Kansas City Parks & Recreation: Kansas City Celebrates Missouri's Bicentennial

Press release from the Kansas City Parks & Recreation Department:

July 6, 2021

The François Chouteau & Native American Heritage Fountain is the location for a special fun-filled event to observe Missouri’s 200th Anniversary!

Everyone is invited to join KC Parks on Saturday, July 24, to celebrate Missouri’s Bicentennial at the François Chouteau & Native American Heritage Fountain in the Northland. The free event will take place from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the fountain site, 3904 Chouteau Trafficway, located between I-35 and M-210 Highway, just north of Parvin Road in Kansas City.“The Chouteau Fountain site is a fitting location for the Bicentennial celebration,” says Mark L. McHenry, Chouteau Fountain Founders chairperson. “French pioneer Francois Chouteau is widely acknowledged as Kansas City’s founding father having established the area’s first fur trading post on the bluffs of the Missouri River some 200 years ago.”The festivities include Native American dancers, fiddlers and dulcimer players, fur trapping re-enactors, recognition of Missouri’s 200th Anniversary by state and local dignitaries, the unveiling of the fountain’s newest bronze sculpture, and the debut of a play, Tartuffenthrope! by Kansas City playwright Philip blue owl Hooser. Additional activities include horse-drawn wagon rides, food trucks, youth activities, and a Plein Air Quick Paint contest.On site donations and a silent auction will help benefit the completion of the Chouteau Fountain. All attendees are also invited to sign the official Kansas City Missouri Bicentennial Registry and receive a commemorative “twig” pen.The celebration is supported by the City of Kansas City, KC Parks, Northland Neighborhoods Inc., and Missouri’s Bicentennial Committee. For more information, visit www.kcparks.org/mo200kc.BLUFFS STAGE SCHEDULE9 a.m.               Beyond the Circle Native American Dancers9:30 a.m.          Dennis Stroughmatt, Cajun fiddle10:30 a.m.        MO Bicentennial Program11 a.m.             Tartuffenthrope! by KC Molière 40011:40 a.m.        Beyond the Circle Native American DancersNoon                Folk in the Flow12:50 p.m.       Plein Air Award PresentationInterludes by Robert Roe, the Osage Wind Rider

ACTIVITIES TENT SCHEDULE9:30 a.m.          Robert Roe, the Osage Wind Rider10 a.m.             Starry, Starry Night puppet show10:30 a.m.        Workshop #1: Missouri Mule Mouth Puppets11:30 a.m.        Workshop #2:  Paper Plate Puppets12:30 p.m.        Backyard Buggin puppet showOngoing chalk art, roving puppets, giant bubbles, hula hoops, jugglersPARKING/SHUTTLELegal parking is available on some streets and at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 3800 NE Parvin Rd, Kansas City, MO 64117. The KCATA will provide complimentary shuttle transportation around the NE Chouteau corridor.ABOUT THE FOUNTAINThe François Chouteau & Native American Heritage Fountain is currently under construction on the west side of Chouteau Parkway, south of I-35, north of Parvin Road. The first phase of the fountain bluff is complete and three heroic size bronze sculptures of Francois Chouteau and two Osage Indians are installed. A fourth sculpture of a Kansa hunter stalking a beaver will be unveiled at the Bicentennial celebration. The sculptures were produced by local artist Kwan Wu, who is ranked among the top sculptors in the world. The fountain’s next phase includes building additional bluffs and adding a water feature.  More at www.chouteaufountain.org.MISSOURI’S BICENTENNIALAugust 10, 2021, will mark the two hundredth anniversary of Missouri’s entry as the 24th state to enter the United States. A state with many different regional cultures, geographies, and industries, each Missouri community, county, and region has a story to tell about its people, their history, their commerce, and their culture. By celebrating the accomplishments and diversity of all these regions, we help create a better understanding of our one Missouri and the ties that bind us together. More at www.missouri2021.org.

This press release was produced by the Kansas City Parks & Recreation Department. The views expressed here are the author’s own.