Chair’s Corner We Need Your Help to Get to the Finish Line!Excitement is building at the Arboretum as the pieces are falling into place for our new Visitor Center! We’re hopeful that groundbreaking can take place before the end of 2019 with the goal of a fully-functioning building in 2021. As of this writing, we’re … Read More

Chair’s Corner The Overland Park Arboretum: Nature That Nurtures Two members of the Arts & Recreation Foundation Board – Phil Bressler and Wendy Blackburn – recently walked the Arboretum’s marketing committee through a two-months’ long exercise to determine the Arboretum’s “brand essence”. The exercise covered a variety of aspects of the Arboretum to determine why … Read More

Chair’s Corner Forward OP! If you’re an Overland Park resident, you may have heard about the Forward OP initiative, which was recently endorsed by many community organizations including the Friends of the Arboretum. The vision of Forward OP is that “Overland Park will lead as a forward-thinking, innovative and welcoming community.” While initiated by the … Read More

Chair’s Corner Welcome to 2019! Just as you’ve probably set new year goals for your personal and professional life, your FOTA Advisory Board has done the same. We’re excited about the opportunities ahead in the new year, but we can’t do it without your help as FOTA members. Here are our 2019 goals and some … Read More

Chair’s Corner Luminary Walk is over, and it was a success despite the rather “iffy” weather. So many people who came on the foggy night commented on how quiet and beautiful it was. For the three weekends we had approximately 22,705 visitors and the event will produce about $160,000 in profits, which will be returned … Read More

Thanksgiving Wishes From everyone at the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens and The Arts & Recreation Foundation of Overland Park, we wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are truly thankful for each and every Friends of the Arboretum member, and for your support this amazing place in our community. Chair’s Corner … Read More

Reminder – FOTA Membership Information On October 10, the Arboretum transitioned to new software to manage Friends of the Arboretum memberships.  As always, the Arboretum staff and Friends of the Arboretum Advisory Board appreciate your support of the Arboretum – and now your patience during transition to the new system. If you have not yet … Read More

Chair’s Corner – Linda Patterson This has been a challenging summer for attendance at the Arboretum.  April and May were exceptionally cold and then we transitioned to extremely hot weather, and what a lot of it we have had this year!  All summer, however, there have been some hardy souls who have ventured out and … Read More

Wolf Creek and the Arboretum Wolf Creek is a highly important waterway in Overland Park. It is a headwater of the Blue River which takes flow from Wolf and Coffee Creeks and runs through eastern Kansas and Missouri, eventually dumping into the Missouri River east of downtown Kansas City. Impacts on Wolf Creek can resonate … Read More

Matching Gifts Help Grow the Arboretum Do you know if your employer – or past employer if you are retired – has a charitable matching gift program? Each year, Corporate America, makes $2-3 billion in donations to the charitable organizations “their people” support. Take a look at these impressive statistics compiled by “Double the Donation”: … Read More