In late August, the site director at the Shawnee Indian Mission sat down with the creator of a traveling art installation to plan its arrival. The piece reached the 53rd Street lawn on Friday, August 28. The same report, in the Fairway City Council's September packet, also set its departure date. The fort would stay until November 14, "and the trees are delivered the following week."
That one sentence sums up how Fairway runs its public spaces. The city doesn't have much open ground, so the open ground it has keeps changing jobs. The Mission lawn has gone from fall festival to art installation, and next it becomes a Christmas tree lot. On Mission Road, the Fairway Pool closed in September and its pool house became an indoor golf venue. In December, the pool parking lot hosts Santa. The Mission's switch and the Santa visit both land between mid-November and the first week of December.
The Fort Has Until Saturday
As of this Thursday, the Mission is open three more days with Trespassers Beware! on the grounds. According to Monumenta, the installation re-imagines Fort Conley, the small dwelling that the Wyandot Conley sisters built inside the Wyandot National Burying Ground in Kansas City, Kansas, and lived in for years to defend their family's graves. The sisters were Lyda, Ida and Helena, and their decades-long activism and legal arguments are the reason the 2-acre cemetery still exists. The Wyandot Nation of Kansas and Monumenta co-direct the project, and they commissioned the Omakyehstih Collective to build the monument. It is designed to travel from community to community, starting in the Kansas City region.
The Mission's event page lists the fort on display through 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 14. The site's regular schedule is Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with free admission, according to the Kansas Historical Society. That leaves Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week.
If you miss the fort, the story is still available online. Kansas City PBS set the premiere of Lyda: Wyandot Warrior for November 5 on Channel 19.1, YouTube and the PBS App. Producer Emily Woodring made the documentary with consulting producer Chief Judith Manthe of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas. Details are on the Kansas City PBS announcement. Chief Judith also gave the Mission's first fall talk on August 22, before the fort arrived. The site director's report described the turnout as great.
Then the Lawn Becomes a Tree Lot
The Mission's October report to the council puts it plainly: the fort stays through November 14 and moves out the following week to make room for Christmas trees.
"Beginning Saturday, November 21, 2026"
That's the opening date on the Shawnee Indian Mission Annual Tree & Greenery Sale page. The sale's hours run longer than the historic site's: noon to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. That means it's open on Mondays and Tuesdays, when the Mission buildings are closed.
Here's what the 2026 lot will carry, according to the sale page:
- Trees: Fraser, Balsam and Canaan fir
- Wreaths: Forest Elegance wreaths in 22- and 26-inch sizes, plus 22-inch traditional Noble fir wreaths
- Mission door swags
- Premium garland in 15- and 25-foot lengths
- Gifts from Three Springs Market, the Foundation's volunteer-run shop. All of its proceeds go to the Mission, and it stocks artisan glassware and pottery, tabletop decor, books and seasonal goods
Proceeds go to the Shawnee Indian Mission Foundation and six local Scout troops. The sale has been around for more than a decade. In 2013, the Johnson County Post covered its first year as a joint fundraiser run by Troop 192 and Foundation volunteers. The Foundation also put on the Mission's 40th annual Fall Festival on October 3. That means this lawn has hosted three different kinds of community events in about seven weeks.
Who Keeps the Grounds Turning Over
The lawn can switch uses this often because three parties share the work. The Kansas Historical Society owns the nearly 12-acre site. Fairway runs day-to-day operations, and the Foundation raises money. In January 2025, the Johnson County Post reported that the Fairway City Council approved a 10-year management agreement running through June 30, 2034. Under it, the city handles routine grounds care, the Historical Society handles major preservation and exhibits, and the Foundation commits at least $80,000 a year toward the city's operating costs. Each tree sold helps fund that last part.
The site's history is part of why its programming keeps changing. The Kansas City Star reports that the Mission moved to present-day Fairway in 1839 and operated as a boarding school founded by Rev. Thomas Johnson. It housed students from at least 22 tribes and required them to perform manual labor and assimilate into white Christian culture. Under a July 2025 memorandum, the Historical Society is leading a reinterpretation of the exhibits, to be finished within five years with input from Fairway, tribes and other stakeholders. Senate Bill 518 proposed transferring the site to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. The Kansas Legislature's record shows the bill died in committee on April 10, 2026.
Exhibits are still in the East building for now. The Star reports that the Historical Society won a $412,500 grant in fall 2025 to help open the West building, which has never been open to the public. The Historical Society says the restoration will make the building usable for interpretation, education and events, and the work includes repairs to historic materials and first-floor ADA access, with completion projected over three years. The Mission's August report described the project as "nearly one year into the 3 year grant." Another long-running project is moving along: all of the North building's south-facing windows have been removed, repaired and restored.
Down Mission Road, the Pool House Changed Jobs First
The Fairway Pool switched over before the Mission did. The 2026 season ended on Labor Day, September 7. During the pool's reduced late-summer hours, the city let Midwest Golf Innovations work in the Pool House on Mondays through Thursdays while the pool was closed. The Golf House held its ribbon cutting on September 12.
The venue at 6136 Mission Road has two simulators. Its public season runs September through May, which is roughly the opposite of the pool's. Public hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The Golf House lists Fairway Parks & Recreation as the operator. You book online ahead of time. Walk-ins get a bay only if one is open, the minimum is one hour, and you pay in full when you book.
| Option | Price |
|---|---|
| Group package: one bay, golf only | $50 per hour |
| Group package: one bay with food and drinks | $110 per hour |
| Group package: two bays, golf only | $90 per hour |
| Group package: two bays with food and drinks | $210 per hour |
| Membership: 4 hours a month | $110 resident, $125 nonresident |
| Membership: 8 hours a month | $220 resident, $250 nonresident |
| Membership: 16 hours a month | $440 resident, $500 nonresident |
The membership tiers have separate resident and nonresident rates, so the city clearly expects people from neighboring towns to book too. Members can also use the space from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., well beyond the public hours.
The parking lot outside gets its winter use in December. Santa's Workshop takes over the Fairway Pool lot on December 5 and 6 from 5 to 7:30 p.m., with families booked into 30-minute time slots. It's a walk-through visit with Santa that includes treats, milk and cookies, and a gift. Staff will take family photos on your own phone. Preregistration is required at $20 per child, and enrollment closes December 3. Sign up through the Fairway Parks & Recreation registration page.
Fairway From Now Through December 6, in Order
- Thursday, November 12, through Saturday, November 14: final days for Trespassers Beware! at the Mission, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Saturday, November 21: the Tree & Greenery Sale opens on the Mission grounds at 3403 W. 53rd St.
- Thursday, November 26: Fairway city offices close for Thanksgiving. The Kansas Historical Society says the Mission closes on some holidays and suggests calling ahead.
- Thursday, December 3: last day to register for Santa's Workshop.
- Saturday, December 5, and Sunday, December 6: Santa's Workshop in the Fairway Pool lot, 5 to 7:30 p.m.
The Golf House is open the whole time, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, in the building where people bought pool snacks in August.
At LUX Network KC, we follow Fairway's calendar the same way our neighbors do, from the Mission's fall festival to the first wreath on the front door. If your home's holiday look has you wondering what it's worth this season, request your free home valuation and we'll give you a local read on it.
