Tulips on Troost

An Initiative for change

  • Tulips on Troost aims to change the face of Troost Avenue by planting one million tulips along the Avenue in honor of an early Kansas City leader, Dr. Benoist Troost. Through this mission, we hope to inspire and motivate the citizens of Kansas City to recognize the value of neighborhood capital improvements and beautification in some of the city's most under-served neighborhoods. Tulips are just on the surface—our deep-rooted goal is to use a beautiful, accessible thing like a tulip to represent positive change on Troost and to let the city know that Troost is worth our time, efforts, and resources.

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We hope to see you and all our tulip friends this Sunday at St. Mark Hope and Peace (3800 Troost Avenue) for the 3rd Annual Lessons and Carols.


Sunday, December 9, 2012 at 3PM 

For tickets ($10 - $15) visit www.octarium.org

Join Octarium and neighborhood leaders for a transformative afternoon of music and community building.
 

All proceeds go to St. Mark Hope and Peace to aid in its mission of restoring its building and its neighborhood revitalization programs.

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A dream you dream alone is only a dream

A dream you dream together is reality

                                        Yoko Ono

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Join Tulips on Troost volunteers at their annual January 1st, 2012 bulb planting event and kick off the new year by doing something good...planting tulips on Troost Avenue.   Yes, we've got bulbs to bury and the fun begins at Noon in front of St. Mark Hope and Peace (3800 Troost Avenue).  Bring your own trowel and shovel.  We'll provide the tulips and hot toddies.

Contact:  Durwin Rice (816) 447-0539 for more information.

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Tulips on Troost, The Friends of St. Mark and St. Mark Hope and Peace Lutheran Church thank all who supported Lessons and Carols in 20011.




Lessons and Carols with Octarium



and our community readers of the Lessons --

Rev. Donna Simon, St. Mark Hope and Peace Lutheran Church
Fr. Paisius Altschul, St. Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church
Mark Williamson, Executive Director - De LaSalle Education Center
Fr. Thomas Curran, President - Rockhurst University
Alice Ellison, V.P. Community Relations - Blue Cross, Blue Shield
Leo Morton, Chancellor - University of Missouri, Kansas City
Dr. Jacqueline Chanda, President - Kansas City Art Institute
Mary Kay McPhee - Community Volunteer and Civic Leader
Brenda L. Thomas - Thomas and Company, HR Consulting



A benefit to help transform Troost Avenue



Get acquainted with Octarium at:
Octarium 
Contact the Friends of St. Mark at:

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Driving home in our Kia (which was filled to the brim with 8,000 tulip bulbs), after registering ourselves for this weekend's CLI conference, we noticed this new billboard from Truman Medical Center.

Thanks TMC for the tulips imagery.  It is very welcome during our dirty digging days of October when we plant and we really appreciate your agreeing with us about healthy living.

We CAN take care of both ourselves and our communities and tulips are (for us of course) the very best image of health and happiness and rebirth.

After you add today's 8,000 tulip bulbs to the 12,000 we picked up last week you'll understand why we're still hoping you'll join us this Saturday, October 15th for our big Community Planting event on Troost Avenue.

If you can help, join us at Meyer Blvd. and Troost Avenue between 9AM and Noon and join a tulip planting team! 

Welcome, again, CLI delegates.  We're hoping to meet as many of you as possible while you're here in KC.

Please, please, please seek us out and tell us all about what's working at home to improve your communities!

Keep up-to-date with us on FacebookTwitter and YouTube.

Lessons and Carols is a pretty neat KC event, too!

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And, because we like to help, we're offering a plethora of opportunities for you to show off your green thumb at our October 15th Community Planting Date or just show up and put your carpentry, mathematical, organizational and even your indefinable skills to good use in one of our two greenhouses!

Two Greenhouses?
Yes, Tulips on Troost is excited to be expanding our educational program (currently housed at the Center High School greenhouse) to include the recently built greenhouse at Center Alternative School.  Unlike the expansions most of us are already too familiar with (expansions that require the purchase of a new pair of pants), this expansion only requires the help of some additional greenhouse volunteers.

You don't think you know enough yet about growing in a greenhouse to participate?  You are not alone.  Come learn with us and help us cultivate everything from peanuts to pineapples.  There are weekly opportunities to participate in a class with our enthusiastic Life Skills students (who will teach you a lot) and there are opportunities to plot your own schedule to mentor a student (or a student team) in some  very exciting and practical gardening experiences.

Plus, our greenhouses could use some improvements, i.e. repairs to the furnace and ventilation systems (at CHS) and new shade cloths, tables and shelving at the new Alternative greenhouse.  The need list goes on so maybe you should contact us at (816) 447-0539 and find out where your set of skills, expertise or ability to make a contribution fits in.

October 15th Community Planting Date

For the first time in Tulips on Troost's history we have more volunteers signed up to plant tulip bulbs than we have bulbs purchased to plant!  That means two things:

1) First, if you join us to volunteer on the 15th, you won't have to work all that hard since we've already got lots of promised participation.  It all begins at 9AM on Saturday 10/15 at the corner of Meyer Blvd. and Troost Avenue.

2) Second, it  means you should probably make a tax-deductible contribution to Southtown Foundation today so that we can purchase more bulbs!


Please mail your checks to:  Tulips on Troost/Southtown Foundation, 6814 Troost Ave., KCMO 64131 and THANK YOU for supporting the transformation of Troost Avenue!

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Designer Charles Brown wants to help promote the neighborhood along Troost Avenue.

We agree that's a good idea.

And of course the Paseo Boulevard is certainly the nicest route to take when you're driving north or south through the center of Kansas City.

Prospect, you know, has some seriously good housing for Seniors under construction as we speak.

What's next?

Finding happiness in a beautiful home on Benton Boulevard?  (If you want, Charles, we can put you in touch with the Benton Beautification Volunteer Team.)

Contact Charles at 913-522-1474 or pksteelfurniture@gmail.com to purchase your shirt!

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The boys pictured are in San Francisco but you'll have just as much fun planting Troost Avenue tulip bulbs with us on Saturday, October 15th.  We'll begin very early and continue until we're done so there's a good chance you will be able to join (or bring) a team to help us get 20,000 bulbs buried by sundown.

Yes, we truly NEED your help so please save the date!

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