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The Oak Park High School community gathered for the dedication of a new Vietnam Memorial Healing Wall within the school.    This new memorial will stand as tribute to the hundreds of Oak Park alumni from the classes of 1966 through 1975 who served during the conflict.  It also includes special recognition to a select twelve former students that offered the ultimate sacrifice.   While this memorial will never make up for the loss families suffered, or the negativity showered on recruits lucky enough to return, perhaps it will help remind everyone that were just kids doing what they had to do to succeed in life.  As one of the speakers pointed out, most had little choice.  Many that left were only looking forward to returning home to friends, family, and enablement of new opportunities offered by the military.   video by cwarnes . . . View Photos from the Dedications SmugMug.com . . . The...

 A random Friday evening led to BB's Lawnside BBQ out on the south end of town, to meet with good company and to enjoy some good food together. Arriving fairly early, we had the place mostly to ourselves.  The band had not yet begun setting up, so we completely lost track of our seating, relative to their space, in our quest to quench our appetite. We ended up with front row seats for a performance by local blues band, the Stone Cutter's Union .  They kicked off their set just about the time we finished stuffing our bellies with some delicious food, transforming the room into a chill blues lounge.  It proved quite a little treat on all fronts, and we look forward to stumbling on this foursome again soon.  Is there a better way to enjoy a little KC BBQ?

  Freedom Fest on the Lake turned out a little more inundated than anyone anticipated.  A wetter normal spring and summer left Greers Ferry Lake higher than normal, with barely twenty feet of beach.  In some places there none to be found at all.   It is not as if that were a bad thing though. All of the surrounding communities continued alignment with the fourth of July, leaving this little resort town with Saturday the 5th all to itself.  A shortage of beachfront pushed folks to improvise.  They met the challenge and it did not become quite as overcrowded as in the past few years.  Lining the edge of the parking lot offered space to dance.  After the band, it enabled relocation for optimal firework viewing, and there was no shortage of space in the water or flotation devices of all sizes, complete with kids jumping from the trees.

An amazing night of multimedia and live performance flowed through a packed house at the Charlotte Street Foundation, highlighting the imaginative world of artist Donald Ross, known popularly as "Scribe." screenshot from scribbleversestudios While most immediately recognize his work stretching across decades of Kansas City buildings and alleyways, his recent efforts are likely the most impactful.  Larger-than-life murals commissioned by Children's Mercy Hospital throughout their campus inspire happiness and offer hope daily in children facing greater challenges than many of us will see in a lifetime. It is this visual storytelling that is celebrated in the film that was but one part of the audio-visual-lyrical trinity this evening. Produced by Kyle Dykes, "Enter the Scribbleverse" premiered at the Kansas City International Film Festival in March of 2025, after which Dykes and Ross began collaboration with the Charlotte Street Foun...

It is always exciting to discover a new work of art, especially in a place you kind of least expect it and on a larger scale.  This particular piece of work by Dani Roma covers the entire front of a building on Iron Street in North Kansas City.  It depicts an imaginary view of the Kansas City skyline, as seen from  the surrounding countryside to the south.  To me, the display is encouraging, drawing attention to things more important and colorful than the hustle of the stagnant hues of the city.