February 25, 2022 | By Barbara Hammond
If there’s such a thing as a born teacher, Elfrieda Shellenberger was it. “As a very young girl, I would line up my dolls and play school with them,” she told me. “I would teach them the Sunday School lesson. And I even had a little grade book where I would mark their tardies and […]
| By Tammara Fogle
Roberta Hulbert is the winner of a $25 gift certificate donated by the Spice Merchant for submitting this month’s Recipe for You or Two: Pizza Pasta. “These are my favorite pizza toppings, but with pasta instead of a crust,” Hulbert said. “Easy!” To submit your own Recipe for You or Two, mail to The Active […]
| By Tammara Fogle
Cowboy concert The Delano Wind Ensemble is staging a concert inspired by the American West and its most iconic character, the cowboy. “Home on the Range,” “Shenandoah,” “Oklahoma!” and the theme from “The Magnificent Seven” are some of the pieces the group will play before finishing with John Phillip Sousa’s march “El Capitan.” The performance […]
| By Tammara Fogle
Hand in Hand, a caregivers support group, will hold its first meeting Monday, March 21, at Believers Southern Baptist Church, 13909 W. 21st St. N. in Wichita. The group is for people who are giving care and need emotional support. It is not disease or disorder specific. The group will meet on the third Monday […]
| By Tammara Fogle
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, 2409 N. Market in Wichita, Kan., is bringing back its annual meatless Mexican food dinners on Friday during Lent after taking a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting on March 4 and each Friday through April 8, the church will be selling meatless Mexican food from 5-7 p.m. […]
| By Ted Ayres
“On Animals,” by Susan Orlean (Avid Reader Press, 2021, 237 pages, $28.00) Susan Orlean is one of my favorite writers, and that kind of enthusiasm for her work is widespread. A staff writer for The New Yorker magazine since 1992, Orlean was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in 2003 and received a Guggenhiem Fellowship in […]
| By Ted Blankenship
My wife and I live in a Bel Aire independent living complex where there are dogs everywhere — out being walked, taken for a toilet run or just being their cute selves. They’re always on a leash of course, because that’s the rule. When you live in the country, dog ownership is different. They dearly […]
| By Tiya Tonn
One of the most rewarding experiences available is the opportunity to impact the lives of others in a positive way through volunteering. The giving of time and talent is likely to improve the life of the giver, too. Volunteers often become healthier, not only from the positivity they feel but because volunteering actually reduces […]
| By Tammara Fogle
Thank You Recent Donors! Opal Alford Brenda Allen Evelyn Allen Joyce Allen Virginia Amend Jo Auchterlonie Norma Bachman Timothy Baier Joyce Bailey Jerry Bammes John Barnett Jennifer Baugh Marilyn Beaver Robert Bequette Gisela Bette Carolyn Bonham F.J. Boots Donald Bostwick Robert Bridgman Barbara Bunting Mac Carder Marilyn Caret John Cary William Coatney Norma Coles Phyllis […]
| By Tammara Fogle
By Nancy Wheeler Identify the geographical feature described that has at least one double letter sequence in its name. The answers appear at the end. 1. Stretching from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico, this is one of the longest rivers on the North American continent. 2. Capital of the mountainous northern Japanese island […]
| By Diana Morton
Forum Theatre, at the Wilke Center, First United Methodist Church, 330 N. Broadway. Words & Music: Girls Sing Elvis. The Forum’s female performers interpret songs by Elvis Presley and early rhythm and blues performers, with plenty of dancing thrown in. 8 pm Sat, Mar 19, 2 pm Sun, Mar 20. Tickets $23-$25. 316-618-0444 Mosley Street […]
| By Tammara Fogle
100th birthday Wanda Elaine Smith Burrow celebrated her 100th birthday on Feb. 18. Wanda was the fourth of eight children born to Marvin and Lizzie Smith in Cold Springs, Okla. She grew up on a farm, earned an education degree from Wichita State University and worked as a “Rosie the Riveter” at the beginning of […]
| By Tammara Fogle
Dear Savvy Senior, My wife and I would like to make some affordable changes to our home so we can remain living there for as long as possible. Can you recommend some good resources that can help us determine what all we need to consider? Getting Old Dear Getting, Many older adults, like you and […]
February 1, 2022 | By Amy Geiszler-Jones
When Wanda Parker-Givens retired last month from her 34-year career with the Wichita Police Department, she already had a plan for a second career. This fall, she’ll start on a doctorate in educational leadership at Wichita State University. “I think I’m going to teach,” Parker-Givens said. “I always wanted to go back to school. I […]
| By Joe Stumpe
TOPEKA — Organizations that represent older Kansans have released their lists of legislative priorities for 2022. The fact that practically all of the goals have been on the same lists in years past isn’t lost on the groups’ members. “Nobody listens to us,” said Donna Lehane, a member of the Silver Haired Legislature from Wichita. […]
| By Dale Goter
Cathryn Dye has lived a long life of following the rules and doing the right thing. For 82 years, that included a strict adherence to driving the speed limit. Learning to drive at age 13 on her family’s farm north of Wichita, she never ran afoul of any speed limit, anytime, anywhere. That included early […]
| By Joe Stumpe
Beans will never be the most glamorous ingredient in the pantry, but some Wichita cooks are sure making them sound like it. And these beans happen to be grown in Kansas, known more for wheat, corn and cattle than beans. Mary Singleton said it was a “weird coagulation of things” that led her to the […]
| By Tammara Fogle
We get periodic requests for gluten free recipes at The Active Age, so the idea of gluten-free dishes made with bean flour produced right here in Kansas is an intriguing one. These recipes are made with bean flour from 21st Century Bean, the western Kansas farmers processing cooperative. It’s our experience that some people love […]
| By Tammara Fogle
Art Deco exhibit opens with WAM celebration The Wichita Art Museum will open a new exhibit on American Art Deco with music, dancing and a look at the movement here in Wichita. American Art Deco: Designing for the People, 1918-1939, features more than 140 iconic works, including paintings such as Kenneth Haynes Miller’s “Show Window […]
| By Tammara Fogle
Painting Kansas wheat is hard. Just ask Mary Stafford. But that didn’t stop the 90-year-old Derby artist from completing this farm scene with the state’s signature crop lovingly detailed. “I wanted to do a painting that looks like Kansas,” Stafford said. We’d say she succeeded.
| By Ted Ayers
“Apocalyptic Polly: A Pandemic Memoir,” by Polly Basore Wenzl (AngelBooks, 2021, 125 pages, $16.99) By Ted Ayres Polly Basore Wenzl’s book, subtitled “A pandemic memoir,” proposes to be the story of her life in Wichita during 2020-21. And the book does address the chronological period between February 25, 2020, when Wenzl heard a radio report of […]
| By Ted Blankenship
By Ted Blankenship A television commercial for lactose-free milk states that if it isn’t real milk, then the cow conveniently standing nearby isn’t a real cow — “and Mabel doesn’t really like that.” Mabel the cow answers with a brief “moo.” When we lived on 20 acres north of Rose Hill, we had cows and […]
| By Tammara Fogle
The Active Age lost a treasured friend and volunteer when Delores Burris died on Jan. 16 at age 78. If you received a copy of our newspaper over the past 12 years, it was likely due to Delores, who kept our subscription list updated. Despite the fact that she had a full-time job, Delores came […]
| By Tammara Fogle
Jeramy Anderson W.C. Ashcraft Barbara Bennett-Graham Wade Brodin Dale Brown Evelyn Carroll Judy Christensen JanetCunningham Carolyn Davis Nancy Davis Diane Dean Sylverina Depperschmidt Linda Destasio Patty Donham Jane Eaton Max Fraizer Beatrice Frazier Marjorie Gilbertson Margaret Good Donald Grabendike Barbara Grimes Susan Grimes Marilyn Hall Susanne Hamker Linda Hammerle Belva Harris Beverly Harshbarger Fritz Henseler […]
| By Tammara Fogle
The Active Age AUGUSTA — A proposed new veterans memorial has found a home. Now supporters are trying to raise the rest of the money needed to build it. The idea for the monument was suggested to Augusta’s Leonard Whitehill American Legion Post 189 by Linda McBride, the daughter of a deceased member. Augusta has […]