Woodcarving Exhibit Page 2
Ham Radio Demo Page 6
Father’s Day Delights Page 7
Free complimentary copy June 19, 2015 • Volume 2, No. 34
www.raytowneagle.com • 75¢
Farmers’ Market Grand Opening Made For A Fun Day By Diane Krizek Editor The Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting ceremony of the Raytown Farmers’ Market and Raytown Main Street Association was a great success on Saturday, June 13, 2015. The rain held off long enough for the nearly 350 folks who came to explore what the vendors had to offer. The Grand Opening organizers planned a fun day for everyone who showed up. They gave away 158 Raytown Farmer’s Market totes and magnets. Singer and songwriter, Frank Rardon, entertained us with song and music on his acoustical guitar. An old-fashioned photo booth was on site. Wonderful prizes from garden to kitchen tools, howto books and more were raffled off and raised $100 for the market’s Beans and Greens program. Dayna McDaniel of the Missouri Department of Conservation provided fun art projects in the children area. Dayna is also a founder of SeedSavers-KC whose mission is promoting and propagating heirloom (non-GMO) seeds by sharing and educating. For those of us who grew up eating out of the garden, you never forgot those days of eating fresh, pulling up radishes and onions in the spring, picking strawberries, shucking ears of corn right off the stalk then putting up jars of jellies, vegetables, relishes and pickles for winter. Life starts to speed up when we grow up and some of us can no longer devote the time and energy to make those memories real again. For this we thank the market vendors who faithfully and lovingly work with nature who have spent years cultivating the art of making things grow from the earth. They bring in plants to encourage us to garden and they sell the fruits of their labors fresh off their farms. Bradford and Christine Williams of Pepper Berries Urban Farm not
Mayor Mike McDonough cuts the ribbon for the Grand Opening. Teresa Galvin, Jackson County Legislature, to the left and Alderman Janet Emerson to the right. only sell produce but also cook up delightful jams and jellies like kiwi orange marmalade and apple pear walnut conserves which I couldn’t resist. And they cater under the name Precious Petals and Pepper Berries. Christine also works for the MU Extension and does cooking demonstrations. Saturday, she made a salad for sampling that combined nasturtiums with the salad greens. Nasturtiums have a light peppery taste and the flower and
leaves are considered a gourmet delicacy. And, of course, they had nasturtium plants for sale. Jackie and the Beanstalk had beautiful 18-inch zinnia plants and I bought all she had left. I also made sure R and J Hum-A-Long Farm didn’t go back home with their petunia plants. Remember the Chumbas who were in the news last year because their garden was destroyed by vandals? Their garden is back in
production and in addition to veggies, they bring to the market fresh baked rolls, flatbread and delicious African fried doughnuts. My dear friend gave me a half dozen doughnuts and I ate them all in one day. Emmanual Kips Garden had beautiful, healthy basil, tomato, watermelon, pepper plants that tempted me to start a teeny weeny garden. Emmanuel showed us green garlic stalks that can be used to create tasty pestos, a concoction of ol-
ive oil, garlic, herbs, and parmesan cheese that can be easily whipped up in a food processor. Pestos can be stored in jars or in the freezer and are most commonly used in pasta dishes. I am looking forward to his collection of exotic garlic in the next few weeks. Some of the best parts of going to the market is that you get to talk with the grower. With all the rain, everything is
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Raytowner Top 10 Finalist In KC SuperStar Competition
Local Raytown High School student, Alex Haywood, is among the ten finalists chosen from 24 contestants in the KC SuperStar competition held at the Jewish Community Center
20 singers to move on to the semifinals. From there, competition judges select ten finalists to perform and compete in an exhilarating show in front of 1300 people. The audience will vote
this spring for his rendition of Arian Grande’s “My Everything.” Now in its sixth year, KC SuperStar is an “American Idol” style competition that awards the $10,000 Craig Citron Memorial Scholarship to the best high school singer in the metropolitan area. For participants, KC SuperStar is an invaluable experience. Following an audition, a panel of industry professionals selects
electronically for the winner of the $10,000 prize and the KC SuperStar 2015 title. The KC SuperStar finals are set to be held on August 23, 2015, at 7:00 p.m. at Yardley Hall at the Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS. Alex’s mother, Leilani, is hoping Raytown will come out to support Alex.
The ten finalists in alphabetical order: Allie Bostwick, Kate Cosentino, Tessa Hake, Alex Haywood, Prince-Russell Johnson, Austin Klein, Sebastian McCarty, Monica Stanley, Lorre’al Triplett and Bethany Vermillion. Alex Haywood is on the far left.