October Briefs

By The Active Age | October 2, 2019

Telling tales

If you enjoy a good tall tale, the Derby Public Library has an event for you. And that’s no exaggeration.

Jim Hoy, an Emporia State professor and syndicated newspaper columnist, will present “Kansas Legends and Folktales” at the library at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12. The free event is sponsored by Humanities Kansas. 

According to a news release, Hoy won’t just recount tales like the stories of grasshoppers being so big that cowboys could ride them, or summers so hot that corn popped in the field. He’ll explain what these stories say about the Kansas communities that have kept them alive through the years.

Hoy is a professor of English and former director of the Center for Great Plains Studies. For more info, call the library at 316-788-0760 or visit
info@derbypubliclibrary.com.

Walk free

The Wichita Parks and Recreation department is opening gyms in its recreation centers to all walkers this fall and will continue to do so until next summer, when the centers house children’s camps. There are seven recreation centers in Wichita: Boston, Edgemoor, Evergreen, Lynette Woodard, McAdams, Orchard and Linwood. For a schedule of when each is open for walkers, call your local center or visit https://www.wichita.gov/ParkandRec/Pages/RecreationCenters.aspx. There is no fee for walking.

Buy books, help kids

The Friends of the Andover Public Library’s popular book sale is back, with proceeds going to the children’s summer reading program and other library activities. The sale runs from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, and from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19. The library is located at 1511 E. Central in Andover. For info, call 316-558-3500.

Garden Art

The Wichita Art Museum’s the last tour of its Art Garden this year is from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19. A docent will guide the tour. Participants are asked to meet in the museum foyer and to dress for the weather. The hour-long tour is open to ages 6 and older.

Kansas Quilts
In the early 20th century, Emporia was home to a group of innovative quilters that included Rose Kretsinger, Charlotte Whitehill and Hannah Haynes Headlee. Today their quilts are housed in art museums. At 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13 at the Westlink Branch of the Wichita Public Library, quilting historian Deborah Divine will talk about Kansas quilts from this time period and the unique collaborations that sparked “the Emporia, Kansas phenomenon.”

Central Kansas scenery

Marilyn Friesen’s photographs of rural central Kansas will be displayed at the Carriage Factory Art Gallery in Newton through Nov. 13. Retired after 42 years in healthcare, Friesen is a Wichita native who currently lives near Inman. Her photographs have appeared in Kansas! Magazine. The gallery, located at 128 E. Sixth St. in Newton, is open noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.

Alzheimer’s answers

The Alzheimer’s Association will present a free three-session series called “Living with Alzheimer’s for Caregivers” at Newton Presbyterian Manor from 9-11 a.m. on Oct. 3, 10 and 17. The sessions cover, in order, what caregivers can expect during the early, middle and late stages of the disease. The facility is located at 1200 E. Seventh St. in Newton. 

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