Category: Featured

Greenway Manor reopens, seeks residents

October 30, 2025 | By The Active Age

Residents are being sought for Greenway Manor, the newly renovated, 86-unit high-rise at 315 N. Riverview. The Mennonite Housing agency has taken over management of the city-owned building, which is within walking distance of Riverside Park and other attractions. “One side overlooks the (Arkansas) river and the other side overlooks downtown,” said Debbie Caudill, service […]

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Midtown neighbors save historic duplex

| By The Active Age

Rather than see a duplex torn down, a neighborhood association has obtained title to the property and plans to renovate it into rental units. The Historic Midtown Community Association plans to restore the property at 1416/1418 N. Park Place. A 1923 Craftsman with Tudor Revival design touches, it had been owned most recently by Alma […]

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WSU’s Corbin Education Center named to National Historic Register

| By The Active Age

It’s good to have friends. Even if you’re a building. A group called the Friends of Corbin has succeeded in getting the Corbin Education Center at Wichita State University named to the National Register of Historic Places. The group, composed of current and former WSU employees and other supporters, started meeting in 2023. The Corbin […]

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Redbud Trail bridge over Highway 54 open

| By The Active Age

The Redbud Trail continues to make its way across Butler County, much to the delight of pedestrians and bicyclists. The Andover Augusta Railtrail Initiative (AARTI) was formed nine years ago to transform the old Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad — also known as the Redbud — easement into a trail between the two cities. Two […]

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Arriving in style

| By The Active Age

Diane Mann was driven to her birthday party at the Rose Hill Senior Center last month in a 1936 Chevy Master Deluxe exactly one year younger than herself. You can do the math. Mann, who is active in the center, is shown with her husband, Richard, and chauffer-son Ricky.

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Temple rises on North Meridian

| By The Active Age

A striking new building going up among cornfields on North Meridian is catching the attention of passers by. The building is Kansas’ first temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A public groundbreaking was held in September 2024 but only more recently has the structure substantially assumed the appearance it will have […]

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How a Kansas nonprofit sparked 50 years of change in long-term care

| By Libby Hastings

More than 50 years ago, a horrifying moment inside a Kansas nursing home sparked a movement that would change the state. While reading to a nursing home resident, Lawrence advocate Anna “Petey” Cerf heard the woman’s roommate call out in pain. A nurse entered the room and snapped, “Oh shut up. You’re always yelling.” The […]

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Clearwater nursing home cited

| By The Active Age

CLEARWATER — A recent state inspection of Clearwater Nursing & Rehabilitation Center found substantiated cases of resident-to-resident sexual abuse and other deficiencies. According to the September report, a resident of the nursing sexually abused three other residents between June 28 and Aug. 5. After the first incident, the report states, “The facility did not complete […]

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55 years later, she’ll visit WSU tragedy site

September 30, 2025 | By Joe Stumpe

Before making one of the most important walks of her life, Elizabeth Wilson Winterbone wanted to make sure she was physically up to the challenge. Toned up and trimmed down, she’s ready now. Winterbone is the daughter of Ben and Helen Wilson, who died in the Oct. 2, 1970 crash of a plane carrying Wichita […]

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Intergenerational housing coming to Newton campus

| By Joe Stumpe

NEWTON — A nonprofit with roots a century old here plans to break ground this month on an innovative, intergenerational housing development that serves young adults, families and seniors. Hope Estates will take shape at the corner of West Broadway and Boyd Streets, on the south end of the EmberHope Youthville campus. It’s envisioned as […]

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Local history sleuth is ‘addicted to it’

| By The Active Age

If you’re one of the 16,600 serious or casual history buffs who are members of the popular Facebook group Wichita History from Our Perspective, the name Mike Maxton will likely sound familiar. Maxton, 70, is one of the most active members of the group, and he regularly authors posts about Wichita history, sharing old newspaper […]

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Actor writes the book on life in theatre

| By The Active Age

Tom Frye was a senior in high school when he took part in his first theatrical production — a Christmas show — at the suggestion of a teacher. “That very first show, I wrote, starred and directed,” he recalls. “I don’t recommend it.” Luckily for audiences here and elsewhere, Frye didn’t follow his own advice. […]

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Ancient Kansas history set in limestone

| By Joe Norris

Now is the time of year when thousands of leaf peepers invade New England, where forests of maple trees turn vibrant reds and oranges. The emergence of fall colors is spectacular. But a fascinating process is underway here in Kansas, too. Our fall corals are emerging. That’s right. Corals. The fossils of corals and other […]

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Sedgwick County Master Gardeners receive top award

| By Pat Melgares K-State Extension News Service

A hands-on program led by volunteers in Sedgwick County to teach youngsters about the vital role trees play in Kansas communities has been named one of the top Master Gardener programs in the world. The project — “‘How Trees Drink, Breathe and Grow” — won first place in the youth program category at the International Master Gardener conference in August, […]

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Halloween in Scotland: Ghosts and guisers and rutabagas

| By Anne Walling

Growing up in Scotland in the 1950s, Halloween was all about guising — as we called trick or treating. This neighborhood event was strictly for children. Any teenager or adult attempting to muscle in on the activities would be resolutely mocked as acting like a bairn (baby). I don’t remember any outside guisers attempting to […]

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Upcoming Events

| By The Active Age

Candidate forums scheduled The Wichita Journalism Collaborative is holding three candidate forums for City Council and District 259 School Board candidates. The events are free and open to the public. The schedule is: District 3 — 6-7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2 at the Alford Branch Library. Council candidates Mike Hoheisel and Genevieve Howerton will appear. […]

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Seniors On the Go program is ready to get going

| By The Active Age

A group organized as Seniors Exploring the Cultural Arts in the 1980s is being revived. Seniors on the Go, as the new group is known, has two main purposes: to support local cultural organizations and to help older adults take part in their events and programs. The only requirement for members is that they be […]

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Dillmore joins board of The Active Age

| By The Active Age

Nile Dillmore has joined the board of directors of The Active Age. Dillmore was raised in Wichita and graduated from Wichita South High School in 1965. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wichita State University. He has been married to past two-term City Council Member Janet Miller for 35 years, has three children […]

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Savvy Senior:

| By Jim Miller

Dear Savvy Senior, With a longtime vaccine critic leading the nation’s health departments, can you give me updated information on which vaccines are recommended for Medicare seniors this fall?  —Medicare Mary Dear Mary, Even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is undergoing major cultural changes and upheaval, the overall fall vaccine recommendations […]

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October quiz: Finding the ‘ick’ factor

| By Nancy Wheeler

The answers to these clues all have the “ick” factor —that is, they have the letters I-C-K in them. The answers appear on page 16. 1. Lyme disease is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected blacklegged arachnid called what? 2. What candy bar, allegedly named after a horse, was first manufactured in […]

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October Theatre

| By Diana Morton

ICT Rep, Amadeus. Fictionalized story of the boy-genius Mozart and his musical contemporary, the court composer Antonio Salieri, whose life’s work is threatened by his jealousy of Mozart’s brilliance. Oct 10-26. Call 316-612-2543 for information and tickets. Kechi Playhouse, 100 E. Kechi Road, Copper Moon by Misty Maynard. Fri-Sat, 8 pm, Sun matinee 2:30 pm. […]

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Briefs

| By The Active Age

Museum director hired Candy Taylor has been hired to serve as the Executive Director of the Mid-America All-Indian Museum. Taylor brings 17 years of experience in the museum industry, most recently having served as the Director of the Comanche Nation Museum and Cultural Center in Lawton, Oklahoma. Pool is historic The Charles F. McAfee Pool at 1240 East 14th Street North has been listed on the National […]

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Flying high: Bel Aire man calls skydiving the thrill of a lifetime

August 29, 2025 | By y Joe Stumpe

Dennis Suitor jumped out of an airplane the day after his 80th birthday and hasn’t quite come down yet. “I tell you, I’ve had a pretty exciting life — I’ve done a lot of things — but that’s about the most exciting thing I’ve ever done,” Suitor said a few days after his Aug. 2 […]

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City’s first black church celebrates Jubilee anniversary

| By Joe Stumpe

It took Carol Cole a while to appreciate all that makes St. Paul A.M.E. Church special. Sure, the church seemed grand and even a little intimidating to her as a child, its sanctuary filled with beautiful music and stirring sermons. But maybe she didn’t pay enough attention to who was filling the pews. “As I […]

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This 1956 wedding veil is too much fun to keep boxed up

| By The Active Age

In these days when brides don’t necessarily wear their wedding dresses to their own wedding receptions — they have a second or possibly third dress for that— Jeanie Tade is an exception. She’s a bride who almost seven decades after her 1956 wedding is still getting use out of her bridal veil. In 2021, Jeanie […]

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