Live Music at the Luminary Walk
    The 15th Annual Luminary Walk will feature a variety of new artists this year along with many returning Luminary Walk performers. 
    New Entertainers will include: 
    James Isaac, saxophonist extraordinaire, will perform holiday favorites in the Visitors Center along with selected accompaniment.
    The City of Fountains Chorus Sweet Adelines will fill the Visitors Center with award-winning barbershop-style harmonies. 
    Visitors will find Jimmy Meade roaming around the Train Garden, Santa's Station and the Visitor's Center, performing traditional holiday tunes on harmonica. 
    Beau Bledsoe will introduce guests to a cultured holiday repertoire performed on a variety of guitars from around the world...in the Legacy Gazebo.  
    Keaton Conrad, youth keyboardist, will perform festive holiday music in the Legacy Gazebo.  
    Returning entertainers are: 
    TerryLee Whetstone, Native American flute player, will fill the air with his hand-crafted native flute sounds in the Marder Garden. Hear the echoes of TerryLee's haunting musical tones throughout the woods. 
    American Opera Studio, performing in the Legacy Gazebo, will bring a presentation of lovely operatic and dramatic holiday pieces. 
    Starlight Stars of Tomorrow, auditioned youth talent from Starlight Theater, will be a major presence in the Visitors Center, performing snippets of their 2014 Holiday Show. 
    Sensation! Quartet will once again keep the crowd in the Visitors Center entertained with their humorous and fun-spirited holiday selections. 
    Spring Hill Madrigals, the top performing choral group from Spring Hill High School, will entertain guests in the Visitors Center with a variety of upbeat, joyful holiday pieces. 
    The Silverwood Duo, with Emily Smith on flute and Steven Smith on violin, will provide classical holiday pieces in the Visitors Center.

Join Our Mailing List

FOTA Contact Info 

 

Dennis Patton, FOTA Chair

[email protected]  

 

Volunteer Coordinators

Breanne Wasinger and Kim Alvarez 

[email protected] 

 

Suzie Swyden, FOTA Coordinator
and Membership Inquiries

[email protected] 

 

Katharine Garrison,

Special Events & Education Coordinator

[email protected] 

 

Commemorative Gift and 

Donation Opportunities

can be accessed online

 

The Arb / November 2014  
Overland Park Arboretum
& Botanical Gardens
1/2 mile west of Hwy. 69
on 179th Street
913-685-3604  
 

 
The Holiday Luminary Walk 
Is Ready to Start the Season! 
     Now is the time to create and preserve your family's holiday traditions! The annual Holiday Luminary Walk at the Overland Park Arboretum is a great place to start. Many metro-area families have made the Luminary Walk the official kick-off of their holiday season.
    Thanksgiving weekend marks the fifteenth year of the Luminary Walk. On Friday and Saturday evenings, November 28 and 29,
and again the following weekend,
December 5 and 6, Friends of the Arboretum volunteers and staff will transform the Arboretum into a wonderland of candles and lights, music and holiday fun,
from 5 to 9 pm.
    Thousands of candles line the walkways and trails. Holiday lights twinkle from the trees, buildings and bridges. Children will be thrilled to see Santa's Woodland Depot in the Train Garden, where Santa himself appears from 5:30 to 8:30 each night, sponsored by Prosperity Advisory Group. Louisburg Cider Mill apple cider will be served around the traditional bonfire.   
    A native American flute player will send his haunting melodies floating through the woods. Carolers will appear throughout the gardens, along with live entertainment beside the cozy fireplace in the Visitors Center (see list of entertainers at left).
    A brand new Gnome Village, sponsored by Lambie Custom Homes, is sure to delight visitors of all ages this year, in addition to the spectacularly decorated Train Garden and a child-size Gingerbread House.
    Tickets are $8 and include a horse-drawn hay wagon ride, courtesy of presenting sponsor Westlake Ace Hardware. The Luminary Walk is free for children five and under, and parking is free. Purchase your tickets in advance for expedited entrance to the event.
    Westlake Ace Hardware is presenting sponsor of the 2015 Luminary Walk. Other sponsors include Prosperity Advisory Group, Louisburg Cider Mill, Heritage Tractor, Renewal by Andersen, United Rental of Belton, KC Studio Magazine, Lambie Custom Homes, SIMPLYkc Magazine, Chip and Barbara Lawrence, NiteLites, CenturyLink, Fresh Market, KC Gardener Magazine, and the Friends of the Arboretum.
    We thank all our sponsors and donors for being such an important part of this wonderful event, and we hope you will thank them too when you have a chance. 
    Make the Luminary Walk at the OP Arboretum a holiday tradition for your family!
PHOTOS BY BOB AND CAROL FOWLER
Building Projects Are Moving Along
    Even in the cold months, enhancements are being made to the Arboretum. Here are some details about two current projects:
    The Train Garden's Strang Line opened in September with more than 20 historic buildings. There will be a total of 37 buildings when the area is complete. Our newest project, the Freight House, is under construction and will add yet another life-size feature.
    Freight houses were typically located in lesser populated areas and provided a mini place of commerce. Farmers took their produce to the freight house to be shipped to market and household goods were delivered by train to these rural areas and off loaded on to the freight house platform.
    Free State Timbersmiths is custom building a pergola over the Haake Celebration Terrace using Alaskan yellow cedar, with metal brackets and hackett stone bases. Alaskan yellow cedar is the hardest cedar in the world with exceptional resistance to weather and insects. West Coast Native Americans used the wood to build totem poles and canoes. The pergola will provide some needed shade for visitors relaxing on the Terrace.
    We are grateful to Karen and Chuck Haake for their ongoing vision and support of the Celebration Terrace project, as it continues to grow and become an important area of the Arboretum.
    Shown above are artists' conceptual renderings of these projects.
 Great Holiday Gift Ideas for You
    Trying to find the perfect gift for a friend or loved one? Friends of the Arboretum offers some unique gift ideas to honor special people in your life. These gifts can be purchased in seconds online and are just a click away CLICK HERE Once your order is placed, a certificate download will be available for you to print.
    Friends of the Arboretum Gift Membership. Individual Membership ($35), Plus-1 ($50) and Plus-5 ($75). Benefits include free daily admission, reciprocal programs with more than 200 botanical gardens and arboretums nationwide, 10% discount at FOTA plant sales, and an annual FOTA social event.
    Spring Plant Sale Gift Certificates. For the Gardeners in your life, gift certificates are available in $25 increments and may be used at the spring, 2015 Plant Sale.
    General, unrestricted contributions to the Arboretum can be made as a tribute to an individual or to honor a special occasion. Recipients receive an acknowledgment that the gift was made in their honor. Gifts may be made in any amount.
    Create a personalized, commemorative paver on the Haake Celebration Terrace to honor a loved-one or memorialize a special event or accomplishment. Prices start at $250. Engravings occur in spring and fall.
    Adopt a Flower Bed. Select from a dozen flower beds at the Arboretum to recognize a loved one for a season ($500 per season). An in-ground marker will honor the individual you choose.
    Help keep the trains running. Make a general gift in any amount to assist in the growth and maintenance of the Train Garden. Honor a loved one with an Engraved Brick on the axis walkway ($500) or with a Railroad Tie Plaque ($1,000).
    Gifts outlined are considered charitable contributions and are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. Your gift will help support the many projects of the Friends of the Arboretum.
Meet the New Volunteer Coordinators  
    Meet our new Volunteer Coordinators, Kim Alvarez (left) and Bre Wasinger. These two young women ask for volunteers willing to help with garden tasks, events, greeting visitors, weddings, tours, manning the Train Garden, and the many other assignments that help keep the Arboretum working to please visitors and serve the community.
    Kim and Bre have set up a website where you can check out volunteer opportunities and sign up for the specific activity you would most enjoy. Check it out at www.signupgenius.com. As a potential volunteer, how can you say anything but YES to a pair of smiling faces like these?