Wichita Presbyterian Manor
JANUARY 2021
Longtime artist Atterbury surrounded by paintings Many years ago, Helen Atterbury “just took a notion” that she wanted to paint.
New Westwinds resident recalls making music, farm life, family
“My husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I said some paints,” she said. “He thought I was crazy.” After all, Helen was the business manager of the Big Eight Conference, the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s college football conference. She was used to working with numbers, not images.
Gerald Allgood in 1960
Helen Atterbury’s assisted living apartment is decorated with several of her original paintings.
That year, she received paints as a Christmas gift from her husband, Earl Wayne. She took lessons from a neighbor, who taught her tole painting, a decorative painting technique with roots in folk art. For many years, Helen was a member of the Society of Decorative Painters, an international organization based in Wichita. The women soon branched out into more traditional oil painting techniques. Helen often took inspiration from images in art books and gravitated toward landscapes, animals, buildings and still lifes.
In his 88 years, Gerald Allgood has collected some interesting stories. The Wichita Presbyterian Manor independent living resident moved to his Westwinds apartment on Oct. 1 of last year. Gerald grew up in the small community of Bussey, Iowa, on his parents’ 160-acre farm. They entertained themselves by making music, and Gerald played banjo in a “farm band” alongside his sister (piano) and mother (fiddle and other instruments).
“At one point I said I’d paint anything that would hold still for me,” said Helen, who moved to Wichita Presbyterian Manor last July. Her work covers an incredible variety of subject matter, although she was never interested in portraits.
The Allgoods were officers in the Farm Bureau, which “got me interested in 4-H,” Gerald said. In the program, Gerald enjoyed working with registered Herefords.
Over more than four decades, Helen made hundreds of paintings. Though most are no longer in her possession, she has postcards of all of them.
He went on to major in agricultural education at Iowa State, which is
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Wichita Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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The 93-year-old gave up her avocation when her late husband fell ill several years ago. That’s when they moved from the Kansas City area to Wichita to be closer to their only child. Now that she lives at Presbyterian Manor, she can explore art again with our life enrichment staff. Although she may no longer paint, Helen lives with reminders of her creative history. When she moved into her apartment in the assisted living neighborhood, Helen chose several of her favorite paintings to decorate her new space. ◆
Helen Atterbury’s assisted living apartment is decorated with several of her original paintings, including a landscape that hangs over her couch.
COVID-19 updates continue
Get the latest updates on visitation status, ongoing safety measures and PMMA’s response to COVID-19 on your community website, wichitapresbyterianmanor.org/covid-19. Visitation status is updated weekly on Mondays for the week ending the following Sunday, and may be updated as needed in between Mondays as COVID status changes.
A New England scene in fall hangs over Helen’s bed.
You can also send greetings to residents or family members with the Art is Ageless® card collection available on our COVID-19 update page. Look for the dark blue button in the right-hand column under visitation status. Email the card to your campus contact for delivery, or send directly to your loved one via their email address. ◆ Like us on Facebook to stay updated on news and events.
Community Matters 316-942-7456 ◆ Fax: 316-941-3806 4700 W. 13th St. Wichita, KS 67212-5575 WichitaPresbyterianManor.org
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | January 2021
is published monthly for residents and friends of Wichita Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
To submit or suggest articles: sbergmann@PMMA.org Amy Watson, life enrichment dir. Courtney Wolfe, executive director Stephanie Bergmann, marketing dir. Cherree Hudspeth, health care sales and marketing
OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.
January jaunt: Celebrating Kansas by car By Stephanie Bergmann, independent living marketing and sales director
Just when I think I’ve seen everything in Kansas, I stumble across something surprising, funny, or just plain beautiful. That’s why I love road trips! A day’s drive can uncover cool adventures right in our own backyard. Outdoor sites are a fun and safe remedy for wanderlust at a time when COVID has made air travel and hotels risky business. So, if you need a getaway, buckle up! Every month for the next year, I’ll take you along for the ride to some of my favorite stops.
If you love to laugh, the Annual Outhouse Tour in Elk Falls is a gas! (Get it?!) Townspeople decorate toilets to match kooky themes, such as “Bath and Potty Works,” “Winnie’s Poo Haus,” and the “Super Bowel” (instead of Super Bowl). Twenty or more crazy commodes are on display each year, and visitors vote for their favorite. The winner earns the coveted chamber pot trophy. The contest started 25 years ago as a joke, but became so popular that Elk Falls is now considered the outhouse capital of Kansas. Even if you can’t make November’s porta-potty parade, Elk Falls has other attractions. From the 1893 iron truss bridge that spans the Elk
River, you can see the waterfall that inspired the town’s name. Just down the road, Elk Falls Pottery sells intricate, handmade stoneware. Behind the store, you can explore a rock garden that dates back to the Depression. Concrete sculptures, bridges, and benches decorate the property. The current owners, Steve and Jan Fry, bought the land in 2004 and began restoring the garden, uncovering dozens of stone elephants and other artwork. They now welcome visitors to enjoy its odd history. If you’re tempted to check out Elk Falls for yourself, the small town of about 100 people lies 80 miles southeast of Wichita. It’s an hour and half drive that’s well worth the trip! ◆
The gingerbread man looks a bit shocked by Santa’s double entendre in this holiday-themed display.
A plastic tub is repurposed as a pig’s snout for this “porktastic” outhouse.
There’s plenty to see at Elk Falls Pottery, from hand-crafted traditional stoneware to the concrete sculptures that dot the property. Wichita Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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Above: These waterfalls inspired Elk Fall’s name. Left: Stephanie Bergmann inside the expertly crafted detached bathroom that took the prize for best outhouse last year.
Annual Art is Ageless® call for entries underway at Wichita Presbyterian Manor Calling all artists age 65 and older. Wichita Presbyterian Manor is now accepting entries for the annual Art is Ageless® juried exhibit and competition at the campus, 4700 W. 13th Street N., Wichita. The exhibit is scheduled for March 15-31, 2021. Entries of artistic works will be accepted from any area artist who is 65 years of age or older to exhibit and/or compete for an opportunity to be featured in the 2022 Art is Ageless calendar. The exhibit will continue the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the PMMA (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America) program, celebrated with the 2021 Art is Ageless calendar. Due to the uncertainty created by COVID-19, Wichita Presbyterian Manor plans to hold its event
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virtually for friends of the program on the community’s Facebook page, and to announce winners during a Facebook live event. Works will be on exhibit at the community for residents only. Artists may choose to enter works for exhibit only. For the competition, the artist must have been 65 at the time of creation and have completed the work in the past five years (since January 2016). There are nine categories, as well as designations of amateur or professional. Works to be entered for judging need to be at Presbyterian Manor by March 11. To arrange drop-off of artwork, contact Amy Watson at 316-9427456 or awatson@pmma.org. The Art is Ageless® program encourages Presbyterian Manor
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residents and other area seniors to express their creativity through its annual competition, as well as art classes, musical and dramatic events, educational opportunities and current events discussions throughout the year. Local competition winners will join winners from 14 other PMMA (Presbyterian Manors of MidAmerica) communities to be judged at the systemwide level. Entry forms and information can be obtained by contacting Amy Watson at 316-942-7456 or awatson@pmma.org, or accessed online at ArtIsAgeless.org. ◆
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where he met Marilyn, his late wife. Marilyn was a freshman and Gerald a senior who was the captain of his Air Force ROTC class when they met. He remembers running into his commanding officer one day when he and Marilyn were together. “It was the funniest thing,” Gerald said. “He said, ‘I think we should nominate your girlfriend for the military ball queen.” Marilyn served as the queen and went on to be selected as the “VEISHEA Queen of Queens” at the university’s enormous weeklong spring celebration.
She was studying home economics, but went on to study law and work as a legal assistant. Gerald credits her “smarts” for the success of their children and grandchildren. After graduation, Gerald taught agricultural education at a high school in Parkersburg, Iowa, for a year. He looks back fondly on his time teaching on agriculture topics and still has a letter from a freshman boy who reported he won $2,000 for the livestock he raised for the state fair in the mid-1950s. (That’s the equivalent of almost $20,000 today.) After basic training, he spent a year in Arlington, Texas, training to be a navigator. His commission
took him overseas, and he refueled aircraft in Britain and Russia — even over the North Pole. Gerald and Marilyn traveled overseas later in their lives, including to Russia. “Moscow Square is one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever see,” Gerald said. “The architecture is beautiful.” Gerald and Marilyn were once active members of First Presbyterian Church in Wichita, where Gerald served on the board of directors. That’s how he first became familiar with Presbyterian Manor and its “highly rated” reputation. ◆
Above: Gerald Allgood played the banjo in a family band that performed for farm dances. Left: Gerald, second from left, pictured with his wife Marilyn and their four children. Wichita Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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4700 W. 13th St. Wichita, KS 67212-5575 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Surveys conducted by Pinnacle Quality Insight
As part of Wichita Presbyterian Manor’s ongoing customer service initiative, residents and their representatives are randomly selected to participate in telephone satisfaction surveys conducted by Pinnacle Quality Insight. The graphic, right, highlights some of the survey results.
All scores are given on a 5-point scale, with 5 being the highest score and 1 the lowest score. Between October 2019 and September 2020, Wichita Presbyterian Manor residents and their families gave the community high scores in offering safety and
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security, demonstrating dignity and respect, and ease of the movein process. In addition, residents and families also reported a high willingness to recommend the community to others. We greatly value the opinions
COMMUNITY MATTERS | January 2021
of our residents and their representatives about the care and services we provide. We encourage them to participate honestly when contacted by Pinnacle Quality Insight. All state and federal confidentiality laws are met in Pinnacle’s service. ◆