Israelis visit Leawood for Gezer Park ribbon-cutting

The rain cleared Tuesday morning just in time for the dedication ceremony at Leawood’s new Gezer Park. And while a cold wind whipped the speaker’s platform, warm feelings clearly abounded between the local dignitaries and the seven visiting delegates from Leawood’s Israeli Sister City, the Gezer Region.

The park’s dedication was the capstone on a process that began over a decade ago with a partnership between the local Jewish Federation and Kibbutz Gezer that has expanded across the metro area. The kibbutz is one of several smaller communities in the Gezer Region, which is actually more like a county than a city, and kibbutznik David Leichman was on hand for the dedication Tuesday.

The other visitors from central Israel included Gezer Region Mayor Peter Weiss and artist Gadi Fraeman, who created the monumental representation of the ancient, carved-stone calendar found in the Gezer region that marks the park’s main entrance. Artist Ilan Averbuch, who was born in Israel but who now lives in New York, also spoke Tuesday. His ladder-like “Steps and Stones” sculpture is perhaps the park’s most prominent feature.

About 150 people gathered near Gezer Park’s main shelter — which is faced with Jerusalem stone — for Tuesday’s ceremony.

Weiss told the crowd the Israeli delegates were “very touched by the fact that you dedicated this wonderful park to us.”

“The alliance between Israel and America has strategic roots, but many generations of leaders have nurtured and preserved it,” he said. “Relations between nations are strengthened and reinforced by relationships between people. We see this visit as the basis for a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship between our communities.”

“It has been over two years that we have been with our friends in the Gezer Region, and yet when they arrived yesterday at KCI, it seemed like it was just the day before, because the friendships run deep, and they are easily picked up,” said Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn. “So we are very, very honored … and thrilled that they are here on this important day in Leawood’s history.”

Gezer Park has a number of architectural and landscaping features designed to be reminiscent of Israel, including a wadi, or creek bed and a grapevine arbor.

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