March 31, 2025 | By Dee Starkey
From its first downbeat in 1972, the Wichita Jazz Festival has been about two things: bringing jazz greats to Wichita and offering educational outreach to area school jazz programs. The combination seems to have worked. The festival is now one of the nation’s oldest, trailing only a few, such as the Newport Jazz Festival and […]
| By The Active Age
Library book sale Get a bag of books for a fiver at the Friends of the Wichita Library sale Saturday, April 5. The sale will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Advancing Learning Library, 711 W. Second St. Book lovers can either buy a FWPL cloth tote bag and fill it […]
| By The Active Age
EL DORADO — Butler County residents can learn about services and opportunities for older residents and caregivers — and have plenty of fun — at the annual Butler County Spring Fling Senior Resource Fair on Wednesday, April 30. Admission is free. The fair will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Civic […]
| By The Active Age
With drought restrictions continuing into a new gardening season, the Sedgwick County Extension Master Gardeners are looking to help the community cope. The theme of their 2025 Spring Garden Fair is “Water — Every Drop Counts. The fair will be held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 3 at the Sedgwick County Extension […]
| By The Active Age
You’ve probably seen them in action along the Arkansas River, but may not have realized that they are Wichita State University’s varsity rowing team. Started in 1975, Shocker Rowing is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month. “We are thrilled to celebrate this significant milestone in Shocker Rowing’s history,” said Calvin Cupp, Head Coach of Shocker […]
| By Patti Sullivan
We’ve all been around long enough to have developed skills for dealing with change. It’s a necessary part of life. And luckily, we Kansans are known for our resilience. It will come in handy as we cope with the changes and uncertainty in today’s world. We at The Active Age are equally affected and […]
| By Nancy Wheeler
See if you can use these clues to name famously mysterious figures, objects and places from the past. The answers appear on page 17. 1. What North Carolina island colony was established by John White in 1587 — but all the colonists had disappeared when White returned three years later? 2. Stretching from Miami to […]
| By The Active Age
The skyrocketing price of eggs prompted one reader of The Active Age to send us this recipe for an egg-free chocolate cake, but not for that reason alone. She says her sister-in-law regularly makes this dairy-free cake simply because it’s delicious. The cake is known by various names, including Depression Cake and World War II […]
| By Jim Miller
Savvy Senior – March Columns Is a Reverse Mortgage a Good Idea? When to Worry About Your Memory How to Replace Important Lost Documents Are You at Risk for Kidney Disease? Is a Reverse Mortgage a Good Idea? Dear Savvy Senior, What can you tell me about reverse mortgages? When my husband passed away […]
| By The Active Age
Dear Editor, In a recent Kansas News Service story on Sen. Roger Marshall’s appearance at a town hall meeting in Oakley, Kan. (pop. 1,982), a board member with the local nursing home said he’d hoped to hear about issues “affecting nursing homes right now. Rural hospitals are hurting but all people wanted to do was […]
| By The Active Age
Two Wichitans who’ve helped shape the city’s cultural scene for decades were honored last month by Gov. Laura Kelly and the Kansas Arts Commission. Cecil Riney, a musician and former chair of the Friends University Fine Arts Division, and Connie Bonfy, an artist and grant writer/program developer for Ballet Wichita and the Wichita Art Museum, […]
| By Jennifer Youngers
April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month, a time to recognize the dedication of those who give their time to support their communities. Among these incredible individuals are the volunteers of the AmeriCorps Seniors Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), whose contributions make a profound impact on countless lives. In Sedgwick County, RSVP is sponsored by […]
| By Shirley Annsun
The Prairie Pilot Club is all about volunteering and service projects. At Ability Point, we help serve lunch and bring desserts to the “Lunch Bunch.” In February, we hosted our annual Valentine Party for teens at the Wichita Children’s Home. We provide “pick me up” gifts and snacks to firefighters, dispatches and other others. Our […]
| By Sophia Best The Sunflower
When asked by her brother what she hopes to bring into the world with her writing, Rebekah Taussig wrote, “I want my writing to meet people in that shame, to lift the veil and point to the source, to remind folks that their disabled bodies are not The Problem here, to hold up a flag […]
March 1, 2025 | By Sherry Graham Howerton
When tragedy strikes, the people affected are often consumed with the question of “why?” Retired Newton Pastor Cleo Koop found himself in such a place in 2019 as he and his family faced the decision to move his wife, Faye, then 64, into a dementia care facility. Faye had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease two […]
| By Joe Stumpe
The Air Capital turned out to be a perfect fit for Fred Berry, his family and business. Berry already had a pilot’s license and love of flying when he arrived in Wichita in 1957. He jumped into the city’s bustling aviation scene while building his construction and material handling dealerships into a national enterprise. “We […]
| By Margaret Britton-Mehlisch
Jami Frazier Tracy says it was a love of thrifting that steered her into a career in museums. The teenage years she spent combing the racks at the Goodwill at 37th and Oliver nurtured a love for items of yesteryear. “In thrift stores, you never know what you’re going to find,” Frazier Tracy said. “It’s […]
| By The Active Age
Gale Engels of Wichita was the winner of our Feb. 10 drawing for a diamond necklace donated by Mike Seltzer of Mike Seltzer Jewelers. Engels and his wife, Laura, went to pick up the 14-carat diamond and aquamarine necklace after returning from a trip to Colorado. “It’s my birthstone,” Laura said of the aquamarine gemstone. […]
| By Joe Stumpe
Some veteran Wichita performers are trying to make sure the music plays on for a younger generation. And they’re having a blast doing it. Since February 2024, they’ve come together for three sold-out shows — two tributes to The Beatles and one to the Rolling Stones. The first one was just for fun. Joe Sauer, […]
| By The Active Age
Big Read kicks off Wichita’s 2025 Big Read gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 14 at the Advanced Learning Library, 711 W. Second. Attendees will receive a free copy of this year’s book, “Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient, Disabled Body,” by Kansas City writer Rebelah Taussig, who lost the use of […]
| By The Active Age
Don’t know about Kansas’ Army of Amazons? You can soon. They’re part of a new two-part documentary on Kansas PBS called “Great Women of Kansas.” Part 1, which originally aired in September, will be broadcast again at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 19. Part 2 premieres at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 20. Part 1 focused on […]
| By Ted Blankenship
Now and then I watch reruns of “Everybody Loves Raymond.” A recent show was mostly about whether a mother-in-law should be called “mom.” The show’s two mothers-in-law got into a big battle over it. That reminded me of some of the interesting things families do with names. Take my mother-in-law, who was born in 1898 […]
| By Diana Morton
Forum Theatre, at the Wilke Center, 1st United Methodist Church, 330 N. Broadway. Bridges of Madison County. Musical based on the best-selling novel. Now – Mar 2. 8pm; Tickets $34 – $44 each; 10% military discount and 1/2 price student tickets with a valid student ID. 316-618-0444 Mosley Street Melodrama, 234 N. Mosley. Desperate Housewives […]
| By Jim Miller
Savvy Senior – February Columns Driving with Dementia and Knowing When to Stop How to Choose and Use a Home Blood Pressure Monitor How Much Do You Have to Make to File Taxes in 2025? Service Dogs Can Help Seniors with Disabilities Driving with Dementia and Knowing When to Stop Dear Savvy Senior, When should […]
| By Cecilia Green
“Phishing” is the practice of scammers trying to obtain victims’ personal information in order to rip them off. Despite efforts of the Federal Trade Commission and local authorities to warn consumers, it and other fraud threats are on the rise. Chief Attorney Avery Elofsson, from the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Economic Crimes Unit, said that […]