2020 and 2021, show that Black Americans are more likely to die from fentanyl poisoning than any other racial demographic. While the total number of fentanyl deaths is highest among white people, the per capita rate of fentanyl deaths revealed “Let's face it: Until recently, a lot of overthat a higher percentage of Black people dose cases were treated like, ‘Oh, it's were killed by fentanyl. Data from FAF also just another doper who overdosed,’” says indicates, as Warren points out, that teen Sergeant Gary Blackwell. “But the fact deaths from fentanyl have more than tripled is that’s somebody's child, somebody's since 2019 and increased more than five- mother, somebody's father, brother, sister.” fold among Black teens. Among multiracial Blackwell is the sergeant of the Clay and white Americans ages eighteen to County Drug Task Force, which investiforty-five, fentanyl is the number one cause gates narcotics in western Missouri. The of death. Among Black and indigenous drug task force works against crime in Americans of the same age group, it is the Jackson, Platte, Caldwell and Clay counties.

Some of Blackwell’s investigations bleed activity. “Straight up I-35—you’ve got I-70 over into eastern Kansas, where the drug too—Kansas Highway Patrol intercepts a task force partners with the DEA, FBI lot of drugs,” he says. “The drug trafficways and Homeland Security to investigate follow the interstate. narcotics. Lately, those investigations have “In a case that we are prosecuting right included a large number of cases involving now, two girls drove over to the Missouri overdose deaths from fentanyl. side from Olathe and split one pill,” Black“We are in a triage situation right now,” well says. “Both smoked each half of the Blackwell says. “We are seeing so many pill, and one died while the other had no kids die of fentanyl overdoses.” effects.” He also uses the chocolate chip Before his time on the Clay County Drug cookie metaphor to describe the inconTask Force, Blackwell served in Iraq—he is sistencies with counterfeit pills made a veteran who hunted IEDs. “I have seen with fentanyl. some horrific stuff in my life,” he says. “I’ve “These [counterfeit] pills are just acetbeen to two wars. But the pain in a parent’s aminophen and fentanyl,” Blackwell says. face when they’re told their child had died, “We’ve had a lot more fentanyl-related overdoses than people realize. We found that overdose toxicology reports didn't include testing for all analogs of fentanyl. So deaths that were in fact fentanyl overdoses weren’t reported as such.” Until recently, it wasn’t routine for autopsy investigations to include testing for different analogs for fentanyl. Only within the last year or two has it become more common.

Blackwell says there has also been a recent emergence of a substance called carfentanil, which is a hundred times more potent than fentanyl. The drug task force it’s heavier than all that other stuff.” has seen it in liquid form in Clay County.

He also describes one of his close “Carfentanil hasn’t become prevalent yet, friends who was shot twice in the line but a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl is of duty in Iraq. “He told me, ‘Weaning five to seven grains of table salt,” he says. my body off of opioids was the single “You wouldn’t be able to see a potentially hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,’” lethal dose of carfentanil. If carfentanil Blackwell says, “That’s when it clicked hits, you’re going to be walking past dead for me. That’s when I knew how power- people on the streets.” ful this stuff is.”

Regarding fentanyl investigations, the Blackwell began on the drug task Clay County Drug Task Force is starting force in 2011. Then, he says, most of to see more and more powdered fentanyl his narcotic investigations dealt with in addition to counterfeit pills. Blackwell methamphetamine. From 2012 to 2013, suggests that people assume injecting heroin started surfacing again within the fentanyl may give more dosing control county, and opioid use began surpassing than consuming counterfeit pills. methamphetamine use. He first came “I’ll tell you one thing: If I were trying to across fentanyl on the drug task force in overthrow a country,” Blackwell says, “I’d 2016, which was rare in the area then. do it with fentanyl.”

Now, he says, he deals with fentanyl cases daily. Perc 30s are common, he says, and he has seen more counterfeit Xanax circulating, especially among local “I had always told myself I would never high schoolers. shoot up,” Shelby Wahl says. But after “I have to direct as much of my atten- moving in with her drug dealer, she tion toward fentanyl as I can because it's discovered that he used heroin intravethe largest killer of Americans between nously. “He was so happy when he was fifteen and twenty-five—and that's above high,” Wahl says. “I wanted to be like car wrecks, cancer, suicide,” he says. that. I wanted to not feel pain.”

According to Blackwell, the fentanyl It wasn’t long before she found herself “hubs” in Kansas include Wyandotte back on opioids. This time, Wahl was County and Sedgwick County. He says shooting up. “It got to the point where, that Wichita also draws a lot of narcotic on the streets, it wasn’t heroin anymore,”

“I’VE BEEN TO TWO WARS. BUT THE PAIN IN A PARENT’S FACE WHEN THEY’RE TOLD THEIR CHILD HAD DIED, IT’S HEAVIER THAN ALL THAT OTHER STUFF.”

she says. “It was fentanyl, and you never really knew what you were getting until you shot up. If it killed you and you had to have Narcan, then it wasn’t heroin. I died five times that year.”

By April 15, 2021, Wahl had seven active warrants for arrest, including two felony warrants, across multiple counties. “I wanted to get clean,” she says, “but at that point, it [addiction] had completely consumed me. I wasn’t the same person anymore. I was exhausted.”

That April day, the arresting officers who found Wahl in the closet took her into custody, where she detoxed from fentanyl in a county jail cell under twenty-four-hour lockdown.

After being released from jail and with no place to go, Wahl moved back in with her dealer. However, with the support of a counselor and suboxone treatment, she remained sober after detoxing in county jail, despite being around people who were still using.

Wahl, newly sober last summer, quickly found a job waitressing again. “I was severely depressed, but working helped me stay sober,” she says. “It gave me purpose. But it was hard. All the emotions I had numbed while using were hitting me when I got sober. I realized I didn’t have my daughter, and that was my fault. I was living with a man who was forty-seven years old. I didn’t want to be there. I stayed until I couldn’t take it anymore.”

When the man she was living with became physically violent, Wahl packed a small bag and left. She’s been sober for a year and a half since, and she’s earned supervised weekly visits with her daughter.

Every Sunday, Wahl gets to see her daughter for two hours. She pays $40 an hour to spend time with her daughter, on top of whatever she has planned for them to do. She also says she pays over $700 in child support a month. During the time she was using, one judge backdated her child support. Because of that, Wahl says she is $20,000 behind, despite paying monthly. Currently, she is twenty-five and lives in transitional housing at Hillcrest Hope, where she completed a ninety-day sobriety program on July 1. She’ll have to move out in January, and she hopes to rent an apartment of her own.

“Right now, my focus is on getting to spend more time with my daughter,” Wahl says. “I still beat myself up over our time apart. There for a while, I was a terrible person, but I didn’t want to be a terrible person.”

KANSASCITYMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2022

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TH E S C E N E K A NSA S CIT Y M AGA ZIN E PR ESEN TS

The Scene HAPPENINGS IN KANSAS CITY

Savor the Season The summer session of Savor the Season, an evening of custom cocktails paired with a threecourse meal, engaged a capacity crowd on August 4.

Kansas City magazine teamed up with the Savoy at 21c and Holladay Distillery to entertain guests for an exclusive night of fun and interaction with Savoy Chef Brandon Bromback and Holladay Master Distiller Kyle Merklein.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZACH BAUMAN

KANSASCITYMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2022

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SURREAL ESTATE 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 B U I L D I N G S

This house’s unique roof makes it one of Lawrence’s most recognizable homes.

T

H ER E’S A T E RM to describe the roof of one of Lawrence’s most recognizable homes: It’s a double hyperbolic paraboloid. The pitch of this striking mid-century roofline starts high, swooping down and out as if it were fabric being pushed by a breeze. At first glance, it could be likened to an exuberant nun’s habit.

Known as the Dean House—after Donald Dean, a civil engineering professor at the University of Kansas who designed the 1956 home—it sits on a visible corner lot in Lawrence’s Centennial neighborhood not far from KU. Surrounded by traditional Atomic Era homes, it’s that double hyperbolic paraboloid roof that makes it stand out. It’s a rectangle twisted and pinched in such a way as to cre-

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ate six distinct corners—three resting on supporting piers and three soaring up and out, negating the need for load bearing walls. Inside, that creates one large space with lots of windows and partition-like walls that, in many instances, don’t reach the ceiling, says current owner Randy Masten.

Masten, his wife Kathie and their son have lived in the home since the early 2000s and consider themselves caretakers of the historic property.

“It’s art, really,” Masten says of the light-filled house.

As an engineer, Dean was captivated by paraboloid buildings that were popping up at the time in other parts of the world. He especially liked the idea that the buildings were using less material than traditional structures of approximately the same size, proving them economically advantageous and a good way to meet the 1950s housing demand. But these buildings were made of concrete, and in the United States that was much too expensive to use. To solve this problem, Dean imagined creating the parabola shape using a wood lattice, successfully cre-

ating what is widely believed to be the first of its kind, according to Lawrence Modern, an organization dedicated to preserving and documenting Lawrence’s mid-century architecture.

“Dean estimated two or three carpenters could build a hyperbolic paraboloid roof the size of his house in three or four days using plywood sheets for $1 per square foot,” wrote Tom Harper on Lawrence Modern.

It turned out Dean was right. He enlisted the help of student engineers, and it took approximately three days to build. It was less expensive, around $18,000, and had about two thousand four hundred square feet, half the per-square-foot price of a conventional house at the time, according to the February 1957 issue of Fortune magazine.

Dean and his wife lived in the home until 1960, when they moved to Delaware for a new teaching position. The home has passed through several owners, with a roof replacement in the 1980s being the only major renovation project.

—DAWNYA BARTSCH

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

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