Category: Events

Legends tree lighting to be Saturday night

The annual Legendary Tree Lighting ceremony will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, at The Legends Outlets. A 45-foot synchronized Christmas tree will be lit. The event is free and open to the public. (File photo from 2018)

Legends Outlets is welcoming another holiday season with its 16th Annual Legendary Tree Lighting from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13.

The free tree lighting ceremony is in the Legends civic courtyard fountain area, near the AMC Legends Theaters. The ceremony is centered around a 45-foot Christmas tree.

There will be holiday entertainment and activities, including a live holiday concert, text-to-win prize giveaways, complimentary hot cocoa, and photos with Santa.

This year, the lighting of the tree will take place between 6 and 6:15 p.m. Saturday. Live music and activities will continue until about 8 p.m.

Upgraded with new lights and the addition of more than 2,000 ornaments, the Christmas tree, which is synchronized to music, will continue to brighten spirits until early January 2022.

Parker 3D, an international holiday design company based in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, is the producer of the holiday lighting show.

This year’s official tree lighting emcees are Adriana Davalos and Toni Talley, hosts of Great Day KC on FOX 4 News. They will take center stage at 5 p.m. to kick off the event, introduce musicians throughout the evening, and then lead the ceremonial countdown to the tree lighting. Great Day KC is a new, weekday lifestyle show dedicated to all things Kansas City. It airs from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., Monday through Friday, on FOX 4 News.

Families can create special memories from the evening as they enjoy free activities throughout the center. Activities include:

Center Courtyard and surrounding area:
• Live holiday concert
• Face painting
• Balloon twisting
• Prize wheel
• Text-to-win prize giveaways
• Complimentary hot cocoa
• Giant snow globe photo op

The Lawn:
• Holiday movie screening
• Fun photo opportunities
o Santa’s Sleigh
o Giant “I heart Santa” LED Letters
• Yard games
• Santa Mailbox

Characters including KC Wolf, The Grinch, and more, will be roaming around the center for photo opportunities starting at 5:30 p.m.

Live concert: 5-8 p.m.

Throughout the tree lighting ceremony, local musicians from various bands will perform classic holiday music that the whole family can enjoy. Musicians include:

• Rusty Laffoon
• Nick Nave
• Jaclyn Bell
• Nicole Springer
• Miguel

Photos with Santa: 5:15-8 p.m.

Santa will visit Legends Outlets to welcome guests to the 16th Annual Legendary Tree Lighting. After his welcome remarks, Santa will be stationed just west of the center courtyard, between Francesca’s and Converse Factory Store, for family photos. Photos are free, and guests will receive a shareable digital copy and print-out of their photo.

Text-to-win giveaways: 5-7:45 p.m.

Guests can text the word holidaycheer to Legends Outlets’ mobile VIP line at 877-321-2951 for their chance to win various prizes on Saturday, Nov. 13. Registration will begin at 5 p.m. and end at 7:44 p.m. All prize winners will be notified via text message at 7:45 p.m. with instructions on how to claim their prize. Winners must be present to win and must claim their prizes in-person at the Legends Outlets’ VIP tent by 8:15 p.m. Prizes include a Vera Bradley throw blanket, a $50 Puma gift card, a Chiefs cooler bag stuffed with Beef Jerky goodies, as well as other prizes from various Legends Outlets merchants like Tory Burch, Demdaco, Dave & Buster’s, and more.

Shopping: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

Legends Outlets will be open current, normal operating hours on Nov. 13, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., for all-day shopping and savings at its nearly 75 leading designer and favorite brand-name outlet stores. Shoppers can enjoy numerous pre-Black Friday sales and special discounts at various retailers. To view a list of sales and promotions happening at Legends Outlets, visit https://legendsshopping.com/hot-deals/. Individual store hours may vary.

The Downtown KCK Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting will be Friday, Dec. 3.

Sen. Moran visits KCK West Kiwanis Club

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, visited the Kansas City, Kansas West Kiwanis Club on Thursday to discuss issues including veterans’ topics. The meeting was held at the Wyandotte County Museum, Bonner Springs. They discussed their gratitude for men and women who have served and their work to ensure veterans receive the care and benefits they deserve. They also discuss President Biden’s withdrawal strategy from Afghanistan and the impact it has had on veterans who served in Afghanistan as well as mental health resources that are available for veterans. They also discussed the federal, state and county partnership supporting the completion of the Turner Diagonal interchange and the businesses that have sprung up since its opening a few years ago. Sen. Moran thanked Joe Vaught for inviting him to speak, and also thanked Unified Government Commissioner Jane Philbrook, Sheriff-Elect Dan Soptic and Kiwanis President Sandy McMillian for joining the event. (Submitted photos)
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, center, discussed several issues on Thursday with the Kansas City, Kansas, West Kiwanis Club. The meeting was at the Wyandotte County Museum, Bonner Springs. (Submitted photo)

Exhibit chronicles lives of migrant farm workers

An exhibition chronicling the lives of contemporary migrant farm workers will be on display at Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library now through Dec. 17.

“In the Fields of the North / En los Campos del Norte” features photojournalist David Bacon’s evocative, powerful photographs alongside moving oral narratives from migrant farm workers.


The exhibition, fully translated into both English and Spanish, gives viewers a reality check on the food they eat and the lives of the people who harvest it.

Traveling with migrant workers as the fruit and harvest season moves from the Mexican border to Washington state, “In the Fields of the North / En los Campos del Norte” sheds light on some basic questions: How much do we know about the lives of the people who feed us? Where do they live? How does it feel to do some of the hardest repetitive labor imaginable? And, what answers do farm workers themselves have to end their poverty and endless migration?

To complement the exhibit, the library will have a Zoom program appearance by Suzanne Gladney, attorney and director of the Migrant Farmworkers Assistance Fund, for a virtual program discussion on Migrant Workers: Past, Present, and Future. This will take place over Zoom on Nov. 15. More information can be found on the library’s website at kckpl.org.

Photographer, journalist, and activist David Bacon has spent over three decades documenting the lives of migrant workers, building upon his previous work as a union organizer. The exhibition is based upon the book of the same name, recently published by University of California Press. As Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Labor Center, writes, “Bacon captures the humanity of workers who work each day in demanding physical labor, in the hot sun, and for poverty wages. This is one of the few publications that captures the authentic stories of California farm workers, through their own voices and with the images of their living and working conditions.” Bacon is also the author of The Children of NAFTA, Communities Without Borders, Illegal People, and The Right to Stay Home.

“In the Fields of the North / En los Campos del Norte” features the works of David Bacon; is produced in partnership with the California Rural Legal Assistance, the Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations, and History San José; and is touring the U.S. through Exhibit Envoy.

Exhibit Envoy provides traveling exhibitions and professional services to museums throughout California. Exhibit Envoy’s mission is to provide institutions with diverse and meaningful traveling exhibitions to strengthen their communities. For more information, visit www.exhibitenvoy.org.