news_letter_June

The yearly summer recreation program sponsored by the Unified Government Parks and Recreation Department begins June 11th and ends on July 27th. This is a wonderful program for designed for children 5-10 yeas old. They go swimming and skating on alternate Fridays. They play each sport for three weeks. Softball, basketball, and volleyball. Crafts & games are designed for age groups. Golf and photography are available. In order for children to take part in all the fun that is offered it costs $100 per child for six weeks. We still need twenty more scholarships in order to sponsor every child. This money also enables us to buy swim suits and towels that some children do not have. The Armourdale Renewal Association has been raising money for 50 children each year. We also use our BPU summer Youth employment grant money to hire our own Armourdale teens as team leaders to assist our Program Supervisor. Josh Boswell, PE Teacher is the summer recreation program supervisor. We will have four tea leaders starting new this year. Rico Howard, Hope Jennings, Tamarra Fries and Miranda Hackney. We have a complete new clean team under the supervision of Mike Rios, an Armourdale resident and parent. Your are welcome to visit the center and see the program in progress. Most of these children would not be able to swim or take part in these kind of summer activities Armourdale Renewal attempts to provide opportunities that will help children stay away from gang activity. This program not only provides fun for the 5-10 year olds, but this is a great training ground for junior high and high school students who are the team leaders. Business sponsors to date:: First State Bank; Galamba Metals, Liberty Fruit, Reliable Concrete, Prime Investments, PQ Corp, and Armourdale American Legion Post #188.

Bill Clem Park has been violated

Graffiti is the work of mindless cowards. Gangs have put their marks all over the marble monument with Bill Clem’s picture. We honored Bill because he became a National Wheelchair Champion. Stricken with polio at 18 months, he could not stand until he was eight years old. He crawled every where he went, down Osage and Argentine Blvd to visit his favorite stores. One day a Shriner stopped and asked him if he would like to have crutches. Well, the rest is history. The Shriner took Bill to the Shriner Hospital in Texas and fitted him with crutches and he was able to stand upright at the age of 8 years old for the first time in his life. He play all sports with everything he had. He ran bases on crutches in that same park. He made Armourdale proud. His is a role model to all crippled children. The gang members will never destroy this man’s history. Armourdale Renewal is prepared to offer a $1,000 reward for information that incarcerates these gang members. The stone monument cost $850 that makes this crime an E-felony and demands prison time. Not jail, adult prison.

Senior dance & bingo

The last senior bingo for the summer will be held on June 6th at the Armourdale Recreation Center from 10:AM-Noon. We resume bingo on Wednesday, August 1st. The bingo games are cancelled during the summer recreation period. The children use the entire center during the six week program. Betty Green is still having health problems and is recovering at home. Keep her in your prayers. We welcome prizes and refreshment donations.

The senior dance will continue during the summer recreation period. The June dance will be held on Monday, June 18th from 1-3:PM at the recreation center. Mary King-Kerns and Wilma Allen are always there to provide refreshments. Most of you may know that our fried Pat Dutra passed away last month. She was that happy friendly lady with the pretty red hair. We hope her husband Tom has support during his grieving. The Don Nelson Band. Provides us with great music. We are grateful to have this kind of excellent live music. Tell your friends and neighbors about our dances. This is an enjoyable way to spend Monday afternoon. Call 913-551-0408 if you need additional information on the dance or bingo.

Respect for our clean team

The Armourdale Clean Team is composed of teens who live in Armourdale. This team is being supervised my Mike Rios, an Armourdale parent. The teens are being trained to mow lawns and trim bushes. They are not professionals. This is a training program. The teens are required to perform community service before they begin to get six weeks of pay from the BPU summer youth employment program. Armourdale Renewal will be holding an orientation on June 7th at the Armourdale Recreation center. We will have a representative from the bank and from law enforcement speak to the teens. The team leaders will also attend this orientation. One thing we stress at this orientation and all through our teens programs is respect for the residents and senior citizens whom they serve. We do expect the residents and elderly of this community to show respect to the teenagers who are providing you with a free service. One of our senior citizens was very rude to our kids. Armourdale Renewal will not let our teens work for anyone who is rude and disrespectful. If our teens treat any residents rudely, we would pull them from the team. Likewise we will not tolerate rude behavior towards these kids. If you have a problem with these teens, their supervisor is on site to complain to. If you should have a problem with the supervisor, you can call the office and ask for Kim at 913-371-5696. Be sure your complaints are factual because we will involve the police, BPU and any other department we feel is necessary.

Armourdale community meeting

The Armourdale Community Meeting will be held Thursday, June 21st from 6-7:PM at the Armourdale Recreation Center. Our guest speakers will be Cindy Cash on the gaming issue and Chris Carrucci from Downtown Shareholders who will inform us what is happening in downtown Kansas City KS. Refreshments will be served. The public is invited. Our community police officer, Jose Viera and code officer, Bob Laubsch will be present for your convenience. The community meetings are held for you the residents and businesses to learn what is happening in the community. We also have the officers here for you to speak with if you have a problem. Uniting as community is very important for Armourdale. We are small in numbers and can be ignored if you do not show up in numbers. This is your community. This is a small town with unique retailers. We need to know each other and our resources. The community meeting is where you can get together and network with other neighbors. You will be surprised how much you can learn at these meetings. This is your town. Help bring people together. United we fall, divided we stand. This always holds true.

Home repair program status

The home repair program is in the process of raising money to help supple materials for our different home repair requests. Armourdale Renewal is partnering with Central Area Betterment in holding a charity golf tournament on June 16th at the Painted Hills Golf Course at 71st and Parallel. Sign up time is 7:AM< with a shotgun start at 7:30AM. Cost is $85 per golfer and $340 for a foursome. There are many great raffle prizes, a continental breakfast provided by Liberty Fruit, a free lunch and many other prizes. Call Kim at our office for more information. We are trying to take care of each project as it is requested. We ask residents to be patient while we recruit labor and materials.

We serve homeowner only. Urgent need is our priority. Bob Laubsch is issuing warning to many helpless homeowners. We cannot keep up with the volume of violations. Call us at the office and bring in your notice so we can copy it, then call Bob Laubsch and let him know we are working with you. Ask him for an extension in time and he will usually work with you. Armourdale has many old homes. The windows and doors are usually not standard sizes. We do not have money, we are just trying to help the best way we know how. We urge the business community to help sponsor a project, most are small and just need a door, window or paint. If you can help we will provide you with the project address and information. Call Kim at the office if you are interested in helping us improve the quality of life in Armourdale.

Court yard bricks

Your can still purchase bricks for the Armourdale Historic Court yard. The entrance sign is up and concrete is poured. We can thank the Wolfe Concrete Company, Geiger Concrete, Goedecke and Universal Equipment Company for the progress. The sign was donated by Sturgis materials and the engraving was done by Bhlum memorials.. Engraved bricks are on display at the Armourdale Recreation Center. Call the office and we will be glad to meet with you and help fill out your forms. We also have a presentation committee that will bring you complete information at your business so that you can make an informed decision when fill out your brick order form. The committee members are: Patty Dysart, Bob Gutierrez, Kathi Butler, Bruce Yarbrough and David Sahib. You can ask for any one of these people to bring you the presentation It is helpful to have at leave 2 or 3 presenters. The historic monuments and the flagpoles are the next to be installed. This is the place for Armourdale history. New or old businesses need to have a brick to keep their business name in history for your descendants. Many former residents are putting in their old Armourdale addresses from before and after the 1951 flood. Remember there are 2 sizes of bricks. You may want to see how both look when engraved. We have those samples at the center.

Combating critters

· To see a mole run out astonished, put a garlic bulb in his hole..(16th century herbalist...Kohn Gerad)

· Sprinkle ground red pepper around the entrances to mole tunnels

· Fruit Flies love the smell of beer.

· Don’t disturb ants on peony plants. They are enjoying the flower’s nectar and protecting them from aphids and other pests

· To repel ants from your kitchen, put a few drops of clove or peppermint oil on a cloth and wipe countertops and backsplashes.

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ARA APPLICATION

Summer Recreation Program