Old Buildings, New Attitudes

Archive for February, 2009

PRESS RELEASE 

 

The St. Patrick’s Day Committee of Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street, Inc., has chosen Gene Gamber to be the Grand Marshall of this year’s parade. He will lead the Emerald Isle Parade taking place on Saturday, March 14th, at 1:00 pm in Downtown Lee’s Summit.

The Committee chose Gene Gamber to be this year’s Grand Marshall because he represents a true sense of community. After retiring from General Motors, Gamber moved to Lee’s Summit and found his passion for volunteering. He began by serving as the Treasurer for his homeowners’ association, thus exposing him to the political world. Some time later he became the Vice-President of the Board of Directors for the local Senior Center. When notified that the Senior Center would have to move out of its current facility, Gamber began looking for new funds. In hopes of reaching a solution, he spear-headed a campaign for a sales tax referendum to fund the center. After finding out the Senior Center was still short of the total funds needed to complete the new building, Gamber petitioned the City and received another $1 million dollars to finish the project. In Spring 2008 the success of his hard work was evident as “The Gamber Center,” a multi-generational facility now part of Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation, was completed.

Gene Gamber has always been willing to donate his time in helping the community. He was the Treasurer of the bond issue for the new City Hall and currently serves on the Advisory Boards for St. Luke’s East and the Truman Heartland Foundation. Gamber also won the Citizen of the Year award in 2005.

Put on something green and join Gene Gamber for the Emerald Isle Parade! The parade will start at Lee’s Summit High School and proceed west on 8th Street, then north on Green to 3rdStreet, then west on 3rd to SE Main, then north on SE Main. The parade will then cross 2nd street and disperse at the United Methodist Church.

For all those eager to be a part of the parade, Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street, Inc, is accepting parade entries for floats, marching groups, vehicles, etc. Applications can be found along with parade rules on the events page at www.downtownls.org. They can also be picked up at the following locations in downtown Lee’s Summit: Doherty & Sullivan’s Irish Goods, 213 SE Main; Green Beauty Salon & Day Spa, 217 SE Main; and Cameron’s Home Furnishings, 26 SE Third. The non-profit organization/ family rate is $30.00, and the commercial/small business rate is $75.00.

Grab your friends, family, or co-workers and join Gene Gamber and the rest of your community in celebrating St. Patrick’s Day! This event is being presented by Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street’s Promotions Committee. The mission of this committee is to promote downtown as the center of commerce, culture, and community life for residents and visitors alike.

For more information about this event or other upcoming Downtown Lee’s Summit events, visit www.downtownls.org or call 816-246-6598.

 

This warmer weather the past few days has me thinking about Spring!  Save the date for The Downtown Lee’s Summit Spring Open House, March 20-22, 2009.  Participating downtown stores will debut NEW spring merchandise.

For the next month, downtown stores will be passing out cute little seed packets full of wildflowers to help remind you that spring is almost here!  Hopefully you’ll think of Downtown Lee’s Summit as you watch your beautiful flowers grow.  And hopefully they’ll remind you to shop Downtown Lee’s Summit this Spring!

 

Lee’s Summit’s first permanent public art was just installed in Hartley Plaza in Downtown Lee’s Summit, located on SE 3rd Street just east of Douglas.  The three bronze statues by artist Kwan Wu were commissioned by FPC Development & Construction President Kurt Pycior.  Funds for the project were raised through private donations and from the City’s Downtown Art Fund.

The sculptor Kwan Wu has had sculptures displayed at the White House and currently at Kauffman Stadium.  Visit his website to see more examples of his work.

To read more about the new art in Downtown Lee’s Summit, please visit the City’s website.