It's time for another trip across Kansas through the decades to revisit the lives of Hattebergs People.

And here's what's coming up.

I thought, oh, my gosh, that's huge.

Not only big, but also beautiful and ambitious.

Public art project is truly something to be seen in one Kansas town.

We'll show you how it all began.

Also.

I've just always sewed all my life, so ever ever since I was about twelve.

Faye Enyeart used her lifelong skill of sewing to keep needy Kansas girls clothed and looking their best.

Learn her story and see the efforts of this kind soul from the past.

Plus.

That gives me pleasure to help people, after all.

That's what we're here for.

Lenora Graham, though elderly herself, focused her attention on helping senior citizens.

See the difference she made in the lives of people in Marion County.

And if we would, study Mother Nature, as far as I'm concerned, half as much as we would listen to degrees, we'd be a lot better off.

Preston Dibbons didn't care what the scientists said.

He insisted he could find water with a stick.

More on his philosophy coming up.

Hello, I'm Susan Peters.

And I'm Larry Hatteberg.

Those are just some of the stories that are queued up and ready to roll on this edition of Hattebergs People.

These stories are like old friends.

Their lives radiate from the screen, like prophets of the past.

They were teachers, but not in a classroom.

Instead, they taught about life to those around them who cared to listen.

And I was their student.

Public art has become a popular way to beautify communities and celebrate their histories.

Well, it might be a mural.

It might be a sculpture.

Or in the case of Council Grove, it was both of those things rolled into one.

This was a real life, once in a lifetime kind of project when it came to be in 2006.

At Cloud County Community College using these rough working sketches.

A dream is slowly turning to reality in Concordia.

Oh, we're having a blast.

Concordia is home to over 5000 people with a rich local history.

And this now vacant wall waits for artwork that will showcase the area's best in brick and art.

And it's a community project, so it takes a different kind of approach than producing a piece in your studio and sending it out to the public.

Catherine Magal is the artist.

Mara Smith is the lead assistant, and together with some volunteers, they are sculpting from clay Concordia's history, a history that will soon be placed here where a rugged paint peeled wall waits to be transformed.

Well, the first challenge I'll say, was just doing the working drawings because they were so gigantic.

The first time I put one on the wall, I just looked at the paper and thought, Oh, my gosh, that's huge.

Huge is right.

The mural will be 140 feet long and 20 feet high, utilizing 6400 clay bricks, each weighing 26 pounds.

We can pull people together through projects, and it's just that simple.

It really is that simple.

Each large panel is made up of hundreds of bricks, and they depict the historical part of Concordia's history.

I enjoy working in the clay, and any artist wants to be working, and that's my my really big enjoyment.

I enjoy working.

These finished carved panels are then numbered and taken apart brick by brick for firing.

That occurs here on the edge of Concordia, in the rolling hills at a company called Cloud Ceramics.

Without the existence of this large company, organizers say the project wouldn't be possible.

This is the very first one that we have done here at Cloud Ceramics, and it's supposed to be the longest one in the United States.

When it's all said and done.

The carving began over a year ago and now panel by panel, brick by brick, it is taking shape at a cost of $350,000.

It is a huge project for a small town.

I think that it helps the community share their heritage and the strength of the communities and it is reminiscent of the people because the people are the strength of the community.

So all of a sudden the community has a voice and it's no longer a silent kind of place.

You know, we have something here that's meant to be expressed.

Oh, I'm happy.

I'm happy.

Yeah, I'm happy.

Well, they call it the whole wall mural.

And here's what it looks like today.

It is still said to be the longest sculpted brick mural in the United States and has become one of Council Grove's major landmarks.

I love it when small communities get together and do something that extra ordinary.

And that is extraordinary.

That is.

And that's something people who are traveling across country.

You may just want to stop in Council Grove and see it.

Sure.

And because it's that unusual.

That's right.

Yeah.

And it helps the local economy.

They eat in the restaurants.

They get gas there.

Isnt Council Grove, the cutest little best town ever, too.

It's a wonderful place.

There are so many of those in Kansas.

Yeah.

So much history in Council Grove.

Well, this world is full of takers and talkers.

But God bless the givers and doers.

Like Eleanor Wiebe.

Yeah.

Eleanor created and volunteered for two organizations that made a big difference in many lives during her time in Wichita.

Here's the story from 1986.

If I can affect one other person's life.

Um.

That's really my obligation.

Eleanor Wiebe is touching lives as a volunteer.

She was the force behind the establishment of the Lorraine Center, a day health program that offers care for disabled adults and the frail elderly.

If you're happy and you.

Know it, then your face will surely show it.

If you're happy and you know it, do all three.

And it gives me tremendous joy, because I know that many of those people have been sitting at home depressed and lonely.

And to see them sort of blossom in a setting where where there are other people like them, it's just it's a thrill to see the smile on the faces of people who probably haven't smiled for a while.

Very good.

Oh.

Go ahead.

Yeah, that's exactly.

Oh, yeah.

The Lorraine Center was born from an idea.

Eleanor Wiebe suggested her church start such a program.

They agreed and the Lorraine Center Day Health Program is now a reality.

It's serving the elderly as an alternative to institutionalization.

Eleanor Wiebe was the force behind.

We're all really older, and someday I'm going to need a place like that, too.

And I hope that that it's there when I need it.

What I'd like for you to do is tell us what happened the evening, that your window was broken.

In an east side Wichita home.

A teenager is telling a family why he shattered their picture window.

It's part of the victim offender mediation service.

Eleanor Wiebe was instrumental in starting this program and now works as a volunteer mediator.

Here, the victims discuss their feelings face to face with the offender.

Sometimes the things that we do are kind of faceless, but when we know each other as people, it makes a big difference.

And so I'm really glad for this opportunity to meet Craig and have him in our home and get to know our family a little bit and and see that it isn't that isn't a window.

It's a family that's that's affected.

I sense that, both of you-- well, all of you feel that way about it.

The Victim Offender Mediation Program is just one of the many ways Eleanor Wiebe helps people.

This is where ideas are cultivated.

Some say Eleanor Wiebe is trying to save the world, and they say that because it's true.

She's a woman committed to changing the lives of others.

Others who have been touched by injustice and the inequities of life.

There's just too much to be done and this is this is a good place to do the thinking about it.

Eleanor may be physically working in her garden or playing Scrabble with her husband, Paul, but her mind is probably somewhere else.

She's thinking that there are so many people to help and she is only one woman.

But you can bet she won't quit.

Actually, I'm happiest when I'm doing volunteer work.

Eleanor says the Learning Center and the Victim Offender Mediation Service were among the first such programs in the country, and she helped found them both.

I mean, 1986, very early for a program like that.

And she was the founder of it.

And ahead of her time and it did a lot of good here in Wichita.

Unfortunately, since she left Wichita in 1997, both programs have ceased to exist.

However.

Eleanor is involved in a similar program, offender mediation program in Fort Collins, Colorado, where she and her husband moved to be close to one of their daughters.

So she continued on with that program.

Exactly.

And in 2018, she and Paul both turned 80.

Here's a family photo as they celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary.

At 85, Eleanor continues to be an active volunteer, helping others.

So many times, I remember doing so many stories on people like Eleanor and others.

They just have it in their soul to help people no matter where they are, no matter what program they're administering, their role in life is to help others.

Yeah.

And we Love that.

We were blessed to have her here to help us.

And yeah, I'm sure others have taken over, but we're blessed to have her here.

And congratulations on the whole family, Eleanor.

It's a great.

Great family picture.

Great picture.

This next story is about another woman who focused on the needs of others.

She was no spring chicken herself, though, yet she worked tirelessly to assist her fellow senior citizens who were not as in as good shape as she was.

I have a chicken on my plate.

I have chicken plates and I have chickens all around in my kitchen.

She does.

And everywhere around her kitchen, she is the quintessential grandmother.

A kitchen with not a spoon out of place.

In the past, a life with a good man now gone and over the years growing from that girl to a family with two adopted boys, and now to a life that continues to serve.

I said, I always have to check on you.

So yeah, we're going to get this finished eventually.

We've already been put in for two months.

Lenoras visiting takes place at Marion's senior center.

That's where she drives once a week.

She visits, but she can't stay long.

There's a lot of camaraderie there.

In the kitchen, the cooks are in gear, preparing the plates for Meals on Wheels.

Now, Lenora isn't here to partake.

You see, she delivers them.

Oh, yeah.

Lenore is age 90.

I think I have been delivering meals about 25 years.

That's right.

90 years old.

Delivering meals to the elderly.

I'm just blessed that I still can get around.

Thank you, Leonard.

I've delivered in a lot worse than today.

I think it means business with this snow.

If I see a need, I want to do something about that gives me pleasure to help people.

After all, that's what we're here for.

Okay, we will go in.

Yes.

Nice little snow here.

Yeah.

Hi Elsie.

We have a lot of help today.

Yeah.

We do have a lot of help.

I think probably that people respond to kindness.

But see you later.

All right.

Later.

Later.

There isn't anyone who doesn't like to have people care about them.

You don't find very many people that don't respond to kindness.

Well, here's your mail.

Thank you.

Okay.

We'll see you later.

Yeah.

You're ready for it.

Okay.

Nasty day.

Nasty day?

Yeah.

I like to do it because it helps people just to.

To let them know you care about them.

Means a lot to them.

Are you having breakfast?

Yes.

Committing your life to the Lord.

That's my key.

That's my help.

That's my life.

In their earlier years, Lenora and her husband, Chuck, owned and operated an appliance store in Florence.

He passed away in 1987.

Lenora lived until 2017 and she was 97 when she died.

And the day I photographed her delivering Meals on Wheels, snow was coming down and it was snowing.

And here's this 90 year old woman driving to help old people.

Other elderly.

But what is so good about that is it's the only people some of these shut ins see all day, are these other people who come to deliver the food.

And no doubt she was a great friend of a lot of them as well.

She was she would talk with them and they would have a great conversation.

But you're right, she is probably the only person that they would see on a daily.

Basis all day.

Yeah.

God bless her.

Continuing this theme of caring and generous older ladies, let's pay a visit to Faye Enyeart.

This year is 1984.

Here's our young and dashing reporter with the story.

You know, we in this country sure take a lot of things for granted.

A closet full of clothes to us, at least to most of us, is nothing.

A little girl's dress probably bought new, but there are some little girls in this country who never get new dresses.

And there's one woman in St. John's, Kansas, who's trying to remedy that.

It's not much more than a bump on the face of the prairie.

Small towns like St. John are like that.

But it's not the physical nature of the community that's important.

It's the people who live there, who they are and what they contribute to life.

Ive just always sewed.

All my life.

Ever since I was about twelve.

My mother wasnt making things the way I wanted them.

So she said, you know where the sewing machine is.

And so I made my own.

Faye Enyeart spends hours sewing, altering, mending and creating.

Her world is threads and needles.

This material wants to stick together.

And it's in this room she weaves part of herself into every stitch.

Sometimes they don't turn out like I expect.

And I take something, that my husband says, something and make something out of nothing.

Angie, come here.

Lets put your dress on.

Angela Bryans of Wichita is a recipient of Faye's Something from Nothing philosophy.

Faye Enyeart of St. John and Angela Bryans of Wichita have never met.

Yet they're linked by human kindness.

You see, Faye spent the last several months making dresses, 77 little girl's dresses, all from scrap material.

What is he doing?

What's he doing?

Is he taking Angies picture?

Angie is in the Big Sisters program in Wichita, and its Big Sisters that received Faye's 77 dresses.

Oh, any time she gets something new on, she'll just prance around.

She's got a little dance she'll do.

And she walks around in it and she'll prance.

Faye will probably never see Angie prancing with her new dress.

Instead, she'll sit at her sewing machine in St. John, making more dresses for more kids.

I'd lose my mind if I didn't have something to occupy that time.

There are many Faye Enyearts in this world, all going about their business in a very quiet way.

The one thing you have to understand is that people like Faye will never run out of time.

Time to help someone else.

Whats he doing?

This is Larry Hatteberg.

Is he taking Angies picture?

Oh, hes taking a picture.

Now, Faye lived another three years.

She passed away in 1987 at age 78.

Again, a woman who just wanted to help others, help little girls.

But again, it's in her soul.

I'm going to help people.

So she did.

We just need more people.

And more people like that.

And there's a recurring theme with these people is they don't wait around for people to ask them for help.

No.

They just do it.

They do it and they help people.

Yeah.

Alright.

Changing the subject now to electric trains.

You know, they bring back a lot of fun childhood memories, especially for kids like me.

Like you, huh?

In 2007, Larry visited Bill Leistiko who knows all about model trains.

He was one of the very few people around who knew how to repair them.

It's always good when you can help somebody be a little bit happy.

And.

I can remember playing with trains for hours.

My electric trains that rumble through my childhood.

And now my grandkids have that same fascination for those mechanical beasts that tear through our living room.

Bill Leistiko has had that feeling, too, working in a tiny shop adjacent to Engine House, Hobbies in Boulevard Plaza.

Bill is probably the only full time toy train repairman in central and western Kansas.

Just taking something that doesn't work and getting it to work.

To me, it's a lot more interesting to work on the older things that people drag out of their attic, in their garage, in their basement, and they bring in and they say, Can you fix it?

Well, we've all got a fascination for them.

We like our pictures next to trains.

We love to see them restored, and we build static monuments to them.

But it is on the floors of our homes where the relationship between trains and kids, begin.

I get trains in here that were built 70, 80 years ago and believe it or not, when you put power to them, they work and they were made to take pretty rough handling.

And, you know, I mean, kids are kids and toys are toys.

And after 70 or 80 years why, they still work like they were brand new.

Pretty much a testament to what was made then.

And I'd rather work on the old things because the new ones you can't really fix.

And with the older things you can actually figure out what the problem is and get right in there and fix it.

I get to come over here and play with other people's toys.

It's it's a pretty good deal.

Works like new.

Well, Bill is still around, but he no longer repairs trains.

Bill says the store where he worked closed in 2014 when the owner passed away and he decided to retire at that point.

You know, it's so hard to find people to repair electric trains.

That's hard to find.

Well, it's hard to find people to repair anything these days.

We're such a throwaway culture and we just buy a new one.

Obviously, you can't just buy a new train, but it's nice that he was there to repair.

The collector's missing.

I bet, he still has his own model railroad collection, and he does go to train shows, he says, occasionally, but he doesn't do any more repair work any longer.

He just plays with the toy trains and but that's enough for us.

We want you to continue to do that.

And the rest of us want to play with those.

Exactly.

Our last story is about a man named Preston Dibbons.

Now, he was a practitioner of something unbelievable or unexplainable, depending on how you look at it.

When I go out, I carry my sticks.

Preston Dibbons is a water witcher, and these are the tools of his trade.

A forked stick made of peach or black walnut.

And what he says is a gift for making it work.

If we would study Mother Nature far as I'm concerned, half as much as we would listen to degrees, we'd be a lot better off.

I feel it right there.

And that there and then right there.

It just goes down like that.

It is about the most unscientific method you could use to find underground water.

A forked stick and Dibbons own reputation is all he has.

And when the pull of the stick is strong, that's where he drills the well.

So, you know, she.

Pulled right there.

What was it there?

That's the water.

See, the stream runs through here.

Dibbons says he's successful because he works with nature.

I take Mother Nature.

I use nothing but what Mother Nature produces to find water.

Oil or various things like that.

Science says that I can't do it.

So I tell them, why don't they bet me some money?

So how does he do it?

And they want to know if they're acquainted with the big man upstairs.

Why don't they ask him?

I don't know.

Really, I don't.

Why it does it.

Dibbons claims he can also tell how deep the water or oil is underground by using these rods.

Every swing it makes, five foot one way.

Then back when it goes over and back is ten foot.

And it'll tell to the bottom of the stream, approximately.

Folks who believe in Dibbons power swear by him.

Geologists who don't swear at him.

I tried this and it didn't work for me.

But then I'm not Preston Dibbons either.

I'm not always perfect, but I'm perfect enough that I want them to bet against me.

From Cheney, This is Larry Hatteberg.

Well, that was 1985.

Preston, of course, no longer witching for water, but there are others here in Kansas that still do it.

And they claim to be successful.

I've watched these guys do it.

I've done several stories on water witches.

I know you will.

It's amazing.

These guys go here on the end of this stick when they find their water under there, the end of the stick just dips down.

I don't know.

I don't.

Know.

They say we only use a couple of the senses in our brains, so maybe these other people use the other ones and it translates into their stick.

And I think so.

And I witnessed it.

I mean, it actually went down and he's not hardly holding it.

I I'm sorry.

I'm a believer.

All right.

I'm going to go with you.

There are things that we cannot explain.

It's right that we believe and that are true.

I believe that.

So I'm.

With you.

And I remember you did several stories on water witchers.

Fascinating people.

Yeah, I've seen a lot of them.

Well, our well is run dry.

It has.

But we're going to replenish it with more great classic stories by the next time we meet.

Our email address if you have a question or comment.

We love hearing from you.

Thank you so much for watching.

I'm Susan Peters.

And I'm Larry Hatteberg.

Great to have you with us today.

We'll see you again soon.