I wasn’t there so can’t confirm but I’m starting to get the impression Landmark columnists Speckman and Kamler failed to show last Saturday for the Undies Race through Downtown Kansas City that I signed them up for recently.
I didn’t realize the boys were so shy. Sad!
It’s not every day we get mail from Belgium. Heck, let’s be honest, with today’s postal service there are some days we don’t get mail from anywhere. But recently The Landmark did receive mail from Belgium, a large envelope with a slick folder of documents inside. It was from Karine Ingegerd Forsberg.
Who is Karine Ingegerd Forsberg you might ask? Can’t blame you. I also asked that question. I’ll let Ingegerd herself answer that question. Here goes: “In May 2025 the Platte City High School Class of 1965 will celebrate its 60th reunion. Sixty years have passed since I graduated from Platte City High School as their very first American Field Service (AFS) Foreign Student from Sweden,” she writes in her letter to The Landmark.
“The Pirateer Year Book of 1965 was dedicated to me by the students of Platte City High School and The Landmark Centennial Edition 1865-1965, the oldest paper in Platte County, mentioned me as the happening in 1964-65,” she goes on to write.
“In May 1965 I also received the Honorary Citizen of Kansas City, Missouri. Years have passed since then but I shall never forget the kindness of the Platte County residents who received me with so much affection and I extend my thanks to all families who have opened their homes to AFS students over the years with such generosity and in particular my Platte City family, the late Mr. and Mrs. Arvid Edwards, who received me in their home during my AFS year,” Ingegerd wrote to us.
In her mailer to us, K. Ingegerd Forsberg, now also known as Mrs. Philippe Henrotte, enclosed some clippings from her time in Platte County. There’s a photocopy of a page from the school yearbook showing her sporting an “AFS Sweden” sash. “In appreciation and in remembrance of all she was to us this year, we, the students of Platte City High School, hereby dedicate this 1964-65 annual to our Swedish Exchange Student, Miss Ingegerd Forsberg,” says text at the bottom of the page signed by “Platte City Annual Staff.” Also included is a letter dated May 21, 1965 signed by Dannie R. Stamper, president of the Platte City Reorganized School District No. III board of education, which says in part: “We shall never forget our first foreign student from Sweden.” Also enclosed is a proclamation signed by Ilus Davis, mayor of Kansas City, who declared K. Ingegerd Forsberg an “honorary citizen” of the City of Kansas City.
She also included a photocopy of portions of The Landmark’s centennial edition from 1965 which mentions her this way: “Platte City Schools will have their first foreign exchange student during the school year 1964-1965. Miss Ingegerd Forsberg of Taftea in the province of Vasterbotten, Sweden, will be enrolled as a senior at the Platte City High School through the American Field Service program.”
Anyway, sounds like the school, the community and the class of ‘65 really welcomed the district’s first ever foreign exchange student with smiles and open arms and whatnot. If any member of the Class of ‘65, any school group, or any local historical organization has interest in taking ownership of the documents and letter Ingegerd mailed to us please let me know and it’s yours. That will be a better home for it than tucked inside a file cabinet in our office.
Yes, her mail listed Belgium as her home address. That’s not the same as Sweden, her home country. I’ll let an artificial intelligence (better known as AI) description explain the geographical difference between Belgium and Sweden: “Belgium is located significantly further south and west than Sweden; geographically speaking, Belgium is situated in Western Europe while Sweden is in Northern Europe, meaning to find Belgium compared to Sweden, you would look considerably further south and slightly west on a map.”
Well there you go. Who says AI is not useful?
Parkville Mayor Dean Katerndahl wants you to know–or at least wants you to believe–that a “refocusing” of the city’s diversity and inclusion commission has nothing to do with President Trump’s recent executive order concerning diversity, equity and inclusion at the federal level. Yet at the same time he says that changes to that group’s written purpose are coming and “will provide a new direction and hopefully a more focused direction.” But again, these changes are “not in any way a reaction to diversity and inclusion in Washington, D.C.”
The mayor can say whatever he wants and Parkville residents can believe whatever they want. But if you’re buying that the upcoming “new direction” for Parkville’s city-appointed diversity and inclusion group has not in any way been influenced by changes at the federal level on that topic then I bet the mayor also has some oceanfront property in Arizona that he’d like to sell you.
Good or bad, whether you like the idea of DEI or you don’t, any unit of government that may want to be awarded federal dollars for any purpose in the future should probably be looking away from openly embracing the policies of diversity/equity/inclusion. That’s just reality at this point, because the federal government is not looking upon it favorably.
Let’s make March Madness Great Again. Want to get these notes out there for March Madness fans before the numbers get too stale. I made these wagers on Feb. 10 so the number you get now may be different. My pizza money level investments on NCAA basketball tournament winners, which makes the tourney more enjoyable to watch, are as follows:
$25 on UConn at 40-1, potential payout $1,025.
$25 on Florida at 13-1, potential payout $350.
$25 on Houston at 10-1, potential payout $275.
$25 on Tennessee at 15-1, potential payout $400.
For funsies I may add a couple more in the coming days. Looking at teams like Michigan (40-1) and Maryland (60-1) as possible longshot additions to my list.
(Get Foley a ticket to some oceanfront property ASAP. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)
