Category: Kansas City Missouri

Christmas Truce commemorated

Soccer enthusiasts from around the region paid homage to the World War I Christmas Truce on Thursday by participating in the seventh annual Truce Tournament hosted by Sporting Club, the National WWI Museum and Memorial and The Soccer Lot.

Approximately 150 participants from 24 teams in the area competed in a 3v3 soccer tournament, while hundreds of additional soccer fans attended the English Premier League Boxing Day Watch Party on large screens inside the National WWI Museum and Memorial, Kansas City, Missouri.

MWFC Reserves claimed the Truce Tournament title in the competitive division for the second year in a row. In the recreational civision, Air Billikens won the title with Team Sal taking the Beer Division crown.

The Truce Tournament is a tribute to the Christmas Truce of 1914 in which the battles of World War I on the Western and Eastern Fronts temporarily subsided. Members of both sides laid down their arms in a time of war to celebrate a day of peace by venturing out to “No Man’s Land” to exchange gifts, sing carols and play soccer.

“The Christmas Truce was a remarkable event during the world’s first truly global conflict,” National WWI Museum and Memorial president and CEO Dr. Matthew Naylor said. “There are substantial lessons to be learned from those soldiers who displayed an unbelievable amount of humanity in the midst of horrific warfare and the Truce Tournament allows us to recognize and understand how the Great War continues to effect the global community to this day.”

Christmas Truce soccer tournament planned Thursday

Commemorating a soccer game played in 1914 on World War I battlefields, the seventh annual Truce Tournament will be held Thursday, Dec. 26, at the National World War I Museum and Memorial lawn.

The event is sponsored by Sporting Club, the National World War I Museum and Memorial, and the Soccer Lot. The soccer tournament is for adults.

An English Premier League Watch Party will also be held at 8 a.m. with an all-you-can-eat and drink buffet. A 3v3 soccer tournament will be played at 9 a.m., with the championship match at 1:30 p.m.

During the Christmas Truce of 1914, battles on the western and eastern fronts temporarily subsided, both sides laid down their arms and celebrated by exchanging gifts, singing carols and playing soccer.

The event also highlights the National WWI Museum and Memorial’s online exhibition, The Christmas Truce, Winter 1914, which features essays from renowned scholars about the remarkable event, dozens of first-hand accounts from soldiers on the front lines and a feature allowing anyone to declare their own truce and share via social media.

Registration for the soccer tournament is closed, but patrons can make reservations for the EPL Watch Party, which features a British pub-themed atmosphere and the ability to watch matches on the Museum and Memorial’s 29-foot and 10-foot screens. Breakfast foods, beverages and cocktails will be available for purchase. For more information or to RSVP, visit thetrucekc.com.

Review: ‘Nutcracker’ performance brings out the spirit of Christmas

“The Nutcracker” is being performed at the Kansas City Ballet.

by William Crum

What is the spirit of Christmas? Well, I think I found it – “The Nutcracker” performance by the Kansas City Ballet.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend “The Nutcracker” performed by the Kansas City Ballet. I have seen “The Nutcracker” performed, but nothing like this. It blew me away. For me, it brought fond memories from childhood.

This year’s “Nutcracker” performance by the Kansas City Ballet is sheer magic. What makes it even better is a lot of students from the Turner School District helped this magic happen, through the community engagement program of the Kansas City Ballet.

According to educators, those who study ballet are better students because they are more relaxed and in tune with the body.

If you want to see something worthwhile this season, I would encourage you to go see “The Nutcracker” performed by the Kansas City Ballet. It will bring out the Christmas spirit in you.

They still have many performances left. You can get tickets online at https://kcballet.org/events/the-nutcracker/.