When Stan called me Thursday with a report that Sunday’s forecast was Sunny and Seventy we wondered if anyone else had cabin fever as bad as us. We guessed that the Park might have good attendance but we never figured that people would be lining up just to park their cars.
In the middle of an upper middle class neighborhood in Kansas City is Loose Park. Christo the artist lined the sidewalks with yellow satin fabric years ago and is the best park in town. South of the Rose Garden are four trees; two giant Cottonwoods and two respectable Pin Oaks. The west Cottonwood has a limb that I swing the eight-foot tramp from that is about 35 feet high. It swings in an orbit of nearly 55 feet with a load of up to ten kids. The middle Cottonwood has a limb that I swing the three-foot tramp from that is 65-feet high that I am able to toss over this time on my second throw. I guess my accuracy improves with an audience. That 8-ounce bag on ZING-IT can really fly. It can orbit over 100 feet and ride three youths all with face-splitting grins.
Before Stan and I even pulled our first ropes a curious couple would not believe us when we told them the strings we were tossing are going to pull up climbing ropes. “You’re lying!†she said. “An eight-foot lieâ€, I said. “You can lie down on the eight-foot swingâ€; “Want to help?†“Sure if I can swingâ€. Such are the demands when I rig up something no one has ever seen before. Jared and Nici both rode and were the first to climb with Bill.
Bill and Kyle set up four ropes in the two Oaks and soon were in business. Next to the trees we had chairs and a table with info and waivers that tallied 28 climbers. It turned out the park was loaded with people and we had the main attraction better than a three ring Circus. People watching, people climbing, people swinging and people pushing for four hours.
The smiles and screams of delight were more than rewarding and the people that you meet in the trees are the best part. Most are shy and carefully ask just what is this all about. Then there are the few people that walk right up with that gleam in their eyes and say, “Can I go next?†Bill’s daughter and her friend James came out and he saddled up and was the fastest first timer I ever saw. He could pull himself up with one hand and asked now what? I told him to push the knot up as he goes. Seems he could hoist himself all the way up without much effort. One lady named Jill is an avid rock climber shared her frustration she had about the lack of any good rocks to climb. All we have around here are limestone cliffs that break off in your hands. She has traveled the world and has lead outdoor adventures so she took to treeclimbing naturally and asked if we could install a swing in her yard.
Stan supervised the swings with recruiting parents to help push their children and was even shown on TV before the weather as an example of how nice the weather at the park was. Kyle was shown as the top climber since he position himself at the top of the first timers tree to supervise their safety.
Many added their names to my email notification list so they will know the next time we climb. This was the most active outing we have had yet and hope to report more good attendance in the future.
View our website at: http://www.kansascitytreeclimbers.com/index.htm
See you at the top,
Dan
