ShawneeDispatch.com

Al Faltermeier

Al Faltermeier didn't have a clue that he had been nominated for the Grand Marshal of the Old Shawnee Days parade.

So when a he found out he was selected for the honor, he was caught completely by surprise.

At a meeting of the Shawnee Mission Optimists Club, another member announced that the grand marshal was in the room.

"I thought he meant one of the other guys at the meeting," Faltermeier said. "When he said my name, I about fell out of my chair."

A 50-year resident of Shawnee, Faltermeier, 70, grew up in Kansas City, Mo., and met wife Carol at the former Van's Food Center in Shawnee, where she was a checker and he was a stocker. They were married in St. Joseph's Church and have lived in Shawnee ever since.

Faltermeier is very familiar with Shawnee Town and Old Shawnee Days. His construction firm built the Trail Cafe at Shawnee Town in 1985, and almost every year since, he has volunteered with the club at its concession trailer at Old Shawnee Days and in the summer at Swarner Park, raising funds for under-privileged children. Faltermeier also actively recruits new members to the Optimists to build the organization and ensure continued community support.

Faltermeier also has dedicated much of his time to help improve Wonderscope Children's Museum so that its arts and sciences exhibits could be available to children from across the Kansas City area.

He began volunteering for the museum shortly after it opened in the former Greenwood School building, and he facilitated Wonderscope's move from the Greenwood School to its current location by disassembling and reassembling exhibits, remodeling exhibit rooms and installing window air conditioners.

Faltermeier continues to help Wonderscope with a variety of projects such as traveling exhibits, sponsorships of a Saturday morning children's exercise program and building picnic tables for Wonderscope's gym area.

Faltermeier said he volunteers because he likes doing anything that helps children.

"I enjoy children - we had five children in seven years, so I've always liked kids," he said. "Somebody needs to do it for the kids."

In addition to their five children, Faltermeier and his wife, Carol, now have 11 grandchildren.

When selecting Faltermeier, the Old Shawnee Days Society noted that he dedicates much of his spare time to helping the youth of Shawnee, saying his charitable activities have resulted in making Shawnee a more kid-friendly environment, which in turn has helped promote Shawnee as a desired location for growing families.