Children’s Mercy formally invested five endowed faculty positions at the 2023 Investiture Ceremony on April 19th. The honorees were Dr. Aliessa P. Barnes, The Melva and Randall L. O’Donnell Chair in Pediatric Cardiology; Dr. Steven Olsen, Swatek Family Endowed Chair in Neonatology; Dr. Jon Wagner, Matson Family Endowed Professorship in Cardiology Research; Dr. Norman Y. […]

KidsTLC’s Benefit23: Dream will be held at J. Rieger & Company on October 7th. Sarah and Ryan Owings are serving as the event chairs. In keeping with the theme, guests should envision a “sophisticated pajama party.” In addition to exploration of the J. Rieger & Company distillery, the agenda will include custom cocktails, delicious food […]

April 20th was the date for Jackson County CASA’s Light of Hope Breakfast, which was held at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center. CASA was founded in 1983 by the Kansas City Chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women, and the event celebrated the organization’s 40th anniversary. The honorary chair was Jeff […]

Kansas City is well known for its love of barbecue, but there’s another thing we are just as passionate about – community service. From volunteering at local non profits to organizing fundraising events that benefit neighbors in need, Kansas Citians seem to always look for ways to give back to the community. Kristal Ronnebaum is […]

The 27th annual Kids Night Out, a benefit for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City, was held on April 15th at the Overland Park Convention Center. Mary Jane and Michael Judy served as the honorary chairs, and Andy Burczyk, board member, was the chair. The program featured a message from Sanay C., Missouri […]

April 19th was the date for the Women’s Committee for the UMKC Conservatory’s True Blue Spring Luncheon, which was held at Indian Hills Country Club. The event chairman was Michele Hamlett-Weith. Bonnie Chaney serves as the organization’s president. Dr. Alison DeSimone, associate professor of musicology, UMKC Conservatory, introduced the student programs. Guests enjoyed a delicious […]

Mara Khanna is a student at Kansas City Ballet School. She will attend New York University this fall, and she intends to study ballet and psychology. Rochester, Minnesota, is Mara’s hometown. During her time in Our Town, she has taken online classes with BlueSky in Minnesota. Mara has appeared in student roles in Kansas City […]

“For me, any story I tackle begins with the human relationships and not the plot.” – Celeste Ng For me, the short story is both an art form and a magic trick. Authors can write from a few pages to several thousand words and break my heart or give me an out-of-body experience. They can […]

With family from Tokyo, Japan, Sergeant Stephen Stroder of the North Patrol Division of the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department speaks some Japanese, and taught English in Japan for three and one-half years. Stephen is proud of his Japanese heritage. He has a degree in history from UMKC, is the father of three grown daughters, […]

Norma Shinno Irving Donlon has resilience. Her ancestry is Japanese, and she was born in Arkansas during World War II. Because of that, Norma’s birth took place in the Camp Jerome War Relocation Center. At the age of seven, Norma lost her hearing due to an illness. She compensated by learning lip reading. Norma attended […]

Mary Buche, who is of Korean ancestry and was born in Seoul, South Korea, is the first Asian American to serve as the chair of the Community Bank Advisory Council of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She is senior vice president, fair banking & CRA officer at Lead Bank. (CRA stands for Community Reinvestment Act, […]

Kunal Tanna is the assistant to the general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs. He is proud of his Gujarati Indian heritage. A tradition he is especially fond of is Navratri, a nine-day festival, which honors Durga, the goddess. Kunal’s father was from Mumbai, India. His late mother was born in Kampala, Uganda, which she […]

Chris Constant was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Our Town. He and his husband, Rob Lundien, are the parents of two children. Chris serves as a board member with the Heart of America Council, Boy Scouts of America, and The Family Conservancy. Chris is a vice president with the Federal Reserve […]

Weiyi Zhang was born in China and is an actor. Her education involved stints at several boarding schools, beginning when she was five years old. Weiyi later studied at the University of Iowa. While in Our Town, she was in the cast of productions such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare’s A Christmas Carol, […]

Susie Yang is the associate principal cello, Richard Hill chair, Kansas City Symphony. She has been with the Symphony since 2010. Susie is originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. When she was 11, she made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Her teachers have included Andre Emelianoff and Laurence Lesser. Susie earned degrees […]

Leyou Wang, who hails from Beijing, China, is a student at the UMKC Conservatory. He is a composer of concert music and music for films and games. Leyou’s work has received recognition at international composition competitions in The United States, China, and Germany. The Kansas State University Faculty Brass Trio performed his Mushroom March on […]

Kwan Leung Ling, who is from Hong Kong, is a student at the UMKC Conservatory. He is a composer and plays the suona, which is a traditional Chinese wind instrument. At the end of this month, his new composition, Snowflower, will have its premiere in Hong Kong. The piece will be performed by Wai Him […]

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Pianist Kuok-Wai Lio is a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant administered by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Career Advancement Award given by the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, and a Scholarship award by the Feltsman Piano Foundation. Kuok-Wai Lio is a student at […]

Karen Lisondra is the associate director of Peter Pan and Wendy at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. She is the fourth child of Filipino immigrants who settled in Hutchinson, Kansas, in 1973. During her childhood, Karen performed with Sinag-Tala, the Filipino dance troupe based in Kansas City. She studied anthropological theater and martial arts in […]

Members of the Sinag-Tala Performing Arts Troupe function as the cultural ambassadors of the Filipino Association of Greater Kansas City. The Filipino Association was founded in 1968, and the Sinag-Tala in 1972. Dr. Lillian G. Pardo said, “As a co-founder and current executive director of the Sinag-Tala, the promotion and preservation of our rich cultural […]

“As a Mandarin Chinese teacher and Lion Dance Team moderator, I have observed how Rockhurst High School students developed their learning interests from studying a hard language in the classroom to undertaking the physical challenge of traditional Chinese lion dance,” said Jackie Shao, who is also the Chinese Club moderator. For more than a decade, […]