January 11, 2021 | By Mary Clarkin & The Active Age
New Year’s Eve brought a different kind of celebration at the Kansas Christian Home in Newton: Staff and residents received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. “We were ecstatic, absolutely thrilled that we were finally getting a step toward protecting our residents, family, friends, ourselves,” said Donna Hett, assistant director of nursing at the retirement […]
December 30, 2020 | By Amy Geiszler-Jones
Wichita bowler Maggi Watson may not be able to see her score due to her failing eyesight, but she can still knock down some pins. In her fifth frame and after hitting her second spare, she asks a senior league teammate for her score. “You’re at 45,” responds Johnny Kirk, who makes sure Watson gets […]
| By Matthew Kelly
Gary O’Neal of Bel Aire stood on his deck, the smell of frying bacon wafting up from the grill. He wasn’t just enjoying a leisurely Wednesday evening, though. He was meal-prepping for yet another school day. O’Neal has been retired for almost 10 years. At 73, he certainly wasn’t expecting to go back to school […]
| By Amy Geiszler-Jones
Retired mail carrier Linda Barnes doesn’t care for dealing with the wind, cold, ice and snow that can mark a Kansas winter. For the fifth year in a row, Barnes, 71, and her 72-year-old husband, George, a retired Wichita police officer, will migrate south to spend the early winter months of the year. The Barneses […]
| By Mary Clarkin
The coronavirus pandemic has reached at least 46 federally licensed long-term care homes in the Wichita area, causing or contributing to 113 deaths, according to records of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The 46 homes, located in Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties, had at least one resident and/or staff member with a confirmed […]
| By Joe Stumpe
Now that a COVID-19 vaccine has reached Kansas, residents and employees of long-term care homes are expected to be among the first groups of people offered the vaccine. The question is how many of them will choose to take it. Public health officials and the homes’ operators strongly endorse the vaccine, but polls have shown […]
| By Jennifer Sanders
Throughout the course of the pandemic, the world and our nation have cheered on our “healthcare heroes.” We have lent them our spirit and hoped that somehow it would help sustain them for the battle that they are waging. I share in these sentiments and am truly grateful for the men and women of our […]
| By Tammara Fogle
By Ted Blankenship We old folks have enough problems what with getting shorter and losing most of our hair. But now we are told that our feet are getting bigger, too. That may not seem fair, but bigger feet help to keep us upright. If we don’t have an ample base, we tend to lean […]
| By Joe Stumpe
As a child in Wichita, Barbara Elliott was fascinated by the story of the Mayflower. “I thought that the Mayflower was the most wonderful thing that had happened in this country,” she recalled. “They were good people, and they did so much. They had a horrible, horrible time […]
| By Pat O’Connor
Planeview came into being during World War II as temporary housing for more than 20,000 defense workers. It was federally built and outside Wichita City limits until 1955. In these interviews, conducted for the Wichita Old Neighborhood Project, people who lived there in the 1940s-50s tell what it was like. The community spirit and diversity […]
| By The Active Age
Envision has installed a new art show at Fred & Barney’s Restaurant, which recently opened at 2424 N. Woodlawn in Wichita. The show features 35 paintings, paper and ceramic sculptures, drawings and mixed media pieces. All works were created by artists who are blind or visually impaired, ranging from […]
| By Joe Stumpe
Isn’t it amazing how great minds think alike? Average ones, too! There was I, thinking about starting a regular feature on recipes that serve one or two people when reader Claudine Cook telephoned with the same idea. Well, actually she called to let me know we had been spelling her name wrong (“Cauldine” would indeed […]
| By The Active Age
We want your help in making The Active Age the best newspaper it can be. Please fill out and return this short reader survey using contact info below. SURVEY 1. What columns/features in The Active Age do you like best? ________________________________________________ 2. Any you would eliminate? ________________________________________________________________________ 3. Rate your level of interest […]
| By The Active Age
When Wichita experienced a 3.3 magnitude earthquake followed by several smaller ones last month, Wichita State University invited the media to interview its earthquake expert, Dr. William Parcell, chair of the Department of Geology. So we did. The Active Age: Why does WSU have an earthquake expert? It’s not like we live on the San […]
| By The Active Age
HESSTON — For many people, sitting down to write their memoirs might seem like a daunting task. But a program that assigns participants to write their life stories in two-page increments made believers out of a half-dozen Harvey County residents. The “Life Stories” workshops were led over the course of six weeks by Jill Schmidt […]
| By Julie Doll
Is it selfish for Americans to oppose debt forgiveness for all former and current college students in the country? That’s the motive many on the left ascribe to opponents of proposals to cancel the $1.4 trillion in student-loan debt owed by about 44 million Americans. President-elect Joe Biden has said he’s interested in providing debt […]
December 1, 2020 | By Nancy Carver Singleton
It was a slow Sunday in December some years ago when big, wet snowflakes started falling at Windy Knoll Tree Farm northeast of Derby. “We got so busy in a short time because of the heavy snowfall,” recalled Susan Grelinger, who owns the cut-your-own tree farm with her husband, Bob. “Everybody wanted a memory.” Snow […]
| By Mary Clarkin
CHENEY – A small-town nursing home with a strong record of health and safety inspections has been identified as one of Sedgwick County’s deadliest COVID-19 clusters with 12 resident deaths. The 45-bed Cheney Golden Age Home eluded the coronavirus until the fall, when it compelled the nursing home to dedicate two of its three wings […]
| By Mary Clarkin
Despite the pandemic and even with restrictions on outside visitors, nursing homes are taking new residents. Patricia “Patsy” Chvilicek, 82, moved into Villa Maria, Mulvane, June 4. She had broken her leg previously and is confined to bed. Her mobility is expected to improve, but she plans to make Villa Maria her home. The move […]
| By The Active Age
Who says all holiday meals have to be based around turkey and ham? A bierock casserole recipe submitted by Mindy Wooten of Halstead would make a great brunch or lunch main centerpiece, especially considering Kansans’ fondness for bierocks. That’s why Wooten’s recipe was chosen the winner of The Active Age’s first holiday recipe contest. As […]
| By The Active Age
Cheesy Ziti and Beef Pasta Bake 1 lb. dry ziti pasta 1 medium yellow onion, chopped 1 lb. lean ground beef 2 (26-oz.) jars spaghetti sauce 6 oz. pkg. sliced non-smoked Provolone cheese 1½ cups sour cream 6 oz. finely shredded mozzarella cheese 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese Directions: Bring a large pot of lightly […]
| By Leslie Chaffin
For the past couple of years, I’ve served as a human guinea pig in clinical trials of drugs. It feels good to know that I’m helping to further science and that someone somewhere can be protected from a potentially deadly disease. And, yes, the money is nice, too. My introduction to clinical trials came via […]
| By Dave Gear
I asked myself a question early into the pandemic: Beyond wearing a mask and social distancing, what could I do to be part of the solution to our current COVID-19 crisis? As a result — and over the objections of most of my family — I entered into AMR Wichita’s COVID-19 vaccine trial. The vaccine was […]
| By The Active Age
When the pandemic hit, Adrianne Smith responded the way she best knew how: through art. However, doing it through cartooning was different for Smith, who was a fine arts major in college (Wichita State, ’80) and grad school (University at Albany, N.Y., ’85) before working in graphic design […]
| By Pat O’Connor
[Christmas 1912] I cut a small sycamore tree in the woods, three feet high. Mother patiently cut sprigs of pine and bound them, with heavy linen thread, to the graceful limbs of the little sycamore. Two holy candles were lighted on each side of the tree, at a safe distance. We arose at half past […]