'Give it up! For Buck O'Neil': A look back at Garcia's Hero Project

Yes, finally. The great Buck O’Neil has been enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

So let’s take a fun look back at the tribute that children at Kansas City’s Primitivo Garcia Elementary created in song, book and video, working with songwriter Bob Walkenhorst on the school’s Hero Project in 2006.

Buck "O’Neil embraces children at Kansas City’s Primitivo Garcia Elementary School in 2006.

The original song tells the story of the Kansas City Monarchs player, manager and Negro Legaues Baseball ambassador, who is honored at Kansas City’s Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

O’Neil, who celebrated the song and the book with the children at Garcia, would die later in 2006 at the age of 94.

The Hero Project began with Garcia teacher and administrator Missie Condit, who got the idea to create this annual Hero Project with Walkenhorst 20 years ago. For 15 years the school created multi-media works of art in honor of heroes — some well-known and others who deserved to be known.

Condit, who died in 2020, would be selected by the kids to be one of the honorees. See other videos here.

LINC partnered in the project, helping produce the videos and also a children’s book on Buck O’Neil and his song. You can download a copy of the book here.

Most of all, congratulations, Buck.

From the Hero Project video, children at Primitivo Garcia Elementary sing, “Give it up! For Buck O’Neil.