By Kristina Light
Waldo has a new mayor, and she wants everyone to know the neighborhood is a little bit weird and a whole lot of wonderful.
“Weird, eclectic and quirky, but extremely caring. That is Waldo,” said Lindsay Sills, who was crowned as Waldo Mayor. “And I love it!”
Sills was crowned the honorary Mayor of Waldo at the Waldo Fall Festival on Oct. 10. She is the director of the Over the Rainbow (OTR) Summer Program, the summer camp at Rainbow School. Sills has been a part of the program for 10 years, but the school’s presence as a Waldo institution goes back decades. The school is located at 79th Street and Holmes Road.
She topped a field of four finalists, which included James Arcano of City Barrel Pizza & Patio, Jay Besheer of Gunter Pest, and Katie Roder of City Gym. Sills succeeds 2025 Waldo Mayor winner Henri Ewell. Organizers announced at Fall Fest that this year’s race drew a record high number of votes.
The title carries no official duties — only a year of bragging rights and the chance to champion the neighborhood. That makes Sills a perfect fit. Her love for Waldo is contagious, and cheering on local businesses and neighbors is her favorite pastime.
That said, Sills plans to use her influence to put local businesses front and center with #WerkItWaldoWednesday, a weekly Facebook and Instagram feature. Her list of favorites is endless. There’s City Barrel for pizza on the patio, KC Bier Co. for a pint and trivia, and McLain’s for something sweet. She loves finding treasures at Eclectic, Pistachio Monograms & Gifts and Tailored Goose.
“I want to give local entrepreneurs visibility and highlight their talents on social media,” she says.
Sills did not plan to run for the “seat” of Waldo Mayor. An anonymous friend nominated her, she said. That hardly narrows it down, since anyone who knows Lindsay knows that she is passionate about her community.
“I don’t own a business, so it was nice to know I was making an impact,” she said.
Sills spent her two-week campaign shining a light on others. She gave shout-outs to Donna, the librarian at the Waldo Branch, who welcomes crowds of OTR campers checking out books all summer. She also gave a shout-out to “Bicycle Dave,” who donated a bike to the school’s fundraiser. Rainbow School families also rallied behind her, and votes poured in from as far as Australia.
“I was excited and surprised and touched,” she says.
Sills has nothing but kind words for her fellow finalists. She credits Roder with doing a lot for Waldo, calls Arcano a generous supporter of the neighborhood and the Waldo Rotary Club, and appreciates Besheer’s long-standing family business.
Sills has lived in the Kansas City area since 2009, and Waldo is where she chose to put down roots. To her, it feels like a small town tucked inside a big city, where shop owners know customers by name and a quick grocery run becomes a chance to catch up with friends.
“What’s great about Waldo is people caring about one another and seeking community,” she says. “Waldo is home. This is where I love to be.”
Rainbow School serves children from 2 months to 5 years old. Each summer, Over the Rainbow welcomes kids who have completed kindergarten through eighth grade for 11 weeks of affordable camp, with a nine-week minimum. Middle school campers meet in space rented from Kansas City Academy. Through a longtime partnership with the Academy for Integrated Arts (AFIA), some AFIA students attend on full scholarships, selected through an application and lottery process. Sills loves how the partnership brings kids from across the city into the Waldo community.
“I love watching them grow up,” she says.
