<table> </table> When budget cuts snuffed Liberty Memorial&#8217;s not-so-eternal flame, Jeannie Carlson went into a funk.</p><p>And it wasn&#8217;t just because Carlson&#8217;s condo is directly across Main Street from the memorial and she would miss the sight of it, which she does.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s kind of like if you went to Arlington (National Cemetery) and Kennedy&#8217;s flame wasn&#8217;t lit, or the torch on the Statue of Liberty went dark.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just wrong.&#8221;</p><p>For three nights this Memorial Day weekend, things will be just right once again. Officials at the National World War I Museum will turn on the steam system that provides the illusion that a flame burns atop the iconic spire in Penn Valley Park.</p><p>But after Monday, the flame goes out again. The nonprofit group that runs the museum, the Liberty Memorial Association, announced in March that it can&#8217;t afford the $45,000 a year it costs to run the steam system.</p><p>Not after the City Council cut the association&#8217;s budget request by $620,000.</p><p>Sure, it was partly symbolism.</p><p>&#8220;It sends a message,&#8221; association member Carl DiCapo said at the time.</p><p>But it was also a matter of setting financial priorities, museum spokeswoman Denise Rendina said. Better to have the flame go out than have to cut staff.</p><p>&#8220;We have other unmet needs,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Whatever the intent, Carlson got the message. She lives in the Santa Fe Place condos at Crown Center and thinks of the Liberty Memorial as her neighbor.</p><p>So last month she wrote a letter to DiCapo, who also has a condo there, and set out a proposal. What if a bunch of people donated the money needed to keep the flame flickering year-round?</p><p>&#8220;I chose 1,000 donations at $45 because the math was easy,&#8221; she told me.</p><p>He certainly wouldn&#8217;t stop her from championing the cause, DiCapo said.</p><p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a great idea she came up with,&#8221; he said.</p><p>And sure enough, donations of $45 to $100 began to trickle in after a written appeal went out to other residents of Santa Fe Place. Now Carlson is taking her campaign further, trying to raise funds from neighboring San Francisco Towers and the residents of other buildings in the vicinity.</p><p>&#8220;I intend to contact folks at One Park Place &#8212; that&#8217;s the former BMA Tower,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I intend to contact the VFW and anyplace I can think of.&#8221;</p><p>Don&#8217;t be surprised if she makes an appeal at Sunday&#8217;s concert at Union Station.</p><p>In other words, she&#8217;s doing what Kansas Citians have long done when tight city finances have forced cuts in the amenities they hold dear. She&#8217;s stepping up.</p><p>For instance, there&#8217;s a very good reason that some city parks are better cared for than others, and it&#8217;s not that the parks department plays favorites.</p><p>It&#8217;s because people have donated time or money to make it happen, from the sunken garden on the Paseo to neighborhood parks around the city.</p><p>&#8220;Just recently, we had a tree planting at Montgall Park at 23rd and Montgall,&#8221; said Steve Lampone, deputy director of parks and recreation. &#8220;That was all done by volunteers.&#8221;</p><p>South Oak Park is normally free of litter because the people in the neighborhood pick up the trash, he said.</p><p>&#8220;I guarantee if you drive by that park, you&#8217;ll find it spotless.&#8221;</p><p>It&#8217;s through the generosity of one family, the Wards of Russell Stover fame, that Loose, Theis and Gillham parks are mowed more often than some others and why Ward Parkway is so well-groomed.</p><p>And only through the contributions of Carlson and others will the flame burn regularly again at Liberty Memorial. Make your check out to the National World War I Museum, whose address is 100 W. 26th St., Kansas City, MO 64108. And be sure to specify that the money is for the flame; otherwise, it won&#8217;t be credited to that account.</p><p>&#8220;We are thrilled that they are doing this,&#8221; Rendina said. &#8220;It means a lot to a lot of people.&#8221;</p><p>It sure meant a lot to Jeannie Carlson. Sometimes, that&#8217;s all it takes.