Wednesday, June 16, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 7
Fountains adorn city with wildlife artwork
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fountains seem to be everywhere here, spurting from bronze dolphins and winged seahorses at City Hall, Greek gods and mermaids in the main shopping district, even around the ballbark scoreboard.
Kansas City calls itself "The City of Fountains," not just because it has so many of them, but because they all are so different, fitting into the labyrinthian landscape of the city's parks and boulevards.
While many have been around for decades — the oldest active one was built in 1899 — there were several newer ones and still more in the works.
"It's a huge team effort and it continues to be after they're up and running," says Anita Gorman, a member of the City of Fountains Foundation, a private fundraising group. "They have to have people watching over them all the time."
As to just how many fountains are there in the City of Fountains, no one can say. The parks department oversees about 40 public ones.
"There are so many that are on private grounds and corporations that nobody knows." Gorman says.
The city's first fountains, at the turn of the century, were not meant to be works of art. In fact, they weren't even meant for people. They were drinking fountains for horses and dogs.
Nowadays, visitors can find everything from a long reflecting pool along the mansion-like homes of Ward Parkway, near the Country Club Plaza, to a friendly muse with a net full of fish in the middle of downtown.
Some fountains are memorials, tributes to Vietnam veterans, Eagle Scouts and city firefighters killed in the line of duty. Others are just for fun, such as sculptures of children playing near the city's waterworks building and the square of 30-foot high dancing waters at Crown Center. One park has a fountain that doubles as a wading pool.
Visitors can make reservations for a guided, two-hour tour (by car or trolley) that takes in about 25 of the best-known public fountains in the greater Kansas City area.
One recent trip began at the Country Club Plaza, a pioneer of the American shopping mall built to look like Seville, Spain. Some of the most popular fountains are here, including the 8,000-pound cast lead sculpture of Neptune raising his trident and guiding his seahorse-drawn chariot.
There's also the goddess Diana gathered with children in front of a cascading waterfall, and a group of fauns, half-human, half-goat beings, sitting around a small rectangular pool.
The J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain — the city's signature fountain — also is at the plaza, dedicated to the late developer who created the district and surrounding residential areas. He brought back much of the fountain art from trips to Europe. The first plaza fountain was set up in 1923.
"It was so successful that others who wanted to be successful wanted to emulate him, and it continues," Gorman says.
The fountain marks its 40th anniversary next year. The display of four bronze riders on horseback underwent extensive plumbing work last year, getting a new set of stainless steel pipes.
The pieces, which were transported from the garden of an old estate in Long Island, N.Y., are 10 1/2 feet high, surrounded by a two-tiered basin that shoots out streams of water. There's also a central geyser that spouts up to 30 feet. In between the horsemen is a smaller group of children riding dolphins.
While it's not certain what the horsemen represent, the most popular theory is that they stand for four rivers: the Mississippi, Seine, Rhine, and Volga. The Mississippi River horseman has a feathered headaddress and aims a spear at an alligator. The equestrian from the Volga is fighting a bear.
The fountains themselves must fight the ravages of time and weather. At least 10 around the city need varying degrees of rehabilitation, Mrs. Gorman says. Money raised by private organizations buys the fountains and creates an endowment; public dollars are spent to operate and maintain them.
Through the years, there has been an effort to build more fountains outside of Kansas City proper. One of the largest is the Northland Fountain, a big circular pool with a series of arch-spouting water jets that sits in the middle of some well-trafficked highways. It stands up well to freezing temperatures in the winter, showing off fountain ice sculptures.
You'll hear some people say that Kansas City has more fountains than any other city, including Rome.
"That's the height of podunk," the tour driver said dismissively.
Gorman has her own theory: "Rome had more, but they all don't work."
Flower business blooming success
SARCOXIE, Mo. — It doesn't take an outsider long to discover that this quiet, unassuming town in the southwest corner of Missouri, a town that took its name from a 19th-century Indian chief, is actually "The Peony Capital of the World."
The Associated Press
Indeed, if the billboard making such a claim to all who pass by Interstate 44's Sarcoxie off-ramp isn't enough to persuade you, simply point your car toward the end of that ramp. Then head south about a mile, to the main drag that connects Sarcoxie's town square to the rest of the world.
On any given day in the spring, you'll find pot尔斯 of peonies on the porches of the houses lining the street. Not to mention bundles more blooming in the greenbelts separating the sidewalk from the roadway.
Drop by the Gene Taylor Library and Museum, named for the beloved native son who served 16 years in Congress. There you'll find a pitcher full of the fragrant, ball-shaped flowers on the front counter.
"They seem to have brought the ants in with them today," says museum volunteer Rose Frazier, chuckling and shaking her head as she reaches out to squash one of the bugs.
But to learn why this is the peony capital of the world, and probably the day lily capital as well, one must make a run out to the northern edge of town, to Gilbert H. Wild and Son. It's a flower farm born more than 100 years ago when its nameake decided to make a little pocket
"Gilbert H. originally started when he was like 12, when he bought a couple dozen peonies and started putting them out for cut flowers," says Greg Jones, who bought the farm from the Wild family in 1991.
change by putting the colorful, green- stemmed flowers into the rich, chocolatebrown soil surrounding his family's home.
The flowers did so well that by 1885 Gilbert H. had founded the family business. Soon after the turn of the century, he had more than a million peonies blooming every year.
By the 1920s there were so many of the bright, colorful flowers in his fields that people began holding spring weddings there, and soon Sarcoxie was the site of peony festivals.
but then the rains came in record amounts in the 1950s, all but washing away Sarcoxie's now-famous crop. The Wild family responded by diversifying, planting day lilies and irises until things dried out enough for the peonies to stage a comeback.
The result: "Today we're the largest grower of peonies and day lilies in the world," Jones says. "And we grow about 200,000 irises as well."
There are more than 1.5 million flowers in all growing out of the farm's soil, including 2,800 varieties of day lilies, 601 varieties of peonies and 35 different kinds of irises.
They are shipped to every state in the nation, as well as some 40 countries. Most go to landscapers or homeowners, some to florists, and even some to cities and
parks.
"We have a major display at the St. Louis Botanical Garden right now," Jones says.
but selling them is the work part. And Jones, a burly man of 44 who dresses in work boots, denim shirt and blue jeans for his frequent forays into the fields, says he got into this out of love. A love for all things that grow out of the ground, but particularly for flowers.
"It takes your breath away," he adds.
"The fragrance the colors."
"There's nothing more beautiful than a field of peonies in full bloom," says the horticulturist, who keeps a framed print of Van Gogh's Irises in his office.
His 400-acre farm is a major tourist attraction to this town of 1,330 people, named for Chief Sarcoxie, the leader of the Turtle Band of Delaware Indians living here when white settlers arrived in the 1830s. Each day from late spring until the middle of the summer, people stop by to visit.
The day before, some 20 groups of people, including one from Kansas City, 150 miles away, showed up in a driving rainstorm and insisted on traipsing through the mud-soaked fields for a look.
"We get people who stop by for the day or just for an hour or two," says Jones, who gives each group a map and points them in the right direction.
Peony blooms are gone by the middle of June. But then the day lilies start to open up, and they won't be gone until August.
Web resources can jazz up KC trip
"At one time we'll have about 8 million day lilies in bloom," Jones says.
The Associated Press
Going to Kansas City? There's still time to make plans for this year's jazz festival, and the city claims to have the world's best barbecue.
Check up on everything from history to an explanation of why they call it the City of Fountains at the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau www.visitkc.com/aboutkc.cfm
This year's Kansas City Blues & Jazz Festival — www.kcblesjazz.org — is scheduled for July 16 to 18. You can order tickets online.
Check out lists of the city's restaurants at Dining Online — www.kcstar.com/showtime/dine/dine.htm.
And browse through the Kansas City Jazz Ambassador magazine — sites.kansascity.com/kcjazz — for information on the local clubs.
Or, just dive straight into the city's specialty at the Kansas City Bar-B-Q Connection —
www.rjbj.com/rjbj/bqb.htm. It's not organized very well, but if you read far enough you'll find a list of restaurants
Another list of restaurant links is available at the Kansas City section of Access America —
www.accessamer.com/kansascity along with sections on hotels and golf course.
For alternative accommodations, try Missouri Bed and Breakfast Inns — travelguides.com/inns/full/MO.html
One handy directory of things to see
and do is the Kansas City page maintained by former city residents now living in Hawaii — www.aloha.net/
7/Bkefans/kc.htm.
Another collection of references is kansascity.com at, what else, www.kansascity.com.
Once you arrive in a new city, it helps to have some idea of how to find your way around at the airport. Check the city's Aviation Department www.kcairports.org. They also supply a simple map of the metropolitan area.
If you're thinking of taking the kids along, check out the Kansas City Zoo
www.kansascityzoo.org/zoohome.htm
And for the gardens in the family,
check out the city's Powell Gardens —
powellgardens.org.
Fathers cherish childrens' many special gifts and family life
Ed Mitchell
Bruce Lieberman
Continued from page 1B
Ed Mitchell, graduate student in Russian history, and his wife Olga have two sons, ages 11 and two.
Mitchell said a gift from his sons last year on Father's Day was one of the best.
"They gave me a Detroit Redwings T-shirt," he said. "I'm a passionate Redwings fan and I know that it's pretty hard to find a shirt like that around here, so it's cool that they got that for me."
As for his idea of the ideal Father's Day, Mitchell said he'd like to spend the day with the family at Lone Star Lake have a picnic, go swimming, relax and enjoy the kids.
Mitchell's wife Olga, who is from Russia, said there was no Father's Day celebration in Russia, but there was a sort of veterans day upon which men and boys were honored.
Bruce Lieberman, assistant professor in geology, and his wife Paulyn Cartwright have a daughter who is almost two years old.
"I'm just starting out," he said. "My Father's Day last year was good, and we'll see what happens this year."
An ideal Father's Day is spending time with family and having a nice, quiet meal, he said. With a small child, that is something that he doesn't often get.
Nick Haines, outgoing news director of KANU radio, and his wife Dawn have two children, ages three and one.
What have Haines' Father's Day experiences been like?
"With children that young, I can't say I've had Father's Day gifts," Haines said. "But I have to say that I do far more for my wife on Mother's Day in the name of my children than my wife does for me on Father's Day in the name of my children. And I think that's just the nature of fathers. Fathers are considered to be incredibly important in children's lives, yet I don't think fathers ever get their due on Father's Day the same way that mothers do on Mother's day.
"Essentially, when you look at the statistics that come out from Hallmark cards, you will see that fewer people
send Father's Day cards than Mother's Day cards. There are fewer children who call their fathers on Father's Day when they are away from home than there are who call their mothers on Mother's Day. So we need to be doing more for our fathers by remembering Father's Day."
Haines said he didn't have a preconceived notion of what Father's Day should be.
"My mother was a single parent and so I never had a father on the scene — so I never even thought about it," Haines said. "I never bought a gift for Father's Day. And so to me, though it's wonderful being a father. I've never really had to think about those things. I never valued the day in the same way because I never got to celebrate it with my own father."
Haines, who has been at KU since 1993, has accepted the position as director of news and public affairs at KCPT television in Kansas City, Mo.
Jeff Weinberg, assistant to the chancellor, and his wife Mary have two grown daughters.
Weinberg said it would be great if he could see both daughters on Father's Day this year.
Because one daughter lives on the West Coast and the other in Lawrence it hasn't been possible the last few years.
"And I always get a card from my dog." he said.
It's not just any dog. She is a nine-year old Yorkshire Terrier named Margaret Thatcher. But when Margaret Thatcher sends her master a Father's Day card, she drops the formality and simply signs her name as "Maggie."
"We tend to be a very close family and both Mother's Day and Father's Day are special days that we seem to take very seriously as a family." Weinberg said. "Not that the gifts are extravagant at all, but it's a time to say to one another how much we care for each other and that we love each other."
"I'll be getting a card from Maggie this year," Weinberg said, smiling. "Or at least her name will be on a card."
Nick Haines
Jeff Weinberg
Sand Volleyball $3000 a team
Summer Intramural Sports
Get down to the Recreation Services fast
Sand Volleyball II Managers' meeting:
Monday, July 12 at 3:00 pm
203 Robinson
$30^00 a team
Upcoming events:
Late sign up is still available for:
Tennis Singles
3 - on - 3 Basketball
$3000 a team
Softball
Managers' meeting:
Monday, July 12 at 3:30 pm
208 Robinson
$30^{00}$ a team
Entries Open: Tuesday, July 6
Entries Close: Wednesday, July 14
Play Begins: Wednesday, July 21
Casts: Free!
Costs: Free!
Please have your team availability and entry fee at the Managers' Meetings. Schadules will be set at this time.
For More Information Contact the Office of Recreation Services: 864-3546. 208 Robinson.