The way it’s scripted, one mayor will toss the ball over to the other today.
It’s a symbolic gesture to reinforce a continued commitment to using sports to engage Kansas City’s young people in a positive way during the summer.
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver came up with the Mayor’s Night Hoops program during his first term as mayor of Kansas City. But during Mayor Kay Barnes’ stint, for one reason or another, the word “mayor” was dropped from the program’s name.
Now, Mayor Mark Funkhouser of Kansas City has re-embraced Mayor’s Night Hoops. He not only backs it, he plans to expand it and has even put his title back on it. The kickoff begins today at 4:30 p.m. at Central High School, 3221 Indiana Ave.
Cleaver is expected to be on hand to pass the program over to Funkhouser. The event will feature a dunk competition called — what else? — “Slam Dunk With the Funk.”
Rumor had it that the 6-foot-8 mayor would participate in the dunk competition. After all, the promotional poster shows Funkhouser in a suit and tie, spinning a basketball with his right hand and saying, “I got next.”
Despite the inference, Funkhouser’s staff quickly quashed that speculation.
“Funk will probably participate as a judge,” said Crispin Rea, Funkhouser’s aide. “That will probably be the extent of his participation. He’ll get out there and dribble around. But he’s not going to be actually participating to see if he can slam-dunk better than anyone else.”
Rea is confident the mayor could dunk if pressed to do so.
“I wouldn’t put it past him.”
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By the way, Rea and his family have been dealing with bad news.
Three weeks ago, Rea’s mother, Marie Rea, 51, of Kansas City, was diagnosed with lung cancer.
“It doesn’t make much sense,” said Crispin Rea, who is the youngest of three. “She never smoked or worked in an environment in which she was exposed to large amounts of secondhand smoke. It’s one of those rare cases.”
Since the diagnosis, his mother has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
“We have pretty high hopes,” Rea said. “We’re pretty optimistic. She’s got it in her head that she’s going to fight it. She says she didn’t put it in her body, and she wants it out.”
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Ed Fenner spent much of his time promoting jazz and the artists who play it.
So when his memorial tribute was held Monday, the local jazz community came out in force.
Fenner, a self-professed jazz activist, died unexpectedly May 18. He also wrote “Jazz Notes,” a regular calendar of the local jazz scene.
His family, friends and some of the top jazz musicians in the city paid their respects to Fenner at the Gem Theater. The tribute featured a collage of photos going back to Fenner’s childhood that was set to music. His family told stories and sang one of his favorite bar songs.
“He was such an advocate,” his brother, Richard Fenner, told the audience. “And when someone wasn’t as intense as he was about promoting jazz as much as he thought they should be, he was critical. Whatever he was interested in, he was relentless.”
Ed Fenner was also a strong supporter of the University of Missouri-Kansas City jazz studies program. He had served as the communications chairman of the UMKC Conservatory Jazz Friends. Fortunately, his supportive spirit will continue long after his death.
That’s because a scholarship fund has been established in his name. Send contributions to the Ed Fenner Memorial Scholarship Fund, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, 4949 Cherry St., Kansas City, MO 64110-2229.
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