By Michael Bushnell

Northeast News

June 29, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – According to the Malcolm Gladwell book “Outliers,” anyone who deliberately practices a craft for 10,000 hours or more can be considered world-class in that area. Brett Shoffner and a small army of volunteers who continuously and tirelessly work to clear brush and create trails along the Cliff Drive Corridor could very well be considered world class by Gladwell’s definition. On the morning of Wednesday, June 29, the group of volunteers hit 10,000 hours of work along the corridor since it began tracking hours in the fall of 2013.

“Awesome!” was Shoffner’s response to the moniker, although he quickly gave credit to his cadre of volunteers, who this week come from two churches in Louisville, Kentucky.

“It really shows the dedication of the neighborhood’s dedication to the park with the continued support of our restoration efforts along Cliff Drive,” Shoffner said. “This is a total team effort.”

This week, two Christian Church congregations cleared brush and invasive Honeysuckle near the Gooseneck and Colonnade. Sponsored by Country Club Christian Church on Ward Parkway, roughly sixty members of Middletown Christian Church and the Simpsonville Christian Church dedicated a week to projects in Historic Northeast, mostly along the Cliff Drive Corridor. In addition, the congregations presented Shoffner with a check for $1,000 for tools and restoration efforts in Kessler Park. Roughly twenty of the volunteers were working on various youth projects at Grace United Methodist Church on Benton Boulevard. The volunteers will be working in the neighborhood through Friday.