forest park
Sorry for the last-minute notice, but do you want to go to a party today—Wednesday, April 1 —in Forest Park? To celebrate exceeding its $130 million goal to improve the park and expand its endowment for long-term care, Forest Park Forever (FPF) is hosting a free gathering around the iconic Pagoda Circle (between The Muny and the Boathouse), from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to enjoy live music from Fat Pocket and tasty bites from some of our area’s best food trucks. The most ambitious fundraising campaign in park history, the campaign has raised more than $139 million in gifts and pledges to achieve two goals: 1) Expand the endowment by $100 million so that money is available each year to keep up with the enormous maintenance needs of the 1,300-acre space, and 2) Raise at least $30 million to fund urgently needed improvements in partnership with the city. In addition to decisions about how our urban jewel will be maintained and operated in the future, FPF aimed to preserve the dramatic gains made during the initial $100 million restoration in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Among projects yet to be completed, this year and beyond:
>> Meadow and enhanced waterway between The Muny and the Boathouse (set for completion this year)
>> Improving Central Fields with new drainage system and restrooms (set for completion in 2019)
>> Improving Boeing Aviation Fields by adding irrigation and lighting to select fields (in the design phase)
>> New natural playscape where metro youth can learn about and engage with nature (in design)
>> Connecting the river system on the park’s eastern half to improve water quality (in design)
Oh, by the way, I hope you don’t mind going to the party as ‘just friends’—I’m spoken for. (Consider yourself lucky.) However, if the Seoul Taco food truck is there, I’m going to buy something delicious. But not for you. I certainly wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’ll buy it in your honor.
grand center
Hip-hop dancers, a juggler, pop singers, a sax prodigy, an opera singer, an aerialist, an Indian dance troupe, actors, pianists—plus a punk band. What other forms of entertainment could you possibly want, and all on a single night? No, the circus isn’t coming to town, so no one needs to get riled up about animal cruelty because there are no critters involved. Fifteen acts—28 individual finalists—will move on to the finals of the 8th annual St. Louis Teen Talent Competition at The Fabulous Fox Theatre. Forty-five metro high school acts competed March 25 in the semifinal round. Metro performing arts professionals narrowed the field to a range of acts and individual performers who will take the Fox stage at 8 p.m. April 28. The finals, a professional production, are free and open to the public. General admission tickets are required and available now at no charge at the Fox box office and through MetroTix. More than $40,000 in prizes, cash awards and college scholarships will be distributed among the top competitors on finals night. In addition to the thrill of performing at the Fox, contestants are eligible for myriad future performance opportunities. The Nine Network once again will broadcast an hour-long program on the 2018 competition. Meanwhile, videos of the competition process may be viewed on the YouTube and SchoolTube channels of the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation. Highlights and winning performances from 2011 through 2017 currently are posted.
south county
Mary: “After 118 years as St. Anthony’s, the hospital is changing its name.” John: “Oh, Mercy!” Mary: “Why, yes actually. How’d you know?” John: “What? I didn’t. That was just an exclamation, like the one I use to irritate you … ‘Jesus, Mary, Joseph and all the saints.’” Mary: “Well, it looks like there are no more saints from now on either, John. As of Oct. 1, St. Anthony’s will be Mercy Hospital South, like St. John’s Mercy has been just plain old Mercy for a while.” John: “Jeepers. Won’t they have to change everything, from signs to stationery and business cards? Sounds expensive … but, for what?” Mary: “Branding. Corporate identity. I guess it’s kind of important. In 2011, Mercy adopted new names and a common logo across its seven-state area. All hospitals in the system are named Mercy Hospital, followed by a geographic designation. Remember a couple of years ago, when SSM Healthcare dropped ‘care’ and became simply SSM Health? That changeover started in 2014. Now the hospital in Richmond Heights is SSM Health St. Mary’s. So there’s still a St. Mary in town … nyuk, nyuk!” John: “Snarky, Mare. I ain’t no saint, for sure—but you ain’t, either! Anyhow, isn’t this like when St. Louis Bread Co. changed to Panera mostly?” Mary: “Kind of. St. Anthony’s affiliated with Mercy based on their shared mission, values and heritage as Catholic health care providers and their commitment to providing high-quality, compassionate care. Mercy and St. Anthony’s have been collaborating to transition to new systems, processes and other elements of the Mercy brand. The new name will become official at the same time St. Anthony’s transitions to Mercy’s electronic health record system, which will enable patients throughout the region to experience coordinated, seamless care across all Mercy facilities.” John: “Wow. That’s a lot of officialese right there, Mare. Anyhow, isn’t St. Anthony’s among the largest hospitals in the metro?” Mary: “Yes. Not too far from the J.B. Bridge, it serves residents from nine Missouri and Illinois counties, plus the city. The nonprofit medical center operates a 767-bed comprehensive health care complex, as well as four urgent care locations.” John: “In any case, it sounds like there needs to be a new song.” Mary: “Huh?” John: “Yeah, When The Saints Go Marching Out.”
u. city
Volunteers are key to the success of the annual plant sale in U. City, which generates the most revenue of any fundraiser for U City in Bloom (UCB). Buyers are another factor, of course … but first, UCB needs plenty of plants for eager buyers! Do you think plants grow on trees?! This endeavor takes work. Labor began in earnest early last month at UCB’s Vernon Avenue site—you’ll see activity under a shelter in a recently vacated space on the south side of Vernon, north of the River des Peres, just east of the U. City dog park. Brrr—’twas a lonely and chilly task until very recently. Today, volunteers are warmer, more congenial. Hey, are you congenial? Good. Enjoy volunteering? Great. Have plants to dig up and donate? Why, you’re the best! Dig them lovingly, bag your dampened donations in plastic and transport them to the shelter. (But, please, no aggressively spreading varieties like liriope, bamboo, tall orange day lilies—or any day lilies without photos or accurate descriptions. Oftentimes, day lilies are not friends of other vegetation. They’re like kudzu, only prettier.) Anyhow, identify yourself (the donor) on the bag, identify the plant, species and color when in bloom, and whether it needs shade or is sun-loving. What then? UCB needs folks willing to get their hands dirty, but that doesn’t mean a green thumb is required. Potters are critical. And, from these modest beginnings, a virtual meadow of many plant varieties will crop up, seemingly overnight. Mark your calendar for Friday, April 27, when the Plant Sale Preview Party is on. The sale itself is that weekend at U. City Community Center, 975 Pennsylvania Ave. (Saturday: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Sunday: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) Visit ucityinbloom.org.
the metro
Did you think meteorologists were trying to pull a fast one when they predicted snow on Easter … April 1? Well, some of the rain falling in the late afternoon was bouncing. Freezing rain. Then, Mother Nature really played the April Fool’s joke, just a day late. That Monday, blooming daffodils hunched over from the cold and snow. Baby grass poked through thin ice. My wife had just filled our concrete bunny rabbit planter with pansies, dusty miller and other springy growth. First, in his haste to make the acquaintance of another canine, The Dude (our dog) knocked over the planter. That took care of the fragile yellow and purple pansies. Then, snow. We should all be thankful there wasn’t a serious storm here in the Great Flyover, like the latest nor’easter that smacked the East Coast. By the same token, those Yankees should be glad they rarely experience a mi’wester, which most folks in these parts call a tornado. And any nor’easter is a wimp compared to a tornado.
