July 1, 2021 | By The Active Age
40 years ago Plans for Wichita’s first Senior Olympics, to be held in Linwood Park, were announced … A support group for families of people with Alzheimer’s was organized in Wichita … Bob Fletcher, 81, and Pat Van Dyne, 86, married six months after meeting at Hillhaven Nursing Home. 25 years ago Wanda Groves, 74, […]
| By The Active Age
After a year off, the Heartland Games track and field meet returned to Friends University on June 5. More than 50 athletes competed in events, including the shot put, discus throw, javelin and several foot races. The Heartland Games originated as a series of fundraising competitions to help support operations at all four senior centers […]
June 1, 2021 | By Debbi Elmore
An anti-hunger campaign started by a 6-year-old Wichita boy has turned into an intergenerational effort reaching into six other states. Called Paxton’s Blessing Boxes after Paxton Burns, who’s now 11, the red boxes are stocked with donated food and personal hygiene products that are free for anyone to take. The endeavor has grown to 93 […]
| By Amy Geiszler-Jones
Emerson McAdams took on many roles at what was known as McKinley Park in northeast Wichita. Often referred to simply as Mac, he cut the grass. He chaperoned dances. At the only city swimming pool open to black residents, he fished out snakes and threw them over a fence in the direction of a nearby […]
| By The Active Age
Congratulations to Roberta Morrison, winner of The Active Age outdoor photography contest. Morrison captured the Keeper of the Plains on May 3. She wins a $25 gift certificate to Nifty Nut House. Second place and a $15 gift certificate to Nifty goes to Tracie Klinke, who photographed the grave of her grandfather, Korean War vet […]
| By Ted Blankenship
Kansas is the source of some of the best music to be heard anywhere and has been for some time. Wichita, for example is home to Chamber Music at the Barn, now in its 25th season at Bob Scott’s Prairie Pines venue on north Maize Road, and the Wichita Jazz Festival now nearing its 50th […]
| By Joe Stumpe
NORTH NEWTON — It’s not every day someone comes up with a new genre of art, but then Glen Ediger is an inventor. Among other things. Ediger thought up the genre — which he calls environmental exposure — a few years before retiring as director of design for Vornado Air. He noticed that a piece […]
| By Joe Stumpe
First off, thanks to everyone who filled out and returned the community survey that was in last month’s issue. The survey was designed to give people a lot of latitude in what they chose to focus on. In fact, that was the point. For the most part, people who responded seem to like their communities, […]
May 20, 2021 | By Joe Stumpe
Correction: A headline on an earlier version of this article said the McCormick School Museum is closed. Tours are still available by appointment on Wednesday and Sunday. To schedule one, call (316) 841-6198. The future of Wichita’s oldest school building, which houses McCormick School Museum, appears shaky. According to a memo that museum curator Paul […]
April 29, 2021 | By Joe Stumpe
When Bobby Thompson thinks back to his parents’ restaurant in Junction City, he remembers more than just filling the ice machine or standing on a chair to reach the cash register. “Ninth Street was notorious,” Thompson said of the street his parents’ café, the Thompson Inn, was located on. In 1999, a film called “Ninth […]
| By The Active Age
Over the next few months, the Wichita Journalism Collaborative will explore the social acceptability of mental health care, access to treatment and the challenge of affordability. But to do our work well, we’ll need the help of readers like you. The Wichita Journalism Collaborative is a coalition of local newsrooms and community institutions that launched […]
| By Joe Stumpe
Cindy Entriken was helping her grandmother clean out the house she’d lived in for 55 years when she came across a “ratty pile of papers tied with dirty string.” “I said, ‘What is this?’ She said, ‘Those are the letters your great aunt wrote during the war.’ ” Nearly three decades later, Entriken has turned […]
| By The Active Age
Advocates for older Kansans got some of what they wanted during the 2021 legislative session but found themselves on the losing end of several political battles. The Legislature adjourned April 9 and is expected to return May 3 to consider the budget and any vetoes issued by Gov. Laura Kelly. “We’re hoping a lot of […]
| By The Active Age
Helen Thomas is the winner of a $25 gift certificate donated by The Spice Merchant as the contributor of this month’s Recipe for You or Two. Thomas is a member of the “Aldi Nerds” group on Facebook, whose members frequently post recipes made with Aldi ingredients. “That’s where I found this,” she said. “I like […]
| By The Active Age
More people than ever are enjoying the hobby of photography thanks to smart phones. The Active Age is holding a photo contest with just one stipulation: the photo must have been taken outdoors using either a smart phone or traditional camera. Winners of the contest will receive gift certificates for $25 (first place), $15 (second) […]
| By Joe Stumpe
The ages of the seven children in the Bennett family are easy to remember: 76, 78, 80, 82, 84, 86 and 88. That kind of familial longevity may not qualify as a record, but as third-oldest daughter Ruby Tobey says: “We think we are little unusual and very blessed to have seven siblings still living.” […]
| By The Active Age
The Walking Wednesday Series is underway, offering a chance to enjoy the outside at a relaxed pace. Sponsored by Bike Walk Wichita, the walks take place in parks and urban locations, highlighting the green spaces, history and vitality of the city. Walks are free to all and open to all abilities. After the walk, participants […]
| By Rep. Elizabeth Bishop
The 2021 Kansas Legislature is winding down its business for this year. We return from spring break on May 3, conduct our “wrap-up session” until May 11. We may adjourn sooner, depending on how the action goes. As we finish up, here are some musings on the future. I can’t help but observe that the […]
March 31, 2021 | By Joe Stumpe
Rita Hephner calls March 31 her “day of freedom.” That’s the date she expected to return to a more normal lifestyle, having passed 14 days since the second of her COVID-19 vaccination shots. And Hephner planned to celebrate. “I’m going to make an appointment at Beau Monde and have a massage,” she said. Across Wichita, […]
| By Amy Geiszler-Jones
The troubling calls from Pat and Linda O’Donnell’s only daughter often came in the middle of the night. Prompted by her boyfriend, then 23-year-old Patricia would blame her parents for her failings. The O’Donnells, who were then in their 60s, believed their daughter was being controlled and intimidated as part of an unhealthy relationship. They […]
| By Amee Bohrer
Linda Jabara was a happily married mother of two young boys when military personnel from McConnell Air Force Base knocked on her door. She was informed that her husband, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Thomas, had been killed in a missile silo accident. The date was Aug. 24, 1978. “It was my 28th birthday, and I […]
| By Joe Stumpe
I know these days won’t last forever/So while we’re here let’s endeavor/To laugh more than we cry/To live more than we die “We Are One,” Kevin Herrington For years, Kevin Herrington worried that his best music was behind him. Not anymore. Herrington, a member of several successful Wichita bands in the 1970s […]
| By Beth Bower
When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was go to the drugstore and buy penny candy. Today, I’ve found something even better: dollar stores. One chain, Dollar Tree, prices everything at a dollar. Two others — Dollar General and Family Dollar — offer many items for that amount. Most of […]
| By Mary Clarkin
Lisa Bramblett had underlying health issues and realized she could die if she caught the novel coronavirus. The licensed practical nurse, who was the charge nurse overnight at Pittsburg (Kan.) Care and Rehabilitation Center, continued to work as the pandemic rolled through 2020. “The nursing home was testing everybody twice a week, and she tested […]