Topeka Magazine Spring 2010 by Sunflower Publishing

TOPEKA

TOPEKA’S PREMIER MAGAZINE ON PEOPLE, PLACES & STYLE

MAGAZINE

spring 2010

Orthodox Easter Eggs A spiritual art John Riordan’s garden is as bright as spring

SCARS dogs and the couple who love them

Historic cemeteries, living connections

$3.00

TOPEKAMAGAZINE

Vol. IV / No. I1

from the editor

publisher / Art Director

Darby Oppold Editor

There are probably very few people with the same direct connection to the land and history of Topeka as Mickey Delfelder. The young professional profiled by writer Anita Miller Fry on page 30 of this issue has dedicated a considerable amount of his time to mapping, documenting and preserving many of the quaint and sometimes rather forlorn cemeteries that dot the hills to the west of Topeka. A direct descendent of immigrants who carried their families, crop seeds and big dreams into Kansas, Delfelder—along with many other volunteers—works to preserve connections to his personal history, which also happens to be part of our communal heritage as a city. That last part is what I find most appealing about Delfelder’s work. He has turned a fascination with his own heritage into an interest that speaks to more people than his own kin. Whether your ancestors arrived well after—or some thousands of years before—Delfelder’s great-great-greatgranddaddies Georg and Henri, the stories found or imagined from tombstones and the memories of rare prairie flowers growing by a graveyard are just as rewarding. I’ll admit, no matter how interesting a cemetery might be, it is an unusual theme for a spring issue. But if spring is traditionally all about rebirth, then isn’t part of that process first determined by how we choose to view and connect to the past? After all, what are we rebirthing from? This spring issue of Topeka Magazine brings you the traditional warm promises of spring’s new life, such as Christine Steinkuehler’s profile of Carl Smith’s early daffodil blooms and her engaging portrait

Spring 2010

of John Riordan’s garden of raucously bright colors. But it’s also full of stories about Topekans taking something from the past and reawakening it for a new purpose. There’s Dave Calwell, who turns an artifact of railroad history into a wonderfully appealing slow-pace touring mobile. There’s Zenab Mebed, who makes a longdistance pilgrimage into her parent’s heritage a part of her own process in becoming even more closely connected to Topeka. There’s Terry Towle, who crafts his Irish ancestry into a handmade leprechaun-studded showhouse to share with visitors and astound chance trick-or-treaters. There is a group of athletes, who do anything but run from the past as they transform themselves with every step around the track. And there is also our cover story, the traditional art of pysanky—decorative egg painting—that is entirely rooted in tradition and entirely about a beautiful renewal. The pysanky that Jason Dailey photographed for that feature, by the way, were handed out by the artist as gifts to friends, family members and loved ones. I can’t think of a better way to share one’s own heritage than to study it, admire it and crack it open in the spring for others to appreciate. I hope you enjoy the best of the old made new in this spring issue of Topeka Magazine and in your own life this season.

Nathan Pettengill Editor

Nathan Pettengill COPY EDITOR

susie fagan advertising representative

kathy lafferty (785) 224-9992 Designer

Tamra Rolf Ad Designers

shelly bryant Tamra Rolf Photographers

daniel W. coburn Jason Dailey Contributing Writers

julie k. buzbee anita miller fry stacey jo geier KIM GRONNIGER CAROLYN KABERLINE vernon mcfalls cheryl nelsen karen ridder FRANCIE FORRESTT RILEY christine steinkuehler debra Guiou stufflebean GENERAL MANAGER

BERT HULL coordinator

faryle scott

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TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

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Contents

Spring

on the cover

2010

Marsha Longofono creates traditional pysanky eggs {Photography by Jason Dailey}

34 John Riordan’s garden is as bright as spring 10 SCARS dogs and the couple who love them 30 Historic cemeteries, living connections

Features 30 Resting at Peace

For one young genealogist, rural cemeteries offer an opportunity for solitude and exploration, and a connection to past generations

46 Pysanky: A Dyeing Art Traditional egg decorations brighten the celebration of Orthodox Easter

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In Every Issue

03 From the Editor 62 events calendar

DEPARTMENTS .............

.............

topeka businesses

Home LIfe

grow

10 For the Dogs

34 A Garden Where

58 Daffodils to Share

Maureen and Terry Cummins dedicate their nonprofit business to caring for abandoned and neglected creatures on a farm west of Auburn

Nature Plans

Working with bright colors and fragrant blooms, John Riordan keeps a simple garden that makes a powerful spring showing

One of the area’s brightest, most abundant displays of daffodils can be enjoyed in Carl Smith’s wooded garden .............

14 Plugged-In Cottage Industries

Topeka craft artists market online to reach new audiences and keep old arts alive

38 Pluck of the Irish Topeka carpenter creates homeland home .............

local flavor .............

notables

18 Call to Home

After losing her parents, Zenab Mebed journeys to their homeland to connect with relatives and rediscover her family history

22 Pumped Up

Karl Fundenberger may not exactly know where the city is going, but he has definite ideas on how it could get there

26 Calwell’s Car

A retired railroader is drawn to a historic relic and its appeal of slow travels over scenic routes

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

40 A Tasty Irish Tribute Topeka chefs offer ethnic takes on Irish cuisine .............

living well

52 proud Pacers

Volunteers set up a women’s correctional facility running program to combine fitness with community fundraising

54 St. Francis’ Hospital on Wheels

When the patient can’t come to the advanced medical equipment, the advanced medical equipment comes to the patient

For the Family

60 The Geocachers

They combine GPS technology with old-fashioned treasure hunts to create an exciting family activity

10 TOPEKA BUSINESSES Second Chance Animal Refuge Society

for the dogs Maureen and Terry Cummins dedicate their nonprofit business to caring for abandoned and neglected creatures on a farm west of Auburn

Sebastian, a Saint Bernard, and the other dogs at the Cumminses’ shelter have 50 acres to roam and roll.

aureen Cummins grew up as the daughter of a career naval officer and wasn’t allowed to have a pet as a child because the family moved too often. Still, her father’s service taught her a lesson midshipmen learn in the naval academy: to live for a cause greater than oneself. Maureen found that cause as an adult living in Puerto Rico, where she was overwhelmed by the number of starving dogs wandering the streets and took in a German shepherd. From that moment, she combined her father’s idea of service with a devotion to dogs. “I advocate for the dog; you have to be their voice. They can’t pick up the phone and say they need help,” she says. “It’s all of our responsibility to advocate for animals and children.” It was dogs that brought Maureen and Terry Cummins together. Terry, a certified public accountant, lived on a 50-acre homestead west of Auburn with his five dogs. Terry grew up with dogs on a farm near Macksville, a small town between Great Bend and Pratt. Thinking there was always room for one more dog, Terry called Maureen about adopting an abandoned dog after he saw a newspaper picture of a case she was working on as an animal abuse investigator. Maureen thought five dogs were plenty for a single man. Instead of winding up with the dog, Terry wound up with his soul mate.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

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12 Second Chance Animal Refuge Society Sebastian and his pack frequently get up close with a camera. The Cumminses’ website-www.scarsusa.com-features photos and profiles of adoptable dogs.

Kringle

Kramer

After Maureen and Terry married in 1998, word spread that the couple were softies when it came to caring for dogs that others had cast aside. Dogs started showing up at their front gate, and phone messages were left about dogs that were starving or continuously left outdoors on chains. Within a few years, and thousands of dollars later, Terry knew he had to form a nonprofit to help cover the mounting costs. Today their no-kill dog refuge called Second Chance Animal Refuge Society (SCARS) houses an average population of 45 dogs that live at the farm west of Auburn and have access to the 50 acres, two heated barns and two ponds. People can interact with the dogs in the tile-floored family room. The Cumminses take no salary to give donors assurance that all money received goes for food and veterinary care. Dog food is delivered by the truckload. All

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

Sebastian

Casey Jo

dogs are spayed or neutered, up-to-date on shots and given heartworm preventative. The couple’s work has earned them recognition, including the 2009 Capitol Citizen Award sponsored by Capitol Federal and Cox Communications. Like a mother hen, Maureen clucks off the stories of each dog that surrounds her on the floor. Bug, a rat terrier, was dropped off at the gate. Kringle, a Tibetan spaniel, had been neglected and locked in a shed. Heidi, a Rottweiler mix, was blinded in both eyes after taking a bullet in the optic nerve while defending her puppies. Horatio, a Lhasa apso mix, was surrendered to Maureen at the parking lot of Topeka West High School where she teaches English. Jack, an expensive Bernese mountain dog, was confined to a crate after his owner became pregnant. Sebastian, a Saint Bernard, was a starvation

Maggie

case rescued at 53 pounds (he now weighs a healthy 180 pounds). Anna, a Bernese mountain dog-Australian shepherd mix, was rescued after a neighbor reported she had never been off chain. “Dogs were born to run, and it’s unrealistic to expect a dog to go without exercise. That’s when behavioral problems often present themselves,” Maureen says. “So we allow them to experience the sheer joy of running, as long as two weeks, before we start working on socialization.” After this initial period, the dogs are taught the difference between outside and indoor behavior. Firm commands and a lot of love transform even the most challenging dog. Because dogs are integrated into the Cumminses’ household, the likelihood of a successful adoption is high. Since 2003, almost 450 dogs have gone to good homes.

Even with some 45 dogs at her shelter, Maureen Cummins finds time to provide each one individual attention. Here, Kringle returns the love with a lick on Maureen’s face.

Maureen prides herself on matching the right dog with the right prospective family. “I don’t want to ever see these dogs abandoned again, so I’m very thorough in screening adoptive families.” If an adoption does not work out, the Cumminses require that the dog be returned to SCARS. So how big does the heart of someone have to be to take on such an undertaking? Large enough to have a tiny piece chiseled away each time a dog that has been loved and nurtured back to health is adopted. It’s hard for Maureen and Terry to let them go back into the world from which they were rescued. Large enough to have a tiny piece chiseled away each time a dog with great potential is overlooked for adoption. Indeed some never get adopted, though each dog eagerly nuzzles visitors as if to say, “Pick me.” Large enough to have a tiny piece chiseled away when a dog dies on their watch; some arrive with so many “scars” that their lives are cut short—but Maureen and Terry never forget them. It is the success stories that make it all worthwhile. Maureen’s father must be very proud that the lesson she learned as a child is resulting in a job well done.

14 TOPEKA BUSINESSES Etsy artists

Plugged-In

Cottage Industries Topeka craft artists market online to reach new audiences and keep old arts alive

Stephanie, top, and Deb Foster run the mother-daughter Stir Designs, an online store at www.stirdesigns. com for handmade, hand-dyed and hand-knit crafts. The site features several home accessories including these pillows.

here was a time when being a parttime, home-based artist was simple. You stayed at home to create your works of art. When they were done, you took them to market. And you sat in your booth and you smiled. And you waited. And you watched people look at them. And you smiled. And you waited. Sometimes you sold your best objects. Often you didn’t. Then came the internet. Sure, it brought endless spam and eye-rolling, awful e-mail jokes forwarded from your best friend’s aunt. But for small-scale traditional artists, it also threw open the door to niche markets, with clients from Tallahassee and Tucson as well as Topeka and Tonganoxie. Several Topeka artists have combined their artwork with online networks to create a new type of “cottage industry.” The internet has opened markets, but the biggest break for these artists has nothing to do with the dot-com world. It allows them to concentrate on their old-world approach to art: creating one object at a time.

The Foster knitters

Sometimes people ask mother and daughter Deb and Stephanie Foster how they are able to work together to sell products online. It seems natural to them, especially because they’ve been painting and wallpapering together since 2000 for an interior design business created by Deb’s mother, Joyce Knott.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

STORY BY Cheryl Nelsen | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Jason Dailey

TOPEKA BUSINESSES

16 Etsy artists

“Painting walls doesn’t use very much of your brain power,” Stephanie says. “To entertain ourselves, we usually chat about whatever.” During one of those chats, she brought up the artist-based Etsy.com website and “thought this might be fun.” Stephanie, 27, and Deb, 51, created their Etsy shops to sell their knitted products, hand-dyed fabrics, jewelry, purses, wall hangings, pillows and other designs. The Fosters had been selling their handmade products at various bazaars and festivals in Kansas City, Lawrence and Topeka, but occasionally they found themselves at a location that lacked an audience appreciative of what they had to offer. Stephanie says sometimes people didn’t really understand what hand-dyed fabrics were. The internet allowed them to reach those niche markets with sales across the nation and even to Scandinavia. Both of the Fosters have studios in their homes to keep the untidiness generated from their work contained in one area. “If I can lock myself in my studio, I can focus on what I’m making,” Stephanie says. They don’t have to lock themselves away to knit, however. Both confess to knitting while watching television. “We just pretty much knit because we can’t sit still,” Stephanie says. Gallmeyer’s jewelry

After getting a design-electronics degree from Washburn University in 2004,

Carol Gallmeyer, left, offers jewelry and print designs through her online stores under the name Cottonwood Whispers and at www.cottonwoodwhispers.com.

Carol Gallmeyer found commercial printing jobs and started two businesses on Etsy. One featured graphic designs, drawing on her professional skills, and another offers an assortment of earrings, necklaces, bracelets and other items produced from skills learned in jewelry classes. More precisely, it was a search for a perfect pair of earrings she could wear with jeans that inspired Gallmeyer’s second online store. “I could find them, but they were so expensive I didn’t want to pay for them,” Gallmeyer says. “So Miss Frugal decided to make her own.”

Gallmeyer finds her materials in pawnshops, garage sales, secondhand stores and her attic. Often she takes things apart and reassembles them in a different way. Although she sometimes will use the same beads in different designs, her jewelry is one-of-a-kind. Gallmeyer plans to branch out and concentrate more on sterling silver jewelry. Her early experimentation with sterling silver involved using a torch her husband rigged up on the back of their barbecue grill. She says she will invest in a different torch once she commits to making more sterling silver jewelry. “I’m absolutely addicted. Every time one of my pieces sells, it’s kind of a validation that I can make pretty things that other people want,” Gallmeyer says. Neill’s crochet

The Fosters create and sell a range of accessories.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

Tracie Neill has two jobs. She draws house plans with her husband and crochets projects to sell on her website. Both activities take place within her home, but crocheting has a special spot. “In the living room, I have my own little setup with my rocking chair. I have a music stand that holds my patterns. Everything is right there in my own little space,” she says. Don’t mistake her for an elderly lady relying on a lifetime of experience with yarn. The 43-year-old has been crocheting for only four years. And she didn’t approach the craft slowly but instead

Tracie Neill turned her crochet hobby into her online business, The Crochet Studio, at www. thecrochetstudio.com.

picked up the hook with a passion. She designs her own patterns, sews them, sells them or gives them to the Topeka Crochet Guild, which she started two years ago. Today, the guild has 30 active members from age 30 to 74 who meet on the first and third Sundays of each month at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. The guild has summer and Christmas parties, presents classes and workshops, and does community

charity work. The group’s swap parties are popular, especially when they feature a magic yarn ball swap. “You take a skein of yarn, undo it from the ball it’s in and start rolling it into another ball,” Neill says. “But you add little gifts into it. When the person you give it to uses it, little gifts will fall out.” Neill also knits but prefers crochet because, unlike knitting, it cannot be done by machine. She likes doing threadwork to create dainty, delicate projects as a way to continue traditional crochet. “Crocheting is a good creative outlet. It gives me a chance to give people a part of me, a part of something that I’ve made,” Neill says.

18 NOTABLES Zenab Mebed

Photo courtesy Linda Humphries

Call to

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Home

“In Abuxa there are people

After losing her parents, Zenab Mebed journeys to their homeland to connect with relatives and rediscover her family history

still living in huts. There were donkeys, stacks of hay and women walking with bowls on their head.” – Zenab Mebed

Back home in Topeka, Zenab Mebed poses against the backdrop of a painting inspired by her recent trip to Egypt to visit the village and places connected to her family’s history.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

hen Zenab Mebed hears the transcendent sound of the call to prayer wafting over the sprawling city of Cairo, it reverberates in her heart and frames the memory of her homeland and family in Egypt. Zenab, now 62, has lived in Topeka since 1953 when her father, Ali Mebed, moved his family to train as a psychiatrist under Karl Menninger at the renowned Menninger Clinic. He worked there until his death in 1991. After Zenab’s mother passed away in 2008, she felt compelled to retrace her parents’ life and reconnect with her extended Egyptian family. “I wanted to find closure with my family who was not here,” says Zenab. She chose to share her journey across time and culture with longtime friend Linda Humphries. After flying to Cairo and staying with relatives, the two women took a short ride to the village of Abuxa, where Zenab’s father was born. Zenab says she was overcome with emotion when she saw her ancestral home. It seemed to her as if time stood still in this small but ancient Egyptian village that consisted only of landowners and tenant farmers when Zenab’s father was born in the early 1900s. “In Abuxa there are people still living in huts,” says Zenab. “There were donkeys, stacks of hay and women walking with bowls on their head.” At the center of the village was the Mebed diwan, or “family compound.” Featuring an entry parlor decorated with paintings on the walls and ceilings, the diwan was the first home of its size in Abuxa and served as the village’s informal administrative center. When Zenab’s father lived in Abuxa, villagers passing the Mebed diwan would get down from their donkeys as a sign of respect to the family and its influence over the village. This was Zenab’s first extended stay in the village, and she realized that even if the village had not changed much, she had.

STORY BY Francie Forrestt Riley | PHOTOGRAPHY by Jason Dailey

20 NOTABLES

For most people, Egypt is represented by the pyramids, the Nile, the desert or crowded Cairo. But Zenab’s connection to her homeland is found in less popularized images, such as the interior of her father’s family home. ........................................................................................................................................

At that time of her parents’ marriage,

Zenab Mebed

it was rare for young couples to leave Egypt. But after Zenab and her younger brother Abdel were born,

her father followed his studies to Topeka to join Menninger’s cadre of doctors from all over the world.

Photo courtesy Linda Humphries

“When I first visited Abuxa in 1965, I just felt different and it scared me,” says Zenab. “Now I appreciate my heritage and the culture.” Decades ago, the culture that Zenab’s parents were born into was one where children accepted arranged marriages based on social status and with the condition that they could never divorce. Zenab says her mother’s family owned a cotton plantation outside Cairo, making her the perfect match for her father. “The first time my mother saw my father was when they became engaged,” says Zenab. At that time of her parents’ marriage, it was rare for young couples to leave Egypt. But after Zenab and her younger brother Abdel were born, her father followed his studies to Topeka to join Menninger’s cadre of doctors from all over the world. Zenab, who was then 7, felt privileged to spend her childhood in this international environment. “I grew up with the Menninger families,” says Zenab. “There were families from Spain, Cuba and France, and I was in the middle of all that.” For Zenab’s mother, the relocation to Topeka was a culture shock, especially without an Egyptian community. “My mother became independent here and had to learn English,” says Zenab. “She’d never worked in the kitchen and had to learn to grocery shop and how to write checks.” Zenab’s father’s career as a psychiatrist ignited her own fascination with human behavior. She spent 37 years working with adolescents at the Menninger children’s hospital until and recently took a semi-retirement from Florence Crittenton Services, where she works with troubled teens. Zenab says there will always be a spiritual, mystic and emotional component to Egypt, but her home is in the United States and so are the friends she has made. Recently, she has begun studying to become a U.S. citizen, a status that her parents never held. “I’m planning to stay in the U.S.,” says Zenab. “I’m Americanized now.”

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

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The traveling companion

For Linda Humphries, the recent journey to Egypt was her second trip with Zenab Mebed, a close friend for over 40 years. Traveling with Zenab allowed Linda to become intimately acquainted with the land. “I was able to see places in Egypt most people don’t see, and her family was most welcoming,” says Linda. A Topeka artist known for her abstract and impressionist Kansas landscapes, Linda documented the trip in photographs, which inspired her to create a painting with a montage of pyramids, cityscapes and rural landscapes. One of Linda’s clearest memories from her journeys to Egypt was a visit to the Muhammad Ali mosque on a hill overlooking Cairo. “From that vantage point, you could hear the call to prayer all over the city,” says Linda. “It was breathtaking.”

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22 NOTABLES Karl Fundenberger

Pumpedup

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“We need to imagine

Karl Fundenberger may not exactly know where the city is going, but he has definite ideas on how it could get there

designing lanes and paths to move people, rather than one form of transportation.” – Karl Fundenberger

ycling for pleasure is a great way to relax and feel the rhythms of life as you move through space. It has also proved to be an ideal approach for generating ideas to improve life in the city Karl Fundenberger calls home. Karl is part of a group of avid bicyclists who meet and ride on a casual basis and work with other civic groups to promote bicycling. By “bicycling,” they don’t necessarily mean competitive-training, spandex-clad, pack-riding biking, but rather urban bicycling as part of daily life. Destination riding. Bike racks. A few groceries in the backpack. A new approach to doing some errands in Topeka. If you think a group of casual cyclists can’t have an effect on the world we live in, read on.

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“When you are on a bike,

you are more

personal. Cyclists are more likely to wave to other people. It creates a stronger neighborhood.” – Karl Fundenberger

Karl Fundenberger owns five bikes that he uses for commutes, including his Trek 1000.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

Karl, a native Topekan, grew up in Potwin but didn’t learn to ride on that neighborhood’s wide sidewalks until he was 7 years old and “worried that I never would.” Once he got rolling, however, young Karl became a BMX enthusiast and placed in a regional competition the next year. Staying in Topeka for high school and college (he graduated from Washburn University in 2008), Karl kept on biking, regarding the business of being a bike commuter as a part of his life, a philosophy. He’s now a part of two biking organizations: Bike Topeka and the Topeka Community Cycle Project. The first is an umbrella group dedicated to promoting bike trails and safe, integrated

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24 NOTABLES Karl Fundenberger

Most commuters see Karl Fundenberger like this, through the reflection of a car window, but the young cyclist hopes more bikes will join him on the road.

roadways, while the cycle project is a new nonprofit program working to recycle bikes and distribute them in the community through an “earn-a-bike” project. Volunteers will teach people about bike maintenance and repair, enabling them to qualify for a reclaimed bike. “The more people riding bikes to work or to school—or even if it’s just riding for fun—the better it is for the city’s health, environment and for the people themselves,” says Karl. “And it’s important for the community. When you are on a bike, you are more personal. Cyclists are more likely to wave to other people. It creates a stronger neighborhood.” Where Karl often bikes to now is FryeAllen Inc., where he heads the social media program for the Topeka-based strategy and marketing group. He also parks his bike outside meetups for Topeka organizations that are shaping the community: the Topeka Chamber of Commerce’s Fast Forward program, Heartland Visioning, Chords and Oil, and the Chesney Park mural project. As a joint endeavor of the Chesney Park Neighborhood Improvement Association, Weed and Seed Project, Kansas artist David Loewenstein and many others, the mural commemorates and celebrates the lives and work of local residents—some living, some, as the saying goes, “gone on!” The mural also serves as a reminder that even those people whom we may never think of as “heroes” can and do make a difference in the lives of the many they touch. The Chords and Oil group is a decidedly young, progressive art collective focusing on environmental protection, public gardens and mobile galleries. For Karl, the connection between his involvement as an artist and his interest in cycling is perhaps best represented by one of his favorite quotes from Turkish designer Ayse Birsel: “To say that something is designed means it has intentions that go beyond its function. Otherwise it’s just planning.” That distinction between design and planning is also central to Karl’s vision for a future Topeka with not only bike trails but biking possibilities.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

“We need to imagine designing lanes and paths to move people, rather than one form of transportation,” says Karl. Even for a bicycling advocate like Karl, the bike is still just the pair of wheels that enables people to go where they need, to do what they want, to design their own lives. As he knows, good design provides clarity. It’s an augury, a precursor, born of a vision of a world that can change. And Karl believes that’s a worthwhile path to follow for a designer, a bicyclist or any one of us.

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riding bikes to work or to school—or even if it’s just riding for fun—the better it is for the city’s health, environment and for the people themselves.” “The more people

– Karl Fundenberger

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26 NOTABLES Dave Calwell’s motor cars

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Calwell’s

dave Calwell

meticulously restored his motor car 13

car

made a few modifications.

years ago and

A retired railroader is drawn to a historic relic and its appeal of slow travels over scenic routes

hances are you have never seen one of these bright-colored, boxy little railroad cars that march along railroad tracks across the country in what looks like a caravan of yellow, orange and red Chiclets. Called “motor cars,” “speeders” or “putt-putts” by railroaders, these vehicles were once used to inspect railroads and have been adopted by hobbyists who restore them and then tour the scenic U.S. countryside from the vantage point of a short line railroad track. Dave Calwell of Topeka is a motor car enthusiast, to say the least. He should also be labeled a railroad historian, museum curator, mechanic and travel writer. All four of these unofficial titles play into his motor car hobby. A railroader at heart, he worked for Santa Fe for 34 years, retiring in 1995, and that is where his appreciation for the tiny yet mighty motor car began.

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same speed running backwards as forwards. There is nothing to steer. You operate it very much like a riding lawn mower—and it’s a little noisy.” –dave calwell “The car will run at the

According to Calwell, it’s important to know the history of motor cars to appreciate the hobby. The first models were put into use in the early 1900s to peruse the miles and miles of railroad tracks crisscrossing the country and help prevent train derailments. A railroad inspector would have an assigned territory of approximately 100 miles of track and would travel it back and forth on the motor car to identify any problems. Dave Calwell is a retired railroad man who keeps on the rails with his motor car.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

STORY BY Stacey Jo Geier | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Jason Dailey

28 NOTABLES Dave Calwell’s motor cars

Dave Calwell’s railroad car is a modernized model produced by Fairmont Gas Engine & Railway Motor Car Co. in Fairmont, Minnesota. The company produced gaspowered cars with simple steering mechanisms years before automobiles were common sights on American roads.

The railroads began phasing out motor cars in the 1970s and the 1980s, replacing them with road-rail pickup trucks like the Hy-rail that have sets of wheels for the rail and road. “Hy-rail pickup trucks are more convenient in today’s world because you can take the truck off the track,” explains Calwell. “Instead of reaching the end of the line and being isolated without any vehicle, you can take the truck off the track and drive to a hotel or restaurant.” But there were fans of these flat-nose, box-shape cars that reach a maximum speed of only 35-40 miles per hour under ideal conditions. Though most of the working motor cars were scrapped, private owners bought some 5,000 motor cars in the United States. Of these, Calwell estimates 2,000 cars are used regularly by hobbyists. Calwell’s car, a modernized version built in 1982, was originally owned by the Cotton Belt Railroad and is painted a cautionary color called Fairmont Orange. Behind the bright exterior lie the inner workings of the machine. “This particular model is a MT-19 Fairmont track inspection vehicle, powered by an Onan two-cylinder, air-cooled, 20-horsepower, four-cycle gasoline engine and a two-speed transmission with a chain drive,” says Calwell. “The car will run at the same speed running backwards as forwards. There is nothing to steer. You operate it very much like a riding lawn mower—and it’s a little noisy.” Calwell meticulously restored his motor car 13 years ago and made a few modifications. He added “creature comforts” such as pickup truck seats, a two-way radio to communicate with other cars when touring, a sliding glass window to improve airflow through the cabin and rear-view mirrors for safety to keep track of motor cars behind Calwell when he rides in a caravan. He also added caboose taillights dating back to the 1930s. “I found the lights in an antique store, cleaned them up and reworked them,” says Calwell. “This thing lights up like a Christmas tree.” After all the work to restore and modify a motor car, he says the real joy in owning one is when it’s time to go on tour, which requires a tremendous amount of planning and coordination. To set up a tour, hobbyists in a

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

region will contract with a short line railroad to ride on their track. The cost is calculated per car according to the condition of the railroad track and miles driven. Tracks in scenic areas are in higher demand and tend to charge more. Most rides are normally one-day events, and anywhere between 10 and 40 motor cars may participate. The motor cars are towed to the track on customized trailers and placed on the track in a caravan style where they will run for eight to 10 hours. Calwell meticulously details in photos and in writing the nuances of each trip, such as the miles traveled, time schedule, cost, food, weather, altitude, track condition, grade and of course the scenery and wildlife. He usually is joined by one or two passengers on each trip and takes a total of about 25 passengers on various trips throughout the year, always serving as guide and chronicler. Calwell says some of his passengers make only one trip, but most want to repeat the quiet rides they take on the small putt-putts through often scenic territory where there are few other trails or roads. Unlike Calwell, most of the other hobbyists did not have careers working for the railroad. “It’s like the postman who retires is not looking for a place to take a hike. Most people who worked for the railroad have had enough. I never got enough. I just love it. I love everything about the railroad.”

Resting at Peace

For one young genealogist, rural cemeteries offer an opportunity for solitude and exploration, and a connection to past generations When Mickey Delfelder goes on a field trip in rural Kansas, more often than not he ends up exploring a cemetery. “One reason I like going to a cemetery is it is one tangible piece of evidence of these people’s lives,” says Delfelder. “There’s usually a date of birth and a date of death, maybe a verse. The people died 130 years ago in some cases, but it’s nice seeing something about them.” A lifelong Kansan, Delfelder came by his interest in cemetery visits through annual Memorial Day treks with his family, visiting the gravesites of grandparents to great-great-grandparents. Five generations of his family are buried in Wabaunsee County cemeteries, so the visits often were to several of the numerous Flint Hills graveyards dotting the countryside. “I was the youngest in the family, and I think this was a way to connect to my grandparents and find out what their lives were like,” Delfelder says. Delfelder, 37, graduated from Seaman High School, then received a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science from the University of Kansas in 1995. He got into the

Maple Hill Cemetery

Story by Anita Miller Fry

Photography by Daniel W. Coburn

internet field and works for a North Carolina-based sports media company from his home in Topeka. Delfelder began visiting local cemeteries more often once he started researching his family history as a young adult. “It’s a starting point to get more information on the individual,” he explains. His own family research sparked an interest in the history of the other gravesites in local cemeteries. Delfelder, with his mother joining him to help, visited most of the more than 50 Wabaunsee County cemeteries, many of which started out as family plots or ethnic church graveyards. Delfelder took photos of some of the entrances and interesting headstones, which he added to a county website. The Wabaunsee County GenWeb site now has a compilation of history books with Wabaunsee County connections, data about cemeteries in the county from the Wabaunsee County Museum in Alma, information about vital statistics and referrals to genealogical research resources in Topeka and Manhattan. “We tried to provide a good source for people out-of-state and in-state,” says Delfelder, who notes many of the cemeteries are still maintained. But others are neglected and have had no new burial in 100 years, receiving only visitors like him and those who share his interest in genealogy and local history.

Swedish Cemetery

Beyond the Headstone “Just going to the cemetery is a reconnection to your own past,” says Topeka genealogist Nora Patton Taylor. But there are a few things you can do to make your connection even stronger. First, says Taylor, be sure to bring a notepad, pen and digital camera when you visit a cemetery. “Write down what you see and take a good picture of the headstone,” she recommends. Try to get a picture of the entrance to the cemetery and its name, because your memory might not be as good as you think when you get home. As newsletter editor for the Topeka Genealogical Society, Taylor says the more details you get on your cemetery visit, the better prepared you’ll be as you research your ancestor later. Headstones often include the name of the deceased, date of birth and death, names of spouse and children, and military or work information. Be sure to check the back of the headstone for more information, she says. Symbols or designs on the headstone should also be noted. A lamb may indicate a child’s death; other signs indicate membership in Masonic organizations or other groups. Taylor says sometimes the unusual finds may require additional research. When she visits cemeteries in Brown County, where her family is from, Taylor finds gravesites for family, friends and neighbors. “I find it very peaceful,” she says, while noting that not everyone likes to visit cemeteries. “You have to accept them for what they are.”

learn

more >

Cemetery

Tour

Topeka Genealogical Society Library 2717 SE Indiana Ave. (785) 233-5762 www.tgstopeka.org

> Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library 1515 SW 10th Ave. (785) 580-4400 www.tscpl.org

These are two of Mickey Delfelder’s favorite cemeteries to visit in Wabaunsee County, just west of Topeka.

Swedish Cemetery Located in Mill Creek Township approximately two miles north of Hessdale, this cemetery contains headstones marking the Johnsons, the Nelsons and the departed with other solid Swedish surnames. According to the book New Branches from Old Trees—written in 1976 by volunteers for the Wabaunsee County Historical Society who recorded all the names on headstones or did transcriptions, then cross-referenced them with cemetery records—the Swedish Cemetery is a quarter of a mile from the spot where a small Swedish Lutheran Church once stood. One acre of land was sold to the graveyard trustees by John Siegrist on November 17, 1888, though several of the people buried in the cemetery died before that date. Today, a stone fence circles the cemetery, where Delfelder has found little bluestem, a native Kansas grass, growing. Older cemeteries often have heirloom varieties of peonies, lilies, roses and lilacs that have taken root since their planting years before as a remembrance. They, too, are reminders of earlier times and lives. Fix Family Cemetery Just north of Volland, this small cemetery is outlined with a wrought-iron fence and stands in the shade of sycamore trees. At the end of the Civil War in 1865, John Robert Fix married Rebecca Larch in Indiana. The couple moved

> The volunteer-run Kansas genealogical website provides links for every county in the state. skyways.lib. ks.us/genweb/index.html > The Wabaunsee County genealogical website includes cemetery listings and photos, links of interest, maps and other information. www.rootsweb.ancestry. com/~kswabaun

to Kansas to be near his parents, who had settled in the territory 10 years earlier. According to New Branches from Old Trees, the Fixes’ first child, Willie, died in infancy and was buried in 1866 on the plot that is now known as the Fix Family Cemetery. Through the years, more family members were buried at the cemetery. There are now more than 40, with five generations of the Fix family. One of the family members buried here is Delfelder’s great-great-great-grandfather, Georg Michael Hörner, whose grave he visits most Memorial Days.

34 HOME LIFE John Riordan’s garden

A Garden where nature plans Working with bright colors and fragrant blooms, John Riordan keeps a simple garden that makes a powerful spring showing

ohn Riordan has surrounded his powder pink, brick Queen Anne home with masses of cascading roses, peonies, iris, columbine, daylilies and dame’s rocket. And when I press him to name his favorite of these flowers, he carefully skirts the question and weaves stories of other gardens, gardeners and history. He loves many of them, and the provenance of the flowers and the memories they evoke are just as important to John as the blooms. It is obvious, however, that John is drawn to antique roses. Rosa gallica varieties including the Apothecary’s Rose and the climbing rose Zephirine Drouhin are prominent in his garden, as well as the modern David Austin hybrid Gertrude Jekyll and a pink found rose with long arching canes whose name John has forgotten but which he says can be found in almost any old cemetery or farmstead. Peonies are another dominant feature in John’s garden. A white one named ‘Top Brass,’ which he received as a gift, is particularly special to him. The sweet fragrances of roses, irises and a Japanese tree lilac in full bloom permeate John’s garden. Fragrance and hardiness are advantages of old varieties, offering another layer of enjoyment. Peaking at the end of May, when the days are not quite so hot, the fragrances linger all day. John began his garden nine years ago when moved into his home in the WardMeade region. The demands of his busiJohn Riordan nurtures ness—he has owned a small landscapantique roses in his ing firm since 1986—and some run-ins garden.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

story by Christine Steinkuehler | photography by Jason Dailey

John’s garden features whimsical touches such as the dragon on the top of his garage, above, and the open gazebo based on a restaurant booth, below.

with code compliance forced him to immediately begin work on repairing the garage and building a barn. John used the horse barn from his former residence on Polk Street and the diamond shingles on the house as inspiration for design on both buildings. And when he discovered that the old horse barn had to be torn down, John salvaged the door and windows and incorporated them in his new barn. The home’s paint colors are borrowed from nature and the home’s brick structure. John points to the yellow, which is the color of his crocus, and talks about the different colors in his exuberant garden. The bright paint hues are the source of many comments; he has been told that they are Scandinavian or Russian, and I add that they remind me of South Texas. John admits that they may be influenced by the time he spends every year visiting family in Arizona. Regardless, they are completely original and catch the eye of many passersby. Everything at John’s house has an artistic flair. The sidewalk features many colors of glass, and there are pieces of found objects and even an old Pizza Hut booth with wrought-iron decorations that has found a new life as a gazebo. A few of my favorite whimsical touches are the monster that is crawling out of a crack in the garage foundation and the dragon that guards the garden from a perch atop the garage. John’s passion for gardening began at an early age, when his family lived in West Palm Beach, Florida. There, his adopted aunt lived in the mother-in-law’s cabin at the back of his parents’ rental house, and she became part of his life as well. John remembers that she would “bounce him on her hip as she

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

the sounds from Fifth Street, which leads to the hospitals and which John calls the “ambulance run.” And John hopes to continue trying to hybridize a pink summer hibiscus with red-veined feathering but without the traditional red eye. He will see what nature has planned for that idea.

John Riordan’s garden

36 HOME LIFE

John’s garden peaks with blooms and fragrance in late spring and early summer.

.......................................................................................................................................................................

The sweet fragrances of roses, irises and a Japanese tree lilac in full bloom John’s garden. are advantages of old varieties, offering another

permeate Fragrance and hardiness layer of enjoyment.

worked in the garden.” He also recalls pulling ferns from that garden and setting up a plant stand to sell them for 5 cents each. He only sold one and it died so he had to replace it, but it was a lesson that he still remembers. The Riordan family moved to Topeka in August of 1967, the year after the tornado, when John’s father was transferred in his position as a cartographer with the Air Force. His father, who drew maps from aerial pictures, used these skills to help John develop his sense of design. John left home to earn a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Kansas State University before returning to Topeka. Designing is still John’s favorite part of landscaping, and he believes that it never finishes because nature is always redirecting projects. An example of this is John’s front porch. After he redid his porch and moved on to other projects, a tree limb came crashing down and destroyed his work. Having to start from the ground up, John realized that the porch foundation was inadequate. That discovery launched a new project to rebuild and enlarge the porch. That porch will stand next to one of the garden’s original inhabitants—a large pin oak. That tree, along with a Catalpa tree and daylilies along the edge of his yard, are the only remnants of the home’s former garden. For now, at least, John plans to preserve them. He has even expanded the daylilies along the street because they provide him a reason not to mow near the difficult curbing. Daylilies as the answer to unwanted mowing is a good example of John’s gardening philosophy. He urges other gardeners to ask themselves: “Can we simplify this? Is it too much to take care of?” when designing their plots. Be flexible, counsels John, because things work out sometimes as nature plans, not as we plan. It’s all sensible advice, but not always easy to follow. John’s own plans—for now—are to build a sunken garden on the south side of his home where an old house was demolished by a former owner. He plans to raise the ground along the home’s perimeter and put in a 3-foot-tall fence to give him more privacy and to absorb

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

Home improvement for every season.

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38 HOME LIFE Terry Towle’s home

pluck

of the Irish Topeka carpenter creates homeland home

or Terry Towle, Erin Go Bragh, typically translated as “Ireland Forever,” is much more than a phrase exuberantly shouted on St. Patrick’s Day over a pint of Guinness and a plate of corned beef with pals. His devotion to the Emerald Isle from which his four grandparents emigrated to the United States in the 1880s is deeply felt and displayed daily, from the “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” button on his favorite hat to an eclectic collection of original Celtic yard art that distinguishes his home from any other. Towle’s pride in his heritage is as solid as the handmade cane he crafted with the colors of the Irish flag or the wooden shamrocks that adorn his garage. The lifelong Topekan purchased his Oakland bungalow 18 years ago and refurbished it with Irish flair after retiring from DuPont. “The house was cheaply built with plywood floors, so I just finished it a little bit at a time,” says Towle, who replaced the floors, ceilings and windows, built front and back porches, and made other structural enhancements. “I had some woodworking tools in the garage, and this gave me something to do. It came naturally to me, and I enjoyed it.” Towle appreciates the compliments he gets on his craftsmanship, especially during Halloween when awestruck trickor-treaters and their parents approach the Terry Towle welcomes festive porch. Figurines of St. Patrick and guests at his home in laughing leprechauns are affixed to the Oakland, a modest bungalow that he has transrailing, and carefully created directional formed into a tribute to signs for Galway (7,944 km) and Dublin Ireland. (8,371 km) are posted on the lawn. It’s

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

story by Kim Gronniger | photography by Jason Dailey

clear to visitors and passersby that this homeowner is an Irishman through and through. But should there be even a wee bit of doubt, a large handmade sign hangs from the porch railing that reads, “So God blessed the Irish by sending them St. Patrick and he blessed a lot of other people by sending them the Irish.” A patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick spent 40 years converting the Irish to Christianity and using the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. By some accounts, he died on March 17, 461, becoming the namesake for a popular holiday widely celebrated by people with diverse nationalities and religious affiliations intrigued by saintly accomplishments, cabbage and potato cuisine, elaborate parades, hoisted glasses of green beer and boisterous good cheer. Towle remembers celebrating the saint’s day as a child in his grandparents’ parlor with traditional dishes and a keg of beer. He now commemorates the occasion by riding in a Topeka parade float, drinking a little ale and then taking a cab back to his Oakland home, itself a loving tribute to his family origins and countrymen. Towle is especially fond of former President Ronald Reagan, “the greatest president there ever was,” whose Irish visage is imprinted on a medal prominently embedded into his cane. Towle fashioned the cane from a fallen branch in TOP In case any visihis daughter’s yard, converting it into tors miss the shamrocks, a functional conversation piece covered leprechauns and other Irish-themed decorations with colorful Irish slogans, religious outside his home, Towle medals and other trinkets collected has posted a signboard through the years. indicating just what he thinks about his Irish Fulfilling a lifelong dream, Towle heritage. traveled with his brother to the Mother right Towle shows off Country in 1985, searching for anceshis handmade cane with a button honoring fellow tral graves and frequenting local pubs. Irishman Ronald Reagan. “I’ve never seen anything so green in

my life as Ireland, and the Irish people love other Irish people from the states,” he says. Carpentry tasks no longer beckon now that his home is finished and the beautiful wooden bench he built and polished to perfection may someday be converted into his casket, pending approval from church and state. Now content to simply relax with his two dogs and three cats in a recliner adjacent to a Kelly green living room wall, Towle relishes his genetic good fortune to have Irish ancestors and American roots, especially during March. “Anytime I hear of a big shot being Irish, it makes me feel proud,” he says. “St. Patrick was a great man. You’ve got to be proud of someone like that. I sure get a proud feeling being Irish, and I think a lot of people wish they were.”

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

irish dishes

Local Flavor

Localflavor

A Tasty Irish Tribute Topeka chefs offer ethnic takes on Irish CUISINE

Mention

Irish food, and the first thing that might come to mind is corned beef and cabbage, a stew or shepherd’s pie. But the Irish palate is as diverse as the adopted country that pays tribute to Ireland each St. Patrick’s Day. To celebrate that diversity and the blended flavor of the American experience, four Topeka chefs have shared recipes based in their traditions and featuring ingredients the Irish would love. No matter what your taste, you can include a tribute to Ireland on your table this spring.

Baileys Pound Cake

Local cookbook author Linda Polly says the recipes associated with Ireland start with ingredients readily available on the land—“what you could catch or shoot,” explains Polly. Many recipes evolved from the general need to stretch food further in slim economic times. For instance, a stew allows for a poorer cut of meat to tenderize during longer cooking and can be stretched with water and vegetables. This cooking style adapted well to a rural way of life when Irish families settled across the Midwest. The meats changed from lamb, which is prevalent in Ireland, to beef dishes. Potatoes, cabbage, leeks and other root vegetables were usually mixed with whatever was readily available or could be grown easily. Polly offers this sweet dessert as a tribute to the thrift and adaptability of her Irish ancestors.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

STORY BY Karen Ridder | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Daniel W. Coburn

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Baileys Pound Cake

Cake: 1 18 ounce package yellow cake mix 1 3.4 ounce package instant chocolate pudding 1 cup oil 4 eggs ½ cup Baileys Irish cream liqueur 2 teaspoons vanilla

Polly offers this

sweet dessert

thrift and adaptability of her Irish ancestors. as a tribute to the

Glaze: ½ cup powdered sugar ¼ cup Baileys Irish cream liqueur

Stir together all cake ingredients and pour batter into a Bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Allow to cool before topping with glaze. Garnish with fresh strawberry or other fruit For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and Bailey’s and stir until it reaches the desired consistency; pour over the top of the baked cake. Note: Make an alcohol-free version of this cake by replacing the Baileys with your favorite fruit juice or syrup.

Albondigas Soup

Like Irish recipes, the Mexican culinary tradition grew out of what was readily available on the land. “Mexican food is simple,” says Olga Smith, owner of Pepe and Chela’s, 1001 SW Tyler St. Food gave Smith and her parents a way to live the American dream. They opened the restaurant in 1986, starting with recipes Smith’s mother learned while cooking for her siblings and parents in Mexico. At that time, most non-Hispanic Americans stuck to tacos and enchiladas, but Smith has seen her customers’ palates grow over the past 24 years. As a tribute to the Irish, she offers this savory meatball soup. It is a special occasion dish in Mexico because of the difficulty of grinding meat. In this country, where ground beef is readily available, it is an easily adaptable soup cooked with cabbage, potatoes and the Mexican root vegetable chayote.

Albondigas Soup

Meatballs: 2½ pounds ground beef (or ground turkey or chicken) 1 cup diced fresh tomatoes 1 cup diced fresh cilantro ½ cup onion ½ cup uncooked long grain white rice 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon salt Soup: 8 cups water 2 tablespoons tomato paste ½ tablespoons salt 3 carrots, peeled and chopped 2 chayote, quartered to bite size 3 peeled red potatoes, cut to bite size 1 ⁄3 head green cabbage, chopped into large pieces

Combine all meatball ingredients and form into balls. To start the soup, stir the water, tomato paste and salt in a stock pot and bring to a boil. Add meatballs. Reduce and simmer until meatballs are cooked all the way through, about 30 to 45 minutes. Add vegetables. Bring back to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with tortillas and a side of Mexican rice. The traditional way to eat this dish is to remove the meatballs from the soup and place them in a tortilla to eat.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

Local Flavor

42 irish dishes

Tuptim Thai Yellow Curry

While it is not a traditional Irish meal, curry has become a favorite adopted dish in Ireland. At Tuptim Thai, 2949 S. Kansas Ave., six kinds of curry are on the menu. Chira Piyassaphan, who owns the restaurant with husband KC, says the spices distinguish this ethnic food. She describes Thai food as a blended flavor: “It’s almost a cross between Indian and Chinese.” Like the Irish, Thai chefs use many vegetables, including the potato. They also include more distinct items like the root vegetable daikon, kaffir leaves, lemongrass and basil. Many recipes have to be adapted at the restaurant because some fresh ingredients are difficult to get in Kansas. Topekans are also still getting used to “Thai hot.” The ingredients for this curry bowl recipe, which includes onions and potatoes, are easily available at local grocery stores. And if you want to put a more Gaelic spin on the meal, try it with your favorite Irish brew.

Irish Pizza

Pizza is as American as it is Italian. Jeff Schell, who owns Via’s Pizzeria at 738 SW Gage Blvd., describes pizza as an extremely versatile food. “It’s kind of like an edible plate.” Like Irish food, the flavor we have come to recognize as distinctly Italian was borne out of hardship. Pizza was a peasant food, made of flat pieces of bread spread with a little olive oil and a few spices or vegetables. The tomato was added in desperation. Conquistadors had carried tomatoes home from the new world, but no one in Italy wanted to eat them because they looked like the fruit of the poisonous nightshade plant. However, when food was scarce, peasants finally tried the tomato, and an Italian food tradition was born. Schell’s deep-dish Irish Pizza is hearty and filling, like an Italian shepherd’s pie.

Irish Pizza

2 pizza dough rounds from recipe of your choice 2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend 6 cups mashed potatoes 2 cups cooked ground beef or corned beef 1 cup cooked peas 4 or 5 slices cooked bacon, broken into bite-size pieces ½ cup fresh spinach (optional)

Preheat oven to 550 degrees. Roll two pizza dough circles. Place one dough circle in an oiled 12- to 15-inch round cake pan and shape like a pie crust, leav-

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

ing 2 to 3 inches of dough over the sides of the pan. Layer half the cheese on top of the dough. Add dollops of mashed potatoes (approximately 4 of the 6 cups), all of the beef, 2/3 cup peas and 2/3 of the bacon. Layer the remaining cheese on top of the ingredients. Place the second pizza dough circle on top of the ingredients. Fold in the sides of the bottom crust like a pie crust. Brush the top of the “pie” with olive oil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and top with the remaining mashed potatoes, peas and bacon. Garnish with fresh spinach if desired. Return to

tuptim thai yellow curry 14-ounce can coconut milk 4 ounces choice of meat

(Chira advises chicken, pork or shrimp but tofu or mixed vegetables can be used for a vegetarian option)

4 ounces cooked potatoes, chopped into bite-size chunks ½ of a small yellow onion, chopped 2 tablespoons yellow curry powder (use the pre-made brand of your choice) 2 to 4 tablespoons sugar

Heat coconut milk in a medium saucepan until boiling. Add meat and continue boiling. When meat is done, add the remaining ingredients. Let simmer until onions are soft, about 2 minutes, but adjust to preference. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve over cooked rice.

the oven and bake for another 5 minutes, until all ingredients are hot and the dough is cooked.

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ST.PATRICKS PARADE March 17 Parade starts at noon

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Pysanky:

S tory b y J u li e K. Bu zbe e

t r a

photo gr aphy by jason da il ey

T r a di t i o n a l e g g d e c o r at i o n s b r i g h t e n t h e c e l e b r at i o n o f O rt h o d ox E a s t e r

sing lighted candles, tiny beads of beeswax, rich, dark dyes and a small handmade tool called a traditional kistka, a group gathers each spring around tables in the basement of the Saints Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church to create Ukrainian Easter eggs known as pysanky. The intricate, colorful eggs date back to ancient times and paganism, says Marsha Longofono, who teaches the group at Saints Peter and Paul Church in Topeka. She explains that the artistic designs on the eggs were derived from pagan symbols that began to take on Christian meanings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The triangle, for instance, used to mean earth, wind and sun, but in Christianity, it came to symbolize the holy trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit,â&#x20AC;? she says. Marsha taught herself the written-wax batik method of egg decorating after finding an instructional book when she lived on a U.S. Air Force base in Greece with her husband, Joseph Longofono, in the late 1980s. She now teaches two to three pysanky classes each year in Topeka, usually just before Easter, at the church where Joseph serves as archpriest. Marsha teaches by doing, using a workbook she has created that has dozens of beginner and intermediate designs. Several students repeat the class, and she strategically spaces those people among the beginners to provide help while she bops from table to table demonstrating techniques and answering questions.

“I always tell my students that pysanky is very easy to learn but can take a lifetime to master,” she says. After her students choose a pattern for their designs, they use pencils to sketch designs on the eggs. Then the designs are outlined using the kistka and wax before being dipped into dyes. Wax is applied in different areas of the pattern before each dye is used to create the design. Simpler eggs can be created in an hour or two, Marsha says, but the more complex designs can take 10 to 15 hours. She usually works on two dozen eggs at a time. And though she favors the traditional designs, she customizes each egg. “Each of the designs and colors has a special symbolic meaning, so I choose my design to match the character of the person who will receive the pysanky,” she says. “Sometimes I’m in a Jackson Pollock-type mood, and sometimes a swatch of fabric or pottery can inspire me to experiment.” The church doesn’t keep a collection of the eggs, but for special events, such as the church’s Greek food festival each fall, eggs are displayed in the sanctuary. And pysanky are always a part of Easter, which falls on April 4 this year for both the Orthodox and Western church calendars. “For Easter, I’ll make special eggs. It’s traditional in our church for our parishioners to prepare Easter baskets. It’s a cultural custom,” she says, explaining that the baskets are called pascha, a word with roots in Hebrew used by most Orthodox communities for Easter.

Pysanky workshop

Learn h ow t o m a ke Uk ra i nia n Ea ste r e g gs 11 a.m.- 4 p. m . S a t u rday, Ma rc h 20 Sai nts Pe t e r a n d Pau l An t io c h ia n Or t h o dox Chr i stian Chur ch 2516 SW H u n t o o n St . Co s t: $1 5 pe r pe r so n For m o r e i n for m a t i o n , cal l (78 5 ) 2 2 1 - 1 5 6 3 or e - m ai l j l on g o fon o @ c ox . n e t www. p e t e r a n dp a u l.ne t

For Orthodox Christianity, Easter is the most important holiday and blends the solemn with the festive. “It’s a big deal,” Joseph says. “It’s kind of like Christmas and the Fourth of July rolled into one.” During the Easter service, Joseph will bless the baskets, containing meats, cheeses, wine and eggs, during a service that begins about 11 p.m. the night before Easter and continues for a few hours. “The issue is the blessing of the food that they’ve been fasting from for the past 40 days,” he says. “By the time the feast comes along, we’re all just salivating,” Marsha says. “We’re ready.” After the service, she says, the congregation has a huge communal feast with items from the baskets as well as other traditional favorites, such as lamb that the Longofonos prepare. “That’s when we exchange eggs,” she says, as well as making a game of cracking red hardboiled eggs, called krashanky, with each other. “Whoever’s egg does not crack is supposed to have good luck for the coming year.”

52 LIVING WELL Running program

proud pacers Volunteers set up a women’s correctional facility running program to combine fitness with community fundraising

arol Hill recalls her awakening as a runner in 1981, when she got up four mornings a week to go to the Topeka West High School track. “[I] ran the curves, walked the straight parts, coughed the whole time but stuck with it until I could run a lap, then a mile, then more miles.” She didn’t know it at the time, but she was following in the path of Suzanne MacDonald, director of social services for Heart of America Hospice, who did the same in 1978 and, like Hill, doesn’t profess to be athletic. “I’ve run a couple of 10-mile races and a half marathon, but I never finish any faster or any slower,” she laughs. “I just do it for the fun of it and to challenge myself.” MacDonald met Hill not on the track but through common volunteer efforts at the Topeka Correctional Facility’s Girl Scout program and its book club. During a coffee shop conversation, they discovered a shared belief that running could change the female inmates’ lives—and benefit community efforts such as breast cancer research. “I’m sure the conversation began with ‘I have this really crazy idea,’” recalls MacDonald, “because most of our conversations usually do. This idea was really about fitness, how to encourage them to love their bodies and not abuse them.” Hill, a homemaker, agrees. “We knew firsthand that running not only changes your body but also clears your head,” she says. “And supporting breast cancer was a cause that many women were interested in because the disease had affected their family members and friends.”

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

Runner Diane Raab

Energetic and enthusiastic, the duo collaborated on what they assumed would be a one-time event to benefit the Race Against Breast Cancer in 2007. Enlisting Norma Weiser as timekeeper, they and the inmates raised $1,000. After this success, Hill and MacDonald started a summer training program for interested women who wore donated sneakers and paid for their entry fees with money earned from prison jobs or acquired from personal savings. “Coming up with $20 for an entry fee is a lot for some, and other inmates, whether they run or not, will donate even

STORY BY Kim Gronniger | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Jason Dailey

Runner Kristy Wilson

The runners use donated running shoes for their program.

more if the cause is especially meaningful to them,” says Hill. With a good amount of money and spirits raised through the endeavor, the three women worked with officials to continue the program, which has since flourished into three sessions a week and more than $20,000 donated to causes the inmates have selected to support. Recipients include the Topeka Rescue Mission, Battered Women Task Force, Helping Hands Humane Society and KSDS Inc., a guide dog service for people with disabilities. Representatives often come the night before the event to talk with the runners about the mission of their respective organizations. The group has even hosted a couple of races for no reason at all other than the satisfaction of seeing an inmate celebrate a milestone distance or set a personal best time. In a typical session, 30 runners and walkers take laps around a track donated by former syndicated TV talk-show host Jenny Jones and dedicated in November 2008. The group runs from 3 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 to 10 a.m. Saturdays and 9 to 11 a.m. Sundays. “As long as the track is clear, they’ll show up, even volunteering to shovel snow so they can run,” says Hill. “We just go out and walk or run and partner up with anyone who looks like they might need encouragement,” adds MacDonald. “Everybody has their own agenda of what they want to accomplish during the session, and we’re there to give training advice if they want it. “I believe running changes lives, and I see it so clearly here in women who appear overwhelmed by their circumstances and yet find a way to change their lives and endure. They are always so grateful for our presence and never fail to thank us. One inmate told me she just wasn’t used to having people in the community express interest in her, and it gave her hope.” During races, Hill and MacDonald are stationed on the sidelines with inmate volunteers who shout encouragement and spur the women toward the finish line.

Runner Adrienne Lynn

Volunteers (from left) Suzanne MacDonald, Carol Hill and Norma Weiser set up the correctional facility running program.

“One woman told me that if she had felt that much support in her community, she might not have gotten into trouble,” says Hill. “It’s just very inspiring to watch women who have led very sedentary, selfdestructive lives now exude confidence as they accomplish their goals.” The first 2010 race in February benefited the Lions Club Journey for Sight. A second race is set for May with registration fees to raise funds for Topeka’s public television station KTWU. Other races for the year will support Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Topeka Rescue Mission. Although only inmates can run the track during official races, other runners often come to the facility to work out with them throughout the year. Linda Fricke, a community volunteer, served on the Race Against Breast Cancer committee when training for the first event was under way. Fricke, who participates on Saturday mornings, says, “I love the interaction with the ladies, and they push me to work harder too. You come out here thinking you’re going to do something for them, and then it turns out the other way around. Carol and Suzanne have done a great job of keeping the program going and giving the participants an outlet so they can take better care of themselves.”

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

54 LIVING WELL St. Francis’ mobile clinic

St. Francis’

Hospital on Wheels When the patient can’t come to the advanced medical equipment, the advanced medical equipment comes to the patient

lthough most of Topeka is still asleep at 3:45 a.m., that’s when Ron Brown usually arrives at a building south of town where he begins preparing a 45-footlong custom bus that houses St. Francis Health Center's mobile unit. A medical annex on wheels, this bus travels to 15 community hospitals and clinics throughout northeast Kansas within about 100 miles of Topeka. Depending on the volume of patients, some sites are visited every week and others biweekly, although the schedule can be modified if necessary. Brown is responsible for prepping and driving the bus and begins the morning routine by unplugging the unit’s state-of-the-art gamma camera used for diagnostic imaging to check its generator. He then runs through the pre-departure safety check before climbing aboard the bus and beginning the day’s journey. The first stop is the nuclear pharmacy, where Brown will pick up the correct doses for today’s list of patients. Timing is everything because the radioactive tracer used for the procedures has a half-life of only six hours. That means that each dose must be calibrated for each patient’s appointment time. Finally, all is ready, and Brown begins the 29-mile trip to Holton, today’s destination, where he will see 15 patients for cardiac scans, bone scans and gall bladder imaging if the day is a typical one. Brown, one of three radiologists who operate the unit, tries to arrive at the day’s location by 6 a.m. He has already put in almost a normal half-day’s work by the time the first patient steps onto the bus at 7 a.m.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

The mobile medical unit travels within an approximately 100-mile radius of St. Francis Health Center.

Brown, who’s been with the program since its beginning in 2003 when the mobile unit was a Ryder-like box truck, enjoys his role. “I can be out and about with this,” Brown says. “I like rural people. They’re different from city people. The patients want to shake hands and give me hugs. They’re very appreciative that they don’t have to go into Topeka to the hospital.” Not having to make a trip into Topeka for scans is the main benefit of the mobile unit, says Holton Community Hospital CEO Ron Marshall, especially because many of those using the unit are elderly and would have to rely on others for transportation. That’s true for Maddy Sterrett, who says she’s “Holton-bred and been in the community forever.”

STORY BY Carolyn Kaberline | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Jason Dailey

Maddy Sterrett goes through her checkup and evaluation procedures inside the St. Francis mobile unit.

“The mobile unit is so handy,” she says. “It saves the trip to Topeka, and I know everyone here. I’ve known these girls,” she says, pointing to the Holtonbased nurses who are working with Brown’s team in the bus, “since they were little girls. New situations are always scary, but the people here are good and kind.” On a previous visit, Sterrett had been given a heart study. She climbed into the bus, which is divided into three parts: a small office and storage area by the entrance, a large central area housing the dual-head camera and a small “hot room” in the rear of the bus where the doses of radioactive tracer are kept in a leadlined vault. Brown helped Sterrett onto the examination table and then started an IV with the tracer injected into it. After a brief wait so the tracer could reach the heart, the scan began with the table slowly traveling beneath the camera, which in turn rotated to provide a threedimensional picture of Sterrett’s heart. While she underwent the scan, Sterrett had the option to listen to music brought in over satellite radio or even watch a movie during longer procedures if she desires. “We’ve done everything to make people comfortable,” Brown says. “We have old country on XM— which a lot of people ask for—stereo, DVD, even television shows.” When the scan was finished, Sterrett headed over to the hospital for a stress test followed by a short break before the second scan is begun. “When Maddy comes in, all labs are done. An echo and cardio stress test are also done,” says Deb Davis, head of radiology at the Holton hospital. “Everything can be done in one visit.” The mobile unit is connected into the host hospital’s network, so images can be transferred soon after they are taken and directed to the patient’s doctor. They also can be put online so doctors in Topeka can view them if necessary. While the mobile unit provides convenience for the patient, there are other benefits.

“New medical technology is extremely expensive,” Marshall says. “This gives us technology we couldn’t afford otherwise.” Brent Wilkins, radiology supervisor at St. Francis, knows the equipment costs can be a hurdle for hospitals like the one in Holton: The custom bus that carries the gamma camera costs $400,000 while the camera itself is worth $300,000. “This affords them [community hospitals] the opportunity to do things they couldn’t do otherwise and keep patients at home. We like to partner with community hospitals and make sure their needs, such as digital mammography, are met. Community hospitals can’t always afford that, but we don’t want to step on any toes. This is a partnership. We’re not there to take anything away from their hospital; we’re just providing another service.” When the last patient has been seen, Brown still has images to transfer to the hospital’s network and paperwork to do. Then he unplugs the electricity and telephone, lifts the jacks used to stabilize the bus and prepares for the drive back to Topeka. It’s a little after 4 p.m. when the bus is clean and his day finally ends. “I’ve been working in nuclear medicine for 40 years,” Brown says. “I like what I do. I really like the mobile work and making people’s lives much simpler so they can get the health care they need without going so far away.”

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

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58 GROW Daffodils

Daffodils to Share One of the area’s brightest, most abundant displays of daffodils can be enjoyed in Carl Smith’s wooded garden

arl Smith is the epitome of a country gentleman. Raised in Kentucky, he still speaks with a bit of a drawl and is generous to a fault. The daffodils that he grows by his driveway in a rural patch of woods outside Topeka are, he clarifies, for children to pick. The ones in his woods are for everyone to enjoy—everyone, that is, except the deer. One of the reasons Carl focused on daffodils was because the deer do not eat them. On the day we talked, 15 deer were in the front yard munching exclusively on azalea buds. In the spring, Carl has some 40,000 daffodils on his property nodding their heads in the sun. He adds between 1,000 and 3,000 each year; colored flags in his garden indicate areas where he thinks he might add more or divide ...................................................................................... some of his blooms. In the spring, Carl Carl loves trees, particularly has some oaks, beeches and hickories, but daffodils are his favorite plant in the on his forest. Over the years, Carl has come property to favor early-season daffodils to get the maximum length of blooming season. While daffodils can withHe adds stand some frosts, they fade quickly between in the heat.

Carl concedes that you have to be somewhat crazy to garden in Kansas. With a hundred-degree temperature range and heavy soils, gardening here teaches patience. For this reason, he always tries things at least twice before giving up. He also confesses to often going out in the garden with a to-do list and discovering once he is there that there are other “to-dos” that are more important than what is on his list.

40,000 daffodils nodding their heads in the sun. 1,000 and 3,000 each year.

Carl Smith plants, and enjoys, thousands of early-season daffodils.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

story by Christine Steinkuehler | photography by Jason Dailey

Visitors sometimes interrupt Carl’s chores, but that is not a problem. One of his only rules for guests is that every visitor must throw a rock in the stream. To this end, he places a few buckets of rocks by the streambed every few days. When asked if all the visitors are ever a bother or if caring for the daffodils is too much, Carl replies with a story. It’s about a young woman who came by one day and asked to see the garden. Obviously upset, she walked over to a log where she sat quietly, in the same place, for the remainder of the day. When she left, she appeared peaceful. Walking through Carl’s garden provides a sense of serenity—that there is no need to hurry. And the occasional glimpse of buffalo from the neighboring farm or abundant wild turkeys in his woods provides a vision of what native Kansas might have been all about.

Fast. Focused. Always local.

ktka.com

For the Family

geocaching

The

Geocachers

ou might see them climbing up trees or crawling under park benches. You might pass them walking on hiking trails or searching the sidewalks of downtown Topeka. You might see them pull out a treasure as big as a 5-gallon bucket or as little as a much-folded scrap of paper. They travel in packs and as lone hunters. They are geocachers, and their game is geocaching. Called a sport, a hobby and often an addiction by those who play this game, geocaching has been around in various forms for years but has gained many followers over the past decade with the addi-

They combine GPS technology with old-fashioned treasure hunts to create an exciting family activity tion of GPS (global positioning system) technology. The game is simple. Someone hides an object—it could be anything— and then posts instructions online for anyone else in the public to find it. Once the object is found, it is returned to its hidden spot. There are several variations of play, but basically geocachers are long-range, high-tech hide-and-seekers.

Geocaches—the objects of the hunt—vary in size and difficulty of discovery.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

Marty and Angelia Crawford are two geocaching fanatics registered at a popular geocaching website under the name Crawcocoa—a combination of their last name and their dog’s name. The couple have found more than 700 caches since August of 2008 when they bought a GPS for their boat.

Susan Sebring heads down a path, hunting a geocache.

STORY BY Carolyn Kaberline | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Jason Dailey

Marty and Angelia Crawford, left, received a GPS with their new boat. They have since used it a few times on the water but hundreds of times for geocaching. Dereka Pederson, below, checks her GPS on the way to her next geocache.

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Heading out for the hunt

So what does it take to go geocaching? According to Angelia Crawford, a GPS device is a necessity. “We use a Garmin,” Crawford says, “but the GPS doesn’t have to be super expensive. They can be as low as $100 to $120 on sale if their only use is geocaching.” In addition to a GPS, Crawford recommends taking a small backpack for swag—Stuff We All Get. “Some caches will have trinkets in them. If you take something from these, you need to leave something of equal or greater value,” she explains, adding that this type of cache is particularly appealing to children. Other items that are highly recommended for inclusion in the backpack are pens, pencils, bug spray, sunscreen and a small first aid kit. A pair of tweezers can be helpful to remove objects or record logs from some of the smaller caches. A listing of caches can be found on geocaching websites. The most popular one in the United States is at www.geocaching.com. To access these listings, a free basic membership is required. In addition to the coordinates for each cache, the site lists the degree of difficulty for finding it and information such as whether it’s “family friendly” or “wheelchair accessible” or constitutes a “high adventure.” The website also includes reports from those who have located the caches. All geocachers say their sport is similar to some foods: You can’t stop with just one. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

“The instructions mentioned geocaching and told us how to do it,” Angelia says. “We’re very outdoorsish and love to solve mysteries, so we tried it, and then we were doing it all the time.” Angelia says it’s the perfect family activity, noting that their two daughters, Brooke, 8, and Jessica, 12, are also involved. “Our 8-year-old is our secret weapon since she can get into small areas.” While Angelia says their GPS will get them within 10 to 20 feet of a cache, from there they must rely on their power of observation, noting that people have “all kinds of imagination” when it comes to hiding them. The Crawfords say their hobby has provided plenty of together time as a family, as they’ve cached on weekend jaunts and some vacations. In addition to hunting in Topeka, they’ve searched in Nebraska,

Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and other parts of Kansas. Susan Sebring—aka IRSusan for her job in information resources—says her introduction to the activity came purely by accident. “A woman I work with was talking about geocaching, which rang a bell as I’d run across the website when doing some genealogy research a year before,” says Sebring, 62. “That day I looked up the site and saw that there was a cache just down the block from work. I went out and found it without a GPS and have been hooked ever since.” Since then Sebring says she goes out at least a couple of times a week and has searched in Tennessee and Texas while on trips to NASCAR races as well as in Topeka and the surrounding areas. “The best part of geocaching is that it combines several things I like: technology

and being on the internet,” Sebring says. “I like the challenge of trying to find the caches and meeting new people.” It took two tries for the geocaching bug to bite Dereka Pedersen, better known in geocaching circles as Saucy Toad (a nickname inspired by her childhood teddy bear, Saucy, and a lifelong fascination with toads). “A person I worked with took me out and showed me a cache in Topeka,” she says. “I found it interesting. But when I went with her again, it became an addiction. Now if I find less than 30 a day, it’s a bad day.” While Pedersen says the rest of her family hasn’t caught the geocaching bug, she likes it for a number of reasons. “I’m not good at sports and not real competitive,” she explains. “Some days out I’ll spend time exploring, taking photos and visiting places I wouldn’t normally be drawn to.” Although Pedersen does most of her geocaching around Topeka, she has hunted on road trips, including a whirlwind drive to Canada with friends. “We made the trip in 36 hours. I think the border guard thought we were insane.” Not only have the Crawfords, Sebring and Pedersen hunted for caches, they’ve also spent time hiding them. Noting that there weren’t many in Wabaunsee County, the Crawfords decided to change that. “It took two days and two flat tires to place caches in the county’s 21 cemeteries,” says Angelia. Sebring says hiding caches is as much fun as finding them. “My favorite is probably ‘4 the Young at Heart,’ which contains a disguise for people to put on and post a picture.” She notes that some people have mailed her extremely creative photos, adding in images of aliens or penguins and hamming it up for the camera. With at least 200 to 300 caches listed in the Topeka area and more hidden daily, there’s plenty of opportunity to take part in this increasingly popular game.

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Spring 2010

Events Calendar

BEST BETS in Mar-May 2010 March First Fridays Artwalk March 5 (and the first Friday of every month) Sponsored by ARTSConnect, Topeka’s galleries, studios and public venues open to display art in a social setting from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. For a listing of each month’s participating sites, see www. artsconnecttopeka.org or call (785) 271-0065. Daffodil Days for the American Cancer Society of Shawnee County March 10: Bouquets of daffodils are delivered to local cancer patients at hospitals and treatment centers as a “gift of hope” and fundraiser for efforts to fight and find a cure for cancer. Donors also can select friends, co-workers and others as daffodil recipients. (785) 438-5608. St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 17: Join Terry Towle (see story on page 38) for one of the city’s biggest public

April Crane Observatory Open House April 1: See the night sky through Washburn University’s historic observatory telescope. The free event is at Crane Observatory, 17th and Mulvane streets. 8 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Kansas Quarter Horse Association Capital City Quarter Horse Show April 16-18: Shows and competitions in the Domer Livestock Arena at the Kansas Expocentre, 17th Street and Western Avenue. (785) 235-3976.

May And Justice For All May 7: The Heartland Men’s Chorus presents the history of civil rights struggles through song, narration and media in a free performance at Grace Episcopal Cathedral, 701 SW Eighth Ave. 7:30 p.m.

events. The 31st annual parade begins at noon from Fourth Street and Kansas Avenue and loops through downtown to end at Sixth Avenue and Jackson Street. Pre-parade Irish sing-along goes from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at Assumption Church on Eighth and Jackson. The Great Topeka Bed Race begins at 9 a.m. from Sixth and Jackson. Post-parade Celtic concert begins at 1 p.m. at the Sixth Avenue Ballroom. Carl Smith’s daffodil garden Late March through early April: (see story on page 58) The Smith garden is usually in peak bloom during late March and early April. Located at 9028 SW 89th St. (approximately one mile west of Auburn Road), the garden is open to visitors, but the Smiths request that you call ahead of time to confirm. (785) 256-2451. Bunny Bash March 27: Shawnee County Parks and Recreation sponsors an annual Easter egg hunt, appearance by the Easter Bunny and a free lunch. Paris Community Center, 6715 SW Westview Road, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (785) 862-1630.

Couture for Cancer April 17: The American Cancer Society’s sixth annual Couture for Cancer is 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Topeka Performing Arts Center. For more information, to purchase tickets ($65 per person) or to volunteer, contact the American Cancer Society at (785) 438-5607 or e-mail Stacie.Schroeder@cancer.org. Information about Couture for Cancer can also be found on Facebook. Patchwork: The Little House Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder April 22: Performed for kindergarten through fifth-grade audiences, this Topeka Performing Arts Center staging relives the hardships and triumphs on the American prairie. (785) 234-2787 www.tpactix.org.

more than 30 local agencies from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Garfield Community Center, 1600 NE Quincy St. (785) 845-5021. The Tierney Sutton Band May 9: Acclaimed vocalist Tierney Sutton closes out the 41st season for the Topeka Jazz Workshop Inc. at the Topeka Downtown Ramada Hotel and Convention Center. 3 p.m.-5 p.m. (785) 379-5169.

Emergency Services Showcase May 8: Local emergency responders open their equipment and vehicles to share with the public. The free event brings together

All events are subject to change. Listings Courtesy of www.topekachamber.org & www.visittopeka.travel. E-mail your upcoming events for the calendar to topekamagazine@sunflower.com

TOPEKAMAGAZINE Winter 2009/10