Looking Back: Let the Fair Begin

4 Looking Back

Looking Back: Let the Fair Begin!

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society

A big thank you to Valley News for selecting The Grain Valley Historical Society as the Honorary Grand Marshall for the 2021 Fall Festival Parade. I believe Grain Valley was ready for a parade after it was cancelled last year due to COVID. People had already staked out their spots along Eagles Parkway when I went to line up for the parade 90 minutes before the start time! And there were people all along the route down Main Street and along Walnut. As we wove our way back to high school, there were still lots of folks waving and cheering all along Kirby Road. Two years ago I did some research on our community fair for The Voice, an on-line newsletter I write each month. Here is an excerpt from the August, 2019 newsletter. From the 1983 Guide to Grain Valley, published by The Examiner.

“Community fair will be a first-time event for town “ By Alyson Fortney After two years of planning, Grain Valley will have its first annual fair this fall. Dennis Bundren, chairperson of the Grain Valley Fair Association, explained the idea originated as a brainstorm of his two years ago. Burden chose representatives from various organizations in town to serve in the 10member association. The Grain Valley Fair Days, scheduled for Sept. 29, 30 and October 1, promises to be full of thrills, food, contest and exhibits.

The article went on to discuss the rides and games of chance, crafts and baked goods from local 4-H clubs, a hotair balloon race, a demolition derby, a ’66 Mustang display by the Mustang Club of Kansas City and a beer garden. There was no mention of a parade. In 1993, the fair was held at the 94acre Grain Valley Memorial Fairground on Old U.S. 40 east of Main Street. In 1995, the board purchased GannonThomas Hall, formerly owned by the VFW, on Old 40 just west of the fairgrounds. In addition to the fair, the facilities were used for community and private functions, sand drag races and the Kansas City Indian Club Pow-Wow. In the 1997 Guide to Grain Valley, Bill Bushey, president of the Grain Valley Fair Association boasted the fair was “one of the biggest activities in the city this year”. The fair must have been held in June for a few years, because in 1997 the association changed the date to July 24-27 to have a lesser chance of rain. The parade that year was the biggest in history as some 300 Shriners were there with motorcycles and trick cars, bands and flashy outfits! After the Grain Valley Community Center was completed in 2001 and the fair moved to the present location. It was obvious from the traffic in town on Saturday before, during and after the parade that the citizens of Grain Valley continue to support and enjoy this nearly 40 year-old tradition. Note: If you would like to receive The Voice contact us at gvhistory1878@gmail.com

The Grain Valley Historical Society served as this year’s Honorary Grand Marshal for the Grain Valley Fair Community Parade on Saturday, September 11th. Photo credit: Sara Unrein

Bicentennial Parade to be held Saturday, September 18th

As part of Missouri's statewide bicentennial celebration, the Governor's Office will be hosting a Bicentennial Inaugural Parade in Jefferson City on Saturday, September 18, 2021, at 10:00am to showcase Missouri’s past, present, and future. The Bicentennial Inaugural Parade will celebrate the swearing-in of Missouri's elected officials from this year's Bicentennial Inauguration as well as highlight the history and significance of the state of Missouri. The parade will be livestreamed on Governor Parson's Facebook Page with two emcees announcing each piece of the parade live. The Missouri State Capitol will feature various community engagement items on display from 8:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 18, including the following: Missouri Bicentennial Quilt Missouri State Parks Quilt Missouri Bicentennial Mural Championship trophies will be on display and available for photo opportunities for the general public on Saturday, September 18, 2021, from 8:00am - 2:30pm. Trophies on display will include: Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl IV & LIV Trophies St. Louis Rams Super Bowl XXXIV Trophy Kansas City Royals World Series Trophies - 2015, 1985 St. Louis Cardinals World Series Trophies - 1967, 1982, 2006, 2011 St. Louis Blues 2019 Stanley Cup Replica Trophy

Business 5

Grain Valley alumni team up seek to help others, serve community through KC Cannabis venture

Corey Martin, Chief of Staff with KC Cannabis, and Dan Nelson, Chief Operations Officer, are proud products of Grain Valley. The lifelong friends were in Boy Scouts, played football, and graduated from Grain Valley. “Dan and I have been best friends since 7th grade. After high school, Dan went into the commercial trades, and I went into the Army,” Martin said. After 20 years in those respective fields, the pair have teamed up with others to build KC Cannabis, a medical cannabis dispensary that opened in April in four locations in the metro, including a store in Blue Springs. “We want to provide access to patients, but we also want to be active in our community,” Martin said. “We’re doing a lot of community outreach and engagement, working with multiple nonprofits, and just trying to do the right thing for the community in which we grew up in and we live in.” Martin said a big part of their job is to help dispel the many myths surrounding the industry, as well as encouraging prospective patients to not be shy about learning about the options available to them. “Of course, one of the biggest misconceptions is that cannabis is just for people to get high. But there are many medical benefits to cannabis. One of the biggest things we do is educate people about the benefits of cannabis over opiates and other prescription medications.” “We always encourage patients to talk to your primary care doctor first. Tell them you are curious about using cannabis for their condition. We are finding that most doctors are open to patients trying something that might work for them.” Recommendations can come from a patient’s primary physician, or prospective patients can meet via telehealth or in-person appointment with KC Cannabis partner Kind Remedy. Prospective patients complete an application through the State, and the approval process takes approximately 23 weeks. Once a patient is approved and receives a patient card, KC Cannabis staff can work with the patient to find the ingestion methods, potencies, cultivars of strains that gives them the proper effects. “I see people every single day that are benefiting from cannabis. Some people don’t want to take opioids and are finding relief for pain and other conditions through cannabis products.” Martin shared the story of an older gentlemen who has been taking 8 hydrocodone per day to try to manage his pain. After trying some low dose gummies in conjunction with a THC vape pen, he reduced his hydrocodone to two pills per day. “He told us it’s the first time he’s had relief in a decade. In a week in a half, he was down to two pills. That’s a huge success story,” Martin said. “We’ve got multiple patients who come in that are being treated for cancer and are using full extract cannabis oil (FECO). We were able to bring this product to the Missouri market and sell it at cost. That has been huge for people.” Martin said they also see patients with epilepsy as well as patients dealing with chronic arthritis and pain, among other conditions. In addition to the Blue Springs location, KC Cannabis currently has locations in Kearney, Excelsior Springs, and a location in Lake Lotawana opening in October. The Blue Springs location at 1713 NW Burdett Crossing is open daily from 11:00am – 7:00pm. For more information, prospective patients are welcome to visit the store or visit their website at www.kccannabis.org.

Corey Martin, Chief of Staff with KC Cannabis. Photo credit: Valley News staff

Sponsored article.

August 2021 Monthly Jobs Report

Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased from July 2021 to August 2021, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by twotenths of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 7,300 jobs over the month, with job gains in both goods-producing and service-providing industries. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.0 percent in August 2021, down from 4.2 percent in July 2021. Recovery from COVID-19related layoffs continued with an increase of 73,400 jobs from August 2020 to August 2021. Short-term shortages of semiconductor chips may hold down employment in manufacturing in the next few months. Missouri’s smoothed seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by two-tenths of a percentage point in August 2021, dropping to 4.0 percent from the July 2021 rate of 4.2 percent. The national unemployment rate decreased from 5.4 percent in July 2021 to 5.2 percent in August 2021. The estimated number of unemployed Missourians was 123,158 in August 2021, down by 5,448 from July’s 128,606. A year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 6.0 percent, and the not-adjusted rate was 6.1 percent. With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic now more than a year in the past, the August 2021 rate was 2.0 percentage points lower than the August 2020 rate. Due to benchmark revisions, Missouri’s unemployment rate rose a tenth of a percentage point higher than the national rate in January and February of 2020, but has been below the national rate for every month since February 2020. Goods-producing industries gained 5,300 jobs over the month with gains in both durable and non-durable goods. Meanwhile, service-providing industries gained 2,000 jobs between July and August 2021, with increases in leisure & hospitality (+3,300 jobs) and professional & business services (+1,600 jobs). Government employment showed a decrease of 3,200 jobs over the month. Total payroll employment increased by 73,400 jobs from August 2020 to August 2021, reflecting the recovery from job cuts brought on by the initial wave of COVID-19 infections.

Current and prospective patients are welcome to visit KC Cannabis to learn more about the products best suited to their condition. The Blue Springs store is located at 1713 NW Burdett Crossing. Photo credit: Valley News staff

6 Community Voices

Guest Column: Mike Todd, Grain Valley Fair Committee

The 2021 Grain Valley Fair is in the books, and I have to say that it was a great one. We loved seeing the large crowds come out and all the smiling faces having a good time after having to take 2020 off. We were a bit rusty getting it all together, but with the help from a lot of people and the support of our great sponsors I think it was great. We are already looking forward to 2022 and will work to make it even better. Make sure to follow us on Facebook at Grain Valley Fair because we will be looking for suggestions for music for next year and any Fair info is always found first there. We do want to thank the following people who volunteered to help us at the Fair or in the planning process:

Steve, Carol, Tosha, and Harper Todd Tasha, Matt, and Matthew Lindsey Scott Shafer Lynn and David Berend Darren Mills Cory Unrein Brian Schoonover Justin Tyson and all the Grain Valley Parks and Recreation Staff, Public Works Staff, and Police Department who helped throughout.

We also do not want to forget all our great sponsors who make everything possible with their support: City of Grain Valley Broadway Smiles Dental T-Mobile Drew’s Diesel KC Cannabis ASI St. Mary’s Hospital MO Country Valley News State Bank Grain Valley Price Chopper OOIDA KAT Excavation Spire HCA CenterPoint Hospital Keeports Remodel beHome EKC Cross Baseball Sheet Metal Workers Show-Me Hydro Kohl’s Distribution Center Nick Mortallaro State Farm Grain Valley Edward Jones Big O’s Rental Blue Moon Lounge Star Development University Health Truman Medical Centers Casey’s General Stores Metropolitan Community Colleges

Finally, we want to thank all of our vendors and food trucks for coming out to make it all a big success. With all of these great things going on we go through a lot of trash and Lies is there every step to help us out with their continued support. See everyone stating on September 9th 2022.

Letters to the editor and guest columns are welcome. This is YOUR community news source. Send your letters, comments, and story ideas by email, mail, or send us a message on social media (@grainvalleynews).

Email: news@grainvalleynews.com Mail: Grain Valley News: PO Box 2972, Grain Valley MO 64029

2021 Parade Winning Entries

Commercial Vehicle or Float: Releve Performing Arts

Non-Commercial Vehicle or Float: Grain Valley Historical Society

Float pulled with vehicle: Prairie Branch Elementary

Walking Unit: Grain Valley Marching Eagles

Our honorary Grand Marshals, the Grain Valley Historical Society, will receive 100% of the entry fees from this year’s event. Thank you to all our our entrants for their participation. We'll see you next year!

Community Voices 7

Musings from the Middle: Little Victories

by Cathy Allie

Belying my current less than athletic appearance, I once reigned as the 12 year old girls tennis champion in Lexington, Kentucky. I was a bit of a tennis junkie, watching every slam and open carried on our precable-console-complete-with-stereo-tv. And I looked the part for sure. I had a wooden Slazenger racket and Adidas Stan Smith tennis shoes, and I was rarely without a Billie Jean King looking visor. My folks were smart enough to make sure we had summer lessons for activities in which we showed an interest. Since there were no lessons for reading, which is what I spent most of my time doing, I suppose tennis was my only other option. We spent mornings on the courts, getting a little parks and rec type instruction, making sure to take lots of water breaks, in a time when nobody had a Yeti, and we waited in line at the fountain, hoping the weak stream of water would be cold. As August approached, we toiled through challenge matches in the southern humidity to earn a bracket spot, and the tournament began. There was no magical Wimbledonlike setting, just the old acrylic coated green asphalt courts with nets that had seen better days. I don’t remember every opponent, but I am sure I must have received a forfeit or two along the line, some other pre-teen begging off a match that day, claiming her mouth hurt too much from the previous day’s visit to the orthodontist, really just wanting to stay home and work on her baby oil and iodine tan or ride her bike with friends. The winner got an 8 inch trophy and free entry into the following year’s tournament, which were great prizes for a 12 year old. The winner also got a healthy dose of self-esteem, a pretty good memory to talk about at Happy Hours and family bragging sessions many years later, and the perfect entry into one of those ‘Three truths and One Lie’ getting to know you games we are forced to play when we are in a new group. Literally no one ever guesses I have been a 12 year old tennis champion. Once I listed the tennis championship, my ability to recite Eugene Field’s 32 line poem The Duel from memory, and the fact that I once played the piccolo as my truths, and then listed my skydiving hobby as the big whopper, and they still picked tennis as the lie. Go figure. As of late, I have been looking for somewhat smaller victories. For instance, just a couple of weeks ago, on two separate occasions, I finished my morning cup of coffee while it was still warm, without a visit to the microwave to re-heat it. All you fast coffee drinkers, those willing to scald your tongues, will never understand the perfect coffee drinking window, where the beverage is not too hot to swallow, yet not cold enough to offend. Never mind that one of those cups of coffee was actually my husband’s cup that I just thought was mine. I am also celebrating the small win of keeping track of my paperback book through the entire four weeks it took me to read it, as my memory about where I have left things is not as good as it once was. I am an avid reader, one who appreciates a variety of genres and authors. But I don’t have a lot of spare time for reading-which is not to say I don’t think I will have the time- so my books become my traveling companions. If I drive my daughter to a lesson, a rehearsal, or a practice, I take my paperback because I might have time to read in the car. If I head to the dentist for yet another crown (trust me, I am full -blown royalty), I pack that novel for a little reading time while the Novocain takes effect. And sometimes, that means I can’t quite remember where I have last had my book. Usually I have to check bags, my bedside table, the family room, and the car before I find it. Once I found my book in the laundry hamper, and it wasn’t even a dirty novel. See what I did there? Saturday morning, I found I had exactly one hour to myself. I pondered the possibilities. Continue my advance meal planning? Try to create my Christmas budget? Exercise? Nah, none of those are any fun. Finish my novel! That’s it! And lo and behold, I walked right to the shelf where I had placed it for safe-keeping. I will take the win, even if the novel didn’t end exactly the way I had hoped. Other small successes come in the area of biting my tongue. Since sarcasm really is my native, primary language and full scale English comes a little less naturally, I often find myself in situations where my sarcasm would be fitting, but perhaps not appreciated. Here is the short list of places I did not use my sharp tongue just this week: waiting in line inside a Starbucks when the barista called out the name Bambi (Come get your coffee, DEER, I thought); at the gas station where I had to go in to get a receipt because it didn’t print at the pump, and the clerk said, “I guess this didn’t print at the pump?” (No, I just came in because I enjoy the hot dogs on rollers combined with coffee brewing and antiseptic bathroom cleaner smell that convenience stores have, I thought); and at my husband’s football game when the opponent scored and a very vocal critic informed all of us in earshot that we should have tackled that guy before he got into the end zone (I can’t put in a family paper what I thought on this one). Some victories are truly hard earned. The final area where I am happy with some miniscule triumphs is in raising a teenager. Those of you who have completed this arduous journey know it is not for the faint of heart. The Vegas odds makers won’t even make book on a parent’s chance of surviving the teen years unscathed. My daughter recently started back to school, a tenuous parenting time. Should I ask if she would like to find something new to wear on the first day? Is a trip to buy school supplies too babyish? Are really clean white tennis shoes still a thing? I decided to play it cool…and to tell a little white lie. I saw a backpack I knew she would really like. I also knew that if we were together and I pointed it out, she would no longer like it. I bought that backpack, took it home, tucked it in the guest room closet on a shelf and began my plan. That night I asked if she would need a new backpack for school. “Probably,” she mumbled. At least, I think that is what she said. I was keeping my distance, because sometimes if I breathe or blink too loudly it irritates her. “Oh, wait,” I said. “Didn’t we buy one last spring? Where would we have put that?” I was Academy Award convincing in my ditzy mom brain search. “Maybe,” she said. “But it’s not in my room,” to which I thought, “And with all that mess, I am sure you would know,” but of course I didn’t say it, because as you might remember, I am no longer being sarcastic. “I might have put it in the guest room closet,” I say, as if it is an afterthought, so light, so casual, so airy. She doesn’t move immediately because a part of her teenage persona is to never show excitement in the presence of an adult. But when she finally has to go get her phone charger because something could be happening on Instagram that she will miss and her phone needs some juice, she goes to the bedroom and looks for the backpack. “Here it is,” she says, holding it up for examination. “Yeah, this is the one I picked out last year. This will work fine.” She will never know about my internal high five for my most recent, very underhanded success. She will also never know I have just been topping off the body wash, shampoo, and conditioner in her shower from larger bottles stashed in my bathroom because apparently the stress of having to ask ones parents for toiletries is just too much for a teen. It’s the small victories that count. No 8 inch trophy needed here.

Cathy is a retired public school English teacher and Public Information Officer.