Holiday light show drive-through event held at Renaissance Festival site

by William Crum

More than 200 people attended a holiday light show drive-through event Saturday at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival site near 130th and State Avenue, Bonner Springs.

People came from all over the Kansas City area, making it a huge success.

The “Knights of Light” show’s partner was Landers’ Visions.

Visitors stay in their cars to drive through the village to see the holiday lights and scenes. The event was cosponsored by Minsky’s Pizza.

Tickets are $25 per car.

Remaining dates and times for the holiday light show drive-through are 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, Dec. 17-24, and Dec. 26-27.

Photos below by William Crum:

Faith news

Wyandotte County is in Phase 3 under Kansas Ad Astra reopening plan. Local health officials said under Phase 3, people should keep a distance of 6 feet between themselves and others. They may sit closer to people who live in their households. Also, people should wear masks and should wash hands or use hand sanitizer. There is a mask order in effect in Wyandotte County, requiring masks to be worn inside any public space.
Some faith groups are holding online or video services. In Wyandotte County, those who are older than 60 or who have other medical conditions should continue being very cautious, according to the Wyandotte County health officials. Those who are sick should stay home, according to officials.
More details about Wyandotte County health guidelines for churches are at https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/COVID-19GuidelinesForChurches.pdf.

Some churches have been changing their services as a result of COVID-19 restrictions for the community. Residents are advised to visit the social media page of their church or faith organization, or to call them or email them, to see changes that have been made to regular schedules, or if there are video services planned on Sunday.


The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has information about churches reopening, Masses, and reflections, at https://www.facebook.com/archkck.

Blessed Sacrament, Christ the King and Our Lady and St. Rose Catholic churches have resumed in-person Masses. For more information, visit the churches’ websites or Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/Christ-the-King-Parish-KCKS-1392808997677579, https://www.facebook.com/BlessedSacramentkck, and https://www.facebook.com/ourladyandsaintrose/. Sunday Mass is online at https://www.facebook.com/BlessedSacramentkck.


Casa – Worship House Christian Church, 5217 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, Kansas, will have services at 11 a.m. Sunday. The church has an online service at www.facebook.com/casadealabanzaKCKS. Check with the church’s social media page for more information on services. For more information, visit Facebook @casadealabanzaKCKS.


The First Christian Church of Bonner Springs, 148 N. Nettleton, Bonner Springs, is planning a blood drive from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 16. The blood drive will help the Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City collect blood donations. There is a critical need for blood donations. Appointments are encouraged. To make an appointment, visit https://donate.savealifenow.org/.


Open Door Baptist Church, 3033 N. 103rd Terrace, Kansas City, Kansas, will have services in person with social distancing at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 13. There will be a livestream service at https://www.facebook.com/opendoorkc/ and https://www.opendoorkc.com/.


Stony Point Christian Church, 149 S. 78th St., Kansas City, Kansas, plans to livestream at 10:15 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, on its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/StonyPointChristianChurch, and people are welcome to attend the service in person, using social distancing, masks and other health measures. The church plans a Christmas Eve candlelight service at 6 p.m. Dec. 24.

St. Patrick Catholic Church, Kansas City, Kansas, has a Mass online for Sunday, Dec. 13, at https://www.facebook.com/StPatrickKCK. St. Patrick Church also has in-person Masses. Advent confessions will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, 3:30 p.. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays, and at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1300 N. 18th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will have updates on its Facebook page and its website at https://www.stpaulskck.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/StPaulsKCK.

Sunset Hills Christian Church, 6347 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, Kansas, plans to have services at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. For more information about this Sunday’s plans, visit the Facebook page of Pastor Mike Barnett, https://www.facebook.com/mike.barnett.528. Services are also provided through checkout of DVD or SD Card and can be sent by email upon request. People are welcome to attend the service in person using social distancing and other health measures. Masks are available or bring your own to wear.

Wyandotte United Methodist Church, 7901 Oakland Ave., will have a livestreamed service Sunday, Dec. 13, on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Wyandotteumc/ or online on the website at www.wyandotteumc.com.

Information about other church services in Wyandotte County may be available from the church’s social media page.
To send in items for the Faith News, email information to [email protected]. Please include your name and contact information.

COVID-19 cases increasing here

Wyandotte County reported an additional 218 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, for a cumulative total of 12,503, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. There were no additional reported deaths, for a cumulative total of 184.

The Mid-America Regional Council Kansas City Region COVID-19 dashboard reported 104,581 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Saturday, an increase of 650 since Friday. The average number of new hospitalizations was 184, up slightly.

Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 16,062,299 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the United States on Friday, and 297,818 cumulative deaths.

For details about testing, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.

For more information about the testing site at the former Kmart location, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/10092020_newtestingsitewyco.pdf.

The KDHE vaccine report is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1664/COVID-19-Vaccine-Updates-1292020-.

Cards and letters of encouragement for caregivers at KU Health System may be sent to Share Joy, care of Patient Relations, 4000 Cambridge St., Mailstop 1021, Kansas City, Kansas, 66160. Emails can be sent to [email protected].

Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask and social distancing order. Also, the Wyandotte County health order with a limit of 10 persons to a gathering, and a closing time of 10 p.m. for restaurants and bars, with other new restrictions, is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/11162020localhealthorderexecuted.pdf.

The UG COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.

The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.

The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.

The Wyandotte County page on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website is at https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/20209.html.

The CDC’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.