The Laura Conyers Smith Municipal Rose Garden & The Kansas City Rose Society: A Rose Partnership in America's Heartland

摘要

Kansas City's crown jewel rose garden is celebrating 75 years. The Laura Conyers Smith Municipal Rose Garden in mid-city Jacob L. Loose Memorial Park is a radiant expanse of 1.5 acres with some 4,000 roses of nearly 150 varieties. The garden has beena serene oasis and vitalizing inspiration to countless men, women and children who have passed its way for three quarters of a century. How this civic treasure came to be and continues to flourish is a real mid-America success story - a story which features the enabling spirit of volunteers with a worthy cause. It is also a story that illustrates the phrase "Never underestimate the power of a woman!" - Laura Conyers Smith. Kansas City's rose garden today is the realization of a dream that began in 1931when a group of public spirited citizens under the imaginative and enthusiastic leadership of Laura Conyers Smith established the Kansas City Rose Society (KCRS) and the public rose garden in Loose Park. It is also the story of the harmonious partnership of the KCRS with Kansas City's Park Department (renamed Parks and Recreation Department in 1967), which has served the city well from the beginning.