Spring 2019
STRONGER THAN THE
PAST: Convictions, Prejudice, and Purpose
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TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
FROM THE EDITOR SPRING 2019 | VOLUME 13, NO. 2
Editor Nathan Pettengill Art Director Jenni Leiste Designers Brittany Lee Jenni Leiste Copy Editor Leslie Andres Advertising Representatives Peterson Publications, Inc. Ariele Erwine aerwine@sunflowerpub.com (785) 832-7236 Ad Designer Alex Tatro Photographers Nick Krug Bill Stephens Writers Katherine Dinsdale Linda A. Ditch Carolyn Kaberline Leah Sewell Gordon A. Smith Kalli Jo Smith Bill Stephens Michelle R. Terry
Welcome to the spring issue of Topeka Magazine. In these pages, we bring you a recipe that has helped families through some of the most trying times, a selection of choice events to enjoy this season, a personal history of a courageous student recreating his life, an amazing orchestrion collection, model battle ships from the hands of a local master, and more. This spring edition of our magazine also marks the midway period of our twelfth year of publication. And looking back at our issues, we realize that each one has been a delightful opportunity to explore the city and bring back stories told from the heart. Our approach to creating the words and images for this publication has remained the same throughout all of our years—we empower our contributors to convey authentic voices, issues and images from across the city. Rooted in traditional journalism and in a respect for the reader, our publication has no hidden scheme or interest behind it—we simply wish to create the magazine worthy of the city we cover and worthy of your time as a reader. Thank you for bringing us into your home and allowing us to be a part of your spring season. Warmth and sunshine are coming! — NAT H A N P E T T E N G I L L , E D I T O R
Illustrator Lana Grove Subscriptions $27 for a one-year subscription, including Topeka SR; order at sunflowerpub.com Production Manager Jenni Leiste Director Bob Cucciniello
Please contact us at topekamagazine@sunflowerpub.com for all comments, subscription and editorial queries.
Topeka Magazine is a publication of Sunflower Publishing, a division of Ogden Publications. Ogden Publications 1503 SW 42nd St Topeka, KS 66609
sunflowerpub.com topekamag.com
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TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
WHAT’S INSIDE SPRING 2019 | VOLUME 13, NO. 2
TOPEKANS 10 SHIPMASTER SMITH
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A former electrical contractor builds a navy from his studio, miniature plank by plank
“I KNOW FIRSTHAND HOW STEEP A HILL THAT IS TO CLIMB”
The latest in our series of personal letters from local residents brings the story of a young professional rebuilding his post-conviction career in spite of stigma and discrimination MUSIC AND MEDICINE
A musical charity concert featuring doctors and medical providers marks a milestone anniversary for a good cause
APPETITE 22 A DINNER TO LESSEN THE BURDEN
Volunteers at Topeka’s Ronald McDonald House cook up comfort food so families have more time and energy to be with their kids in need
PLACE 26 REX AMONG US
One of Topeka’s most internationally known celebrities has few physical reminders, but a legacy, in his hometown
I N E VE RY I S S U E 28 WHAT’S HAPPENING
Selected Topeka events for the spring season
F E AT U R E S 32 PERFECT SHOT
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Abbie Loyd Kern creates natureplus images by combining animals, landscapes and art
ORCHESTRION MAN
A former math teacher creates a working museum of old-time mechanical music players
Spring 2019
STRONGER THAN THE
PAST: Convictions, Prejudice, and Purpose
On the Cover Gordon A. Smith, who is studying to become an addiction counselor, stands in his kitchen in Topeka. Photograph by Nick Krug.
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TOPEKA TALK
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
2018/2019
Looking Ahead The summer issue of Topeka Magazine arrives in early June. If your neighborhood is not included in our routes, remember that we distribute complimentary copies through the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce and other locations. Subscriptions for family and friends outside Topeka (or to ensure you always get a copy at your house) are also available through our publishing company website, sunflowerpub.com.
Leisure OUR ANNUAL SENIOR
SECTION FOCUSES ON THE BENEFITS OF SENIOR
Topeka SR
LIFE—MAKING TIME FOR A H O B B Y, A C R A F T A N D A G E TA W AY
Our expanded fall issue will include a special section on senior living, Topeka SR. In these pages, we bring stories about community opportunities for seniors across the city and highlight inspiring lives of Topeka seniors. Look for the fall issue to release during the first full weekend of September.
2019
Alexandra Seelbach
Kansas Weddings
Our winter issue will contain a special weddings section Romantic bouquets & Created in association vintage details fit for your Kansas celebration with Kansas Weddings magazine (a sister publication from Sunflower Publishing), these pages bring tips and reviews of Topeka wedding opportunities for couples and their families. Look for the winter issue of Topeka Magazine to release in the first weekend of December.
Blooms of Love kansasweddingsmagazine.com
Mistake’s on Us
Our winter edition issue mistakenly switched the photos for the Katie drinks (Chocolate Turner Peppermint Twist and Naughty or Nice Christmas Martini) and the drink creators (Alexandra Seelbach and Katie Turner) identifications on pages 22 and 24. We immediately corrected our digital edition, and apologize for the error in the printed version. For the record, we still recommend them both!
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
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Love Stories.
Now accepting your wedding love story from 2017, 2018 or 2019. If you’ve gotten married recently, share the story of your wedding in our 2020 wedding announcement registry!
A collection of wedding day memories, both beautiful and unique—just like the two people who fell in love.
2019
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Langley Blanton Tate Patrick Blanton and Hannah Michele Louise Langley were married at half past five in the evening on June 2, 2018. Noah’s Event Venue in Wichita was the perfect backdrop for their elegant wedding. The bride was escorted down the aisle by her father, wearing a custom-designed Justin Alexander dress, accompanied by “Canon in D” performed by a string quartet. The bride’s mother further customized her gown with beading of the plunge back, handmade her cathedral-length beaded veil and garters, and even embroidered her new name on the inside of her dress. Hannah carried a stunning bouquet of blush peonies, ivory roses and baby’s breath, complementing beautiful floral arrangements and crystal chandeliers at the altar. The couple exchanged their vows in a traditional Episcopalian ceremony that included a unity box filled with a bottle of wine and a letter, both of which they will open on their first anniversary. After the ceremony, guests attended a cocktail hour, which included a display of hors d’oeuvres, napkins with fun facts about the couple, and a piñata to be filled with well-wishes and advice for Tate and Hannah to pop open on their first anniversary. The plated dinner was followed by champagne toasts and the cutting of a five-tier cake, Hurt’s donuts, and a Swedish wedding cake homemade by the bride’s godmother. The couple danced to “Sweetheart” by Thomas Rhett, and then family and friends enjoyed drinks and dancing atop a lighted floor monogram. As the night came to a close, the couple was showered with confetti as they made their way to the 1962 Rolls Royce awaiting them. Tate and Hannah are enjoying the memories of their special day (through the incredible work of Sara Rieth: Romantic Storytelling Photographer and Jenkins Cinema) and loving life as Mr. & Mrs. Blanton.
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TOPEKANS
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019 STORY BY
Michelle R. Terry |
Shipmaster
SMITH A former electrical contractor builds a navy from his studio, miniature plank by plank
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
Bill Stephens
TOPEKANS
Spring 2019 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
S
urrounded by tools of his trade—blueprints, research manuals and custom-built devices—D.L. Smith prepares his navy from his home studio in Topeka. The founder of Topeka-based D.L. Smith Electrical Construction, Smith was always an avid model-builder, particularly of planes, but in his recent retirement he has been able to devote more of his time to the demanding work of constructing historically authentic wooden ships. “Shipbuilding is an immersive activity that makes me forget about everything else going on in my life,” says Smith. “With the relaxation I get from model building, I have no problem being at the mercy of the required patience to complete these intricate projects.” Given Smith’s professional background, using his hands and attention to detail came naturally. “I had a knack for working in small scale,” says Smith. “After researching the techniques to build accurate replicas, I became more intrigued and had to continue.” Smith’s first two model projects began before retirement, in the early 1990s, and included a small dinghy and then a more substantial vessel called a “lobster smack.” A few years later, during a trip to St. Augustine, Florida, he purchased a kit for a massive project. “Since I’m not a golfer, I was looking for something to pass my time. I had a hunch I’d do this when I retired.” That project began in 1995 and continued to 2006. It lasted into Smith’s retirement and through the building of a new home—a home where he added his ship-building studio in an upstairs space he shares with his wife, Suzy, who paints watercolor prints in the room near his workspace. That first major project, the privateer Rattlesnake, is displayed in a hand-built case in the living room. The real 16-gun Rattlesnake was built at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1779 or 1780 by John Peck and sailed out on its first commission on June 12, 1781. She mounted anywhere from 14 to 20 carriage guns at various times and carried about 85 men. An avid reader and researcher, Smith notes that the types of smallscale models he builds were first used as early marketing tools. “They built model replicas with the intent to sell the real ships,” Smith says. Until the early 18th century, most European shipbuilders constructed boats without written plans. The shipwrights (shipbuilders) assembled models to show prospective customers how the full-size ship would appear and to illustrate advanced building techniques. Although many of the models didn’t show the actual timbering or framing, they did show the form of the hull as well as the ship’s details. The shapes of the hulls require soaking the pieces of wood in water and then using a plank bender or heat to maintain their shape and curvature. “This is a very tedious process, and takes all the patience I can muster,” Smith says. After Smith completed the Rattlesnake, he moved to another project, the HMS Vanguard, once the flagship of Admiral Horatio Nelson. This historic warship took five years to construct before it was launched in 1787; Smith, working in his free time, took 6 years to construct the intricate model. “The dowels had to be tapered, so I fabricated everything with miniature lathes. I started with round dowels and molded them into the shapes required—square or octagon.”
Italian for Shipbuilding D.L. Smith builds his models designed from the original plans, which often come from model companies in Europe with instructions duplicated in numerous languages. But when he opened the kit for the HMS Bounty, he found that only the Italian-language instructions had been included. So, Smith outfitted himself with an Italian-English dictionary and an Italian shipbuilding book for reference. Sometimes he seeks online assistance, and sometimes he makes an educated guess based on his growing experience and the detailed blueprints. “It’s a good thing a picture is worth a thousand words,” Smith says.
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Will It Float? Although Smith doesn’t launch his ships in the water, it’s not because they don’t float. Because these are based on plans to build real ships, the blueprints represent a fully functional, floatable boat that just happens to be in miniature-scale. “If a person follows the plans exactly, the replica can function like its larger counterpart,” Smith says. “You could put on sails and they could sail off just like the original.”
TOPEKANS
Because the Vanguard took almost six years (at a total of 1,610 hours according to Smith’s project-journal), Smith had intended to take a well-deserved retirement from the model building after its completion. But then his wife asked what he would do next, and Smith acknowledged he didn’t have plans to make anything else—and that led to a critical turn in the conversation. “In her calm way, Suzy reminded me I had only built two ships, and we had three children,” Smith recalls. His current project, the HMS Bounty, was a Royal Navy ship made famous by the 1935 novel Mutiny on the Bounty, and later in the 1962 Marlon Brando film with the same name. The ship-in-progress stands in Smith’s studio under a work lamp, surrounded by blueprints showing the literal nuts and bolts (and ties and tape) to build a historically accurate ship. Smith uses detailed photos, blogs and online videos to supplement the instructions. And, increasingly, he relies on his experience. “I love making the masts and yards, and then rigging the ship for sails,” says Smith. He displays the ships in museum fashion without sails—for aesthetics as well as accuracy. “The intricacies of the rigging are better displayed with no sails.” Additionally, if the real ships had been at sea for many months, the sails were battered from the wind and battles. When the vessels came into port, they removed the sails for repair. Smith was in the late stage of completing the rigging on the Rattlesnake when his grandson checked in to see what he was doing. As his grandson watched, Smith remarked, “Someday you can look at this model and say that your grandfather built this.” His grandson stood silent for a long time and finally whispered back words to the effect that he wished that there was such a thing as “eternal life.” At the moment, Smith could barely hold back the tears. But his grandson’s words prompted him to respond in his own way. The Rattlesnake display now holds an additional small brass plaque reading Eternal Life, and behind it is a letter preserved for his grandson to open in the distant future. “Someday I will just be a memory to my family,” says Smith. “But I guess that’s what life is about.”
About the Writer: Michelle Terry is a writer and registered dietitian. When she’s not working or wrangling her family, she is running, doing yoga, or managing an unruly garden.
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TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
TOPEKANS STORY BY Gordon A. Smith with Leah Sewell | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Nick Krug
“I know firsthand how steep a hill that is to
CLIMB” The latest in our series of personal letters from local residents brings the story of a young professional rebuilding his postconviction career in spite of stigma and discrimination
TOPEKANS
I
am an ex-felon. I spent seven years in federal prison followed by five years of probation, which means I served my time both in prison and under supervised release. Today, I am a college student and studying to become an addiction counselor. I’m free from the revolving door of prison, but I believe how I made it this far is nothing short of a miracle. I learned how to get a job before I was in high school. My father taught me that as an African-American man I would have to over-qualify for a job in order to have a shot at it. He told me it is not fair, but it can be overcome. I was taught to speak clearly in an interview, make eye contact and present myself confidently. “Always appear visibly excited for an opportunity to meet with prospective employers,” my father counseled. If I was going to apply to be the janitor, he taught me to dress for my interview like I was applying to be the manager. I have been successfully getting jobs since before I was legally allowed to work. Without the extensive practice in appearing well qualified, the collateral consequences of my incarceration would have precluded any attempt I made to rejoin society. The National Institute of Justice estimates that twothirds of prisoners return to incarceration within three years of release. “Recidivism” is the technical term for that revolving door. In the Stanford Law Review, Elena Saxonhouse writes, “The number one factor which influences the reduction of recidivism is an individual’s ability to gain ‘quality’ employment.” There is a causality between exclusionary employment practices and recidivism, especially when it comes to attaining “quality” employment. I do not need to read law journals to know that fact; I need only to look at my own past. When I was released from prison, I planned to walk the straight and narrow. I found an employer who would hire me, but my greatest hardship was maintaining rent, electricity, running water, and food. Financial obligations outgrew my low wages, so I applied for higher-paying jobs. In my mind, with some time out of jail and recent job experience under my belt, I would find someone who would give me a chance to prove myself. After a month of follow-up phone calls and no response, reality set in. I would never reach the interview stage in any of my efforts. My rent was behind. I had no lights. I had no food. I gave the straight-and-narrow my very best efforts, but when my next paycheck came, I bought a piece of hardware
Spring 2019 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
that allowed me to forge a path in chaos. I believed I had been left with no other option but to return to crime. I got arrested and knew I would only be given another shot if I made it out of prison alive. I make no attempt to justify my past criminal activity. I paid my debt to society when I served my prison sentence, spent time learning about my addictions, and sought to be a better man. After my second release, I secured a minimum-wage job at a company providing contracted janitorial services in state buildings. After a year as an exemplary employee, I still had no opportunity for a pay increase. A state employee told me of an open custodial arts position at the state of Illinois. This person knew I was responsible, a hard worker, and I would have a good chance. However, they did not know about my past. I sent in my resume and got a response; they wanted me for an interview, but first I had to complete an application that asked whether I had a criminal background. I checked the box “Yes,” and commented below that I would like to discuss it more in person. I never got the interview or a chance to discuss my background. Hope dissipated. In its place, resentment was born. My story is one of unlikely success. With these rejections, I turned to my father’s teachings and took any employment available to me. I worked a job until it interfered with my other job then replaced it with yet another minimum wage job to keep myself afloat. I found jobs within walking distance so I’d never be late. I stayed with my uncle. I survived on Ramen noodles and tap water so I could save enough to get my own place. I am one of the few who learned to shed his resentment toward a discriminatory society. Currently, as I study to become an addiction counselor, I am also working as a recovery coach employed by Heartland Regional Alcohol & Drug Assessment Center. I mentor ex-offenders who are determined to stay on the straight and narrow. I know firsthand how steep a hill that is to climb. Add the weight of struggling for access to “quality” employment, and it is a near-impossible feat. Yet every day in our community, ex-prisoners confront this obstacle standing in the way between them and their goals. As a society, it is time we re-assess our attitudes toward people with a criminal history, restore civil rights, and make sure that when ex-convicts are hungry and need a roof over their heads, they have a decent job to turn to instead of a gun.
“My story is one of unlikely success.”
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TOPEKANS
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019 STORY BY
Carolyn Kaberline |
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
MUSIC and Medicine
A musical charity concert featuring doctors and medical providers marks a milestone anniversary for a good cause
Bill Stephens
TOPEKANS
T
his year, a Topeka concert tradition celebrates its 12th anniversary. As always, the proceeds will benefit Shawnee County Medical Society Health Access, the organization that treats low-income and uninsured patients, and all performers come to the stage with medical degrees. “Music…Just What the Doctor Ordered!” was conceived during a fundraising-brainstorming session, according to Dr. Scott Teeter. “We knew several physicians involved with music and thought it would be fun for people to see their doctors in a different setting.” Those who have come to the fundraiser obviously agree. According to Karla Hedquist, executive director of SCMS Health Access, the concert has grown in attendance and donations each year. In 2018, it raised more than $16,000. Here are some of the performing medical professions who have made the event a success and will be appearing at the 2019 performance.
Grace Morrison Now retired after practicing medicine for 23 years at the Lincoln Center OB/GYN where she delivered about 5,000 babies, and performed countless surgeries, Grace Morrison finds herself busier than ever through her performances with the Topeka Civic Theatre, the Topeka Festival Singers and the Topeka Symphony. Morrison was actually a musical performer before she was a doctor. She started piano lessons at age 5, continued through college and performed with the choir as a student at the University of Kansas. “About 13–14 years ago I began singing in the choir at First United Methodist Church and started voice lessons,” says Morrison. “All of this led to solo recitals, solo performances
for many different groups and organizations, including a solo Christmas performance in 2012 with the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, several Christmas concerts which I called Candlelight, Carols, and Songs, and singing with Topeka Festival Singers. I continue to sing wherever and whenever I am asked, and I love to do it.” Morrison has also had roles in 11 shows, both plays and musicals, including Young Frankenstein, Nunsense, Mary Poppins and Steel Magnolias. Providing care through Health Access and the Marian Clinic prior to its closing, Morrison has been with the fundraiser since its inception. She says her favorite part—besides getting to sing—“is the very large audience which is so supportive and appreciative of the performers and so very generous in supporting this important cause.”
Mark Synovec Mark Synovec, president of Topeka Pathology Group, LLC, will once again handle the emcee duties for the annual fundraiser, a role he has played in all but one of the years. “I enjoy the ability to show my support for the cause and our community—pathologists typically do not have a high visibility outside the laboratory,” says Synovec. A part of the event since its beginning, Synovec says the fundraiser fills crucial “bare-bones” needs of the operation’s infrastructure and complements the “extensive contributions of donated care by providers as well as local governmental and organized charitable contributions.” And Synovec adds he is content to keep his on-stage contribution to his role as emcee. “The lab and surgery staff will tell you that I love to sing at work, but please don’t ask if they would define it as ‘talent.’”
Spring 2019 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
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TOPEKANS
Henry Spangler Henry Spangler, a specialist in internal medicine and a practicing hospitalist at the University of Kansas Health System-St. Francis Campus, has a long history with the bagpipes. “Early in med school in Omaha, my roommate and I tried to practice with the local pipe band, but to tell the truth, learning it is quite boring, and we were both pretty busy.” Twenty years later, though still busy, Spangler decided to take up the instrument again. “It was a little less boring this go-round,” he says. “I was more motivated, but if I’d known how hard it was to be good, I probably would have picked something else.” Spangler adds that his instrument has also required a lot of love and attention in the lead up to each of his past performances at the annual fundraiser, a task he takes very seriously. “Some of the performers are so good, and the audience so discerning, it’s tough to do. If someone says ‘your tunes were unforgettable,’ with very talented musicians you want it to be for the right reason,” he explains. While most of the musicians have been physicians, Spangler notes the performers have also included dentists and psychologists. Regardless of who the performers are he believes the event is for a great cause, and “it’s a varied concert entertaining an appreciative audience in an inspiring venue, surprisingly put together without a dress rehearsal, with very talented musicians that just happen to be health professionals.”
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TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
TOPEKANS
Scott Teeter Internal medicine adult primary care specialist Scott Teeter started playing the trumpet when he was in third grade and continued through his high school years. Although he quit playing an instrument through college, med school, and his first years of practice, he got back into it through friends who asked him to join some local bands. That, he said, gave him a good reason to start playing once more. “Once you get involved in the community band scene, you get invited to play in other events,” he says. “This year was my first musical for TCT, but I’d previously helped Topeka High in the Sound of Music when my kids were in it and played for musicals when I was in high school at Seaman.” Now, Teeter more often plays the flugelhorn, which he describes as having “a more mellow tone,” but he will probably play the trumpet at this year’s fundraiser, which he has been with since the first year. Teeter says he enjoy hearing other performers and believes the annual fundraiser is a chance to help a worthy cause.
Sridevi Donepudi
“[I]t’s a varied concert entertaining an appreciative audience in an inspiring venue, surprisingly put together without a dress rehearsal, with very talented musicians that just happen to be health professionals.” —Henry Spangler
Many who know Sridevi Donepudi as a family medicine physician might not have suspected she was hiding a love for singers such as Pink and Sarah McLachlan, as well as her own vocal talent background. “I’ve always loved to sing,” she says, “but never sang in any organized fashion until high school. I sang through college in both a chamber choir as well as an all-female acapella group, the Greenleafs of Washington University in St. Louis. I started doing musical theater here in Topeka around 2009 with the Topeka Civic Theatre and more recently with the Ad Astra Theatre Ensemble.” Currently working at Stormont Vail Health as an administrator, Donepudi says she looks forward to adding her voice to “a good cause.”
About the Writer: Carolyn Kaberline is a teacher and journalist whose writing appears regularly in Topeka Magazine.
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APPETITE
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019 STORY BY
Linda A. Ditch |
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
Bill Stephens
AtoDINNER Lessen the Burden Volunteers at Topeka’s Ronald McDonald House cook up comfort food so families have more time and energy to be with their kids in need
Topeka Ronald McDonald House volunteers for this soup meal included (from left): Jaci Vogel, Jennifer Wilson, Bobbi Mangas, Pam Beam, Kay White and Shelby Lopez.
APPETITE
A
lmost every evening, a group of cooks gathers in the kitchen of a beautiful, large craftsman-style home at 825 SW Buchanan in Topeka. This is Topeka’s Ronald McDonald House, and the cooks are volunteers who create a home-cooked dinner for the guests—parents and family members of children being treated at one of the city’s hospitals. The families have usually spent all day with a sick child, and in many cases these are hours full of anxiety and worry for their children’s health. Having a meal waiting for them, says Topeka Ronald McDonald House morning manager Jennifer Wilson, sustains the families and hopefully alleviates some of their stress. “They usually get here just after hospital visiting hours end, so it’s a little bit after dinnertime,” says Wilson. “They can just heat up a meal and get their stomach full of something nutritious and then go to bed. They have a lot more things to worry about than cooking a meal, and a lot of times, if they had to cook a meal, they would just go up to bed and not eat.” The volunteer cooks are diverse. There are community groups, couples, groups of friends and sometimes work colleagues. These groups prepare meals to feed from 10 to 14 people; the only requirements are that the dinners should be comfort food and, to comply with state health codes, cooked on-site. Volunteers are provided general guidelines that suggest a main dish, a starch (if not in the main dish), a salad or vegetable, fresh fruit, bread or rolls, and a dessert. Ingredients can be taken from the kitchen’s well-stocked pantry full of donated ingredients and supplies. A hospitalized child’s caretaker—parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, grandparents, adult siblings, etc.—can stay at the house if they live outside the city limits. The house asks for a $25 per night donation, but they will not turn away anyone who can’t pay. Stormont Vail security provides transportation for guests should they need it. In 2018, the Topeka house hosted 166 guest families. Most guests are military families from Fort Riley who have a child in the Stormont Vail neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), but guests come from all over the state.
Spring 2019 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
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TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
Ashley Sens from Powhattan, Kansas, was one recent guest. In January 2019, her son Jonathan was admitted into intensive care three days after he was born. Jonathan required antibiotics for 14 days and intravenous feeding for 10 days. Doctors needed to constantly monitor the infant’s system, including his blood sugar levels. Equally important, Jonathan required the presence of a loving family member—his mom. The availability of the Ronald McDonald House and its in-house kitchen made that last condition easier for everyone. “Staying here is convenient, being only two blocks from the hospital,” Sens says. “It’s nice because if I feel like waking up in the middle of the night to go see him, it’s not an issue. I don’t have to worry about driving and hour there and back. It’s comforting because they have meals almost every night. And if they don’t, they have a bunch of leftovers in the fridge. So, I don’t have to worry about taking care of myself because it’s already been done.” Sens notes that Jonathan is a “legacy” Ronald McDonald House kid. His father was born at only 26 weeks, and his parents stayed at a Ronald McDonald House in Texas as he was being cared for in the hospital. On this night, Sens’ meal—chicken taco soup—has been prepared by Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Kansas board member Bobbi Mangas and some of her friends who gather every third Wednesday of the month to make the meal. “It’s very rewarding that I’m giving back to something,” Mangas says. “When I meet a family that is staying here and they’re so appreciative, it makes me feel good. Plus, it takes one less burden off the people that run the house. It helps them know the families staying here are being taken care of.” “I’m grateful for people who do this,” Sens says, as she prepares to enjoy a bowl of taco soup. “From now on, on Jon’s birthday, we’re going to do something for the people here, whether it be ordering pizzas or something to be delivered here. It’s been a relief staying here.”
About the Writer: Linda A. Ditch is a Topeka-based writer and writing workshop leader who specializes in culinary stories.
APPETITE
A Topeka Ronald McDonald House’s House Chicken Taco Soup (courtesy volunteer Gayle Smith) Preparation Time: 30 minutes Feeds: 6 to 8 Ingredients 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts Several cups water (to boil chicken breasts and retain as stock) 2 15.5-ounce cans kidney beans 1 package ranch dressing mix 1 10-ounce can mild Rotel tomatoes 1 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes 1 4.5-ounce can chopped green chilies 1 14.5-ounce can corn 1 teaspoon chili powder Sour cream (to taste) ½ cup grated cheese Corn chips (to taste) Instructions 1. Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Place into a soup pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and then reduces the heat to a simmer. Cook until the chicken is done, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water in the pot. 2. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Simmer until hot, approximately 15 minutes. 3. To serve, top with a dollop of sour cream, grated cheese and corn chips.
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TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
PLACE Christine Steinkuehler ILLUSTRATION BY Lana Grove
STORY BY
REX Among Us One of Topeka’s most internationally known celebrities has few physical reminders, but a legacy, in his hometown
T
opekan Rex Stout was one of the most celebrated and influential writers of his time. Starting as a pulp-fiction writer and then releasing a run of literary novels, he became most famous from the mid-1930s to the mid-1970s as he created stories featuring the rotund, Balkan-immigrant mastermind Nero Wolfe and his charming, man-of-action sidekick Archie Goodwin. These approximately 40 works of fiction became bestsellers and the basis for a 1970s American television program, several stage productions and international spin-offs. In 1966, Stout proudly noted that his Nero Wolf series was translated into numerous different languages, including Ceylonese—something not even Agatha Christie could yet claim. In 1992, NBC created a television movie based on Stout’s female detective character, Dol Bonner, who starred in her own novel and appeared in a few Nero Wolf mysteries. Even as late as 2005, thirty years after his death, a new Russianlanguage series of Nero Wolf mystery stories was created and aired on Russian television. To this day, you can find Nero Wolfe movies on various paid and free videostreaming channels. Few connections to Stout remain in Topeka, but there are some direct and some less so, through his families and friends, if you know where to find them.
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Spring 2019 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
Connection 1: Belleview
Connection 3: Topeka High School
Though Stout was born in Indiana and would spend a bulk of his creative life in New York—and base most of the Wolfe mysteries in New York City—he moved to Topeka at a young age. John McAleer’s biography of Stout notes that the family originally landed in Belleview, a suburb of Topeka some three miles from what was then the center of town and now between Highland Park and Dornwood. This seems to be a short-lived residence before the family moved on to its next location.
With this sale, the family moved back to Belleville and then to Topeka where their father was an administrator in the public school system before rather mysteriously taking a job as a traveling encyclopedia salesman. About this time, we begin to find more records of Rex Stout. At age 13 he won the state spelling bee. While attending Topeka High School, Stout and his brother created a banking system used for tracking student savings accounts and sold it to hundreds of schools across the country. Upon graduation, Stout briefly attended University of Kansas, but he soon left to join the Navy. There is an article from one of his return visits where the young Stout brags about his assignment working on Teddy Roosevelt’s presidential yacht. In 1916, he returned to Topeka to marry his first wife, Fay Kennedy. One indirect connection to Stout remains at Topeka High School through Stout’s cousin, David Hicks Overmyer. Stout and Overmyer grew up together on nearby farms, and the two boys were known for casting family-theater scenes where Stout liked to play the villain. The two remained in touch throughout their lives, and though Stout would spend his adult years in New York, Overmyer would leave his legacy in Topeka as the artist who painted eight murals on the ground floor of the Capitol rotunda as well as the apple tree mural in the teachers’ breakroom of Topeka High School.
Connection 2: Wakarusa
From Belleview, the family relocated to a farm near Wakarusa. McAleer’s biography describes this farm as sitting “two and a half miles from Wakarusa along the Sac and Fox road.” This pathway was later known as the “Ottawa State Road” and ran south through Berryton. From here, Rex attended school in Wakarusa with his siblings. In fact, in 1895, five Stouts were in attendance with May (the oldest) as their teacher. At this age, Rex was said to have hobbies including horseshoes and croquet; he was quite a marbles player and got in trouble for swindling others in the schoolyard. In June 1896, the Stouts sold this farm to John Stephens, and this transaction allows us to identify the property’s exact location, thanks to the Shawnee County Court House Register of Deeds, which records real estate transactions dating back to the founding of the city. These now-digitalized documents place the farm precisely at the “Northwest quarter of the Southwest quarter of Section 18, Township 13, Range 16,” a picturesque area, but one now devoid of any structure connected to the Stouts.
Connection 4: In a bar, then a jail
Growing up Quaker at the height of the temperance movement, the Stouts were believed to have been a teetotaling household. May Stout joined the Home
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Defenders, a temperance group formed by Topeka’s Dr. Eva Harding to support the mission of the most famous bar-smasher, Carrie Nation, who was also a frequent dinner guest of the Stouts when she was in town. May and Ruth joined Nation on several of her raids and were disappointed when they failed to be arrested and spend the night in a Topeka jail cell alongside Nation. Connection 5: In a garden
One of Nero Wolfe’s peculiar characteristics is his love of orchids and his expertise in growing them. Orchids provide a distraction for Wolfe, an opportunity for him to mull over a case, and they often serve as an impetus to move a plot along. It seems the Wakarusa farm had a lifelong impact on the Stout children. In real life, Stout was known to keep a garden, but the biggest gardener in his family was sister Ruth, who pioneered an organic, mulchintensive approach to gardening that she described as “no-till, no-work.” She was also famously known for advocating gardening in the nude. Connection 6: In a book
Writing a 2018 tribute to Nero Wolfe in KANSAS! magazine, Topekan and New York Times bestselling author Alex Grecian remarked that possibly the most fitting monuments to Rex Stout are the city’s libraries and bookmobiles that carry his work—or any work that might inspire readers. Those new to Nero Wolfe might want to start with the detective’s first book, Fer-de-Lance, or one of the most popular novels such as Too Many Cooks or Some Buried Caesar.
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WHAT’S HAPPENING
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE SPRING
MARCH FEATURED EVENT
40TH ANNIVERSARY TOPEKA ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATIONS March 16
Just because it happens every year doesn’t mean you can miss one—particularly the 2019 event, which marks 40 years of the parade and associated celebrations. The central event remains the parade, which starts at noon and rolls through Downtown Topeka. But crowds will also form for the newer events including the 11th Annual Bed Race, the Mater Dei Irish Fest 5k run, the Irish song sing-along, the beer garden and buffet and a golf tournament the following week (March 23). For a full rundown of events, times, parade route and more, go online at topekastpats.com.
March 1–March 30 In the Heights
Topeka Civic Theatre presents the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical about three generations in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. For ticket reservations and more information, go online at topekacivictheatre.com.
March 1–March 30
Two Ponders: A Collaboration Artist Barbara WatermanPeters teams up with poet Dennis Etzel, Jr. to present an exhibition focusing on one pond in Gage Park and its connection to the environment, the importance of water and more. The exhibition is free and held at the NOTO Arts Center, open Thursdays– Saturdays from 11 am–5 pm. For more information, go online at explorenoto.org. Photography courtesy (from top) Nathan Ham Photography, The Vogts Sisters and Abbie Gardner.
March 4
Broad Stars and Bright Stripes From the White Concert Hall of Washburn University, The Topeka Festival Singers present an evening of patriotic songs, many from the World War II era. For ticket reservations and more information, go online at topekafestivalsingers.org.
March 4
Desmond Egan Writer and translator Desmond Egan returns to Topeka for the presentation “An Irish Poet on Expressions of Freedom” at the Rita Blitt Gallery of Washburn University’s Mulvane Art Museum in a free and open event. For more information, go online at washburn.edu/ Mulvane.
March 8
Baylor University Concert Choir Topeka’s Grace Episcopal Cathedral hosts a concert by student musicians of Baylor University. This free event is part of the ongoing Great Spaces: Music and Arts performance series. For more information, go online at greatspaces.org.
March 9
The Vogts Sisters Three-time champions at Walnut Valley Festival’s “New Song Showcase” competition, this young duo performs Americana and old-time music at the Jayhawk Theatre as part of the Last Minute Folk Concert Series. For ticket reservations and more information, go online at lastminutefolk.org.
March 12
Monarchs Baseball Phil S. Dixon, historian, author and co-founder of the Negro Leagues Museum, presents an overview of the legendary players who wore the uniform of the Kansas City Monarchs. Hosted by the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, with a book signing following the presentation. For more information, go online at tscpl.org.
March 15
Liverpool Legends: The Complete Beatles Experience Beatlemania forever, or at least for one night on stage as one of the leading Beatles tribute bands performs at Topeka Performing Arts Center. For ticket reservations and more information, go online at topekaperformingarts.org.
March 24
Abbie Gardner Member of the popular Red Molly trio and celebrated dobra-player and singer, Abbie Gardner arrives in Topeka for a performance at the Jayhawk Theatre as part of the Last Minute Folk Concert Series. For ticket reservations and more information, go online at lastminutefolk.org.
March 30
For the Good of Them Topeka’s It Takes a Village Dance troupe presents a praise dance opera at the Topeka Performing Arts Center. For ticket reservations and more information, go online at topekaperformingarts.org.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
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OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE SPRING
APRIL April 4
FEATURED EVENT
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
April 19–May 4
The story of Anne Frank—a Germanborn Jewish teenager who hid from and ultimately died under Nazi occupation—has been central to Western discourse since her diaries were published in 1947 and then adapted for stage and film. In 2019, Frank’s fate remains timely, according to Doug Goheen, guest director for Topeka Civic Theatre’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank. “Many of the things that were going on 75 years ago are still going on. There are issues of immigration, marginalization of groups, and the rise of despotism and intolerance that the play explores,” Goheen says. A former Topeka West High School English and theater instructor, Goheen brings the play to the theater’s main stage (the first time it has been produced by the Civic Theatre) as well as to matinee performance for area high school students. “Many of them are aware of Anne Frank,” Goheen says, “but few have actually witnessed a stage production, which can be more educational and impactful than just the popular perception of who she was.”
Managing Weeds, Pests and Disease—Organically Shawnee County Extension’s Master Gardeners group presents tips and advice for eco-friendly gardening. Free admission. For more information, see the event page at tscpl.org.
April 5
First Friday Art Walk As with the first Friday of each month, Topeka’s galleries and art studios open for special showings, artist meet-andgreets and performances. For a full schedule of events, participating venues and special transportation routes, go online at artsconnecttopeka.org.
April 6
Will You Marry Me? The Topeka Symphony Orchestra continues its performance year of “The Big Questions” concerts with this production featuring love songs and romances such as Peter Maxwell Davies’s “An Orkney Wedding”, “With Sunrise” and Aaron Copland’s ever-popular “Appalachian Spring”. For ticket reservation or more information, go online at topekasymphony.org
April 6
The Diary of Anne Frank runs for nine performances. For more information and ticket reservations, go online at topekacivictheatre.com.
Kansas Kapitals Topeka’s National Gridiron League football team holds its first home game of the 2019 season at the Kansas Expocentre. For more information about the team, the league and tickets for the 2019 schedule, go online at kansaskapitals.com.
April 1
April 11
Exploring Topeka’s African-American History Quarterly meeting of the Kansas Chapter of KAAHGS explores African-American genealogical research themes and approaches. Hosted by Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, tscpl.org. Photography courtesy (from top) Nathan Ham Photography, Ballet Midwest and Feld Entertainment.
Artist Presentation: Larry Peters Sculptor Larry Peters, one of the city’s most distinguished artists, shares insight into his process of creating mixed-media works with tips for selecting materials and approaching a mixed-media work. Hosted by the Topeka &
Shawnee County Public Library. Free admission. More information is available online at tscpl.org.
April 12–28
Tulips at Twilight Part of the citywide Tulip Time, this event allows visitors to enjoy evening showings amid the picturesque background of Old Prairie Town. Tickets are $5; for times and more information, call (785) 2516989. For more information on tulip showings across the city, including Lake Shawnee gardens and other locations, go online at parks.snco.us.
April 13–14
Coppélia Ballet Midwest brings the tale of a toymaker and his dancing dolls to the stage of the Topeka Performing Arts Center. For ticket reservations and more information, go online at topekaperformingarts.org.
April 18–21
Corteo Cirque du Soleil arrives at the Kansas Expocentre to present an extravagant, acrobatic performance of an old-time circus troupe’s tribute to one of its lost members. For more information and previews, go online at cirquedusoleil.com/corteo.
April 25–28
Disney on Ice: Frozen The musical story of two princesses fighting to save their kingdom from winter and to preserve their sisterly love is retold by Feld Entertainment’s troupe of skating performers in multiple shows at the Kansas Expocentre. For ticket reservations and more information, go online at ksexpo.com.
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TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE SPRING
MAY FEATURED EVENT
Various dates in May
TWELFTH NIGHT
Brown v Board of Education 65th Anniversary
Shannon J. Reilly has directed over a dozen Shakespeare plays, but the comedy Twelfth Night, with its witty dialogue and strong female leads, is one of his favorites.
May 17 marks 65 years since a group of Topekans and the NAACP won a Supreme Court decision that ended legalized public school segregation. Topeka commemorates the anniversary with events hosted by the Brown v. Board Sumner Legacy Trust and the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. For more information, go online at bvbsumnerlegacy.org and nps.gov/brvb.
May 3–5
“It’s so incredibly funny, and the characters are larger than life. One is outlandishly romantic while the other is the opposite,” Reilly says. Reilly—creative director for Topeka Civic Theatre—stages the production in partnership with the Helen Hocker Theatre and Ad Astra Ensemble as a fundraiser for renovations to the historic Jayhawk Theatre. “It’s something that’s really theatrical, and it’s also cheap ’cause we have no money,” Reilly explains with a laugh. “I’m very excited about it.” Reilly especially loves this production because of its take on empowering young women. With an all-female cast, many of whom will be cross-dressing, Reilly believes this production allows women to take on rolls that are a bit “juicier.” “This show starts with a young woman on an island who has to pose as a man to survive. And even today it is still hard for a young woman to make her way in a world governed and controlled by men,” Reilly says.
Twelfth Night runs for three performances. For ticket reservations and more information, go online at jayhawktheatre.org. —Kalli Jo Smith
May 3
Story Slam Tell the best 5-minute story about “May Day” or “mayday!” and win a cash prize. Competition sponsored by the NOTO Arts Center and the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library and held at the NOTO Arts Place. For more information, go online at tscpl.org.
May 4
Creating Oral Histories Librarians guide a class in using oral history kits to begin creating family oral histories. Free admission, but registration is required through the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. For more information, go online at tscpl.org.
May 4
What is My Fate? Topeka Symphony Orchestra closes out its 2018–2019 season of “The Big Questions” concerts with a performance featuring Zsolt Eder and Eman Chalshotori playing Brahms’ Double Concerto.
May 4
REO Speedwagon Legendary rock group performs at the Topeka Performing Arts Center. For ticket reservations and more information, go online at topekaperformingarts.org.
Photography via Shutterstock and courtesy TPAC
May 7
Beach Boys Some 53 years after “Good Vibrations,” original Beach Boys member Mike Love captains a new generation of the band in this one-night show. For ticket reservations and more information, go online at topekaperformingarts.org.
May 11
National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Summit Racing Series Competition moves to the fourth bracket as Topeka’s Heartland Park hosts this top-level drag racing. For a full schedule and ticket information, go online at heartlandpark.com.
May 15
Christina Lauren She’s actually two people—and both of them will appear at Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library to talk about their work as romance author Christina Lauren and their series of New York Times bestsellers. For more information, go online at tscpl.org.
May 25–27
Memorial Day Weekend Veterans honored with Memorial Day Tribute Wall at Penwell-Gabel Cemetery. For more information, go online at penwellgabelcemetery.com.
May 28
Golden Giants opener Loaded with a roster of hometown talent, Topeka’s 2018 Mid Plains League regular-season champion team opens its season with a home game against the Centennial League All-Stars. More information and a full summer schedule are available at topekagoldengiantsbaseball.com.
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FEATURES
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Perfect Shot
Orchestrion Man
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K e rn d y Lo s A b b i e n a t u re - p l u es c re a t co m y b s e , imag i m a ls n a g d a rt n a bi n i n s ca p e lands nd Story a hy by p a r g o phot ens h p Bill Ste
Abbie Loyd Kern photographs at Lake Shawnee; layered image “Hot Mess” by Abbie Loyd Kern.
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Spring 2019 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
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ARTY PARTY
APRIL 20 DILLON HOUSE 7-11P FEATURING CALVIN ARSENIA
FIRST FRIDAY
ARTSCONNECTTOPEKA.ORG
artwalk BALLETMIDWEST.NET
BALLET
April 13 & 14, 2019 7:30 pm show Saturday 1:30 pm show Sunday Topeka Performing Arts Center
LACEE SANDGREN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Tickets: TPAC Box Office • Ticketmaster outlets 1-800-745-3000 • www.ticketmaster.com Barbara’s Conservatory of Dance
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TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
Orchestrion
MAN A former math teacher creates a working museum of old-time mechanical music players Story by Katherine Dinsdale
Photography by Nick Krug
Spring 2019 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
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TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
FEATURE 2
Spring 2019 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
“Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” never sounded so good as when H.C. Beckman flips the switch on his Beckman O-roll Player Piano and strikes up the original Jim Croce song. The customized and namesake instrument is technically an “orchestrion,” a mechanical piano that is also connected to pipes and other instruments to replicate the sound of a full orchestra. When Beckman’s creation plays the tune about the man who was “badder than old King Kong” and “meaner than a junkyard dog,” the song takes on a cheerful bite as accordion, tambourine, drum, wood blocks, triangle and cymbal sounds pour out of the instrument with gusto. “It’s the happiest music you’ll ever hear,” says Beckman, in suspenders and a short-sleeved dress shirt, looking every bit the math teacher who divided his more than 50-year teaching career between Highland Park Junior High, Highland Park Senior High and Washburn University. Now, as he approaches his 80th birthday this summer, Beckman is all about his collection of musical instruments. He switches off the O-roll, which he designed and built, and continues a tour of a spotless studio filled with player pianos and their mechanical cousins. There’s a Gem Roller Organ, a tabletop player that was listed in the Sears catalog in the early 1900s for $2.25. Beckman says that during those years, congregations too poor to afford a standard organ could turn the crank on a Gem Roller’s pin cylinder, pump the bellows and fill a church with “The Sweet By and By.” When Beckman changes the cob—another name for the pin cylinder, which is similar in shape and size to a bare corn cob—the melody is a tad more secular, “Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby.” Technological limitations of the time affected what music could be produced and enjoyed for the machine’s capabilities. The busker organ in Beckman’s collection, for example, has a range of only 26 notes on a non-chromatic scale. “One of the challenges of writing music for a busker organ or a roller organ is that you have to figure out which musical key will allow you to play the fewest number of notes needed for the melody,” he says. Some of the instruments in Beckman’s collection were not used in homes or churches, but in public venues for profit—precursors to a jukebox. Beckman
shows a few of those, including a Wurlitzer Pianino, in his living room. The mechanical parts of this instrument are hidden in a beautifully finished oak case and include a set of flute pipes, violin pipes and a snare drum. A coin slot is located on the front, with a saucer of quarters nearby. The name for these early jukeboxes is “nickelodeons,” but apparently, with inflation, quarters are now the going rate. Beckman slips a penny into a disc-operated Regina Music Box. Beckman found the original receipt for this player; it was shipped from the manufacturer to downtown Topeka on May 3, 1904. It’s still possible to buy music discs for this player, and many contemporary tunes are available. Beckman learned how to make change as a child in his great-grandfather’s store, H.C. Beckman’s Grocery, located in Randolph. As an undergraduate studying math at Kansas State University, Beckman got to know a blind piano tuner. “I helped him. I drove him around,” H.C. says. “Then I met another blind piano tuner and joined the piano technician guild. I found out that I enjoyed working on pianos. I’ve always had a fascination with mechanical things,” he says. “I like taking things apart. I’m kind of a nerdy person.” He possibly sells his talents a bit short, judging from the complex assemblies of the instruments he has built and repaired. He is thinking about converting some of his players to a digitized MIDI application. One problem Beckman faces with rebuilding and repairing these instruments is finding quality supplies. Another, he says, is that player-piano technicians are getting hard to find. “The average age of the folks who work on these things is getting on up there,” he says. “Very few young folks are going into repairing players. It’s a shame, because what you hear when you crank these players is exactly the sound you would have heard in 1920. If you needed music for an event or a business, it was a lot cheaper to buy one of these boxes than to hire a band. That’s one reason the volumes of these instruments are typically pretty loud. They were designed to fill a large room with sound. Back then you would have thought it was really special.”
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TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2019
Organ Grinders
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“Give My Regards to Broadway” fills H.C. Beckman’s garage studio when he turns the crank to demonstrate a 26-note busker organ and glockenspiel that he built. The white box of the organ is trimmed with gold filigree and set on gold-trimmed wheels for easy transport. A couple of old mechanical toy monkeys watch nearby. “This is the kind of box the monkey grinders used,” Beckman says, “but the truth is, even back in the day, most street musicians used dogs to help draw customers. The live monkeys were temperamental and likely to bite.” Topeka’s Senate Luxury Suites Hotel, 900 SW Tyler, is a good place to view “An Organ Grinder and His Monkey” without fear of a bite. Standing at the hotel entryway since it was installed in 1991, the large bronze figure by nationally renowned sculptor Mark Lundeen was based on a scene the artist sketched while traveling in Europe.
Quilters March 1 - 10, 2019
April 12 - 21, 2019
“I liked the interaction between the organ grinder, the monkey and the public,” he says. “I sketched the idea and put it in my wallet. When I got home and ‘found’ that sketch, I started sculpting.”
JUNE 7 - 23, 2019 (785) 843-SHOW (7469) www.THEATRELAWRENCE.com 4660 Bauer Farm Drive
LIED CENTER
ANNIVERSARY • 1993–2018
See complete season online • Free On-site Parking •
Sunday
Sunday
APR 21
JAN 27
6:00 pm
2:00 pm
Join us for this special family event with child-friendly activities before the show, like an Easter egg hunt and more!
Featuring new handyman projects, advice to married guys, tips on getting old and much more. Wednesday
MAY 1 7:00 pm
lied.ku.edu • 785-864-2787
EAST
Health Aide Commercial Truck Driving Building Technology GED/ESL ALWAYS ENROLLING
785.670.3380 washburntech.edu Temporarily located at 1921 SE Indiana Ave. (north of Washburn Tech East)
Beckman Live!
H.C. Beckman’s newest musical instrument is a red accordion, a battery-operated digital instrument that uses a memory chip. He squeezes a familiar tune, “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream.” Though Beckman doesn’t call himself a musician, he does play this accordion as well as the organ grinder occasionally with an outfit called NTR (for “The No Talent Required” band”). One of the members of this band met Beckman under very different circumstances. He was one of Beckman’s eighth-grade algebra students in 1967.
Stephan Prô, MD and Douglass Stull, MD Board-Certified Orthopedic Surgeons and Sports Medicine Physicians
Healthy living and healthy people - that’s our inspiration. As board-certified orthopedic surgeons, highly accomplished athletes and regulars on the Lawrence Loop, Dr. Prô and Dr. Stull know a lot about healthy living. Inspired by you and for you, they share your goals for staying active, healthy and close to home. And, like all of us at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, they are committed to being your partners for lifelong health. Start your healthy future today at lmh.org/health
A partner for lifelong health
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Spring 2019
Beckman’s Big Box Boom
Spring 2019
ABBIE LOYD KERN’S
NATURE-PLUS PHOTOGRAPHIC ART