From the Board of Directors of Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street
With heavy hearts, we have made the decision that the 2026 Downtown Days festival will be our last. The safety of our community, small businesses, partners, volunteers, and attendees comes first.
Over the last few years, we implemented a number of security and safety changes with the hope that this community tradition could continue. Even with those changes, it was not enough to prevent what happened Saturday evening at Downtown Days.
Downtown Days began in 1989 as Old Tyme Days. This nearly 40-year tradition was created by a group of business owners who came together to transform a declining downtown. They dreamed of a place where the community gathered to celebrate, with sidewalks full of families. The event was both a reason to come downtown and a way to raise funds for those early efforts, and it helped make possible hundreds of other community traditions, from Christmas tree lightings to holiday children’s parades. Those visionary business owners’ dream became the catalyst for transforming Downtown Lee’s Summit into the downtown we all love and cherish today.
Though the time has come to say goodbye to Downtown Days, our dedication to that early dream does not waver. We will continue to look for ways to bring our community together and to celebrate what makes us special.
We are grateful for everyone who has supported us and this event in countless ways over the years. You are part of our story, and none of this would have been possible without you. We cherish each and every one of you.
As we say goodbye to this tradition, we look forward to bringing our community together to build new events and write the next chapter of our downtown.
Sincerely, The Board of Directors of Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street
Commentary
To put it simply … I do not feel safe in Public. I do not feel that local law enforcement has the power to protect the citizens of this nation from the growing problem of youth violence. I do not believe that the Judicial system has the backbone to properly charge, convict and punish violent youth to a level of which wilil actually make a difference. As long as the youth of this country feel that they can do whatever they want and no one is going to do anything about it, things are going to progressively get worse. And with more and more incidents turning up illegal firearms, how long is it going to be before some kid gets himself shot and killed by a man or woman defending themselves? Whoa be the unfortunate soul that shoots and kills an unruly black youth in self-defense, because there will be a witch hunt like we have never seen. Self-Defense? They shot and killed an innocent young black person, it’s murder, its racism at it’s worse. Right has nothing to do with it. You filled a young black person, you’re automatically guilty of murder.
The stories are everywhere. Street violence. Violence in places like Walmart by youth and ‘entitled’ adults. Shootings at local shopping malls. Group fights at shopping malls. Unprovoked attacks on innocent bystanders by youth in the Plaza District. Gatherings attacked, random shootings in the streets. Care to guess who is involved in most of these incidents? Oops, that wasn’t a statement of fact, that was Racism (according to the Black Community).
I will not set foot inside the Independence Center. I will not do business with those businesses of which sit on that property, or the property of the Independence Commons. Why? Because I am not allowed to properly defend myself. The City of Independence has posted both properties as ‘gun free’ zones. It is illegal to take a firearm onto either property. Then there is the ‘no guns’ sign on the entrances to the mall. The day you can convince me that criminals and unruly youth are not taking weapons onto that property, I will reconsider my personal boycott.
You will not find me attending any part of the Independence Santa-Cali-Gon Days celebration. Why? They have a history of problems during the festival. Around the carnival, and it will likely spread to the rest of the fair as it did in Lee’s Summit. There are not sufficnet law enforcement to control the situations, to stop the problems that took place in the past or other outdoor events. And there is the ban on firearms at the event, which prohibits law abiding citizens from carrying protection, but will have no affect on the criminals that show up.
It is time to reverse this trend of not holding people accountable for their actions. Let the Liberals whine and cry that they are being opporessed, that they are being treated unfairly. Let the Black Community scream systemic racism, it’s not like they haven’t shown their racist side in the past couple of decades. Today’s youth are not afraid of punishment. They do not believe that they will be held accountable for their actions, and if they are, it will be little more than a slap on the back of the hands. Parents won’t discipline them, often can’t control them. Until there are retributions for actions for unruly youth, the situation with violence on teh streets, in our schools, at events, is going to get worse.
