After five days in Louisville, we returned to KC last night, just in time for the Fountain Day celebration this morning.
Fountain Day is an annual event that has a strong appeal because of Kansas City’s great inventory of fountains and also because of flowing water’s powerful symbolism: It lifts the spirit and soothes the soul.
Despite overcast skies, about 50 people attended today’s event at Haff Circle Fountain, Swope Parkway and Meyer Boulevard. The fountain, named for Delbert Haff, a park commissioner from 1908 to 1912, was renovated about three years ago at a cost of more than $1 million. More than $300,000 of that came from the late James B. Nutter Sr., self-made mortgage banker and longtime benefactor to civic causes.
I have more than a passing interest in Kansas City’s fountains, monuments and sculptures because I’ve been on the City of Fountains Foundation board of directors almost three years and currently am vice president.
The highlight of today’s celebration was a tribute to one of our longtime board members, Anita B. Gorman.
Anita, a Northland resident, has served Kansas City in many capacities for decades, including…
:: Member of the Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners from 1979-1991 and board president from 1986-1991.
:: Member of the Missouri Conservation Commission from 1993 until 2005 and first woman to chair the commission. (The Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center on Troost is named for her.)
:: Member of numerous organizational boards, including Starlight Theatre, the National World War I Museum and Liberty Memorial, the Kansas City Zoo, the Salvation Army, the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the National Recreation and Parks Association.
I’m proud to say I’ve been a friend of Anita’s for many years. I got to know her in the mid-1980s, when she was on the park board and I became a City Hall reporter for The Star. When Anita went on the board, the president was L.P. Cookingham, who had been city manager from 1940 to 1959. Cookingham died in 1992.
Anita became board president in 1986 and served several years alongside restaurant magnates Ollie Gates (Gates Bar-B-Q) and Carl DiCapo (Italian Gardens).
That was quite a trio, and they were fun to write about because all three are powerful personalities. It was also easy to write about Anita because she was honest, straightforward and always had the city’s and the park department’s best interests in mind.
I don’t believe the park board ever lost a tax-increase proposal that it put to a public vote during the time Anita was on the board. Her abiding principle was: “Tell the voters exactly what the need is, what it’s going to cost and what the proposal is going to do, and they will be with you.”
After I left the City Hall “beat” in 1995, we were not in close contact, but several years ago we reconnected, and Anita began setting up “reunion lunches.” The group consisted of Gates, DiCapo, former Mayor Richard L. Berkley, who appointed them to the park board, and me.
How I managed to merit inclusion in that group I don’t know, except that Anita always thought I did a good job of explaining park board issues and why the parks department was important.
Those four outstanding public servants — Gorman, Gates, DiCapo and Berkley — are all around 90 years old now, and they don’t have the energy they once did. They remain keenly interested in their city and its direction, however, and we are still having those lunches.
The next one is scheduled for June 3. When I told Anita goodbye after today’s celebration, she said, “I’m sure looking forward to June 3.”
Here’s a photo from our last lunch, which took place at Gates’ Cleaver Boulevard location last Nov. 3, Election Day.
Today was a very good day for Kansas City and a great day to honor a person who has done so much for the city. God bless Anita Gorman.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
The reality of our lives is that these little boards and commissions have far more to do with our well-being and happiness than any Congressman or Senator and yet, their service is largely thankless and unknown. Kudos to you for serving on one of these important boards, Fitz.
Thanks, John…It’s very gratifying work. I’ve been somewhat surprised at how dear the fountains are to so many people. It’s shown me they are never to be taken for granted.
That’s a fantastic photo! They all look great. Glad to hear about it.
Thanks, Bill. The photo was taken by Arzelia Gates, one of Ollie’s daughters. I’ve wanted to use it since I got it…As for the condition of the “Big Four,” Anita suffered a broken pelvis a couple of months ago and is not as strong as she was back in November, and Dick Berkley has been in poor health for quite a while but battles on…I haven’t seen or heard from Carl in a while but haven’t heard of any particular problems with him. I saw Ollie recently, and he seems to be in the best shape of the four. He’s still working full time and can be found almost every day in the back room of the Cleaver Boulevard location — after 1 p.m. If you’re in the restaurant some afternoon, stick your head in the door and say “Hi!”
Great event yesterday – thank to the organization for all it does for our fountains and our city.
I so admire Anita Gorman. She is a true public servant.
Same here, Fred…She is completely selfless about her civic work…and extremely humble. Mark McHenry, who drove Anita to and from yesterday’s event, said on the way home she asked him, “Now why did they do that?” Meaning, why did anyone see fit to honor her.
I love being able to walk easily to four substantial parks from where I live in Westport, and being able to brag about my City of Fountains. I worry that the civic spirit you and the others exemplify may not be as effectively received by succeeding generations, and the heritage of service may be diminished. Still, celebrating folks like Anita is a way of reminding us how community is made.
Back in the mid 90s, a friend had a middle school aged daughter with the assignment of interviewing a local woman leader of note. I had never met Ms. Gorman and still haven’t, but I remember she was my immediate suggestion.