It's time for Positively Kansas.

Coming up, we're going to visit some Kansas ghost towns.

Each one has a different story and each one has something to teach us about the Kansas we all know and love.

Also, you'll see how professional soccer is bringing people from all over the world together in Wichita.

It's a fascinating story, whether you're a sports fan or not.

And we pay tribute to the little boy in these home movies from the 1950s.

His early years were chronicled and filmed and seen around the world.

We've heard the story before, and now we have reason to air it again.

You'll find out why.

I'm Sierra Scott.

Those stories and more are on the way positively.

Kansas is brought to you in part by.

Before investing your hard earned money, make sure your financial advisor understands your objectives.

Mark Douglass CFP Serving our community for over 25 years, providing customized financial solutions that focus on the individual.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas serves more than 900,000 Kansans in various programs.

Independent member owned Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.

An independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, proudly supports PBS's Kansas.

Program support provided by the EF Price Kosman Memorial Trust and Trust Bank Trustee.

Bringing you the Kansas Wild Edge segments on Positively Kansas.

It's a subject that fascinates a lot of Kansans.

Ghost towns.

Our state has thousands of them.

Many of these mysterious and lonely places are at one time thriving boomtowns.

As Chris Frank shows us, we can learn a lot about our state's history by studying Kansas Ghost towns.

Every county in the state has its ghost towns.

We may drive right past or through them every day without even thinking about them.

Take Reno County, for example.

It is said to have as many as 75 ghost towns.

That's too many to list here.

All have their reasons for rising and falling.

We've we've had our share of shootings in southeast Kansas, just over 100 miles from Wichita.

Is the town of Elgin in Chautauqua County.

One can see from the air how the town covers several square blocks.

The farm fields border the town on three sides.

Elgin South border is the Kansas Oklahoma State line.

But this is Elgin.

It's a state line by road.

Jim Chase has lived in Elgin for several years.

He's in a story and on the town of Elgin and the people flocked in here.

We had the old timers that were the freight people, the cattle people, and now the oil people.

And at that time, this town had 2500 people.

Today we have 62 and no businesses to speak of any longer, he says.

That's why we're considered a ghost town.

But we have 62 people live here.

You can choose.

This is their little corner of paradise.

But don't call it a dead town for us.

The sign says Elgin is a town too tough to die.

And as the brick streets and the few remaining former storefronts indicate, this once was a busy, prosperous community.

Like hundreds of other Kansas communities, Elgin languished and struggled to survive until the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1886.

The railroads coming made Elgin a boomtown through cattle shipments.

In Texas, cattle were in high demand to be shipped to eastern U.S. markets to feed a hungry nation.

Now, the thing about being a cow town.

Then men also catering to cowboys vices.

But once their drive was done, the cowboys made a beeline down Grand Avenue to whip their thirst.

At one of Elgin's 13 saloons.

Those saloons ranged from the hole in the wall saloons to higher class drinking establishments.

And that's despite Kansas prohibition.

Often the overindulgence led to shootings and knifing.

It wasn't anything for a person.

Every day, for at least one person to be shot or stabbed.

In this tale, Elgin's cow town prosperity attracted outlaws.

The old jail lawbreakers were locked up in still stands, but with cracks in it.

One of the more interesting Kansas ghost towns is Runnymede.

In Harper County, about 50 miles southwest of Wichita.

There were actually three Runnymede locations, as shown by this old state Highway Commission map of Harper County, where this Kansas historical marker is on highway two is the last location of what was actually called South Runnymede.

Now I will focus most attention on the Runnymede, populated by English immigrants two miles northeast from the roadside marker.

Mike Newsome is a Harper County farmer.

This particular quarter section of land he farms stands out because of what once occupied it.

He looks over it, imagining what once was here.

Probably a hotel and some businesses.

I don't know.

Now there is no hotel business is or any signs of any structures ever being here.

This 160 acre parcel looks no different from Newsome's neighbors farm ground, but from 1888 to 1892.

This was the townsite of Runnymede.

Well, the town of Runnymede is named after Runnymede in England, where they signed the Magna Carta.

The English Colony.

Runnymede was founded by Ned Turnley.

Turnley, an Irishman, had the idea of establishing a farm and ranch school.

Turnley advertise in London newspapers, appealing to wealthy Brits that for $500 a year he would turn their sons into gentlemen, farmers and ranchers.

But these English colonists played like urban cowboys more than they studied farming.

They love getting their photos taken, dressed up like cowboys.

The running mates also liked to party hearty, shoot off their guns and make a general nuisance of themselves.

Runnymede went bust and was rolled up like a carpet when the railroad bypassed the town to become another Kansas ghost town.

This is Chris Frank reporting for Positively Kansas.

Stories like these and more are part of a new PBS Kansas documentary being produced by Chris Frank titled Kansas Ghost Towns.

Be watching for its air time coming up.

Professional soccer has come to Wichita with an international flair.

In fact, the team is named International Wichita with players representing all parts of the globe.

Anthony Powell gives us a closer look.

On a sizzling summer day in south Wichita, we watched as international Wichita players sharpened their skills during their second season, competing in the United Premier Soccer League.

Or upsell the team comprised of players from all over the world.

We have players from Brazil, from Africa, from Argentina, from England.

Plays a ten game season from April through July, competing against squads throughout the Midwest.

The Striker Sports Complex on the city's East Side is International Wichita's home venue.

Meanwhile, back at practice, we caught up with the team's founder and owner, Eve, AKA.

He's come a long way since learning the game in his home country of the Ivory Coast.

He later moved to Philadelphia to play community college soccer.

Then came a university opportunity in Wichita.

It was the first school that sent me a letter that said you were shocker.

I've liked Wichita so much.

He decided to stick around after graduating.

When you compare Wichita to a place like Philadelphia, everybody over there is busy minding the business.

But here it's more like a family environment to where you can easily meet new people and grow.

And I've met a lot of people after leaving WSU and discovered there was a real interest in having professional soccer here.

That led to him founding international Wichita in 2020.

We have a.

Group of dedicated players from all over the spectrum who are playing.

For the badge, who.

Love the sports, and who see in this city an opportunity for them to grow, to get close to the community.

A key move for international Wichita was hiring coach Louis Sterrett, who is also the head man of the Southwestern College men's soccer team.

Derrick says usually it's a challenge to get a team to gel, but not with international Wichita.

It felt organic.

It felt natural.

A lot of these guys have seen each other before.

They play against each other in their college seasons, but it just all came together really easy.

Real smooth.

All of the players are UN University scholarships, so they don't get paid for competing for international Wichita.

Their coach finds that refreshing, saying it shows their dedication and passion for the game.

For people to come to Wichita from from their home countries and all get together and play the sport we love, I think that's why I enjoyed it.

And now, thanks to the hard work of the players, coaches, team, staff, owners and board members which attends will be able to enjoy top notch soccer for many years to come.

For Positively Kansas, I'm Anthony Powell.

The team is relying on the generosity of which tends to help offset costs incurred by players and coaches.

Corporate sponsorships are actively being sought, along with help from individual donors.

Now to the wild side of Kansas life and some underwater creatures that might go after you if you corner them.

But as Mike Blair says, a snapping turtles are usually content to share the water with you if you play nice.

Head to May Day in a newly hatched reptile is crossing the road.

This is a common snapping turtle, an animal normally found only in water.

And it's looking for its first home.

Though tiny, it's not to be trifled with.

It's not like its friendlier cousins, especially the red eared slider commonly sold as babies in pet shops.

A little snapper will bite hard, and often it's never recommended as a pet.

And that's especially because it gets big.

It's extremely powerful at £25, and common snappers can live almost 100 years and grow throughout life to wild weights of 40 to £75.

Then they are veritable aquatic monsters at the top of the food chain in their watery homes with virtually no natural enemies.

They live throughout the eastern half of the U.S. snapping turtles stay submerged.

Most of their lives.

They live in lakes, ponds and streams.

They move only to find new waters or delay eggs and warm soil.

They breathe their through nostrils located at the very tip of the nose and their long necks allow them to snorkel.

They can go without breathing for up to 3 hours during warm months and winter hibernation.

They can survive six months under the ice by allowing gaseous exchange of oxygen and water across membrane to the mouth and throat.

Some aquatic turtles commonly bask, crawling up on logs to soak up the sun's warmth, especially in cool weather.

Snapping turtles almost never exhibit this behavior.

Staying underwater in all conditions.

Even so, it very rarely occurs.

Mating occurs from April through November.

Sperm can be stored for up to several years by the female.

Eggs normally hatch in May and June.

Snapping turtles have powerful hook jaws and nasty dispositions.

They can strike like a snake and they readily bite when cornered on land.

Large ones can bite off the ends of fingers, but in the water they are docile and they move away from humans.

Therefore, they should not be feared when swimming in natural waters.

Snapping turtles are omnivorous, meaning they eat both plant and animal matter.

They readily scavenge dead fish and wildlife that sink to the bottom.

They also eat aquatic plants like duckweed.

But they are capable predators to waiting motionless, underwater for minnows, frogs or snakes that come close and being quite powerful.

They are able to catch larger prey like ducks, poo and shorebirds.

That venture near snapping turtles.

Don't try to make friends.

Just let them do their thing in the Midwestern outdoors.

I'm Mike Blair.

For Positively Kansas.

Snapping turtles are traditionally used for turtle soup.

However, that's become a health concern recently because of toxic environmental pollutants found in turtle meat.

Now, a story that we've shown you a few times and every time it has struck an emotional chord with people.

It's about a boy growing up in Wichita in the 1950s.

His family's home movies and how they caught the attention of people around the world.

Here's Jim Grawe with the story he did in 2015.

Then we'll share an important update with you.

I think what I enjoy watching the Most is at Christmas time.

Lot of the family have passed on.

Of course, Christmas gets a little bit lonely by yourself.

That year brings back a lot of memories.

Reminds me of the good times holidays, birthdays, vacations, those special times in the history of a family captured in home movies.

You were a family unit.

Divorce was almost unheard of back then, so most families had both parents, and it was just an easier time.

In the 1950s and early sixties, Alan Glasgow lived with his mom and dad, older sister Diana and younger sister Nancy in a middle class Wichita neighborhood.

That period of their lives is played out in scenes of classic mid-century Americana, recorded on eight millimeter silent film.

You know, everybody came to one house or grandparents had come up from slavery, and most of the other relatives that were there lived in Wichita.

So, yeah, you had pretty big family gatherings.

There are no spectacular feats, nothing shocking or outrageous.

Alan titled this film The Wichita Years and uploaded it on to Internet archive.org.

He says he only did it so family members and other parts of the country could watch it.

You know, you always like to see your own home movies, but having to go watch someone else's back then was really boring.

And so I figured the same reaction.

He had these 62 minutes of film, a compilation of some 20 reels of home movies have struck a chord with film producers and musicians around the world.

Over the past few years, the Glasgow family movies have been used in some 20 music videos and other productions fireworks, fireworks all to show up home and.

To start the says party of Ten.

I like you and bless.

Alan allows anyone to use the film for free and is flattered.

So many have called our to see it here.

I've been in over 20 music videos and no one knows who I am, you know?

So I don't have any great news on my front porch, so.

But Canadian singer songwriter Alana Yorke didn't just use clips for a video she recently wrote and recorded an entire song about these home movies.

[music] I don't know how I came to discover some old family home movies from the fifties, but these this particular one was just perfect.

And it just really spoke to me.

It just seemed very universal.

And like the, I don't know, the grandparents coming over, the little girls getting dressed up because they're going to get their pictures taken or they're going to Disneyland on a road trip.

Even though it wasn't the time that it would have been more like my parents generation, but it just felt really universal.

It felt like something that had happened in my family or anyone's family.

The old cars that are in the shots, I mean.

Yeah, I mean, there was that personal aspect of feeling like you're looking back and that's nostalgic.

But also I felt like I was a tourist and I felt like I was having this.

I think what really drew me in was just this privileged, intimate view of this family.

Like for Allen to offer this up is so generous.

And for me to ride along in the car as they're going down the highway in a place in the United States where I have never been.

Like it was just such an exclusive to me.

It felt like an exclusive behind the scenes look at this family.

And but at the same time, it was it felt sound.

It didn't feel invasive.

It just felt like it could be any family from that time.

And that was really special.

It's interesting that it's in Wichita, so I had to look up exactly where Wichita, Kansas is.

It's you're right in the exact center of the US.

And and I think that was really interesting to me that it was just just kind of you throw a pin at the map and, and you're right in the middle.

I found this for inside when things got, I turned to it.

Is a beautiful song.

I was just really humbled that she made a song about the film and I went online and read the words.

And, you know, there's a couple verses in there that is my feelings when I watch it.

The Glasgows moved to Colorado in 1961 when Allen was nine.

His dad and grandfather opened an auto parts shop there and the business failed.

The family soon moved to Tulsa, where Allen lives.

To this day.

But in his heart, he says, Wichita will always be home and his home movies allow him to visit whenever he wants and allow the rest of the world to come along.

[music] [music] Sadness came with the Boulder, Colorado.

Because of the closure of the store and the stress on the family, things just didn't seem the same after that.

There's something just so special about the Wichita years, and it's interesting to hear about that, that that's how Allen sees it.

That being his real life, that those were happy years.

Because you can tell.

The Wichita years are the happiest of my life.

Now the update.

We recently got word that Alan Glasgow has passed away at the age of 69.

He left behind a lot of family and friends who will miss him, but he lives on and will forever be young in those home movies.

You can watch them online and also listen to the entire song if you're interested.

I'm Sierra Scott.

Thanks for watching.

We'll see you again soon.

Positively Kansas is brought to you in part by program support provided by the F. Price Cossman Memorial Trust and Trust Bank Trustee bringing you the Kansas Wild Edge segments on Positively Kansas.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas serves more than 900,000 Kansans in various programs.

Independent member owned Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, proudly supports PBS Kansas.

Before investing your hard earned money, make sure your financial advisor understands your objectives.

Mark Douglass CFP Serving our community for over 25 years, providing customized financial solutions that focus on the individual.