Thanks to a group of former players, a free baseball clinic for boys will be held Sunday, Aug. 25, at Kansas City Kansas Community College.
The free clinic is being made possible through sponsorships and donations from local businesses and more than a dozen former Blue Devil baseball players. The clinic will be held from 9 a.m. on the KCKCC field at 7250 State Ave. In addition to instruction, participants will receive lunch and a clinic T-shirt.
The clinic will be limited to the first 50 boys who sign up. It is open to ages 7 to 12.
“If we get enough sponsorships, we will also offer an afternoon clinic,” said KCKCC head baseball coach Matt Goldbeck. Boys can register online at KCKCCbaseball.com.
Instruction will be provided by the KCKCC coaching staff and players and will focus on fundamentals in the areas of hitting, fielding, pitching, catching and base running.
Primary sponsors are Heartland Title and KC Sports. Heartland owner T.J. Lorson is a former Blue Devil player; Rick Fortuna of KC Sports had a son play baseball at KCKCC. Other major sponsors include Varsity Sports, Rainbow Roofing, Quinn Concreate Construction, Parkway Service Center and Pat Crilly of Commercial Claims.
Additional commitments have been made by Italian Delight, the Blue Devil Deli, Jeff Nick of Nill Brothers Sporting Goods, Reid Roberts of Kansas Lawn, former KCKCC coach Steve Burleson and alums Josh Moulin, Jerry Goza, Greg Beashore, Ray Schmaltz and Jason Haworth.
Blue Devil alums making cash donations include Brad Eikenbary of Piper Family Dentistry, Tyler Windholtz, Todd Windholtz, Steve Rezin, Mike Hinkle, Rob Morrow, the Goldbeck family and Blue Devil coaches Bill Sharp, Dean Long and Pedro Leon. Others include Pier Haen, Shirley Morrow and Brian Woods.
Donations are still being accepted and can be made on line at https://www.kckcc.edu/foundation/giving/index.html and checking on the blue box “Donate to the KCKCC Foundation.” Persons using Pay Pal will be asked for a specific location, to which BASEBALL should be designated.
Elite KCKCC-based band to perform Wednesday at Unity Temple on the Plaza
Former KCKCC Director of Bands Marlin Cooper was guest soloist at the first performance of the New Century Jazz Band at the Mason Jar Wednesday. The band is honoring Cooper for his legacy as one of the very first to teach jazz education at the college level in Kansas City. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)
by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
It’s true. Old musicians don’t fade away, they just keep playing.
In many cases, such as the New Century Jazz Band, they also give direction, experience and motivation to a new wave of up-and-coming jazz musicians at Kansas City Kansas Community College.
An elite group of musicians made up of KCKCC alumni, music educators and graduates and present and future students, the New Century Jazz Band will make its formal debut in “Spirituality and All That Jazz” series Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Unity Temple on the Plaza, 707 W. 47th. Held by well-known jazz icon Tim Whitmer, it’s the longest running jazz series featuring local jazz musicians.
Organized and directed by Jim Mair, KCKCC director of instrumental music, the band made its public debut Thursday night at the Mason Jar Restaurant at 94th just south of State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. The debut featured guest soloist and co-director Marlin Cooper, KCKCC’s instrumental band director for 27 years (1972-1999).
Director of Instrumental Studies at KCKCC Jim Mair has founded and directed the New Century Jazz Band, so named in preparation for KCKCC’s 100th birthday in 2023. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)
“We chose the name New Century in preparation of KCKCC’s 100th birthday in 2023 and we’re featuring Marlin Cooper to honor his legacy as one of the very first educators at the college level teaching jazz education in Kansas City,” Mair said.
Mair is a veteran at organizing instrumental groups. His first community band organized shortly after his hiring at KCKCC in 1999 eventually evolved into the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, an elite orchestra he and his wife Mary headed until 2010 when they stepped aside to devote more time to their two children, Mandy and Jameson.
“With Mandy starting college at KCKCC where she’ll be singing with John Stafford’s choral groups and Jameson playing trumpet and drum set at Olathe Northwest, we figured it was time to start a community band, one that plays at the highest level possible, not one that plays just for fun,” Mair said. The response was almost overwhelming. “We have a waiting list; we started in June and have enough people for two bands. We’re trying to work out the logistics for two bands. It’s a good problem to have. It encourages everyone to get better and a great motivation for our incoming freshmen.”
Saxophonist Herschel McWilliams was one of a half-dozen KCKCC alums helping give direction and motivation to current and future KCKCC musicians as members of the New Century Jazz Band. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)
Of the 21 members of the band, four are current students at KCKCC; five are or will be incoming freshmen; and six KCKCC alums. Herschel McWilliams II, a lead saxophonist who played for Cooper in the late 1990s, is the oldest alum. His father, Herschel Sr., also played in Cooper’s first band in 1973. Trombonist Karita Carter, the sister-in-law of KCKCC grad and Kansas City jazz legend Bobby Watson, could have been an alum. “I tried to recruit her but she went to Wichita State,” Cooper remembered.
Andres Reyes, who played drums when Cooper took the KCKCC Jazz Band to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1985, has two sons play in the hand – Andre Jr. who plays keyboard and drummer Antonio, a current KCKCC student. Other current students include Tm Keith, guitar; Densil Malabre, congas and percussion; and saxophonist Adam Bender, who is also an apprentice at BAC Music as an instrument repair technician.
Incoming freshmen include Evan West of Shawnee Mission North and Samantha Angel of Tonganoxie, trumpets; and Henry Fears of Shawnee Mission Northwest and Lucas Porterfield of Tonganoxie, trombones. A fifth, KCKCC Jazz Camp grad Asa Martin, is a senior at Shawnee Mission North and will enroll at KCKCC in 2020.
Alums include trumpeter Jon Tobaben, a recent grad entering the home health care profession; and bass Sean Phelps, who is employed in information technology by Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools. The band will be losing two saxophone alums, Rayvon Haggerty, who is finishing his music degree at Missouri Western University, and Richard Tucker who was recently hired by the Sweetwater Corp. and will be relocating in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
Non-alums bring a wealth of talent. Saxophonist Michael Harris II is the band director at Washington High School while trombonist Sarah Braun is a UMKC grad and a substitute with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. From the trumpet section, Joe Sisco plays with the Fountain City Brass Band; Armando Gutierrez leads a mariachi band in Kansas City; and Daniel Dissmore is a recent graduate of Kansas State.
Mair also joins in on occasion. One of Kansas City’s top saxophone and clarinet players, Mair now performs with Tim Whitmer’s host band and with his son Jameson, who recently took first place as Downbeat magazine’s No. 1 middle school trumpet soloist in the nation.
McDonald’s restaurants are donating 3,000 backpacks to the Back-to-School Fair to be held Saturday, Aug. 3, at Kansas City Kansas Community College, 7250 State Ave.
The 20th annual Wyandotte County Back-to-School Fair will be held from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 3, at KCKCC’s main campus. Students who live in Wyandotte County and attend public or private schools may receive items such as backpacks and supplies for free at this event. There also will be immunizations, physical exams, eye exams, haircuts and the opportunity to get information from a variety of community organizations. The Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library will distribute books to children. Parents should bring proof of residence in Wyandotte County, such as a driver’s license or a utility bill, and children must be accompanied by their parents.
Cassandra Savage, owner-operator of the McDonald’s restaurants at 7530 State Ave. and at 4101 Kansas Ave. in Kansas City, Kansas, said this tradition of donating backpacks started last year. The Back-to-School Fair went without a backpack donor for some years previously before McDonald’s Great Plains Co-op stepped forward.
“We donated over 9,000 backpacks to Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, school districts this year, in total,” Savage said.
“As an owner-operator, we’ve always felt a sense of responsibility to our community,” Savage said. “McDonald’s has been one of those franchises that has always been involved.”
The restaurant also sponsors “Coffee With a Cop” and “Teacher Nights,” as well as other community events, she said.
“Every single one of our owner-operators, all franchisees, are dedicated to supporting the communities,” she said.
Savage said she recently went school supply shopping with her grandson and noticed how many items were on the list and their cost.
“The parents are very appreciative of the backpacks,” she said.
McDonald’s employs students from local high schools and from KCKCC, and works closely with high school counselors, she added.
For more information about the Back-to-School Fair, individuals may visit www.facebook.com/WyandotteCountyBackToSchoolFair.
