East Wichita News January 2016

January 2016 - 2

I INSIDE

Volume 33 • Issue 1 January 2016

ON THE COVER Shoes from the stars | 12 Andover High School senior Amelia Flores’ service project got a big boost when it caught the attention of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

Trinity’s new K-8 school part of a larger plan | 6

Features People and Places ..................4 Cinema Scene ..........................5 From the Publisher’s Files ..............................................8

Neighbors, university work to improve the Fairmount community| 11

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East Wichita News Editorial

Publisher Paul Rhodes Managing Editor Travis Mounts Production Abbygail Wells Reporters/Contributors Sam Jack, Amy Houston, Philip Holmes, Jim Erickson

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Performing Arts Calendar.....................................9 Dateline................................... 14 Focus On Business........ 16-20 Movie Review........................ 21 Eastside Homes .................... 22 Now in our 33rd year!

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Dreams of a white Christmas were for naught We had more of a tropical Christmas this year. The weather Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was fairly mild – nothing like what I envision when Bing Crosby croons holiday music to me. And the bad winter weather we were supposed to have turned up elsewhere, looking like spring or summer storms.

That’s all right, though. Much of my family traveled for the holidays, so good travel weather was welcome. I drove home from the Kansas City area the Monday after Christmas, but by the time we got to Emporia, we were through the worst of it.

Growing up around here, Christmas wasn’t white that often. Winter usually didn’t come around until January and February, even if Old Man Winter did occasionally show his stuff days after Halloween or in the opening moments of April.

Think what you will of climate change (I’ll take a scientist’s word over any politician’s whose version of “truth” is limited to the script provided by whomever is bankrolling him), there seems to be a lot less winter weather in our neighborhood than when I was a kid.

As much as I don’t like to be cold, I miss true winter weather. I’ll take a good snowfall and 31 degrees over a miserably cold rain and 36 degrees. The cold rain just feels colder, and the view of a nice snowstorm is hard to beat when Christmas is on your mind.

I liked winter better when I lived in northern Missouri near the Iowa border.

Up there, it tended to get cold and stay cold, allowing you to adapt to. That’s hard to do here when it swings from 45 to 22 to 55 in a matter of days…or even hours.

In northern Missouri, there was less wind, too. I’ll take a high of 25 with no wind over a high of 35 with a biting

Travis Mounts | Managing Editor

north wind. Of course, Kansas winters often mean ice, sleet or blowing snow – or all of that at once – rather than picturesque snowflakes floating down against a green backdrop of evergreens and pines while music that reminds you a Charlie Brown TV special carries through the quiet, still air.

I might be romanticizing a good snowfall a bit.

The best part of winter in a more northern locale is the ability of residents to deal with it. Here, we get used to winter…eventually. It seems we need a spring training for winter weather, if you will.

Head a couple hours south, and you can forget adapting all together. Any hint of weather causes panic and a general outbreak of stupidity.

I saw plenty of that on the trek home. We hadn’t gone 20 miles and we had seen six different slide-offs and one near collision as three vehicles lost control simultaneously and in close proximity –and not too far in front of my car.

Whatever Mother Nature throws at us the rest of winter, ‘tis the season, right?...Even if that season might seem like springs, winter and summer all in the same week.

You can reach Travis Mounts by email at news@tsnews.com or by phone at 316-540-0500.

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East Wichita News People and Places The Young Professionals of Wichita approved its 2016 Board members at a recent board meeting. Sam Foreman, attorney at Klenda Austerman LLC, will serve as the 2016 board chair. Ellen Decker, of Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, L.C., will serve as the chair-elect. The complete list of 2016 officers is as follows: Tracy Anderson, Adams Brown Beran & Ball, Pulse Team chair; Laura Bernstorf, Airbus Americas, YPW Board past chair; Traniece Bruce, Wichita State University, YPW board secretary; Ebony Clemons, Westar Energy, member-at-large; Thomas Dalton, Textron Aviation, member-at-large; Ellen Decker, Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, YPW board chair-elect; Connie Dietz, Wichita State University, community advisor; Sam Foreman, Klenda Austerman, YPW board chair; osef Hamilton, High Touch Technologies, community relations team chair; Portia Portugal, Dress for Success Wichita, member-at-large; Shelly Prichard, Wichita Community Foundation, community advisor; Thomas Stanley, Kansas Leadership Center, member-atlarge; John Trowbridge, Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, community advisor; Byron Watkins, Waddell and Reed, access team chair; Zach Wiggins, Martin Pringle, Leadership Link team chair; Kat Wohlford, Assurance Partners, College Connection team chair; Lindsey Wolf, Legacy Bank, ambassadors team chair.

Housed and staffed by the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, YPW’s mission is to attract, engage and retain diverse young talent to effect positive change for a brighter future. With a membership of more than 2,700, YPW’s

number one aspiration is brain gain for Wichita by facilitating professional and social connections, encouraging leadership development and building community pride.

The 2015-16 Capitol Federal Scholars were introduced on Tuesday, Dec. 1 during the annual Capitol Federal Scholars luncheon at Emporia State’s Sauder Alumni Center. Each scholarship is renewable annually, meaning a student who earns the scholarship as a freshman remains eligible through graduate school as long as he or she maintains the required minimum 3.25 GPA. East Wichita students who were honored include freshman Julia Joseph, a Capitol Federal Athletic Scholar, and freshman Hayley Meisch, a Capitol Federal Scholar.

Eastsiders were among more than 500 graduates at Emporia State University on Dec. 12. The local students were Courtney Leeann Maddux of Andover, bachelor of science in education-elementary education; Baosheng Cai of Bel Aire, bachelor of science in business administration; James Kuluka Chanda of Wichita, bachelor of science in economics with a minor in political science; and Yahayra Noemi Ortiz of Wichita, master of science in psychology with a concentration in industrial/organizational psychology.

Eastsider Molly Wierman was one of 38 University of Dallas students to present her “Junior Poet” project.

These presentations are the culmination

of intensive research and writing on a major English-language poet and are required of all English majors in order to satisfy degree requirements, though students from other majors choose to take the course as well. Wierman’s presentation was on the poetry of T.S. Eliot.

Hayley Meisch of Wichita, Kansas was among 80 students honored during the School of Business Fall Scholarship Reception and Beta Gamma Sigma Initiation at Emporia State University.

Beta Gamma Sigma is the honor society serving business programs accredited by AACSB International The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is the highest recognition a business student anywhere in the world can receive in a business program accredited by AACSB International. A total of 10 students were inducted. Scholarships received by students included university-wide merit awards as well as major-specific awards in the School of Business. Meisch, a freshman accounting major, was honored as a scholarship recipient.

Matthew Clough of East Wichita was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Clough was initiated at The University of Kansas. Clough is among approximately 32,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation and

requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors, having at least 72 semester hours, are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff, and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

FACES

WANTED. At East Wichita News, we’re already working on feature stories for upcoming editions. If you know of someone whose face (and story) should appear on these pages, please let us know! ewn@eastwichitanews.com 316-540-0500 www.facebook.com/ EastWichitaNews

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story of survival at seas in the 1820s, when, for the first and only time, a maddened sperm whale attacked a whaling ship and sank it. Perhaps as a device to make it a more important story, a lengthy prologue is attached, telling of Herman Melville’s researches into the incident as preparation for writing “Moby Dick,” frequently rated the greatest American novel (and itself a bit of an anthology of whale lore, historical facts and Melville-created legend).

There is also a lengthy section devoted to everyday hardships of life at sea.

Then comes the whale attack, a truly spectacular bit of moviemaking, though it consists mostly of a montage of quick cuts and short shots of spars and ropes flying, waves and tails crashing over the decks, men shouting orders that are never followed, and – interestingly – fire. After that, there is a lengthy section of the survivors drifting about for 90 days, starving and dying from lack of water, before a quiet and accidental rescue. And at the end, there is a totally unexpected trial of the shipping company, on charges of inadequate maintenance of the ship, perhaps in hopes of linking this simple whaling story to current problems in the Gulf of Mexico. There are references to the “oil industry” – in this case, whale oil.

The opening section of the movie, which had some of the mysterious atmosphere of the opening of “Dracula,” had announced that this was basically the story of two men, which seems to have as little to do with the picture as a whole as the law case does.

There is a smorgasbord of plot ideas in “In the Heart of the Sea,” but only the whale attack itself is suitably developed, and it is so developed, perhaps, because it is itself of short duration.

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I think a lot of things have made us look at the world as much more complicated than we used to think it was. At least, we are more aware of the complicated situations we used to accept as pretty simple. I think this new tendency is becoming a problem even in movie construction.

I also suspect that I make more of this, especially in terms of connections between world view and plot construction, than is fully justified. But let’s speculate a little; there may be something to it all.

That our picture of life in general has become more complicated seems almost inevitable. Consider the number of media in our lives. There used to be mostly print and broadcast radio, and movies. Then came television, and cable, which multiplied our choices. Later there was Neflix and I don’t know what else (that I don’t have), with audiences tailored for specific markets. Print media scattered in pretty much the same way. Smart phones followed cell phones in traveling with us, inescapably, and public places moved from jukeboxes to special channels of their own.

Outsourcing and globalization forced us to be aware that events in far-off places we once regarded as romantic were now part of our daily lives, often in ways we would prefer they weren’t.

And social movements along racial and ethnic lines, and other lines, reminded us that there were ways of life that we didn’t share but that were legitimate aspects of our world and should not be ignored. And now we have climate change. With all this came an inevitable broadening of our consciousness of what kind of world we live in.

I won’t say this all led to a form of wisdom we hadn’t had before, but it’s hard not to think it led to a different kind of awareness – one that isn’t necessarily helpful to the screen artist.

At least two current movies are badly damaged by attempts to include too much semirelevant material or by intrusion of certainly non-essential material into movies that are of normal commercial length. I am tempted to suspect the influence of television miniseries, a new form that allows for the spreading range of interest called for by the new kind of world view.

“In the Heart of the Sea” is a simple

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Film, like life, is more complicated

January 2016 - 6

A crowd gathers for the recent groundbreaking for Trinity Academy’s new K-8 school. Contributed photo

Trinity’s new K-8 school part of larger plan w w w . e a s t w i c h i t a n e w s . c o m

Story

by

Amy Houston

Trinity Academy has been a fixture in East Wichita for more than 20 years, and the school for ninth through 12th grades includes 320 students. Trinity will add kindergarten through eighth grade in the fall, in a step toward even more that it plans to offer.

Trinity’s property, located at 12345 E. 21st St. North, includes 80 acres. The new building for younger students will be at the south end of the campus on Founders Circle.

Pete Ochs, chairman of the board at Trinity Academy, said the first phase of the K-8 school would accommodate about 200 students. A waiting list already exists, since the spots have been filled, although Ochs said that some who indicated they would enroll their children had not yet paid tuition.

“I think there’s a possibility we could fill the school, almost Day 1,” he said.

“And I think what’s really encouraging is most of those kids are not coming from our feeder schools. They’re new to the Christian-school community.”

Trinity, which opened 22 years ago, is a Christian school where students come from nearly 70 different churches. Its feeder schools include Central Christian Academy, and Ochs said Trinity would continue to work with those schools.

The board doesn’t want to compete with them, he explained, as it will still

rely on incoming high school students from those feeder systems.

The K-8 school, set to open in fall 2016, is part of a larger plan. Ochs said the board envisions a K-14 program, which would mean that students eventually could graduate from Trinity with an associate’s degree. The average senior at Trinity graduates with 26 hours of college credit, he explained, since the school offers concurrent classes with some area colleges.

If students could accumulate 60 hours of college credit during their time at Trinity, their associate’s degree would allow them to enter a four-year college with general-education requirements, or prerequisites, already completed.

“To take advantage of that, you really need to start earlier than ninth grade,” Ochs explained. “We’re trying to just shove everything down a year or two.”

To keep the enrollment stream stable, and to survive the recent recession,

Trinity has depended on donors who provide financial aid. Tuition for the high school is about $10,000 a year, Ochs said, but families may receive up to 50 percent off that cost. He said 34 percent of the families at Trinity are on financial aid, and that program will be offered for the K-8 school.

Trinity has raised $3.4 million of the $3.8 million it needs for Phase 1 of the K-8 school. It is also seeking funds for Phase 2, which would accommodate

An architect’s rendering of the planned K-8 school at Trinity Academy in northeast Wichita.

Continued from Page 6

another 120 students.

Dirt work is done, and a concrete pad is in place. Ochs said concrete would be in the ground in January, and the building is slated to be ready in August.

Another new addition to the school also is set to be available this fall.

Trinity has partnered with Indiana Wesleyan University to offer a bachelor of science in business administration degree. The 36-month program would cost $36,000 total.

“We really think education is changing,” Ochs said. “I think it’s probably the industry that will have the most change in the next five to 10 years.”

He pointed out that a college degree can cost $25,000 to $40,000 a year, and most students require six years to complete a bachelor’s degree and then emerge from college with significant debt. The program through Indiana Wesleyan, which is not full, would

recent high school graduates. Students who have been out of high school for a while are welcome, Ochs said.

“Timing is everything, and we feel like now is the right time,” he added.

The K-8 building, which will provide 15 jobs for faculty and staff this fall, will be located so that space is available to build a middle school between it and the high school. Another dream is the Trinity Innovation Center, which would house five to six businesses that could provide a place for Trinity students to work. Ochs said they could work up to 50 hours a month while earning $10 an hour, which could help

pay for their tuition and allow them to learn what he described as “virtuous business.” Possible businesses that could be located there are a restaurant, clothing store, fitness center and preschool, Ochs said.

Trinity’s goals include helping students develop their interests so they don’t lose money in college as they switch majors in an effort do figure out what they want to do.

“We’re trying to create more value for students,” Ochs said. “I do think we do a very good job trying to help young people figure out who they are, what their God-given talent is.”

7 - January 2016

Trinity

include 20 to 30 students. They would work on their degree online but also meet two nights a week at Trinity.

Ochs said a professor would be on site during one of those two nights each week, and the other evening would feature a chaplain and someone from the business community to speak to students.

An important component of that program is the opportunity for students to work while they are pursuing their degrees. Ochs said businesses are lined up to hire students to work 20 hours a week so they can earn money and gain practical experience.

“There’s really a hands-on experience,” Ochs said. “It’s more of an apprenticeship.”

He added that a student would change jobs every year. For example, he or she might work in manufacturing one year, followed by a retail establishment and then a bank.

“The business community has really embraced this,” Ochs said.

Those who enter the Indiana Wesleyan program aren’t required to be Trinity graduates, and they aren’t required to be

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A Christmas present that crossed generations The line to get in to see the afternoon showing of the new “Star Wars” movie in the Imax Theater literally stretched the entire length of the 21st Street Warren.

I told my daughter Abby that the line was a half-mile long. That, of course, was a bit of an exaggeration. But it was a couple of city blocks long.

The occasion was a Christmas present from Abby that spanned three generations in our family. As we unwrapped presents over the holiday weekend, three of us – myself, my son-in-law and my grandson, Felix – were the recipients of tickets to the new “Star Wars” movie.

You’d have thought we all got gold cufflinks that could’ve been hocked for several thousand bucks. The whoops, the hollers and the pure excitement would have been enough to make non”Star Wars” nerds barf.

All of my kids are known for thoughtful gift giving, and sometimes we steal ideas from each other. Abby remembered something I had done for a family member years ago, so her “present” to each of us boys was a “Star Wars” calendar, with Sunday’s date marked in gold lettering and with a giant arrow.

Even a bunch of brain-dead boys couldn’t miss that.

Although the weather Sunday afternoon was dreadful, the three of us couldn’t have cared any less. We piled in my pickup truck at the appointed hour and headed to the movie theater.

Once inside, we picked up the tickets that were waiting for us, and checked to see if there was a line waiting to get in.

Oh, holy smokes. Yes, there was a line.

“Can this many people even fit in the

From the Publisher’s Files

Paul Rhodes | Publisher

theater?” my son-in-law, Eskil, asked. I assured him the Warren Imax was massive, and that yes, we would get seats… even if, as it seemed, the entire city of Wichita had turned out for this showing.

While Felix and I got popcorn and drinks, Eskil guarded our place in line.

Loaded down with consumables and our treasured tickets, we cattle-called our way into the Imax. And we even got seats together, once I asked a couple of teenagers to move down one seat.

The 3-D presentation of “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” was thrilling and met all of our expectations.

There were squeals of delight, jaw-dropping gasps, and knee-clenching moments of suspense.

And that was just me.

Felix handled the movie really well… even the scary parts. And Eskil, a “Star Wars” nerd to his core, was a fountain of

information for this “Star Wars” episode and the six movies in the series before it.

A good time was had by all, and we replayed and reviewed the movie all the way home and through dinner that night.

I could see my daughter Abby’s face light up as we shared our excitement over the dinner table, and that could mean only one thing: She’d hit the jackpot for Christmas, making the holiday even brighter.

Read Jim Erickson’s review of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” on Page 21.

A “Star Wars” ticket was as good as gold for three generations of boys in our family. Staff photo/Paul Rhodes

Continued from Page 5

A lot of movies these days feature well-developed bursts of action amid mere sketches of plot and character.

Another example in a very different genre is “Trumbo,” which purports to tell about the famous Hollywood blacklist of movie talents during the Red Scare of the 1950s through the story of one man, multiple Academy Award-winning screen writer Dalton Trumbo (“Roman Holiday, “The Brave One”). The concentration on one man would seem to be an exception to what I am talking about. But in fact, the

story of Trumbo himself gets smothered in a series of mere suggestions of other plots, too many to be developed.

The disintegration of Trumbo himself and the damage to his family are the most important losses, but the one I miss most is the potential comedy of John Goodman and his drivein schlock movies – with real artist Trumbo trying to work with a demand for screen junk and a lot of it. Other neglected aspects of the story include what effects the supposed communists had on the movies (precious little, I understand) and the studios’ side of the controversy.

By the way, don’t be deceived by the headline in last month’s issue; we still have two chapters to go on “Citizen Kane,” but then I will shut up about it.

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Jan. 29, 31 – The Gershwin Experience, Wichita Symphony. Performances at 8 p.m. Jan. 29 and 3 p.m. Jan. 31. Dance in your seat and feel the city street beneath you with every trill, slide and bump of bass in this full-swing concert of Gershwin’s greatest hits. Tickets $25-$67, www.wichitasymphony.org.

Jan. 29 – Sinbad, The Orpheum, 8 p.m. Tickets $35-$55, www.selectaseat.com.

At East Wichita News, we’re already working on feature stories for upcoming editions. If you know of someone whose face (and story) should appear on these pages, please let us know!

Performing Arts Calendar

January 2016

Submit events for the Performing Arts Calendar by email to news@tsnews.com. Submissions must be sent by the 15th of the month to be considered for the upcoming edition.

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FACES

Jan. 27-Feb. 7, “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, Wichita Community Theatre.

9 - January 2016

Cinema

January 2016 - 10 www.eastwichitanews.com

City names new police chief Gordon Ramsay is Wichita’s next chief of police.

Ramsay is currently the chief in Duluth, Minn. Wichita city manager Robert Layton made the announcement on Dec. 18.

During a morning news conference at City Hall, Layton cited Ramsay’s almost 10 years of experience as a chief, his leadership and vision, his commitment to community policing, his work implementing body cameras, and his strategic planning background, among other professional accomplishments.

Ramsay, who will earn $170,000 annually, starts on Jan. 28. He will manage a nearly $82 million budget and supervise 836 employees in the state’s largest police department.

“We needed the right leader for the future, and I believe we have achieved that with Gordon,” Layton said at the news conference, which was attended by Mayor Jeff Longwell, other City Council Members and several stakeholders who participated in the search.

Ramsay has been the chief in Duluth since 2006.

He’s been a police officer there for 22 years. He has extensive experience in community policing. He has worked with diverse groups including NAACP, American Indian Commission, Native Alliance, and African-American Men’s Group to create Duluth’s first police civilian review board. Under Ramsay’s leadership, Duluth has received high marks from residents in

recent surveys, as well as recognition from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in 2012 and 2013 for community policing efforts. He is past President of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association and immediate past General Chair of the Mid-Size Agency Section of IACP. He has a master’s degree in management from the College of St. Scholastica (2004) and a bachelor’s degree in criminology and sociology from the University of Minnesota-Duluth (1994). He graduated from the FBI National Academy (2005).

Ramsay was one of two finalists for WPD Chief along with Jeffery Spivey, Assistant Chief of Police in Irving, Texas since 2011. The search process produced 62 applicants and seven semifinalists, part of an extensive community engagement process that grew out of an organizational assessment conducted by Wichita State University’s Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs.

The City’s top law enforcement job has been open since September 2014 when Norman Williams retired after nearly 40 years in the department. Nelson Mosley has served as WPD’s interim chief the past 15 months.

“I am humbled and beyond excited to have been chosen for this position and can’t wait to begin working with department and community members as their police chief,” Ramsay said. “The potential to make a difference seems limitless.

Wichita library launches new website The Wichita Public Library has updated its website and implemented a new web address to improve the community’s ability to access materials, online research tools, and other library services and programs.

The library’s new website URL is now www.WichitaLibrary.org. The previous, and original, website that the library has been operating for 20 years, www.wichita.lib.ks.us, will continue to exist and will route visitors automatically to the new site.

In addition to accessing the Library’s full catalog of materials and placing holds and request for material delivery, the website provides a customizable events calendar letting you filter events by age, topic or location.

“The updated website not only makes it easier to use for mobile device and tablet users, but creates new opportunities to further establish a ‘virtual branch’ that allows customers to connect and utilize the library whenever they need,” said director of libraries Cynthia Berner.

Story by Sam Jack P h o t o s b y T r av i s M o u n t s On the first Saturday of October 2014, Darryl Carrington was “riding high.” Back to Fairmount Park, a festival he organized for the neighborhood as well as the adjoining Wichita State University community, was in full swing. Artists shared their creations, while musicians entertained the crowd of several hundred that had gathered.

The positive energy from that event was still on Carrington’s mind a little over a month later, when Letitia Davis was brutally raped and murdered while walking through the park Nov. 14.

“A cop told me what had happened, and I remember that like it happened two minutes ago,” said Carrington. “It was cold, and I couldn’t believe it.

Driving home, I looked into the park, and after having a wonderful time there about a month ago, it was so cold and looked so dead – it looked like a cemetery.”

Carrington was president of the Fairmount Neighborhood Association at the time, so he did plenty of talking and reaching out in the days after the atrocity.

The initial reaction was “paralysis,” he said. But shock soon gave way to urgent calls for action, from both the Fairmount community and Wichita State.

Ted Ayres, former vice president and general counsel for the university, has headed up Wichita State’s response, which includes the Shocker Neighborhood Coalition and the “Enough is Enough” task force.

Since taking on the role of director of community engagement and opportunity July 1, he has focused on identifying and engaging university resources to benefit the surrounding neighborhoods, and Fairmount in particular.

“Enough is Enough and the Shocker Neighborhood Coalition is part of a larger, broader, long-term effort to make the university a better neighbor and to provide assistance to help improve the quality of life

around us. These neighborhoods are important to us; the community is important to us,” said Ayres.

Thanks to a $250,000 grant from the Kansas Health Foundation, Carrington was able to begin a full-time job as liaison between the Fairmount community and the university Aug. 18. His role now is to build bridges between various groups with an interest in the future of Fairmount, including churches, businesses, residents and university affiliates.

“The stakeholders are varied,” said Carrington.

“They include elected officials, residents, students, international students, and also bar-owners and property development speculators. It’s a very diverse crowd that

we call our stakeholder leadership group.”

Despite that diversity, a good deal of consensus has emerged about steps that will improve Fairmount and help its residents reclaim pride in a diverse neighborhood with a proud history, Carrington said. A Sept.

10 community meeting he convened to kick things off attracted more than 100 residents who aired their priorities and offered to help.

“We all came together in terms of what we need to do first, and that’s public safety,” said Carrington.

“There are things we can do that maybe bring a sense

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Neighbors, university work to improve Fairmount community

See FAIRMOUNT, Page 14 www.eastwichitanews.com

January 2016 - 12 www.eastwichitanews.com

Shoes from the stars

TV celebrity boosts student’s charity project STORY

BY

SAM JACK

Andover High School senior Amelia Flores woke up Dec. 10 to a barrage of Facebook messages and tweets, most of them from people she had never met. They pointed her toward a public Twitter message from Kim Kardashian West, the reality TV and tabloid celebrity.

“I’m up breastfeeding & watching this show Dish Nation,” Kardashian wrote. “I heard the cutest story of a girl who is trying to find 1000 pairs of shoes to donate to this charity Soles For Souls! They helped her during Hurricane Katrina. I think I know the designer of Shoe of the Year Award! Kanye and I would love to donate those 1000 shoes to Soles For Souls.”

Dish Nation is a syndicated TV talk show presented by an ensemble of radio hosts. One of the hosts of the Kidd Kraddick Shows broadcasts in several dozen radio markets – including Wichita, on KFBZ 105.3 FM. For

“Wichita Week,” he presented a brief local item each day on Dish Nation. He used a Dec. 6 Wichita Eagle article on Flores’ shoe drive for his Dec. 10 story.

That’s how it happened that a Hollywood socialite and her 38 million Twitter followers found out about Flores and Soles4Souls.

“I really didn’t think it was me. I thought it was maybe just a coincidence, and then I thought, ‘This girl’s going to get all the shoes and I’ll be stuck with nothing,’” said Flores. “Then I got a call from the Soles4Souls organization, and they were like, ‘Maybe you’ve heard about what’s going on; this is actually happening.’ And I started freaking out.”

Flores’ relatives were affected by Hurricane Katrina and benefited from donated shoes. She started a shoe drive in early November as a way of paying forward the generosity shown to her family. The goal was to gather 2,000 pairs of shoes.

“I kept putting off getting the drive

Andover High senior Amelia Flores, above, got a boost in her effort to collect shoes for charity when celebrity Kim Kardashion West began tweeting about it.

Contributed photo

Members of the Soles4Souls organization show their appreciation for the donations of shoes from Kim Kardashian West and her husband, musician Kanye West.

Contributed photo

started. But we had marching practice in the mornings in the fall, and we would put on a separate pair of shoes to go out onto the field. By the end of the season, a ton of shoes were left in the band room, and I asked if I could have them. That was my first 100 pairs of shoes. Then I was like, OK, maybe I can do this,’” said Flores.

Flores set up donation drop-off sites at Andover High School, Chapel Hill United Methodist Church and other area schools and businesses. She was well on her way to her goal, even before getting a boost from Kardashian. By the beginning of January, she had lost track of how many pairs she had collected, but it is well into the thousands.

“I think it’s ridiculous and restrictive. A lot of people are working multiple jobs, so they don’t have time to get this stuff done. Some of them don’t have access to their birth certificate,” she told the Times.

Flores is still waiting to find out whether she will be admitted to Florida State University, her top choice for

college next year, but based on her good grades and ACT scores, she is confident she will be accepted. Her parents are Tracy and Jorge Flores.

Soles4Souls has distributed 26 million pairs of shoes in 127 countries and all 50 U.S. states. For more information, visit soles4souls.org.

13 - January 2016

“My room is completely full of shoes. Right now, my bed is the only open space in my room,” said Flores.

The drive officially ended Dec. 18, but with the surge in interest, Flores has continued to accept donations since. A shoe drop-off at Andover High School will continue to operate until March.

This month, Soles4Souls will fly Flores to Los Angeles and New Orleans to distribute the shoes she collected from Wichita donors and from Kardashian and Kanye West.

“We don’t know the dates yet, but they assured me that this is going to happen,” said Flores. “The Soles4Souls organization thought it’d be best to split the donation into three different locations. LA, to donate to a charity or group of Kim’s choice, and then New Orleans. The third place is Wichita.”

In Wichita, Flores hopes to direct aid to Jardine Technology Magnet Middle School, sponsoring new shoes for the entire student body.

“Many of them are living in poverty, and they don’t get a lot of nice surprises. When the organization comes to Wichita, we get to take each kid, measure their feet and put the shoes on them to make sure they fit. It’s really cool; I’m really excited,” said Flores.

Soles4Souls was Flores’ second brush with the national media spotlight in 2015. In October, she was highlighted in a New York Times article on voter identification requirements in Kansas. She tried to register to vote at the Kansas State Fair but was stymied by the new requirement to provide a birth certificate.

Friends helped Amelia Flores, kneeling, during the early days of her Soles4Souls shoe drive. Flores set an initial goal to collect 2,000 pairs of shoes for those in need. After Kim Kardashian pledged 1,000 pairs to the Andover High senior, she blew past that goal. Contributed photo

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January 2016 - 14

January 2016 Jan. 6 – The South Central Legislative Delegation will hold its annual legislative public forum on Wednesday, January 6 at the Sedgwick County Courthouse, 525 N. Main, Wichita.

The forum will begin at 7 p.m. in the Jury Room (first floor) and is an opportunity for members of the public to express their ideas, concerns and requests to legislators from the area. The public should enter the courthouse from the front (Main Street) entrance.

Jan. 16 – 4th annual Smallgrass Film Festival, at Exploration Place. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. Experience a day full of specially-curated feature and short films for the young and young at heart, featuring films Zarafa, The Rocketeer and special Space Shorts. Be the first to see Exploration Place’s newest dome film, Space School. Plus, enjoy hands-on activities and all exhibits, including the new preschool exhibit, Kansas Kids Connect. Admission: $7 nonmembers, $5 Exploration Place and Tallgrass Film Association members (includes one film, access to all activities and exhibits); $2 each additional film. Presented in partnership with Tallgrass Film Association.

w w w . e a s t w i c h i t a n e w s . c o m

Jan. 16 through Jan. 17, 2017 – Turquoise: Stone of the People, Mid-America All-Indian Center. The use of turquoise in jewelry stretches back to ancient cultures and continues to attract people of all backgrounds. This exhibit

Dateline

Fairmount Continued from Page 11

Upcoming events in and around Wichita will show examples of turquoise and silver jewelry. Prices: $7 adults, $5 elders (55 & up), $5 military (w/ID), $5 students (over 13 w/ID), $3 ages 6-12.

Jan. 30 through May 8 – Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked The World, traveling exhibit at Exploration Place.

Encounter the history of the world’s most recognized musical instrument. Experience diverse genres of music and discover the science of pitch and tone. Find out how the selection of different materials and strings, fused with electromagnetism and amplification, creates this elaborate device that has revolutionized music. Discover more than 60 guitars and nearly 100 historical artifacts that immerse you in the heart of music. You can even play a Guinness Record-breaking 43.5 foot long guitar. This is a touring exhibit of the National Guitar Museum.

Orpheum announces Classic Film series The Orpheum Theatre has announced the schedule for the 2016 Classic Film series.

The 2016 Classic Film Series is the Orpheum’s annual series of films, shown monthly, celebrating a major anniversary. All films are shown at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month. The series kicks off on Jan. 21, with “Fargo,” from directors Joel and Ethan Cohen. The film celebrates its 20th anniversary next year.

Series passes are $50. The series passes can be purchased online at selectaseat.com and by phone at 855-755-SEAT. The passes can also be purchased at the Orpheum box office.

Tickets for each individual film in the series are $5 General Admission or $4 for students, seniors and military, and will be available at the door the night of each film.

The schedule is as follows: Jan. 21 – Fargo – 20th Anniversary Feb. 18 – Labyrinth – 30th Anniversary March 17 – Harold & Maude – 45th Anniversary April 21 – Thelma & Louise – 25th Anniversary May 19 – Pretty in Pink – 30th Anniversary June 16 – The Hustler – 55th Anniversary July 21 – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – 50th Anniversary Aug. 18 – Taxi Driver – 40th Anniversary Sept. 15 – A Streetcar Named Desire – 65th Anniversary Oct. 20 – Carrie – 40th Anniversary Nov. 17 – The Royal Tenenbaums – 15th Anniversary Dec. 15 – It’s a Wonderful Life – 70th Anniversary.

of increased security, right away.

Lighting was one of our first areas. In February, we’re implementing what we call a front porch light program, just to help private individuals do what they can: We can contribute to lighting our community.”

Carrington and other volunteers recently took a “safety audit” walk through the neighborhood, identifying areas where visibility could be improved or lights could be repaired or added.

Under Ayres’ leadership, the Shocker Neighborhood Coalition is helping to build connections between community members and law enforcement agencies.

“Sara Morris, who’s chief of the WSU police department, heads up the law enforcement group for the coalition, and we’ve had a number of meetings with university police, city police, city council members, parks and recreation representatives, and our student government association,” said Ayres. “It has just been fantastic.

We’ve had a number of community forums where Sara and her officers have engaged in conversation back and forth, on what the police department can do to help.”

Carrington is on board with efforts to improve law enforcement and get quicker and better responses to requests for government services. But he also believes that change will come

from the grassroots, with neighbors getting to know each other better and helping each other out. “(State senator) Oletha FaustGoudeau lived in Fairmount, and she told a story of how when she moved to this neighborhood, she mistakenly parked her front tire on the grass.

When she woke up the next morning, there was a city codebook on her car.

If people knew what the codes are, I think they would follow them, I really do,” said Carrington.

“We want to avoid that broken window effect: ‘Nobody cares about this area, so we’ll just dump here.’ Or, ‘That’s not our responsibility, that’s the city’s responsibility.’ If we can take care of it, we should take care of it. This is our neighborhood,” he continued.

“Neighborhood-driven code compliance” is what Carrington calls the effort, by him and other volunteers, to bring a message of pride and an offer of help – rather than a threat of punitive action – to people who are struggling to maintain their property.

Carrington and his colleagues plan to release more plans and recommendations in January. The Kansas Health Foundation grant continues for three years and is invested in the effort for the long haul, as is Ayres and Wichita State.

“The problematic issues, a lot of them are socioeconomic, societal,” said Ayres. “They didn’t happen overnight, and they won’t go away overnight. What’s important is to recognize that there’s a need. Let’s not sit on our hands; let’s be proactive, try to move forward and make Fairmount a better place.”

A nearby resident walks her dogs on a recent warm day in Fairmount Park.

15 - January 2016

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January 2016 - 16

Featured this month Kitchen Tune-Up........................... Page 16

www.eastwichitanews.com

FOCUS ON BUSINESS

Coe Financial Services................... Page 17 Great Harvest Bread Co................ Page 18

Focus On Business is a monthly feature offered to area advertisers. If you would like your business featured here, please contact our sales office at (316) 540-0500.

Brotsman & Dreger....................... Page 19 Wichita Grand Opera..................... Page 20

Kitchen Tune-Up brings you bright, new ideas for the New Year Does the look of your kitchen scream 1986 instead of 2016?

Relax – you don’t have to live with those outdated styles and stained countertops any longer. Start the New Year off with a new look for your kitchen or bath with a reface from Kitchen TuneUp. In a recent, stunning transformation, a happy Wichita homeowner said goodbye to her golden oak and gave a fresh new look to her kitchen with these chic antique white cabinet doors, drawer fronts and panels.

“I love it,” exclaimed the homeowner.

“I just sit and stare at my kitchen.”

Updated hardware, granite countertops and a custom stone and glass backsplash make this space efficient to use and beautiful to look at it.

If your cabinets are in good condition but you would like a new look, refacing may be just the right option.

You don’t have to replace those tired cabinets – let Kitchen Tune-Up reface them and you could save thousands of dollars.

It’s an affordable option many Wich-

ita homeowners are using for an easy and quick update. Plus, realtors love it as the perfect touch to get a home ready to put on the market.

Kitchen Tune-Up’s designer, Rachel Phillips, works to bring you style, trending looks and local market expectations together to help you create a one-of-akind design that will leave you confident in your investment.

“TV shows, websites, magazines and showrooms can be overwhelming,” said Rachel. “We will take you step by step through your design decisions so you end up with a new look that is fabulous, comfortable and easy to live with.”

Call Kitchen Tune-Up today for your free consultation and make 2016 your kitchen or bath’s best looking year ever.

All of Kitchen Tune-Up’s refacing and new construction options are available to see at the company’s new design center at 4057 N. Woodlawn, Suite 1.

For more information or to schedule a free consultation, call Kitchen Tune-Up at 316-558-8888 or visit kitchentuneup/wichita-ks-phillips.

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BEFORE pany’s extensive BEFORE/AFTER portfolios on Facebook, and when you

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visit the Facebook page, ‘LIKE’ their page, Kitchen Tune-Up, Wichita.

A breakthrough in understanding stock market risk

Richard Coe CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM

Editor’s Note: Richard Coe, a Wichita native, earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. From there, he earned his MBA in finance and accounting from The University of Chicago (now called Chicago Booth) and advanced to Second Vice President at what was then Chicago’s largest bank – Continental Bank.

In 1983, Coe launched Coe Financial Services. Today, Coe Financial Services is one of the longest-tenured financial planning firms in Kansas.

Do you believe you will live to see another major stock market downturn?

How much of a decline in your portfolio are you willing to experience?

Can you imagine how much money is typically left in harm’s way when markets crumble?

If there was a better strategy than “live with the bounces”, would you want to know about it?

Do you believe there are better ways to protect your portfolio than annuities?

Do you consider it important to have a financial advisor who will initiate timely defensive moves?

Do you care enough about your portfolio to invest some time to learn how you can invest with less stress?

www.eastwichitanews.com

Is it really possible to prosper from the stock market in good times and be protected from it in bad times? Professors, investment professionals, and investors are currently divided on this issue. Coe understands and respects those who believe the answer is “No.” He was trained that the answer was “No” and that investors were wiser to live with bounces than to try to mitigate the bounces through timely defensive actions.

Probably no one is more surprised than Coe himself that he has experienced a massive paradigm shift in his thinking about how investment portfolios should be managed.

“I have been interested in the stock market since my junior high days,” said Coe. I have tried to go through life always being ready to learn. Most of my life, frankly, I have been very skeptical regarding the value of timing strategies.

“What I have learned in the last 18 months is fascinating to me, and very exciting in terms of our ability to help people.

We endorse timely defensive and offensive moves, and we can explain why.

“It all goes back to the business cycle,” Coe said. “Stock prices respond to corporate earnings. During good times, earnings increase and stock prices rise. During recessions, the economy contracts and earnings deteriorate, resulting in a drop in stock prices. Recessions are here to stay, and the

benefits of avoiding recession markets are huge.”

Many people remember a line from a song in “The Music Man” – “You’ve got to know the territory.” Coe believes that by knowing the territory (market conditions) one can make much better investment decisions.

“Not only do we have many years of experience,” said Coe, “but, more importantly, we have a process that allows investors to invest with less stress.”

To provide additional support for the change in his thinking, Coe points to Charles Koch. In “Good Profit,” Koch writes, “Even though it is difficult to time the market in absolute terms, significant value can be created by understanding key drivers of variations in global equity performance and quickly adjusting the portfolio accordingly.”

Coe adds, “Charles Koch has one of the most brilliant economic minds the world has ever seen. Financial professionals would be wise to go to school on his conclusions.”

“We are excited about the opportunity to help more people, but will intentionally limit the number of new client relationships in 2016. Everyone is busy, so we want to be diligent in determining whether a new client is mutually a good fit. We are happy to do a preliminary meeting, but we do not want to move ahead unless the prospective clients are willing to make three commitments. Our process is designed to improve the odds of a good fit for a lasting relationship.”

For more information about how to make better investment decisions with less stress – and how Coe Financial Services can go to work for your future – call Richard Coe at 316-689-0900, or visit www.coefinancialservices.com. The company’s offices are located at 8100 E. 22nd St. North, Building 1400-2.

FOCUS ON BUSINESS

Now, perhaps more than ever, people need a reliable approach to protecting their life savings. Both in his academic training – MBA from The University of Chicago (now called Chicago Booth) – and in his professional training– CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional since 1983, Richard Coe has been taught that any attempt to time the stock market is futile. However, in recent years, Coe has begun to question some long-held academic conclusions.

In October, Coe gave a presentation to the Wichita Estate Planning Council, an audience of about 70 estate planning attorneys, CPAs, trust officers, CLUs and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals. He explained what to him has been a startling breakthrough in his understanding of how the stock market actually works.

“What is missing from the standard investment models that most financial advisors embrace?” he asked. According to Coe, investment models and strategies typically do not evidence any understanding of how the business cycle affects portfolio risk.

Risk has been regarded as random and as a constant.

Coe has been on a steep stock market learning curve over the last 18 months, and he has concluded that stock market risk is not random – it is at least partially predictable. And, it is not constant – it varies significantly with changes in the business cycle.

What does this mean for investors? Coe advocates, and Coe Financial Services has now embraced, the “Condition Based Management” philosophy. The idea is to take advantage of the great growth engine known as the stock market during bullish conditions, but seek protection through bonds during recession markets. The key is knowing the existing market condition.

According to Coe, the public often has a better understanding of stock market risk than investment professionals, many of whom think of the risk factor in terms of a bell-shaped curve. “The stock market can be far more risky than suggested by a bell shaped curve,” said Coe. “People in or near retirement generally understand that large portfolio losses need to be avoided and that a passive strategy that does not actively manage risk does not make much sense.”

Questions to Consider in Selecting a Financial Advisor

17 - January 2016

Coe Financial Services

January 2016 - 18 FOCUS ON BUSINESS www.eastwichitanews.com

Great Harvest Bread has new owners The Toubassis will hire management help at Great Harvest Bread, but will be directly involved with the business as they take over ownership.

A little over a year ago, the Toubassis worked with a close friend to take over Flint Hills Spas, which also had a long business history in East Wichita. Former owner Dave Garretson is still heavily involved with Flint Hills Spas, and is well-known as the hot tub guru of Kansas.

Flint Hills Spas is located at 6350 E. Central, just east of Williams Ace Hardware and less than a block away from Great Harvest.

Buying another business just a block away wasn’t “part of the plan,” Jamil said with a laugh, “but it’s great to be so close.”

Great Harvest Bread will be keeping its hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and closed on Sunday.

Great Harvest Bread Company will continue to offer catering services, and – of course – will continue to produce the best fresh breads in Wichita.

Call 316-685-6455 for more information, or visit www.greatharvestwichita.com.

Jamil and Lesli Toubassi, right, are taking ownership of Great Harvest Bread Company from MariAnn and Tim Heeren, left. The Toubassis also own Flint Hills Spas. Staff photos/Travis Mounts

Jamil and Lesli Toubassi take on second East Side business

When opportunity knocks, Jamil and Lesli Toubassi have learned to get up and answer the door.

For the second time in a year, the Toubassis have said “yes” to a business opportunity put on the table by a friend. With the start of the New Year, the Toubassis are taking over ownership of Great Harvest Bread Company at 535 N. Woodlawn, just across the street from the busy and popular Normandie Shopping Center.

Great Harvest Bread Company has been wildly successful over the years, thanks to the savvy business direction provided by owners Tim and MariAnn Heeren. Recently, Tim Heeren found himself presented with a new opportunity of his own, and the Heerens asked their friends Jamil and Lesli Toubassi if they were interested in taking over Great Harvest Bread.

“I thought that he (Tim) was joking about Lesli and I buying Great Harvest at first,” Jamil said. “We’ve known the Heerens for years, and I finally realized that Tim was serious and is ready to do something different.”

That “something” is Heeren’s direct involvement in

a group that plans to launch several Freddy’s restaurant locations in Louisiana and Mississippi. After nearly 20 years running Great Harvest Bread, Tim said he’s ready and excited for a change.

“I of course have mixed emotions right now…I can’t wait to start my new adventure with Freddy’s but at the same time I’m sad to be moving on from Great Harvest,” said Heeren. “However I know Great Harvest is in good hands with Jamil and Lesli, and they have some fantastic plans for the future.”

Those plans, to be implemented during the first quarter of the year, include adding a full array of coffee/espresso/cappuccino drinks, growing the lunch menu, and expanding catering.

“It’s the best bakery in town, and a whole lot more,” said Lesli. “It’s such a great location, and we think there are opportunities for it to expand into coffee, as well as growing as a breakfast and lunch destination.”

“Lesli has always wanted to be in the restaurant or Great Harvest Bread Comapny – considered by many to coffee shop business,” Jamil said. “The Heerens have be the best bakery in Wichita – will add to its offerings in a strong menu, a strong following and a great compa- the new year, including a a full array of coffee/espresso/ cappuccino drinks and an expanded lunch menu. ny, and we can build off that.”

• Income tax returns (business & personal; federal & state) • Bookkeeping • QuickBooks setup, customization, and maintenance • QuickBooks training (customized, using your data, if desired) • QuickBooks queries and reports, using Crystal Reports if needed • QuickBooks troubleshooting, cleanup, and optimization • Financial analysis, cash-flow management, and tax planning • Payroll (including Forms 940, 941, 943, 944, W-2, 1099 & state) • Sales and use tax (including Forms ST16, ST-36, CT-10U, etc.)

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and tax-preparation business, serving clients from Oklahoma City to Kansas City, with a focus on the Wichita area.

“My military service gave me a foundation for believing that anything is possible, and that service to others is the best direction in life,” said Dreger. In his years as an accountant and tax preparer, Dreger continued to advance his education and credentials, and was the first accountant in Kansas and Oklahoma to pass – with a near-perfect score – the rigorous Advanced QuickBooks small-business accounting certification examination.

In addition to his advanced qualifications, Dreger has made on-site service to his clients a priority.

“We come, if you wish, to your business or home, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week,” said Dreger. “We offer everything from a complete set of affordable QuickBooks to accounting, bookkeeping and tax preparations services as needed.

“It’s all part of the ‘can do’ attitude we live by,” he said. “We can help you in many ways manage your business better, prevent heartache, fix problems, and save valuable time and money.”

Most of Dreger’s clients find this kind of on-site service to be very convenient for them. And, it helps Dreger better understand the client’s business, and provide information that is helpful and comprehendible.

“Clients are valued business partners,” he said.

“Their success is our success. I really like working with small business owners, and with families.”

Clients need not be QuickBooks users or even own a computer. Dreger brings his own laptop computer system to your business or home, and is up and running in minutes. From there, he can turn the proverbial shoebox full of checks and sales receipts into meaningful information.

To learn more about the services offered by Brotsman and Dreger, Inc., call 316-794-8922, or email Dreger at BrotsmanDreger@gmail.com.

We offer a complete set of affordable, cost-effective and professional services you need to manage your business or home:

FOCUS ON BUSINESS

There are two words that help make Brian Dreger stand head and shoulders above the crowd of accountants, tax preparers and business consultants in the Wichita area.

Can do.

Those are words to live by, according to Dreger.

The long-time Clearwater resident had a distinguished service record in the Navy before settling in the Wichita area and launching his second distinguished career as an accountant who since 1993 has led Brotsman and Dreger, Inc. “I’ve never talked to anyone I haven’t been able to help,” said Dreger. “Accounting, bookkeeping and tax preparation are so very important to every business and household. It’s been an honor to be of service to so many people over the years.”

Being of service was ingrained in Dreger at an early age. The son of a late career Air Force colonel with World War II, Korea and Vietnam service, Dreger entered the U.S. Naval Academy in June of 1969, graduating Summa cum Laude in June of 1973.

He served as a midshipman and a lieutenant, and was the assistant navigator of the attack aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt. He also was a missiles officer, serving aboard the nuclear-powered heavy cruiser USS Long Beach.

“After four years at Annapolis, most everything else in life is easy,” Dreger said with a laugh. He had planned a full career in the service, like his late father, but an injury during flight school redirected his plans to civilian life, instead.

Dreger considered 35 different graduate schools, but found the University of Kansas to be the best choice of all. He had a connection with KU’s dean Mitchell, who had urged him to attend grad school in Lawrence.

In May of 1978, Dreger graduated Summa cum Laude from the KU Graduate School of Accountancy and Business Administration. Today, he manages a very successful accounting, bookkeeping

How we can help you

19 - January 2016

A ‘can do’ attitude for all your accounting and tax needs

January 2016 - 20

All Eyes on Wichita Grand Opera The 2016 Season is Here

By Joe Watson Wichita Grand Opera just released a first look at its upcoming 2016 Season, and it looks to be chock-full of crowd-pleasing productions. That’s a good thing, as WGO already has a reputation with critics and opera aficionados around the globe (plus WGO’s huge – and growing – YouTube audience) for its daring programming of lesser-known, but glorious works like Rossi-

ni’s “William Tell” and Verdi’s “Don Carlo.”

All are eagerly waiting to see what WGO has up its sleeves.

“Our audience has spoken. They tell us it’s been far too long since we’ve produced these operas, and we agree. WGO’s 2016 Season is, essentially, our most-requested works,” said WGO President & CEO Parvan Bakardiev. “The season has everything you’ve come to expect from the WGO: dra-

Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet and Bizet’s Carmen

FOCUS ON BUSINESS

and Overland Park; the second year of WGO’s Opera Academy of the Midwest, sponsored by the Charlotte Bricker Trust and the Naftzger Fund for Fine Arts; WGO’s renowned tour to historic theatres throughout the region; and its annual Chairmen’s Opera Ball. It’s no surprise that WGO was hailed by Libby Hanssen of the Kansas City Star as “a magnificent spectacle.”

Verdi’s Rigoletto (New Production)

Saturday, April 23, 2016, 7pm

Saturday, September 3, 2016, 7pm

Performed by the Russian National Ballet

Performed in Italian with English supertitles

Century II Concert Hall

Following the successes of last season’s two ballet productions, the WGO offers two great ballet works (in one evening!) for the first time. First, Shakespeare’s immortal love story, “Romeo and Juliet,” comes to life with passionate choreography and spine-tingling swordsmanship. Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous fantasy on Shakespeare’s beloved romance becomes a tour-de-force of Russian ballet in the hands of legendary choreographer Marius Petipa.

Then, experience Bizet’s “Carmen” as you’ve never seen it before, reimagined by renowned Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin, with Latin-inspired choreography by Alberto Alonso, former Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Cuba. BBC reviewer John Armstrong praised Shchedrin’s interpretation for including “all the familiar tunes dressed up in a way Bizet would never have imagined, and with a sly grin and a twinkle in the eye.” The production is sponsored by Dr. Joseph & Stella Galichia and John Garvey.

Century II Concert Hall

A dramatic journey of undeniable force, “Rigoletto” is based on a controversial play by Victor Hugo, better known as the author of “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” and “Les Misérables.” Rigoletto is an outsider—a hunchbacked jester—trapped between his desire to be “normal” and his hatred of those who are.

The opera, written during the most fertile period of Verdi’s artistic life, was immensely popular from its premiere. Verdi was so sure that the Duke’s signature aria, “La donna é mobile,” would be a hit that he refused even to let the cast hear it until just hours before “Rigoletto’s” premiere.

The next morning, crowds could be heard singing the catchy tune through the streets of Venice.

WGO’s “Rigoletto” is sponsored in part by Mr. Georges Ausseil and Dr. Lyle Zepick.

Puccini’s La bohème (New Production)

Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance

Saturday, October 1, 2016, 7pm

Saturday, May 21, 2016, 7pm

Saturday, October 15, 2016, 7pm

Opera on the Lake

Performed in Italian with English supertitles

(New Production)

Century II Concert Hall

Carlsen Center, Overland Park

Bradley Fair

www.eastwichitanews.com

ma, beauty, humor, and elegance. Whether these operas were instant hits like ‘Rigoletto’ and ‘The Pirates of Penzance,’ or took a little longer to catch on like ‘La bohème,’ music from these operas is everywhere.

You may not think you’re an opera fan, but I guarantee you’ll catch yourself humming along.”

The new season opens in April 2016 and includes: FIVE full productions in Wichita

Following Lyric Opera of Chicago’s daring staging of Gilbert & Sullivan’s best work last season, WGO brings “The Pirates of Penzance” to Wichita with a new take on this classic à la the Bregenz Festival: under the Kansas stars, like no other venue in the region. Gilbert and Sullivan’s crowning comic masterpiece, “The Pirates of Penzance,” is an audience favorite. WGO’s new production at Bradley Fair puts the merry band of professional pirates in their natural element – right on the water.

Over the years, Opera on the Lake has become a staple of Wichita’s summer arts scene. This year will be very much the same, as WGO returns to its roots, similar to the landmark production (“Carmen” on the Lake) that started it all in 2003. WGO offers this comic opera masterpiece as part of the 2016 season with full seating available for all. Opera on the Lake is co-sponsored this year by Textron Aviation and Laham Development.

Chairmen’s Opera Ball Saturday, June 18, 2015, 6pm Hyatt Regency

For more than a decade, Wichita Grand Opera’s annual Chairmen’s Opera Ball has been one of the premiere social events in the region, and WGO’s biggest fundraiser of the year. The Opera Ball has played host to such luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Joyce DiDonato, Samuel Ramey, General Richard Myers (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) and Kansas Governor Sam Brownback. This year’s Ball, chaired by Lily Ashcom and scheduled for June 18th at the Hyatt Regency Wichita, will be the party of the year. Put on your dancing shoes and prepare to see and be seen.

“La bohème”: the passionate, timeless, and unforgettable story of love among young artists in Paris, stakes its claim as the world’s most popular opera, having inspired countless Hollywood, Broadway, and TV adaptations, including Baz Luhrmann’s critically acclaimed Broadway run in 2003. Its popularity stems from the story, the characters and the glorious music. On stage we see a poet, a seamstress, a painter, a singer, a musician, even a philosopher; they live and love in the moment. Their story reflects our own struggles with love and loss, revealing the deep emotional significance hidden in the trivial things that make up our everyday lives, from a candle in the dark to a scarf in the cold.

By popular demand, Wichita Grand Opera returns to Overland Park’s glorious Carlsen Center on October 15, 2016. The Carlsen Center’s audience is known as one of the most opera-savvy audiences in the region, and their reaction to WGO’s triumphant debut in that theater last season was overwhelmingly positive, including remarks such as “[Turandot] was one of the most impressive productions I’ve seen in the Kansas City area.” WGO’s “La bohème” is sponsored in part by Mrs. Carolyn Dillon.

Early subscribers get the best seats for Wichita Grand Opera’s 2016 Season Season Subscriptions: Plan A – All Four – Save 25% Plan B – Pick Three – Save 20% Plan C – Pick Two – Save 15%

Best $255 $204 $145

Better $174

$141 $99

Good $111 $90 $63

There will be a pre-performance opera talk 15 minutes prior to each production. Dinner, Preview, and Backstage tour packages are also available through the WGO Box Office.

Tickets can be purchased through the WGO Box Office at Century II, by phone at 316-262-8054, or in person at Century II. For more information, visit www.WichitaGrandOpera.org.

Movie Review

Jim Erickson

grand strategy. But I must say, I was a little disturbed by the usual post-apocalyptic world (we are reminded that all this occurred “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”) of sand and rock many science fiction and fantasy movies are set in. There are no cities, no farms and no indication where or how military supplies are brought in or even how life can be sustained, no government detectable beyond a single reference to a “senate” of some kind. I keep wondering why nobody in a sci-fi/fantasy movie ever fights for a country worth living in.

The action sequences are not the mere hodgepodge of little bits that such sequences often are, largely, perhaps, because the individual shots are long enough to have a sweeping moment of their own and prevent the customary jerkiness of shots representing the subjective impressions of one involved in battle. Not all the action sequences represent subjective reactions.

Some quite appropriately continue the narrative sweep of the story. In all, the action sequences are better than I am used to in action movies.

There is still a monotony of violence in “The Force Awakens.” One could wish that the brutality of the battles did not extend into the interrogation scenes, as if the people of a far-off galaxy, advanced as they are technologically, have never learned any interrogation techniques beyond the rubber hose in the back room.

All in all, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” does not amount to a lot in terms of plot or characters, but it provides a lot of vivid action and lets you “know what it feels like to be in the movie,” by which I think Time means you get totally absorbed in the special effects. That sounds more like a thrill ride than a movie to me. But all the evidence indicates it is very much what the current audience wants.

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Not a lot (more) needs to be said about “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which is not all that different from a lot of futuristic fantasy movies in its basic elements.

As usual, there is a cruel despot bent on making life unbearable for the general population, and a much smaller rebel group that supposedly doesn’t stand a chance against it. As is customary, concentration is on a very small and primarily young subgroup of rebels that keeps fighting and getting captured and escaping to fight and get captured again. As the Dec. 14 edition of Time states, “The plot isn’t necessarily the most original thing anybody’s every written,” but it is serviceable for the usual plot structure of five lines of dialogue followed by 15 minutes of bangboom action with swooping airships and big orange explosions, all done with extremely good special effects.

There are a few graces which this genre does not always offer. The heroine, Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, is a welcome new star who can look like a grown woman and an adolescent at the same time, with an acting range that nobody else in the cast has a chance to show. She’s skilled at martial arts with a lightsaber, and can be both feminine and commanding at the same time. She is sexy even in a costume that keeps her covered up, and she never gets out of it. I’d like to see more of her, in any way you care to take it.

Princess Leia and Han Solo have an interesting relationship that suits the action taking place 30 years after the receding six “Star Wars” movies ended.

Romantic love no longer prevails, and they talk more about missing Luke Skywalker, Leia’s brother, than about themselves. The relationship is the most convincing one in the movie and helps a lot to ground it in reality.

Which is just as well, because as Time quotes the production designer saying, “You can see that people don’t even… know what it’s about, you don’t know the narrative.” Time’s reviewer says nobody really knows what “The Force Awakens” is about.

This lack of clarity disturbs less than it normally would because the action takes place far from the seats of power, out on the battlefront, where the fighting men and women seldom understand the

21 - January 2016

‘The Force Awakens’ is light on plot

January 2016 - 22

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WANTED. At East Wichita News, we’re already working on feature stories for upcoming editions. If you know of someone whose face (and story) should appear on these pages, please let us know! ewn@eastwichitanews.com 316-540-0500 www.facebook.com/ EastWichitaNews

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Defining a style that works for you I talk to a lot of people who are wanting to change the look of their home. In essence, they are changing the style of their home.

So I ask, “what is your design style?”

Most of the time, this is hardly a one word answer. Often, the answer requires an explanation or at least a hyphen. Some might describe their home as “traditional-going-towards-modern” or perhaps that it is “kind of an eclectic-lodgy look.”

Every decorating style has its textbook distinguishing characteristics.

The collection of design elements will define the overall style of the room.

You would expect to see clean lines with minimal furnishings in a contemporary style setting. In a Victorian home, you will see many patterns, a lot of color, and plenty of details in the furnishings. Certain things just go together to define the style.

Even so, the definitions should be used as a road map to style, with some flexibility along the way. While the three basic styles of traditional, contemporary, and eclectic have many sub-variations, your style should be uniquely your own. The emphasis in practical interior design is on livable spaces. Decorate with what makes you comfortable. This means that you are free to mix it up a little and create a space that is all you. The challenge is to develop a cohesive, unified look in the process.

Sure, you can combine pieces from different style but you have to use good design principles and some common sense. The question is not so much about putting a style label on an element but more about making it work in the room. The flip side is that, just because you can mix certain styles, it doesn’t mean you should. Adding a Craftsman style lamp to a traditional living room can be good, while adding a crystal chandelier to a Southwest style dining room is probably a bad idea. Decorating with sound design principles and good taste is always your best bet.

You can get a feel for your individ-

Eastside Homes

Philip Holmes | Interior Designer

ual decorating style by doing a simple inventory of what sort of design elements you prefer. Define what type of furniture, what colors and what patterns make your space feel at home.

Then get into specifics such as what type of light fixtures, flooring and accessories you like. As you analyze your preferences, you should be able to see a pattern. If not, you may need professional help. Preferably from a professional who has experience with interior design.

For most people, there will be a pattern leaning toward a certain design style. Not that you would want to be pigeon-holed into a category, but it does help define what goes with what as you decorate or redecorate your space. Some styles are more flexible than others. In a Victorian home, most people prefer to stay “period correct” for a consistent style statement. On the other hand, a very rustic, primitive piece could be introduced as an accent in a strictly contemporary setting without a loss of continuity.

The main point is to understand your style preferences and make them work for you. There should be some thought process behind the selection and placement of decorative elements. It certainly should not appear random when you are finished. Individualize your space to reflect your personality within the realm of good design principles and function.

Feel free to experiment a little. Try avoid a totally safe yet generic design, because “Looks like a furniture store” is not really a decor style.

New Year Special

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Pictured at the Cooking Up Change competition held in December are the teams from Wichita Heights, left, Wichita Southeast, lower left, and Wichita East.

23 - January 2016

Students cook up change

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Eastside students in December took part in Cooking Up Change, a national healthy cooking competition launched by the Healthy Schools Campaign. It challenged teams of high school culinary students to create menu items that are not only healthy but also meet nutrition guidelines and the budgetary constraints (about $1 per meal) that school food services programs across the country face today. It’s a program that allows students to be involved in the conversation as campuses across the country strive to serve healthful, great-tasting school food that their classmates would enjoy eating at school. Teams of two or three culinary students from the district’s culinary arts program followed a rigorous recipe development process with a limited list of ingredients to create dishes that are low in calories, fat, sugar and sodium. The district’s nutrition services dietitians carefully checked each recipe to meet nutritional requirements.

The East Wichita teams included Heights High, East High and Southeast High.

The Heights team consisted of Leanne Tang, Shaneen Anderson and Kylee Herman. They made peanut butter apple crunch.

The East High team members were Jarrod Casey, Samantha Walker and Courtney Putnam. Their meal included chicken Alfredo, green beans and onions, and pears and apples.

On the Southeast High team were Jerrod Manning, Natoria McCoy and Jaden Boyd. They made cheesy hamburger mac, fresh vegetables and fresh fruit.

The team from South High School won the competition.

January 2016 - 24

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