december 2015
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Wichita Family • December 2015 - 1
Success
begins at an early age
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Todd Vogts
Publisher Todd Vogts publisher@wichitafamily.com
Wichita Family Magazine is published 12 times a year by Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. Wichita Family Magazine is available free, at schools, stores, restaurants, libraries, retailers and local attractions, as well as other places families frequent. For a complete list of where to find Wichita Family, or for subscription rates, email us at publisher@wichitafamily.com or visit our website at www.wichitafamily.com. Copyright 2015 by Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. Wichita Family Magazine is not responsible for errors, omissions or contest fulfillment from third parties. Reproduction in part or in whole without written permission is strictly prohibited. Wichita Family is distributed free of charge. The magazine’s advertisers make this possible, so support them! We reserve the right to edit submitted material. All submissions will be considered for publication, but we reserve the right to refuse material. Materials will not be returned. Any editorial content or advertising published is the property of Lucky 7 Publishing LLC. 2 - www.wichitafamily.com
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Message from the Publisher The true meaning of Christmas should not be about receiving gifts. It should be about giving. Sure, giving could include gifts, but, even then, it shouldn’t be done with the expectation of receiving a gift in return. Ideally, the giving should be completely selfless, even void of monetary value. Giving of your time will have a much larger impact than racking up more and more credit card debit in an attempt to purchase the perfect present. In thinking about giving, my mind takes me to my grandfather, Roland Vogts. Before he died, he lived in a farmhouse north of Canton, Kansas, with my grandmother Maxine. He always gave of himself, especially when it came to Christmas time. He was instrumental in Canton’s elaborate Christmas light display of my youth, and he also decorated his home. Many people put lights up around their house, but Grandpa Roland took it to an entirely different level. He strung thousands upon thousands of Todd Vogts lights each publisher@wichitafamily.com
year, and he rarely repeated the same configuration from season to season. People would drive from miles around to perform a slow procession past the house and into the roundabout driveway before heading back home. It was magical. He gave of his time to give joy to others, and it took a significant amount of time. He sometimes began preparing and hanging lights a couple months in advance, always with the goal of turning on the power shortly after Thanksgiving. The lights he used weren’t the style of today. His were the kind that if one bulb was out, the entire strand went dark. When this would happen, he would meticulously check each bulb until he found the culprit and replaced it. Grandpa Roland was an artist of illumination. He even hand-crafted decorative pieces — such as a wreaths and angels — which had numerous holes drilled in them so lights could be inserted and the pieces could glow to life. Grandma Maxine still has a picture of her and grandpa’s house all lit up hanging in her current home. Everytime I visit, I am always drawn to that image. It brings back all sorts of memories and senses of wonder. I have owned my home for some time, but I haven’t ever got into the
spirit of elaborate decorations. My wife is bound and determined to change that this year, and one thing she requested was lights on the house. Normally I would balk at such a suggestion, as I struggle to see the point in decorating for a holiday only to take it all down as soon as the leftovers are eaten and the trash is picked up from the curb. However, this year, I didn’t say no. In fact, I embraced the idea. I decided I wanted to try to emulate, even on a much smaller scale, the magic Grandpa Roland created with tiny lightbulbs. Of course, being a bit of a technophile, I want to put my own twist on it. I’ve long be fascinated with the Christmas light displays that are programmed to music, played via a radio transmitter. I may not create the coolest light display, and the programming may not even work; however, I hope grandpa can look down upon me and be proud. Not just proud of my Christmas lights, but proud of the fact I am doing something, even something so seemingly insignificant as decorating my house, that is for others to enjoy and doesn’t inherently benefit me. This Christmas, I hope to give more than I receive, and I hope to be the light in the lives of others. I hope you will too. Have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderfully Happy New Year. Wichita Family • December 2015 - 3
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Find something on everyone’s wish list
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o matter who you’re buying for this holiday season, your shopping list is sure to be long and complex. Simplify it with these holiday hints, which feature something for everyone on the list. From gifts that keep on giving, month after month, or the latest in handheld functionality to a stylish classic and tasty treats both sweet and rich in flavor, this guide has you covered – right down to shipping your gifts to their intended recipients. — Family Features
For the Reader in Your Life
Books can make great gifts ... but how do you pick the right title for the booklover on your list? With a Book of the Month gift subscription, you can delight the readers in your life by letting them choose. Each month, members get to select from five new hardcovers specially chosen by a panel of well-known judges. Whether you give a 3-, 6-, or 12-month membership, your gift will last well beyond the holidays. Visit bookofthemonth.com/gift.
An Iconic Gift from the Past
Take style up a notch for the guys on your list this holiday season. One of the most recognizable tennis shoes of all time is back. The Stan Smith by adidas Originals features premium leather, perforated stripes, a terrysock liner and a contrasting heel tab. Choose Fairway Green for the ultimate throwback look, or find other colors and styles of this iconic shoe for adults at Foot Locker stores and on footlocker.com. Introduce kids to a classic with youth versions available at Kids Foot Locker stores and online at kidsfootlocker.com.
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Dry-Aged Holiday Perfection
Be sure to please even the most discriminating steak connoisseur this holiday season with an artisan BoneIn Ribeye from Chicago Steak Company. Cut Frenchstyle, this ribeye undergoes a six-week dry aging process and is abundant in marbling and rich in flavor. Visit mychicagosteak.com/dry-aged-beef.asp to take advantage of a special offer of four 18-ounce artisan, dry-aged bone-in ribeyes for $209.95 (regularly $249.95) plus free shipping, 12 free steak burgers and a free bottle of steak seasoning by using promo code DRYAGED.
For more holiday ideas, visit: www.wichitafamily.com
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~ A Holiday Essay ~
Grab a Kleenex! We’re talking Grown-Up Christmas Lists!
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By Kendall Vogts
s Christmas somehow continues to sneak up on us, I have been asked several times what my Christmas list includes. I can think of a number of treasures that I think I really want, but as I continue to get older, grow in my profession, and, as my marriage ages, I am finding that the things I want, I either buy for myself or realistically talk myself out of. When it comes to my family’s traditions, the adult couples draw the names of another couple, and then we all buy gifts for the nephews and niece. And even though I am the baby of the family, I, somehow, have been placed on the grow-up side of the exchange. As an adult, it is quite easy to sift through my list of possible wants and think to myself, “This is crazy, I could get this for myself, if I really needed it.” Or, “Who am I and what have I done to receive these gifts?” One of my favorite Christmas songs is “Grown-up Christmas List” sung by Amy Grant. In the lyrics, Amy wishes that: “No more lives torn apart/That wars would never start/And time would heal all hearts/Everyone would have a friend/And right would always win/And love would never end.” I must admit, that just like Amy, these are really the things that I want. So, in the spirit of grown-up Christmas
Let It Snow!
In the Boeing Dome Theater and Planetarium Saturday, Nov. 28 Thursday, Dec. 31
lists, here is mine: 1. I want my students to know they are loved by me and by a saviour who loves them more than anyone ever could. 2. That my students would fully understand that the people they are, who they truly are, is enough. They don’t need to act a certain way, or put up a front. Their true selves are beautiful! 3. That people, all over, would just be nice to each other; genuinely nice! 4. That our world would be a place that isn’t scary and isn’t full of such awful conflicts. 5. And finally, that everyone would get to experience, at some point in their lives, the feelings of 100 percent pure joy! I am so excited to see and experience the blessings that the Christmas season brings. I know that along with receiving a couple of goodies off my want list, I can be actively working towards checking off a couple items from my grown-up list. We live in a time where genuine niceness, love, and joy are gifts that anyone would be lucky to receive. Keep this in mind as you go about preparing for, and celebrating this holiday season with those closest to you! Kendall Vogts lives and teaches in Central Kansas. She is married to WFM publisher Todd Vogts.
Live Science Show DIY: Tools and Toys Saturday, Nov. 28 Thursday, Dec. 31 Special Winter Break Show
Frosty & Frozen Saturday, Saturda Dec. 26 Sunday, Jan. 2
r.
Kansas in Miniature Holiday Music Saturday, Nov. 28 Thursday, Dec. 31
300 N. McLean Blvd., Wichita, Kansas 67203
Winter Break Workshops Grades K - 8 • 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Science and Sounds Sunday, Nov. 22 Visual Arts Monda Monday, Dec. 28 Performance Arts Tuesday, Dec, 29 3-D and Sculpture Science Wednesday, Dec. 30 Cooperative Art Monday, Jan. 4
Details at www.exploration.org Wichita Family • December 2015 - 5
~ A Holiday Essay ~
Ask for Hope
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By Ian Anderson
his year I will celebrate my 35th Christmas, and because the holidays are generally for remembering, I have been thinking back on the more memorable Christmases in my life.
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I’ve been trying to remember certain gifts that stick out, and not many come to mind. Polar Bear, that puppy my parents just loved and loved, is one gift I will never forget. The other Christmas that jumps out in front of the others was the year I got a bike and an Atari handheld gaming system, which was stolen a few weeks later. Maybe the anticipation is what I remember the most. Year after year of the morning Christmas scene — yes, that’s really what remains. That feeling in the gut that says, this year, this year will be the one I won’t ever forget because I’ll get the gift of all gifts. And then the wrapping is all over the floor, and I’m sweating in my footie pajamas, and I can’t eat another bite of beef jerky, and everyone’s breath is a bit too close . . . I don’t know exactly when it happened, but it did. Sometime in the last ten years or so, I stopped feeling the deep anticipation for gifts on Christmas Day. Maybe it was the knowledge that no previous gift had ever lived up to the billing; maybe it was that I couldn’t bring myself to ask for puppies anymore. Maybe it’s neither. I’ve begun to think that the anticipation of watching my boys receive is greater than waiting for my own gifts. In fact, it is better to see those little ones light up in front of the tree than to manufacture my own joy. Yet, they don’t always like what we give as much as we think they will — or at least for not as long as we want them to. There’s really only one thing left. That is, to remember what we’re actually meant to remember. We’re used to the idea now, but back then, who really anticipated the manger? Didn’t those three kings of the East look where anyone with a mind would look first? The gift that was a secret, was revealed then despised, is either the best gift ever given or another holiday bust. So, which is it? I can tell you this: my Christmas anticipation for the morning scene has been transformed into hope. Christmas is now a reminder that I can’t get or buy anything close to what was given to us so long ago. It won’t matter if my children cry when the gifts are done because I know, and I’ll tell them over and over if I have to, that we’ve had the best already. All we have to do is ask for it — for Him. This Christmas we can either seek gifts for ourselves or others from stores, or we can remember to seek out the One gift who still gives. Ask for that gift to be revealed to you this Christmas. Ian Anderson is a teacher, a husband, and a dad. He lives with his family in Central Kansas. Occasionally, he tweets here: @ian_writes.
Literacy program aims to bring families together around books and discussion By Prisca Barnes,
President/CEO, Storytime Village, Inc.
National Family Literacy Month came to a close at the end of November, but Storytime Village plans to expand the month’s impact through the month of December with the kickoff of their 2nd Annual Literacy Legacy: A Book Talk Series for Children and Parents program in public libraries. Parents are their children’s first and most important teachers. When parents read with their children it helps them to be more successful in school. The Literacy Legacy program is designed to encourage a culture of family involvement around reading, thus providing opportunities for parents to support their child’s literacy development and creating a “literacy legacy” for generations to come. Literacy Legacy focuses on connecting families to awardwinning children’s books, family discussion and storytelling. Through the support of a grant from the Kansas Humanities Council, the sponsorship of Capitol Federal and a partnership with the Wichita Griots, this program aims to create excitement and bonding around reading for underserved families. The program will engage parents and children through the discussion of the familiar life issues expressed in the books read such as fairness, dreams, courage and oral tradition. Literacy Legacy: A Book Talk Series for Children and Parents is a free program that will run four weeks and is designed for parents/guardians and children ages 3-10. Each program will include the reading of a book with a storyteller and family dialogue led by a humanities scholar. Families will also be encouraged to register for library cards to foster continued access to books. A meal is served at each program. Storytime Village, Inc. is a Kansas based children’s literacy nonprofit organization. With the support of parents and the community we inspire underserved children to read by providing them with free books and literacy resources. For more information about Literacy Legacy: A Book Talk Series for Children and Parents or other Storytime Village programs and events email info@storytimevillage.org, visit www.storytimevillage.org, call 316-350-4511 or follow the organization on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
Program Schedule • December 5, 2015, 2 p.m. Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold Location: Maya Angelou Library, 3051 E. 21st St. N., Wichita, KS 67214
• December 12, 2015, 2 p.m. Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride by Andrea Davis Pinkney Location: Maya Angelou Library, 3051 E. 21st St. N., Wichita, KS 67214 • December 19, 2015, 4 p.m. Oral Traditions A demonstration and background of the oral tradition of the African American community by the Wichita Griots as it leads to the written word and reading: Nursery rhymes, poems, including narratives. The program will feature the book, T’was the Night B’fore Christmas: An African American Version by Melodye Benson Rosales. Location: Central Library, 223 S. Main, Wichita, KS 67202
Literacy Legacy:
A Book Talk Series for Children and Parents
Nov 28- Dec 19, 2015 2-4pm
Free Program Free Food
Storytime Village invites Storytelling & Discussion families with children ages Two locations 3-10 to join us for an exciting program Central Library- 223 S. Main that features award-winning children’s Nov 28th & Dec. 19th books, storytelling and family discussion. Visit storytimevillage.org or call 316-350-4511 for details.
Maya Angelou Library3051 E. 21st St. N. th Dec 5 & Dec 12th
Funding Provided by:
Wichita Family • December 2015 - 7
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(316) 794.8954
West side of Wichita in Goddard