Band’s time to shine comes this month
By Amy Geiszler-Jones
March brings its own kind of madness for members of the Wichita Caledonia Pipes and Drums group. That's when the drone of their bagpipes and cadence of their drums are in high demand because of St. Patrick's Day.
This month, the band will play about a dozen public and private gigs on Saturday, March 14, and Tuesday, March 17, starting with the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Delano. Another longstanding gig is the Blarney Breakfast, an annual fundraiser for the nonprofit Rainbows United at Old Chicago East. In between, they’ll play gigs at watering holes such as the Artichoke and Whiskey Dicks.
Jeff Fetter is one of the founding members of the group and serves as its president. An engineering specialist with Bombardier, he helped start the group in 2006, not long after he started learning to play the bagpipe. Another band member, Kevin Burrow,
started playing the bagpipes 30 years ago.
Both studied under Jim Lindsay. Now 100 and living in Newton, the
Scottish-born Linsday, who fought in World War II as a member of a
Band, page 6
Pickleball injuries on rise
By Joe Stumpe
Four friends who regularly play pickleball together say they’ve come up with some common-sense guidelines to avoid injury.
“No diving!” joked Steve Schaack.
“Don’t take the game too seriously,” added Jim Walters.
Nevertheless, one of the men, Brian Hoffman, noted that he had skinned his knees a couple of times playing the sport.
As pickleball has risen in popularity, so have injuries suffered by participants.
“I personally have seen the gamut of injuries,” said Dr. Justin Strickland, a Wichita sports surgeon. “Hip fractures,
See Pickleball, page 7
Sewing faith one vestment at a time
By Beth Bower Alb. Chasuble. Stole. Dalmatic. Amice.
Even devout Catholics may not recognize these terms for the vestments, or outer garments, worn by Catholic priests.
But Liz Ann Tolberd has become an expert in them thanks to a request she received from her son, Father Jon Tolberd. Prior to graduating from seminary, he asked his mother if she would make his ordination vestments.
You could say he had faith in her ability, even if she’d never attempted anything like them before.
“Throughout my childhood, she was crafty,” he said, “I knew she could sew. It’s really special to me if she could make them and means a lot to her as well.”
Liz says she took to heart the well-known Bible verse Philippians 4:13 — “I can do all things through
Vestments, page 7
Left to right, Brian Hoffman, Wayne Ingham, Jim Walters and Steve Shaack get ready to play pickleball at Seneca Park in Wichita’s Delano neighborhood.
Courtesy photo
The Wichita Caledonia Pipes and Drums perform during the city's annual St. Patrick's Day parade.
Photo by Beth Bower
Liz Ann Tolberd checks the stitching on a chasuble she's made for a priest.
Shouldn’t Pay More
Wichita citizens shouldn’t be asked to pay higher taxes on daily necessities to fund an $850 million plan with no guarantees or binding safeguards. You shouldn’t pay more to fund a wish-list of big ticket projects wanted by city insiders. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Lenten Meatless Meals
Upcoming Events
Library book sale
The Friends of the Wichita Public Library will hold its next sale of donated books from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 7, at the Advanced Learning Library, 711 W. 2nd St. Customers can buy a FWPL cloth tote bag and fill it for $10 or bring a previously purchased FWPL bag and fill it for $4.
FWPL members can attend a preview book sale from 5-6:30 p.m. Friday, March 6.
Proceeds from the book sale benefit the Wichita Public Library by helping to fund literacy initiatives, branch programs and author events. Gifts of books and other materials (music CDs, magazines, movie DVDs, audiobook CDs, vinyl records, maps, calendars and sheet music) that are in good condition are accepted yearround at any Library location during open hours.
For more information, visit wichitalibraryfriends.org.
Parishioners at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, 2409 N. Market, are again offering meatless Mexican dinners on Fridays during Lent. Each Friday through March 27, the food will be available for dine in or carry out from 5-7 p.m.. The menu includes cheese and onion enchiladas, tostados, potato tacos, chile rellenos and more. Proceeds fund education for youth of the parish. For more information, call (316) 838-8373.
School
museum potato bake
training in lawn care basics, equipment safety and running a small business on Tuesday, March 17, at the Sedgwick County Extension Center, 21st and Ridge.
Registration costs $10 through March 9, or $15 after that date. Space is limited, and sessions do fill quickly. Register online at www. sedgwick.ksu.edu/events
Bluestem 5K run/walk
MCPHERSON — Registration is open for the 9th annual Bluestem PACE Race 5K run/walk on Saturday, April 4. Registration is $35 and includes a race shirt. The first 50 people to sign up will also receive a gift certificate for 18 holes of golf at Turkey Creek Golf Course in McPherson. Complete registration online at bluestempace.org/events.
The McCormick School Museum, 855 S. Martinson, will host a potato bake fundraiser from 5-7 p.m. Saturday, March 21. The suggested donation is $10 or $5 for kids under 12. The dinner includes potatoes baked in the boiler that has heated the school building since 1950, plus toppings, a garden salad and homemade cobblers. Paul Oberg will entertain with Irish folksongs.
Lawn mowing clinic
Got a grandchild looking to make some money this summer? The Youth Lawn Mowing Clinic will offer
Designed for students in grades 5-9, the event concludes with a brief graduation ceremony. Participants receive a training certificate, a $10 award to help start their lawn business and a packet of lawn care resources, business cards and safety equipment.
Bluestem PACE (Program of AllInclusive Care for the Elderly), is a nonprofit that helps seniors live at home in six south-central Kansas counties.
SpLADIESng
Thank You Recent Donors!
Honor Roll of Donors
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These readers recently contributed $50 or more to the 2026 donation campaign.
For families of those with dementia, a great grief descends
By Rebecca Phillips Kansas Reflector
My father was a brilliant communications professor who had a doctorate and earned tenure at the university where he taught. He wrote books that had been published and took many speaking engagements. He also served as a part-time pastor. I would have never guessed that my dad would struggle with dementia because of his Parkinson’s disease. I watched my dad and his mind fade away. It was very distressing to me and my family. It’s very distressing to many families.
Dementia, along with memory loss and cognitive decline, affects millions in the United States. Many of them live in Kansas. Too many families are not prepared for this next stage and don’t know what to do. The other issue at play here is the high cost of assisted living and senior care. It’s almost like trying to purchase a high-cost apartment these days. Families are suffering.
My mom works part-time for Home Instead Senior Care. She does
non-medical work and helps take care of seniors in their homes. My sister and I tease her by saying she is a senior taking care of seniors.
My mom’s clients love her. However, not everyone can afford services like in-home care. Home Instead does a fantastic job of looking after folks. To try to find care for a loved one is so difficult. It’s hard enough that the family member is struggling, but then to find affordable care is really a challenge.
To have a family member lose his or her former ability to think and process information is a harrowing experience. People struggle so much these days, and now there is so much dementia going on among the population. Families don’t know where to turn.
I felt as though part of me was gone when my dad’s mind started declining. It was difficult to communicate with him. He had been a brilliant thinker and teacher and
YMCA expands Parkinson’s Support Program
The Greater Wichita YMCA is expanding its free Parkinson’s Support Program to the East YMCA starting March 2. The program is already being offered at the Northwest, El Dorado and Hutchinson branches.
Sessions are held three times a week for 60 minutes. They are designed to:
• Provide structured physical activity that helps maintain and improve mobility, flexibility and balance.
• Create a community and sense of belonging that eases non-motor symptoms, like depression and cogni-
tive impairment.
• Restoring hope through personal achievement.
“While there is no cure for Parkinson’s, a progressive, neurodegenerative disease that affects how a person moves and navigates daily life, exercise is a proven intervention,” a news release from the YMCA stated.
The sessions are offered Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the following times: East Y, noon to 1 p.m.; El Dorado Y, 11 a.m. to noon; Hutchinson Y, 11 a.m. to noon; Northwest Y, 1-2 p.m.
now this? I turned to my faith for solace and comfort during those challenging times. Families need to know they are not alone when a loved one is suffering with dementia, memory loss or cognitive decline. I know of men whose wives have died because of their dementia, and it has been quite a blow to their peace of mind. They had been power couples, and now they lost their true loves. It’s simply tragic.
and take them a meal or ask how we can help. We need to help them know they are not alone.
How can we help family members experiencing this grief with their loved one? How can we make sure that people who need help are taken care of by dedicated professionals? We need to reach out and check in on the families
There is comfort, there is solace. Let’s reach out and help those in need.
Rebecca Lyn Phillips is a published author, speaker and mental health advocate.
Guest Column
Band
From Page 1
British Army Highland Division, is sort of the godfather of bagpipe players in Kansas. He has also taught pipers in a band based in Topeka.
“I thank God I met him,” said Burrow.
One of Burrow’s friends had heard Lindsay play the bagpipes at a funeral and asked Lindsay if he offered lessons. The friend asked Burrow to join him for the lesson.
“Some of us went up there (to Newton) recently, and he worked us pretty hard on the practice chanter,” said Burrow, who, like a number of other Wichita Caledonian band members, once played for the nowdefunct Midian Shriners bagpipes and drums band. The chanter is the melodic pipe with fingerholes that is played by the piper.
It’s not unusual for members to find their way to the band because of hearing bagpipes or drums played at a Scottish festival or event.
Ruth Webb was intrigued by the bagpipes she heard in a long-running festival in Tulsa, where she lives. She now makes the trip from Tulsa every other week for the Thursday night rehearsals in St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in east Wichita, fittingly located on a street called Killarney.
One of the younger members of the group, drummer Jordan Adams, said her mom “was adamant” about exposing her family to their Scottish
heritage. When her husband was stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Adams found out about the local band and joined it in 2017. While Adams has always liked the sound of bagpipes, she plays the drums since she has past percussion experience.
“We have several young people in the pipeline,” Burrow said of younger musicians like Adams, but more are welcome. An hour before the band rehearsal, members of the band are available to provide lessons to budding bagpipers and drummers.
“It’s so cool to look back and say we’ve been doing this for 20 years,” said Rob Farmer, who has been the group’s longtime drum section leader, known in band parlance as the battery sergeant.
He ticked off a few of the band’s accomplishments during that time: It was one of the first to perform at the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C.; it has recorded a CD; and it has been participating in Veterans Day parades in Ponca City, Oklahoma, for nearly all that time.
“And the kilt is very cool,” Farmer
Where to hear them
The Wichita Caledonian Pipes and Drums are scheduled for the following public appearances in March:
Saturday, March 15
Noon: Delano Paddy Day Parade, starts at McLean and goes west on Douglas in the Delano neighborhood
1 p.m. Artichoke Midtown, 811 N. Broadway
3 p.m. Artichoke East, 2959 N. Rock Road
4 p.m. Spaulding’s, 127 W. Central, Andover
5 p.m. Whiskey Dicks, 801 S. Seneca
6 p.m. Prost, 134 N. St. Francis
8 p.m. O’Larneys Pub & Rooftop Bar, 126 N. Mosley
Tuesday, March 17
7:30 a.m. Blarney Breakfast at Old Chicago East, 7626 E. Kellogg
5 p.m. Artichoke Midtown
6:30 p.m. Artichoke East
7:30 p.m. Whiskey Dicks
said.
Band members wear authentic wool kilts in the red, white and blue colors of the American National tartan made by Houston Kiltmakers in Paisley, Scotland. Other parts of their outfits include ghillie brogues, which are the traditional lace-up shoes, kilt hose (or socks), a sporran, which is the small bag worn in the center of the kilt, and a Glengarry woolen cap.
Five low-pressure hobbies for life after 60
Raised-bed gardening
Raised beds or vertical planters reduce the need for bending and make it easier for people using mobility aids or stools. Repetitive light tasks help maintain hand strength and dexterity.
Birdwatching with short nature walks
Birdwatching encourages people to walk slowly, stop often, and stay mentally alert.
Photography close to home
You do not need long hikes to enjoy photography. Gardens, balconies, and local parks are full of interesting
details.
Gentle water exercise
Swimming and aqua-aerobics reduce pressure on joints and are ideal for people with arthritis or balance concerns.
Community nature volunteering
This can be as simple as helping maintain a local park bench or joining a monthly clean-up. Research consistently shows that volunteering lowers loneliness and supports mental health.
Source: TGA Mobility
Photos by Amy Geiszler-Jones
Above left, Rob Farmer, leads the group's drum section with fellow percussionists Brian Blackerby and Jordan Adams. Above right, Jeff Fetter, tunes the drones of Bob Durrett's bagpipe.
Vestments
From Page 1
Christ who strengthens me” — and figured it out over the next year.
Tolberd said the women in her family have always sewed. She also had a semester of fashion merchandising before deciding on a career in medical management. She earned degrees in Life Science from Kansas State University and Health Information Management from the University of Kansas.
She taught her daughters, Ellie and Olivia, to sew but didn’t do much with the skill as she raised her family and worked full time for Kansas Orthopaedic Center for more than 30 years.
To get started on her son’s request, Tolberd reached out to Maggie Sieve, a St. Louis woman whose business, Sew Divine, has been making vestments for Catholic priests since 2017. Sieve, who also teaches the craft, invited Tolberd to visit for some on-the-job training.
Pickleball
From Page 1
Achilles ruptures, wrist fractures, overuse injures like tendonitis in the elbow and shoulder, ankle sprains.”
Strickland completed a fellowship in sports surgery and has practiced in Wichita with Kansas Joint & Spine Specialists since 2010.
He noticed a rise in pickleballrelated injuries about a decade ago coinciding with the sport booming in popularity. The injuries fell off during the coronavirus pandemic but are now “back to where they were before COVID.”
“Anytime something grows that quickly, we’re going to see more injuries from it, naturally,” he said.
According to one national study, published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, there was a significant increase in pickleballrelated injuries sending players to emergency rooms nationwide between 2013 and 2022, with most arising from a fall.
“Older players disproportionally presented (injuries) to the emergency department with pickleball-related
She spent long weekends doing just that. Sieve called Tolberd “a very talented seamstress.”
Sieve also got help from the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, a religious community in Gower, Mo., whose members make vestments sold around the world.
Tolberd’s first efforts on her own included a chasuble, the primary outermost garment worn during mass; a cope, a highly decorated mantle or cape on special occasions; and an alb, a long white linen garment worn under the chasuble.
After finishing her son’s vestments, Tolberd found herself sewing nights and weekends. When she retired from the orthopedic center two years ago, she began sewing full time.
“I loved the feeling of accomplishment … the feeling of creativity,” she said.
To date, she’s created or modified vestments for clergy from Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Wyoming, including 29 chasuables, 20 albs, eight Dalmatics (a T-shaped tunic),
injuries,” the study concluded.
Strickland said wrist injuries caused by falls are the most common type he sees. Women are more likely to fracture their wrists in those instances, he said. “They put their hands out because they don’t want to smash their face, so they break their wrist.”
Hip fractures are rarer, although Strickland has seen them.
Ankle sprains and injuries to the Achilles tendon are often caused by someone pushing off on a foot. Even stretching may not prevent them, Strickland said, noting that a couple of star professional basketball players suffered the same injury during last year’s playoffs.
“Sometimes, honestly it can be bad luck that you push off, and the tendon just ruptures,” he said.
Fractures, strains and sprains are acute injuries. Another type of injury is the result of overuse, leading to tendonitis in the elbow, wrist and rotator cuff. “They become painful and inflamed when they’re used too much,” Strickland said.
Eye injuries, dehydration, back strains, heat stroke and heart attacks are also possible.
LIz Ann Tolberd grew up sewing. Above, she's seen with her husband, Jeff, and their son, Father Jon Tolberd.
two copes and numerous amices. “I frequently tell people they should go to Liz,” said Father Jon, who was ordained in 2020 and is chaplain at St. Mary's Colgan Catholic Schools in Pittsburg, Kan.
“It’s nice to have that personal touch (with the vestments my mother makes),” he said. “Vestments are like a part of the priest’s wedding band.”
Tolberd said it gives her a good
Strickland makes these recommendations to pickleball players:
• Consider wearing eye protection.
• Warm up before play begins.
• Be in correct position during play.
“The ready position is feet shoulderwidth apart and knees bent, to prevent tripping and falling. Having that athletic position, that ready position, is important,” Strickland said.
• Don’t overdo it by playing nonstop. Strickland suggested incorporating other forms of exercise to be generally in shape and active outside "pickleball.”
• Women may want to get tested for bone density after the age of 50.
• Avoid backpedaling. “You’re way more apt to injure yourself if you’re backpedaling than if going forward,”
feeling “to see (the clergy) wearing and enjoying them in worship.”
“I do it because I enjoy it,” Tolberd said, “not for the money. Priests don’t have money. God led me there. He leads you in different ways.”
Contact Beth Bower at beth@ goodlifeguy.com
Strickland said.
Strickland said many pickleball injuries can be treated without surgery, and it’s rare for somebody who’s been injured not to be able to resume playing.
“They may have to stop it for a matter of time, but typically we can get people on the court. You can have fun, you can it do it your entire life. There’s a lot of social benefits from it.”
Hoffman has no plans to quit despite skinning his knees. He and his friends usually warm up by hitting short dink shots before starting their games, and are more apt to compliment one another than go racing after a well-placed shot, he said.
“If it’s a good shot, we just say ‘good shot.’”
Ted Blankenship was a favorite of Active Age readers
Ted Blankenship, longtime columnist for The Active Age, died in January at age 97.
Blankenship was born in El Dorado, Kan., on Sept. 29, 1928, and grew up in the oil fields of Teeterville, now a ghost town in the Flint Hills.
As a teenager, he played trumpet and sang professionally on a radio station in Coffeyville. After serving in the U.S. Air Force as a musician during World War II, he earned a journalism degree from the University of Kansas and was hired by the Topeka Capital newspaper. He moved to the Hutchinson News and started his “It’s Not Serious” column in 1957, later continuing it for newspapers in Coffeyville and Wichita. It ran in The Active Age from 2012 to 2025.
In Coffeyville, Blankenship faced threats after writing in support of the
civil rights movement. In 1966, the Wichita Eagle and Beacon hired him to run its Capitol bureau in Topeka during the administration of Gov. Robert Docking. The most dramatic event of that period was the June 8, 1966 tornado that killed 17 people and leveled a 15-mile swath of Topeka.
Blankenship later wrote extensively on the energy industry and many other topics for publications around the country.
“The joke in the family is that no matter what you say, he’ll say, ‘I wrote a story about that one time,’” his son, Tedd, told The Active Age in 2024.
“And the truth of the matter is, he probably did.”
Blankenship also taught journalism at Wichita State University and Friends University and worked as editor of The Kansas Times magazine.
A series of columns he wrote helped launch the Wichita Jazz Festival in 1972. He served on the board of The Active Age and helped run the paper on an emergency basis when its editor at the time became ill. Many of his columns for this paper were collected in a 2017 book, “It’s Not Serious,” with illustrations by former Eagle cartoonist Richard Crowson.
Tedd Blankensip said his parents loved gardening together, and his father never lost his love of music. “He loved to sing and would fire off any jazz standard at the drop of a hat.”
Blankenship is survived by Dorothy, his wife of 73 years; daughter Leslie (Dan) Keller of Nevada, Mo.; son Tedd (Janet) Blankenship of Augusta; and granddaughter Felicia (Jack) Haffley of Dallas. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Ann.
It's Not Serious flashback: Playing their song was the easy part
By Ted Blankenship
Editor’s note: This is one of the last columns Ted Blankenship wrote for The Active Age. It appeared in November 2024.
Early in 1943, my family moved from Madison, Kan., to Eureka, some 25 miles to the south. We had been there about three weeks, and I was out
riding my bicycle. And there on the front lawn sunning herself was a pretty redhead.
Somehow, I managed to get a conversation going, which eventually
became long sessions — purely conversational — in the front seat of her family car parked in the driveway.
I told her I had a job with the Jeff Klein Band playing a dance every Saturday night in Memorial Hall.
“Can you sing?” she asked me one evening in the ’39 Ford.
“Sure,” I replied with the confidence of a 16-year-old.
She wanted to hear, “Somebody Else Is Taking My Place.”
When I had finished, she told me it was Jim Dunham’s favorite song. Dunham was in the Army.
The relationship fizzled, and I started another one. It was uncannily like the first. This time the girl asked me to sing “Moonlight Becomes You.”
“That was Corky’s song,” she said. I didn’t know Corky. He was in the Navy.
Another encounter was even stranger. I was about 17. After the Saturday night dances, a woman stopped at the door of my car in front of the Rexall and talked music. She eventually got in the back seat, and I stayed in the front. She was eight or nine years older than I. She wore a fur coat, the first I had ever seen except in the movies.
Later, we rode around together in a restored Whippet Coupe. Her
favorite song was an Ink Spots hit. She asked me to sing it every time we met.
Then one morning before work, my Dad, looking grave, called me into the living room.
“You’ve been driving my boss’s girlfriend in your car, and he wants it to stop,” he said. In those days, a petroleum engineer outranked production men, so my Dad had no choice. It was me and a musicloving woman or his job.
I decided he ought to keep his job. Music can lead you to places you never expected to be.
My proudest moment came as a fifth-grader playing trumpet in the Madison High School Band. We performed for the veterans in the VA Hospital in Wichita. The Kansas Highway Patrol escorted the caravan all the way to Wichita, and I rode in the front seat with the superintendent of the patrol.
He gave me free rein of the siren all the way. What a gift to a fifth grader — playing with the “big kids” and free rein over the siren. It can’t get any better than that.
www.dlwichita.com
Courtesy photo
Ted and Dorothy Blankenship celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary in 2013.
Wichita doctors team up to mend 2-year-old chimpanzee
By Meg Britton-Mehlisch KMUW
Two-year old Alizeti is a ball of energy. One of the youngest members of the chimpanzee troop at the Sedgwick County Zoo, her rambunctiousness is perhaps only matched by her independent streak.
Earlier this month, Alizeti did what all independent toddlers sometimes do: She went her own way.
While members of the zoo’s chimpanzee troop were headed outside for the day, Alizeti decided to hang back in her room. The troop’s alpha male, Moshi, went back to the room to move young Alizeti along.
“Unfortunately, there was a conflict between the alpha male, Moshi, and Alizeti, and sometimes parenting can get a little rough,” said Dr. Heather Arens, the zoo’s director of animal health.
Arens said that Moshi is considered more of a “chill” chimpanzee and that it’s not out of the ordinary for an altercation to happen within chimpanzee groups. It is unusual for those altercations to lead to major injuries.
Alizeti and Moshi were separated right away. Zoo staff moved Alizeti
and her foster mom, Bea, into one of the chimpanzee dens to cool down. When staff noticed that Alizeti was limping a bit, they gave Arens a call.
During a checkup, Arens noticed Alizeti was missing her two front baby teeth and that she had a major injury to her fourth right toe. In the wild, those injuries would have made a detrimental mark on Alizeti’s development. Arens said that if the wound healed on its own, Alizeti might have been left with a club foot. She likely would have fought serious infections as well.
Arens cleaned the wound and patched up Alizeti’s foot. Then she decided to make a call.
“Because she’s so young, we wanted to give her the best chance possible,” Arens said. “It was above my skill set, and if there’s somebody who can do it better than us to give her the best chance, it’s somebody who does surgery on hands multiple times a day.”
Arens called Dr. Chad Corrigan, the director of orthopedic trauma at Wesley Medical Center. Corrigan helped zoo staff about a decade earlier, when another chimp dislocated her elbow. That house call helped cement a relationship with the orthopedic
surgeon.
“I was able to make that phone call, and I’m pretty sure that a surgery was interrupted to say that the zoo needed help,” Arens said. “Once they finished their surgery, we got a call back right away.”
Corrigan told Arens that he didn’t operate on hands but that he thought he could help assemble a surgical team for Alizeti’s case. Corrigan put out his own call to Dr. Zachary Hanson, an orthopedic surgeon at Advanced Orthopaedic Associates, and Dr. Matthew Louis, a plastic surgeon at Thrive Reconstructive Surgery.
Neither of the doctors had operated on chimpanzees before, but they both instantly agreed to the request.
“My daughter thought it was very cool,” Hanson said. “She was at home telling my wife that ‘daddy’s working on the monkeys at the zoo,’ which was very cute.”
The team took a little more than a day to study up on chimpanzee anatomy.
“Their hands and their feet are kind of similar — obviously they’re a little bit different in size — but they’re pretty similar to a human’s [hand],” Louis said. “We didn’t necessarily feel too out of our element. Everything’s thicker. The tissue is much thicker, they heal a little bit quicker.”
When it came to creating a plan for Alizeti’s surgery, Hanson said the team had to think about working with “a chimpanzee who’s not going to be able to necessarily follow postoperative instructions, be compliant with post-operative restrictions.”
“We essentially treated this like we would a similar injury in a young child who would not be able to follow any instructions,” he said.
Corrigan, Hanson and Louis and nurses Emily McKenna and April Gulley and nurse practitioner Abby Mercado met at the zoo’s Oliver Animal Hospital to perform the surgery.
Alizeti received anesthesia for the roughly hour-long surgery. Hanson said that when the doctors got a chance to look at her foot, they found that the metatarsal — the bone that runs from the palm of her foot to the base of her toe — was broken in several places.
“In humans, we would try to salvage it by putting the bone back together and reconstructing the tendons,” Louis said. “But it’s not fair to do that to a chimpanzee, because you kind of want to get them back climbing and whatnot as quick as possible.”
The surgical team decided to do
a ray amputation, which removed the broken metatarsal bone, several of the tendons connected to it and amputated the rest of the toe. The doctors used one of the toe’s intact tendons to move over Alizeti’s pinky toe into the open space in what Louis called “spare-parts surgery.”
The tendon transfer should allow Alizeti to keep some grip strength in her foot, Hanson said.
While Alizeti was under anesthesia, the zoo brought in Dr. Doug Winter, a veterinary dentist with Midwest Animal Dental and Oral Surgery Services, to check her teeth. Winter found no major root damage, meaning that apart from a toothy grin for a while, Alizeti’s adult teeth will grow in normally.
Once the team closed up the wound on Alizeti’s foot, they set about on their next task: deciding on a chimpanzee-proof bandage.
Hansen said there was an obvious choice.
“A pink cast,” he said. “It’s very cute.”
And just like a child’s cast, Hanson said he made sure to sign Alizeti’s cast as well.
In the days since, Arens said Alizeti’s been busy recovering in her room under the watch of Bea. The mother and daughter pair are getting some time separate from the troop so that Alizeti can heal and keepers can manage the reintroduction to the other chimpanzees.
This week, Hanson and Louis will return to the zoo to remove the cast and see how Alizeti’s healing. Hanson said his daughter, Blake, is anxiously waiting on the results.
“My hope is that we’ll be able to come back and see her fully recovered,” Hanson said. “That’s she’ll be doing well, playing on the jungle gym, hanging from the trees, and functioning normally.”
Photo by Chelsey Schartz Alizeti is the second youngest member of the Sedgwick County Zoo's chimpanzee troop.
Times have changed along South Broadway
By Diana Wolfe
Why is a teenage girl renting rooms to customers at a motel on South Broadway? Because it’s 1957 and her parents own the place. That girl was me, and I worked at our family motel as counter attendant, room maid, switchboard operator and whatever else was needed.
I was 12 years old in 1956 when my parents bought the Napa Motel. They had no experience in the motel business but were undaunted. Eight years earlier, they had bought a café without any restaurant experience and had run it successfully for several years.
Small mom-and-pop motels of that era seem to have enticed many an owner. A 1964 telephone book shows more than 70 businesses in Wichita called either motels, inns, hotels, lodges, cabins or courts. There were 13 motels on South Broadway in the 15 blocks from Kellogg to Pawnee.
Broadway was then also Highway 81 because there was no I-35 through town yet. Kellogg — Highway 54 — did not yet have an overpass over Broadway, so the intersection of the two was a busy one. Our motel was only six blocks south of Kellogg.
We had twelve rooms and we were always happy when we could light up the “No Vacancy” on our outdoor sign. That sign also highlighted our room perks: Air Conditioned, Phone, TV and Room Service. The room service was my mom bringing coffee and donuts on a TV tray in the morning to lodgers who didn’t want to come to the office for the “continental breakfast.”
TV was a small black-andwhite sitting on a metal stand. Air conditioning was a noisy window unit they could control themselves. The
phone looked normal except it didn’t have a dial. A lodger used it to tell the switchboard operator — often me — the number to be dialed and was then connected.
During the summer, my older sister and I were the reluctant maids cleaning rooms and getting them ready to rent. All day long, someone had to man the switchboard and office counter, waiting for someone to drive up and ask the price of a room ($5 for one person and $6 for two). Parking and ice from our new machine was free. Soda pop was available for a dime from the pop machine between rooms #6 and #7.
Many of our repeat customers were salesmen from Kansas City who stayed all week while they called on Wichita customers. Sometimes we had people in town for job interviews, or searching for an apartment, or in Wichita for a funeral or a wedding or a medical procedure. The mom and pop motels like ours were clean, well maintained
and quite respectable.
When the school year was underway, I couldn’t clean rooms during the day. But as a high school freshman, my mom paid me $5 a week to work from 6 to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursdays (weekends were my dad’s job). I sat behind the counter, usually with my Algebra homework, until 10 p.m. Then I would turn off the switchboard, lock up the office and walk four blocks home. This seems to be a lot of responsibility for a 14-yearold, but I didn’t think so at the time. I don’t remember feeling scared or unsafe doing this, which would not be
Water rebates offered
the case today.
My parents sold the motel in 1967 and continued managing different motels along South Broadway before retiring in the 1970s. Nearly 70 years after they bought the Napa Motel, the blonde brick building has been painted red, and the windows are boarded up. There’s a small black and white sign posted, “No loitering — criminal trespass prohibited.” A sad ending to a building once bustling with travelers. Diana Wolfe is a former board member of The Active Age. She can be reached at dcwolfe2000@yahoo.com
March briefs
The city of Wichita is offering rebates of up to $100 for the purchase of water-saving devices and droughttolerant landscaping. The rebates will be made in the form of credits to residents’ water accounts, and up to five items per account are allowed.
Qualifying purchases include indoor and outdoor irrigation controllers, rain barrels and rain sensors, drought-tolerant landscaping and appliances, such as dishwashers and toilets. Applications are available at SaveWichitaWater.com. Applications will be accepted throughout the year or until the $125,000 allocated for the
program is expended. For questions, email WaterRebate@wichita.gov or call (316) 268-4470
Get free tax help
United Way is offering free tax-filing services for people whose household income was less than $69,000 in 2025 or who are disabled. IRS-certified volunteers prepare and electronically file tax returns while helping clients maximum refunds.
The service is offered in sites across Sedgwick and Butler counties. Appointments can be scheduled online at unitedwayplains.org/taxservices or by calling 2-1-1.
The Napa Motel as it appeared in the late 1950s, when the writer's parents bought it (their Chevrolet is parked in front), and in its current boarded-up state.
March quiz: In like a lamb, out like a what?
By Nancy Wheeler
The answers to these questions all have something to do with the name of this month. You have your marching orders! Answers appear at right.
1. What popular term refers to the annual NCAA Division 1 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments?
2. What nickname was given to John Philip Sousa for composing classics like “The Stars and Stripes Forever”?
3. What headstrong young woman was the lead character in the famous
novel Little Women?
4. What devastating Union campaign ending in Savannah sought to cripple the Confederacy’s ability to wage war thus shortening the Civil War?
5. What historic 1963 event is most famous for the iconic “I Have a Dream Speech” delivered by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.?
6. What date is known as the “Ides of March”, historically significant for the assassination of Julius Caesar?
7. According to a popular weather saying, if March “comes in like a lion,”
how does it “go out”?
8. The month of March is named after which Roman god of war?
9. What nonprofit organization was originally founded by President Roosevelt to fight polio but now dedicates its efforts to improving the health of mothers and babies?
10. What name was given to the brutal W. W. II march where approximately 75,000 U.S. and Filipino POWs were forced to walk more than 65 miles without food, water or rest?
March Madness
Swap meet serves car lovers and AbilityPoint
When John Saindon bought the Kansas Sunflower Swap Meet a decade ago, he was hoping for a return on his investment.
But not for himself. Saindon planned to donate all profits from the event to AbilityPoint, which serves children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Astute businessman that he is — Saindon owns Ron’s Sign Co., which does business across the Midwest — his bet on the swap meet paid off. To date, the swap meet has generated about $250,000 for AbilityPoint.
Now in its 50th year, the 2026 swap meet will bring thousands of classic car fans, collectors, vendors and community members to Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center on Friday and Saturday, March 6-7.
In an interview, Saindon said the swap meet was in danger of closing when he acquired it. He saw it as a way to help his friend, Carl Fry, a fellow automotive enthusiast who runs a classic car show for AbilityPoint’s benefit. Fry’s daughter, Kimberly, attends AbilityPoint, and both men have served on that nonprofit’s board.
Saindon “doesn’t just sponsor
John Saindon, above right, presents a check to ARC of Sedgwick County, as AbilityPoint was previously known.
this event,” said Kevin Fish, executive director of AbilityPoint. “He devotes his time and resources to make it a success so that every dollar raised supports people of all abilities.”
Granted, it’s partly a labor of love. Saindon owns 82 cars, a figure he doesn’t consider particularly remarkable. “As a collection, it’s probably bigger than most people have but there are individuals in town who have bigger and probably more quality” collections, he said.
At the meet, vendors can offer
everything from complete cars to their minutest parts. Saindon said it’s a different experience than shopping for parts online.
“People can touch them, they can compare them,” he said. “You can’t trade online, you can trade here. It’s more of a hands-on experience.”
Tickets to the swap meet are $15. Booths can be rented by visiting kssunflowerswapmeet.com or calling (316) 491-9969.
Courtesy photos
The Sunfower Swap Meet typically draws about 7,000 visitors.
Unlock the lifestyle you’ve been dreaming of at Larksfield Place, where a limited number of floorplans are now available. Choose from pet-friendly apartments with modern kitchens, stunning views, and proximity to dining and commons areas, now available with a $2,500 deposit credit .
You can also secure your spot in our upcoming Larksfield Landing Expansion!
This nearly sold-out community is the perfect place to experience the Larksfield Lifestyle, and is built around our four pillars of wellness: Physical Vitality, Social Engagement, Intellectual Journey, and Peace & Fulfillment.
Act now to become part of a vibrant community that’s more than just a home, it’s a lifestyle.
March 12 at 12:30 p.m.
Lunch With Larksfield
March 26 at 1:30 p.m.
The Life Story Project: Stories That Shape Community
Win a Mother’s Day diamond!
The Active Age will celebrate Mother’s Day by giving away a stunning diamond necklace donated by Mike Seltzer Jewelers.
Everyone who donates at least $25 to The Active Age between now and May 5 will be entered in our drawing for the necklace, which is valued at $500. Each $25 donation gets you another chance at the necklace.
You can mail your donation to The Active Age, 125 S. West St., Suite 105, Wichita, KS, 67212, or call us at (316) 942-5385 to donate by phone. The drawing will be held on May 6, and
the winner notified shortly thereafter. Proceeds will help us keep bringing The Active Age to subscribers in Butler, Harvey and Sedgwick counties each month.
Women Empowered Market set for March 7
The annual Women Empowered Market returns from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 7, at East Heights United Methodist Church, 4407 E. Douglas, in celebration of International Women’s Day.
The market features handmade goods from Wichita-area artisans; ethically sourced, fair trade products from women around the world; craft coffee from Adelitas Coffee Co.; and food from Lady Burritos. Shoppers can also learn about nonprofit organizations serving women locally and globally.
When considering hospice care, Harry Hynes Hospice is the most trusted provider in your community. With a legacy of excellence for more than 45 years, we have supported families, friends, and neighbors during difficult times. When facing a serious illness, choose a hospice you can trust.
hynesmemorial.org • 316-265-9441
Is my 65-year-old friend exempt from Medicare taxes?
By Russell Gloor Association of Mature American Citizens
Dear Rusty: My girlfriend is 65 and she just enrolled in Medicare. She is still working full time as a nurse, but they are still deducting Medicare taxes from her paycheck. I thought as soon as you started Medicare, that they would no longer take any Medicare taxes from her paychecks. Is that not correct? Signed: Concerned Friend
Dear Concerned Friend: Your understanding about Medicare payroll tax is, indeed, not correct. Medicare taxes are levied on everyone who works and earns, regardless of whether or not they are currently enrolled in the Medicare program. That is how Medicare has worked since it was first enacted in the mid-1960s and how it still works today.
To submit a question, email ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org
Did you know?
The Active Age publishes more than just once a month. Check out our website, theactiveage.com, and facebook page for news, features and events throughout the month.
Find tools and treasures at fundraiser
Gardeners can find a variety of new and gently used items for their toolsheds, yards and other outdoor spaces at Tools & Treasures, a threeday fundraiser that benefits the Sedgwick County Master Gardener program.
The event is held at the Sedgwick County Extension Center, 7001 W. 21st St., from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 26, and Friday, March 27, and from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 28.
Items to be offered include:
• Garden art and landscape décor
• Stained-glass steppingstones
• Planters, birdhouses, and rain barrels
• Wheelbarrows, trellises, compost bins, pond supplies, and more
The Sedgwick County Extension Master Gardener Volunteer program delivers horticulture education through public programs, youth initiatives, plant clinics, demonstration gardens, a garden hotline and workshops.
Dr. Paul Cheatum, MD, RVT, DABVLM
Do you suffer from leg pain, heaviness, swelling, fatigue, bulging veins?? bulging veins??
Dr. Cheatum and Sean Prolago, PA, take a comprehensive, nonsurgical approach to treating varicose veins. This includes using Duplex Ultrasonography for diagnosis and guiding treatment, as well as
Endovenous Laser Treatment (EVLT), Radiofrequency Ablation (RF) (Venclose), Varithena ablation, and Injection Sclerotherapy. By combining these therapies, they can effectively address the needs of all their patients, from small spider veins to larger, rope-like varicose veins.
PA
Schedule a consultation at one of our 3 locations by calling 316-425-7980 to schedule at the Main Office or 316-213-7327 for Dodge City or West Wichita offices
Main Office: 10523 E 21st St N. Wichita, KS 67206
Sean Prolago,
seDgwick counT y senior cenTers
BEL AIRE
7651 E Central Park Ave 744-2700, ext 304 www.belaireks.org
BENTLEY/EAGLE 504 W Sterling, 796-0027
CHENEY 516 Main, 542-3721
CLEARWATER 921 E Janet, 584-2332
DERBY 611 N Mulberry Rd, 788-0223 www.derbyks.com
DOWNTOWN
200 S Walnut, 267-0197 www.seniorservicesofwichita.org
EDGEMOOR 5815 E 9th, 688-9392
GARDEN PLAIN 1006 N Main, 535-1155
GODDARD 122 N Main, 785-398-1255
HAYSVILLE 160 E Karla, 529-5903
KECHI Kechi City Building, 744-0217, 744-1271
LA FAMILIA 841 W 21st, 267-1700
LINWOOD 1901 S Kansas, 263-3703
MCADAMS GOLDEN AGE 1329 E 16th, 337-9222
MT HOPE 105 S Ohio, 667-8956
MULVANE 632 E Mulvane, 777-4813
NORTHEAST 2121 E 21st, 269-4444
OAKLAWN 2937 Oa klawn Dr, 524-7545
ORCHARD PARK 4808 W 9th, 942-2293
PARK CITY 6100 N Hydraulic, 744-1199
VALLY CENTER COMMUNITY CENTER 314 E Clay, 755-7350
senior weDnesDays
www.seniorwednesday.org
Mar 4
10:30 am Wichita Art Museum 1400 W. Museum Blvd., $2 admission. Info not available.
1:30 pm Museum of World Treasures 835 E. 1st St. Debating Gender in Babylon.
Mar 11
10 am Sedgwick County Zoo, 5555 Zoo Blvd. (316) 2668213, $4 World Wide Web.
1:30 pm Advanced Learning Library, 711 W, 2nd, (316) 261-8500, Free. Academy Award Shorts: Documentary.
Mar 18
10 am Ulrich Museum of Art, 1845 Fairmount St. Printmaking in Action with Marco Hernandez.
Mar 25
10 am Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, 204 S. Main. Last Stand at Rebel Creek: The Osage as Union Allies in Civil War Kansas 1:30 pm Mid American All-Indian museum. 650 N Seneca (316) 3503340, $2 + tax admission; free for MAAIM members. Info not available.
Dances
Derby Sr Center, 611 Mulberry. 3rd Tuesday 7pm-9:30 pm. El Dorado Jam & Dance, Senior Center, 210 E. 2nd.
Linwood Golden Age, 1901 S Kansas. Every Saturday 7pm-9:30pm. Call Jim 316-945-9451
Minisa Golden Age, 704 W 13th. Info 617-2560. Every Thursday 7pm9:30pm. Call Rita 316-364-1702
Oaklawn Activity Center, 4904 S. Clifton. Contra Dance1st Saturday of each month. 7pm-9pm. Call Amanda at 316-361-6863. Orchard Park Golden Age, 4808 W 9th. Every Friday 7pm-9:30pm. Call Casey 316-706-7464
BuTler counT y senior cenTers
ANDOVER 410 Lioba Dr, 733-4441 www.andoverks.com
AUGUSTA 640 Osage, 775-1189
BENTON Lion’s Community Bldg, S Main St
CASSODAY Cassoday Senior Center 133 S. Washington, 620-735-4538
DOUGLASS 124 W 4th, 746-3227
EL DORADO 210 E 2nd, 321-0142
LEON 112 S Main, 745-9200 or 742-9905
ROSE HILL 207 E Silknitter, 776-0170
TOWANDA 317 Main, 316-536-8999 Open 10:30 am-5 pm Mon, Wed, Fri
WHITEWATER Legion Hall, 108 E Topeka
Harvey counTy
BURRTON 124 N Burrton, 620-463-3225
HALSTEAD 523 Poplar, 835-2283
HESSTON Randall & Main, 620-327-5099 www.hesstonseniorcenter.com
NEWTON AREA SENIOR CENTER 122 E 6th, Newton, 283-2222 www.newtonseniorcenter.com
SEDGWICK 107 W. Fifth, 772-0393
TransporTaTion
Sedgwick County
Sedgwick Co Transportation, 6605150 or 1-800-367-7298. Information: 8 am-5 pm, Mon-Fri; closed most holidays. www.sedgwickcounty.org/ aging.
Community Meals
Here are the menus that will be used for Meals on Wheels and congregate meal sites at Huston, Linwood, Orchard Park, Northeast, Sheridan Village, Maple Gardens, Oaklawn and La Familia.
WEEK OF MARCH. 2
Mon: Beef stuffed pepper, Italian Vegetable blend, garlic knot, fruit cocktail
Tue: Marinated Chicken, potato wedges, green beans, multigrain roll, mandarin oranges.
Wed: Baked Cod, cheesy grits, carrot coins, wheat roll, diced peaches
Thu:Baked Turkey cutlet w/ gravy, rice pilaf, sauteed garlic spinach, wheat roll, pineapple chunks
Fri: Country pork chop w/ gravy, mashed potatoes, steamed zucchini, cornbread, peach applesauce
WEEK OF MARCH 9
Mon: Meatloaf, buttered rotini pasta, poached peaches, wheat roll, spring salad mix w/ dressing.
Tue: Turkey croquette, mushroom orzo, broccoli florets, honey wheat roll, diced pears
Wed: Braised pork tips, roasted baby potatoes, Prince Edward vegetable blend, wheat roll, mixed fruit
Thu: Chicken Quesadilla w/ whole wheat tortilla, spanish rice, peppers& onions, diced mango.
Fri: Butter crumb Tilapia, vegetable couscous, collard greens, wheat roll, apricots
WEEK OF MARCH 16
Mon: Italian porckchop, lemon orzo, green peas, wheat roll, spring salad mix w/ dressing
Tue: Turkey Burger on wheat bun, cubed sweet potatoes, rosy pears, ceaser salad
Wed: Lemon pepper chicken. Jefferson noodles, fried green tomatoes, honey wheat roll, apple/pear bar
Thu: Fish sticks, parslied mashed potatoes, brown sugar carrots, wheat roll, tropical fruit
Fri: Chicken Enchiladas, brown rice pilaf, black beans, cherry cobbler
WEEK OF MARCH 23
Mon:Maple glazed pork roast, confetti couscous, broccoli florets, wheat roll, spiced apricots
Tue: Tuna Noodle Casserole, capri vegetables, wheat roll, peach fluff
Wed: Beef tips w/ mushroom gravy, grits, glazed carrots, garlic knot, mandarin oranges
Prairie Wind Dancers: Plymouth Congregational Church, 202 N Clifton. Joyce, 683-1122.
Village Steppers Square Dance, Oaklawn Activity Center, 4904 S Clifton. 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month September through May 7:30 - 10:00 pm. Info: Mike Huddleson 316-650-2469
Westside Steppers Square Dance, 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month, 6-8:30 p.m., West Heights United Methodist (entrance "D"), 745 N. Westlink Ave. Info: Sheldon Lawrence (316) 648-7590.
Butler County Transit Weekday transportation in El Dorado, Augusta and Andover. Rides to Wichita on Wed, Thu. Information: Augusta, 775-0500; El Dorado, 3224321; toll free, 1-800-279-3655. 48-hr notice required.
Harvey County Transportation reservations or information: 316-284-6802 or 1-866680-6802. Round-trip: $8 Newton (wheelchair only), $12 Harvey County, $20 outside Harvey County. AVI to Newton: Tue, 12:30-4:30 pm from Burrton, Sedgwick, Halstead, Hesston, Walton.
Thu: Grilled chicken sandwich, oven fried potatoes, normandy blend vegetables, fruit cocktail
Fri: Chicken parmesan, parsley noodles, blueberry cobbler, wheat roll, tossed salad w/ dressing.
WEEK OF MARCH 30
Mon: Turkey cacciatore, elbow pasta, baby carrots, whole wheat roll, peach yogurt
Tue: Parmesan crusted tilapia, potatoe wedges, yellow squash, biscuit, cinnamon applesauce
* Milk or grape juice is served with all meals. Meals fall within the following ranges: Calories 650-750; protein 25 grams or higher; fat 20 to 30 percent of calories; calcium 400 mg or higher; sodium 1,000 grams or less; fiber 9 grams or higher.
Classified advertising
Resthaven Garden of the Last Supper. Single plot 60-D-4 in this original garden. $4800 plus transfer fee. rmarzell@comcast.net or 901-848-6593
Single Crypt in Historic White Marble Old Mission Mausoleum. Original asking price $10,000 OBO. $500 transfer fee can be negotiated between seller and buyer. If interested please call 903-4275019. Please leave a message.
Resthaven Garden of the Good Shepherd Family Plot #70-D, Spaces #1-4. Highly desirable easily accessible plot. Valued at $21,000+. Will sell for $12,500 with Seller paying transfer fee. Contact Dale @ dadpe@comcast.net.
Resthaven Garden of Prayer. Lot 11A, Plots 1&2. $4,000 plus transfer fee buys both plots. 316-978-0743
4 plots White Chapel cemetery located in Good Shepherd Section. Lot 91a spaces 1,2,3&4. $3,000 each. Can sell separately. Buyer pays transfer fee of $499. 316-640-0480.
Lakeview Cemetery Garden of Memory. 6 plots:
2 spaces in Lot 60 adjoining 4 spaces in Lot 80. One companion marker with vase and 3 vaults. Valued @ $36k+ will sell for $25k OBO. Contact Nathan Howard at ndh74@icloud.com or 704-519-9552
4 cemetery plots together at Rest Haven in the Garden of prayer, next to the road. Will sell for $2,000/pair. Call 316-641-3538
Lakeview, Two side by side plots. Located in the Memory Garden. Lot 94, spaces 1&2. $6,500 for both. Seller pays transfer fees. 608-408-9252.
2 adjoining plots at Lakeview Cemetery (Garden of Gethsemane, Lot 3). $5,000 total (includes transfer fee). Call Greg 303-518-2505
One plot in Old Mission Cemetery, Section H - Lot 213 space 1A Seller pays transfer fee, valued at $4100, asking $2,200 316-206-3322
Lakeview Cemetery Garden of Meditation, Lot 201A, Sp 5 & 6. $6,500 for pair. Market value $9,190. Seller pays transfer fee. 615-572-9257
2 spaces side by side at Lakeview in Garden of Gethsemane. 1 two-piece vault. Seller Pays transfer fee. Was $10,000 Now Asking $8,000. 316-522-1659
2 Plots & vaults, White Chapel, Sermon on The Mount, Value $8,000 asking $5,500 plus transfer fee of $299 316-644-3312
RESTHAVEN, Rock Bottom!, Less than 1/2 price! Current Value - $32,500. FAMILY PKG in GARDEN of DEVOTION. Beautiful Location near Large Tree, with view of the Cross. 4 Plots, 2 Vaults & Dbl Bronze Memorial. $12,500. Call/Text for Details & Photos. 316-259-7660.
Resthaven. Double depth lawn crypt in Garden of Gospels. Lot 102-D space 2. Comes with Marker. Current Value $12,000, Asking $6,000 OBO. Seller will pay transfer fee. 317-625-0556.
2 plots available in Old Mission/Wichita Park located in Section 5 $2000.00 each (half price). Contact Mrs.Beach 918-520-8565.
Old Mission Cemetery double depth with vault. $3,000 or best offer. Buyer pays transfer fee. Willing to donate to Veteran, proof of service required, they pay transfer fee only. pd1967ggm@yahoo.com
Two plots in the Memory Garden at Lakeview Cemetery; Lot 57, Spaces 9 & 10. Asking $3,500 for both. Seller will pay transfer fee. Call 970-6919201 and leave message.
Niche available at Wichita Park/Old Mission. In Mission Chapel niche east. Sell for $850. Seller pays transfer fee. 316-652-9943
White Chapel Cemetery. Single Plot, Masonic Section. $2,000 and $499 transfer fee. 316-7379255 or email maddiemere@gmail.com
RENTAL Finished basement for rent in shared home in Derby. One bedroom one bath, living room partially furnished. Shared kitchen, laundry room and 2 car garage. $700/month utilities included. Single Woman. No pets. Call Jill 316-807-8342
Basement Apartment for Rent. Wanted Mature person to rent one bedroom, 1 bath w/shared kitchen and laundry room. $600/month, $250 deposit.316-721-5280
Retiree wants roommate. South Wichita. No Smokers/heavy drinkers. Carport. Wi-Fi. $400/ month plus shared expenses. Proof of income required. 316-241-7456
F HOME CARE F
Private Duty Aide with light house keeping. Availability evenings and weekends. References upon request. Cynthia CNA/HHA 316-992-6711
Caregiver over 50 yrs experience with refrences. Hours and Days negotiable Call Kathy 316-516-2149
Caregivers for Elderly. Personal care assistance, bathing, meals, housekeeping, doc appointments, Also provide live in. 30 yrs exp. 316-390-9526
Dave’s Improvements General Contractor Lic #7904
Roofing, Siding, Gutters, Storm damage repair, Senior Discount. 316-312-2177
Handyman RX- We have a remedy for almost all of your “fix-it” jobs! Light carpentry including deck and fence repair, indoor misc. repairs and installations, lawn mowing “LG or SM”, Yard & Garage clean-up, mulching, hauling miscellaneous,hauling dirt, sand, and rock/gravel upto 3.5 tons. What you need done I can probably handle. Call for HELP! Brian 316-217-0882. Free Estimates
Molina Electric - Wichita Lic #1364 Comm. or Residential wiring. Service calls. New electric service. Troubleshooting. Cell 316-461-2199.
Cowboy Construction
Remodeling, siding, decks, fences, windows, doors and more. 20 years locally owned. Free estimates. Senior discounts. Todd Wenzel 316-393-4488
MOBILE GLASS REPAIR
Windows * Patio * Doors
Windows won’t stay up, Crank Outs, Patio Rollers and Lock Latches, Morris Glass & Service, 316-946-0745
Derby, Haysville, Mulvane, Rose Hill, Wichita
Exterior & Interior. House painting, siding, decks, and fences. Build, repair and stain ramps. Free Estimates. Be Blessed. Thank you KC KIMBALL 316-250-2265
Jesus
Soto Landscaping * Full Lawn Services * Plants & Flowers * Tree Removal * Weed Control …and More 316-312-2195 or 316-260-0397 Text or Leave a Message
Tree Trimming, clean ups & clean outs, haul offs and snow removal. Call L. Hayden 316-806-2591.
Trim * Cut * Remove No Job to Small Hauling Handyman Honest & Reliable 316-807-4989
Brush, Limbs, Debris, Hauling and Junk Removal. Leaf removal. Free Estimates. Call David at 316213-8880.
Sharp Edges Lawn Care Service
• Mowing
• Trimming
• Edging
• Rake Leaves
• And MORE Call/Text 316-640-6327
Please
JD’s Handyman Services 25+ Years’ Experience Home Repairs Done Right Plumbing, Carpentry, Electrical Tv Mounting, Lock Changes Assembly Services Give me a call! 316-768-7080 FREE Estimates
Nursing home ratings and serious violations listed
Editor’s note: The Active Age periodically publishes ratings of nursing homes in Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties taken from medicare. gov, the federal government’s official source for Medicare information.
The overall ratings, ranging from
much above average to much below average, are based on three sources: health inspections, staffing and quality measures. You can find more details about each facility by visiting medicare. gov and clicking on “Find care providers.”
These ratings were current as of Feb. 6. All of the listed nursing homes here participate in Medicare and Medicaid and have resident councils. They are located in Wichita unless otherwise noted.
Gov. Laura Kelly met with members of the 2026 Kansas Silver Haired Legislature.
left to right, are Gary Scott, Mary Penrose, Chuck Schmidt, Kelly, Katy Hoffman, Marvin Singleton, Sherri Grogan and Leroy Burton.
Elder services in danger, say advocates
The Active Age TOPEKA — Advocates for Kansas’ elderly are warning that a projected budget shortfall jeopardizes in-home services that help keep older residents from being sent to nursing homes prematurely.
Dan Goodman, executive director of Kansas Advocates for Better Care, testified before House and Senate committees of the Kansas Legislature this session. Goodman told both that a projected budget shortfall of $31 million in fiscal year 2027 — which begins on July 1 of this year — would create a waitlist for in-home services.
“A waitlist is expected and the early projection is that 600 older Kansans will be affected,” Goodman said. “History suggests that projection is low. In 2003, a similar FE (Frail Elderly) waitlist affected 20% of eligible participants. Applying that same ratio today puts as many as 1,700 frail elders at risk.”
These nursing homes were cited for at least one Actual Harm (AH), Immediate Jeopardy (IJ) or Abuse/ Neglect/Exploitation (END) deficiency (DEF) during their most recent inspections. The average number of deficiencies per inspection in Kansas is 10.5. Source: Kansas Advocates for Better Care.
The Frail Elderly waiver program is part of Medicaid, known as KanCare in Kansas. It provides people 65 and older with personal care, meal support, health services and more, with the goal of allowing them to live in their homes.
According to a July 2025 state report, there were 8,530 people being served by the Frail Elderly waiver program at that time and no wait list. The program was appropriated $237.7
See Elder next page
Shown,
Silent film star remembered in tiny town where he was born
By Joe Norris PIQUA, Kan.
— Just inside the front door of Rural Water District #1 headquarters, there’s a lady behind a wooden desk. She’s talking to someone on the telephone. She sizes us up, decides that we aren’t locals with a water problem, and points at the door to a darkened room.
“The museum’s there on your right,” she says. “Just flip on the light, and go on in.”
We follow her instructions and find ourselves inside a one-room Buster Keaton Museum, chock full of memorabilia. It may seem odd to find a silent movie star museum in the tiny town of Piqua, Kan., but there’s a good reason. Buster Keaton was born here just a few yards from the museum. Buster’s parents weren’t natives of this state, but we can thank a Kansas tornado for the timing and location of Buster’s birth.
In 1895, Joe and Myra Keaton were traveling the country with the Mohawk Indian Medicine Company, a vaudeville show that sold patent medicine on the side. As The Two Keatons, Joe performed acrobatic comedy sketches while Myra played the saxophone. On Oct. 4, 1895, the company had stopped in Piqua and had set up their tent for a show the following day. But as dark clouds began gathering and the wind picked up, the heavily pregnant Myra decided that she should take shelter in a local rooming house.
The storm turned out to be a tornado. It blew away the company’s tent, battered the rooming house with flying debris, nearly destroyed the tiny town and terrified the expectant mother. After the winds died down, Joe went out to search for the tent while Myra tried to calm herself from the experience. By the time Joe returned, Myra had given birth to a future silent film star.
They named him Joseph Frank Keaton after his dad and his maternal grandfather. By the time he was 3, the toddler had become part of his parents’ touring vaudeville act. After The Two Keatons became The Three Keatons, Joe and his young son performed
Tenth in a series about day trips around Kansas
increasingly dangerous slapstick routines while Myra played the sax. It became known as the roughest act in show business. Joe would hurl the toddler against the stage scenery, into the orchestra pit, even into the audience. The comic pratfalls always got bigger laughs when the toddler got back to his feet with a deadpan look. Keaton claimed he was never hurt because he knew how to land. “Several times I’d had been killed if I hadn’t known how to land like a cat,” he said.
One night, the young Keaton solemnly deadpanned the crowd after a tumble down an entire flight of stairs. The theater roared and fellow performer Harry Houdini exclaimed, “Man, that was a real buster!” The nickname stuck, even if historians disagree about who coined it.
Buster Keaton moved to Hollywood in the early 1920s, performing even more dangerous stunts in a successful series of two-reel comedies. As he’d done as a child on stage, Keaton looked at the camera without any facial expression after each near-death experience. The deadpan look became his trademark and earned him the nickname The Great Stone
Buster Keaton may have been a huge movie star, but Rural Water District #1 gets top billing on the sign outside his museum. Keaton memorabilia fills one room, and a Keaton mask is available for selfies.
Face.
There are dozens of photos and movie posters from that era in the Piqua museum, including shots of Keaton and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. The portly Arbuckle was already an established comic actor when Keaton got to Hollywood and landed a minor role in one of Arbuckle’s comedies. Keaton impressed the star with his inventive sight gags, and Keaton’s own career took off after he became Arbuckle’s assistant director and chief gag writer. The two became close friends. Besides a love for physical comedy, they also had something else in common. They were both born in Kansas. Roscoe Arbuckle entered the world in 1887 in Smith Center, weighing more than 13 lbs. Both parents were native Kansans and no tornadoes were involved.
Buster Keaton, of course, went on to become a far bigger star than Fatty Arbuckle. Six of his films have been included in the National Film Registry, and film critic Roger Ebert called Keaton “the greatest actor-director in the history of movies.” In 1959, Keaton was presented with an honorary Oscar at the Academy Awards — a
recognition of his achievements as an actor, a director and a legendary pioneer in silent comedy. So he’s well deserving of a humble little museum in the town where he was born.
Aside from the museum, several huge grain elevators and a threelegged collie who stares suspiciously at strangers, there’s not a lot to see in Piqua. It’s a tiny farming community about two hours east of Wichita on Highway 54 (eight miles west of Iola), and it’s pronounced “Pick-way.” You’ll need to get that right or the lady behind the desk at the water department will spot you immediately as an out-of-towner.
The museum is open 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. most Tuesdays and Thursdays. Admission is free, but after you see the creepy stone-faced Buster Keaton life mask, you’ll want to stuff a few bills in the donation box. And if you spot a tornado on the horizon, like Buster Keaton’s parents did, don’t worry. There’s a steel storm shelter just a few steps away from the museum.
Joe Norris is a retired Wichita marketing executive. He can be reached at joe.norris47@gmail.com
From previous page
million in fiscal 2026, with $91.2 million of that coming from the state’s general fund, according to the report.
The program’s budget has more than doubled since 2021, with supporters calling it a good investment.
“Historically, community-based care costs about one-third of nursing
facility care,” Goodman testified.
“Last session, the Legislature added $200 million to the nursing facility base. By comparison, preventing a waiver waitlist is a modest, practical investment that protects choice and reduces long-term costs.”
Members of Kansas’ Silver Haired Legislature have also been lobbying the Legislature in favor of home- and community-based services and other
issues, including the legalization of medical cannabis, property tax relief, Medicaid, the SNAP food assistance program, senior transportation and voting access. In late January, KSHL delegates visited all 165 legislative offices to share the organization’s priorities.
Chuck Schmidt, a Sedgwick County resident and KSHL Speaker Pro Tem, said Medicaid, SNAP
and community-based services are “essential as Kansas’ senior population grows. These programs help older adults stay healthier, more independent, and engaged in their communities.”
Asked if KSHL seemed to making progress, Schmidt said, "To be blunt, no, not really. We just can't get the Legislature to realize these are issues that a majority of Kansans support."
Photos by Joe Norris
How to navigate inheriting an IRA from a parent
By Jim Miller Dear Savvy Senior,
What are the rules regarding inherited IRAs? My brother and I recently inherited our father’s IRA when he passed away late last year and would like to know what we need to do to handle it properly.
— Oldest Sibling
Dear Oldest,
I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your father, but you’re smart to be planning ahead. Inheriting an IRA from a parent comes with a unique set of rules. Understanding them can help you make the most of the money you inherit and avoid an unpleasant surprise at tax time. Here are some basics you should know.
Setting It Up
Many people assume they can roll an inherited IRA into their own IRA, but that’s not allowed for most beneficiaries. If you inherit an IRA from a parent, sibling, or anyone other than a spouse, you cannot treat the account as your own. Instead, your share must be transferred into a newly established inherited IRA, properly titled in the deceased owner’s name — for example, John Smith, deceased, for the benefit of Jane Smith.
If your father named multiple beneficiaries, the IRA can be split into separate inherited accounts. This allows each beneficiary to manage withdrawals independently, as if each were the sole beneficiary.
You can open an inherited IRA at most banks or brokerage firms, although the simplest option is often to set it up with the firm that already holds your father’s account.
The 10-Year Withdrawal Rule
Under the SECURE Act, signed into law in December 2019, most nonspouse beneficiaries must withdraw all the money from an inherited IRA by the end of the 10th year following the original owner’s death. This rule applies if the owner died in 2020 or later.
If your father had already begun taking required minimum distributions (RMDs), you generally must continue taking annual RMDs while also emptying the account within 10 years. If he had not yet started RMDs, annual withdrawals aren’t required, as long as the entire IRA is withdrawn by the end of the 10-year period.
You may take withdrawals faster if you choose, but distributions from a traditional IRA are taxable as ordinary income in the year taken. Roth IRA withdrawals, however, are usually taxfree, provided the account has been open at least five years.
If you fail to take a required RMD,
or don’t withdraw enough, the penalty is 25 percent of the amount you should have taken. That penalty can be reduced to 10 percent if the mistake is corrected within two years.
Exceptions to the Rule
Several beneficiaries are exempt from the 10-year rule, including a surviving spouse, a minor child, a disabled or chronically ill beneficiary, or someone who is within 10 years of age of the original IRA owner. These beneficiaries may be allowed to stretch withdrawals over a longer period. Minimize Your Taxes
As tempting as it may be to cash out an inherited IRA in a lump sum, or take large withdrawals over just a few years, proceed carefully. Doing so could trigger a hefty tax bill. Withdrawals from a traditional IRA are generally taxed as income at your regular tax rate.
For many heirs, spreading distributions over the 10-year period can help manage taxes and reduce the risk of being pushed into a higher tax bracket. Other strategies may make sense if your income fluctuates or you’re nearing retirement.
To help navigate these decisions, consider working with a financial advisor. If you don’t have one, you can find a fee-only, fiduciary financial planner through the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors at napfa.org.
Medicare Can Help Older Smokers Kick the Habit
Dear Savvy Senior, Does Medicare offer any coverage that helps beneficiaries quit smoking? — New Beneficiary
Dear New,
If you’re ready to quit smoking, Medicare can indeed help! Medicare Part B covers up to eight face-toface counseling sessions per year to help you kick the habit, and if you have a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, certain smoking-cessation medications are covered as well. Here’s a guide to help you get started. It’s Never Too Late
According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 8.3 percent of Americans age 65 and older still smoke. Many
older smokers indicate that they would like to quit, but because of the nicotine, which is extremely addictive, it’s very difficult to do. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable illness, responsible for an estimated one-fifth of deaths in the United States each year. But research shows that quitting, even after age 65, greatly reduces your risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, osteoporosis and many other diseases. It also helps you breathe easier, smell and taste better, and can save you money. An $8 pack-a-day smoker, for example, saves about $240 after one month without cigarettes, and nearly $2,880 after one year.
How to Quit
The first step you need to take is to set a “quit date,” but give yourself a few weeks to get ready. During that time, you may want to start by reducing the number or the strength of cigarettes you smoke to begin weaning yourself.
Also check out over-the-counter nicotine replacement products — patches, gum and lozenges — to help curb your cravings (these are not covered by Medicare). And just prior to your quit day, get rid of all cigarettes and ashtrays in your home, car and place of work, and try to clean up and even spray air freshener. The smell of smoke can be a powerful trigger.
Get Help
Studies have shown that you have a much better chance of quitting if you have help. So, tell your friends, family and coworkers of your plan to quit. Others knowing can be a helpful reminder and motivator.
Then, get some counseling. Don’t go it alone. Start by contacting your doctor about smoking-cessation counseling covered by Medicare and find out about the prescription
antismoking drugs (bupropion and varenicline) that can help reduce your nicotine craving.
You can also get free one-on-one telephone counseling and referrals to local smoking cessation programs through your state quit line at 800-QUIT-NOW or call the National Cancer Institute free smoking quit line at 877-44U-QUIT.
It’s also important to identify and write down the times and situations you’re most likely to smoke, and make a list of things you can do to replace it or distract yourself. Some helpful suggestions when the smoking urge arises are to call a friend or one of the free quit lines, keep your mouth occupied with some sugar-free gum, sunflower seeds, carrots, fruit or hard candy, go for a walk, read a magazine, listen to music or take a hot bath.
The intense urge to smoke lasts about three to five minutes, so do what you can to wait it out. It’s also wise to avoid drinking alcohol and steer clear of other smokers while you’re trying to quit. Both can trigger powerful urges to smoke.
For more tips on managing your cravings, withdrawal symptoms and what to do if you relapse, visit 60plus. SmokeFree.gov. There are also a variety of helpful quit-smoking apps you can download like EasyQuit, QuitNow and Quit Genius.
Send your questions or comments to questions@savvysenior.org, or to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.
Get More Savvy
For more Savvy Senior tips, visit theactiveage.com. Topics for March include:
• Do I Need to File a Tax Return This Year?
• Tools to Help You Find the Perfect Place to Retire
Sunny Side Up
Going paperless?
A free digital copy of The Active Age is now available. The digital copy can be “flipped through” like a regular newspaper, and the type can be enlarged on your phone or computer. To have the digital version emailed to you each month, call (316) 942-5385 or email joe@theactiveage.com.
March theatre
By Diana Morton
The American Theatre Guild, Broadway in Wichita. Century II Concert Hall. Stomp. The return of the percussive hit brings some new surprises. See what all the noise is about. One night only, March 4, 7:30. 316-755-7328
Next: Hadestown by Anais Mitchell. Experience the intertwining of two
mythic tales — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone. March 20-22. Show times vary. 316755-7328
Mosley Street Melodrama, 234 N. Mosley. Little Miss Moonshine by Carol Hughes, followed by a new Musical Comedy Revue. Now – Mar 21. Tickets, dinner, and show $44; show only $33. 316-263-0222
Roxy’s Downtown, 412 E. Douglas, cabaret-style theatre. The Golden Girls. Your favorite girls are back for their
ninth season. Now-March 7. Doors open at 6:30 pm; show begins at 7:30 pm Wed -Sat. and Sat. matinée 2 pm. Tickets $40. 316-265-4400
Gridiron ’26. A satiric look at the news and newsmakers, “Gridiron” is a series of short skits written and performed by local journalists. 7 p.m. March 12-14, plus a 2 p.m. matinee Saturday, March 14. Tickets $50.
Next: Jesus Christ Superstar. A rock opera loosely based on the Gospels has wowed audiences for over 50 years. March 20-April 25. 316-265-4400
Wichita Community Theatre, 258 N. Fountain. Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle, directed by Angela Forrest. Five generations, an infinity of dreams and one cake baked over a century through the highlights, heartbreaks and extraordinary moments that make up one ordinary woman’s life. March 12 - 22 at 8 pm with Sat and Sun matinees, 2 pm. Tickets $20 for adults, $18 for military/senior/ students. 316-686-1282
Contact Diana Morton at dianamorton12@sbcglobal.net
This St. Patrick’s Day wear green socks, not fungus!
CENTRAL KANSAS PODIATRY ASSOCIATES
STATE OF THE ART PODIATRIC CARE
1819 N Greenwich · Wichita KS 67206
316-269-FEET(3338) · Fax 316-264-5516 www.CKPA.net
