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Our ten acre museum in historic Boomtown has something for everyone.

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It's time for Positively Kansas, coming up.

We now have a game with my children and I like anywhere we go.

Its kind of like playing slug bug, but we give high fives every time we see the flag to the point it's getting a little bit obnoxious.

Like it's like, high five, high fives., like constant.

80 years old and suddenly cool.

As Wichita City flag celebrates a birthday, this local version of the red, white and blue is more popular than ever.

You'll learn the backstory on this local cultural phenomenon, also.

One time she said, I wish I had a stand up mom because I couldn't push her in the swing.

The answer was this.

It's a playground unlike any other in the region, and it gets a million visitors a year.

Find out what will make it even better and how you can help.

plus.

I think this appeals to the ladies that are looking for a shopping experience.

You know, something different.

Something unique.

Food trucks, they're all over.

But a fashion truck?

What?

Yep.

We'll introduce you to the Wichita woman who may be on the cusp of a new trend.

Im Sierra Scott.

Those are just a few of the stories coming your way.

Positively.

Kansas starts right now.

For decades, it seemed to be Wichita's best kept secret.

But no more.

The Wichita city flag has seen a resurgence of popularity as community pride seems to be on the rise.

Jim Grawe is here to show us why this 80 year old icon is so hip these days.

It may be 80 years old, but the Wichita flag is a new discovery to a lot of people, and it is just a beautiful design which now symbolizes a new sense of pride in the community.

But for decades, it was virtually lost to history.

For many years, the Wichita flag was kind of an obscurity.

We still every single day hear people say that they didn't even know we had a flag.

All but forgotten.

It's now spreading all over the place.

Shirts, mugs, license plates, pins, paintings, murals.

I love it.

Check out this mural that artist Johnny Freedom just painted on the wall facing the patio at Piattos Pizzeria on Douglas.

It is the fifth building that Freedom has done recently featuring the Wichita flag.

Though he grew up in Wichita.

Freedom says the first time he realized the city had its own flag was when he noticed it on a friend's jacket patch a few years ago.

I just thought was really interesting.

I thought the design was really cool I thought it was, you know, pleasing to the eye, I didn't think it was too busy.

So now he's carrying the torch for the artist who designed the flag in the first place.

His name was Cecil McAllister.

Jami Frazier at the local historical museum has done the research.

I think if he had not designed the Wichita flag, no one would know his name.

McAllister was actually a sign painter from a family of sign painters who specialized in this kind of work, not original flag designs.

But then Bert Wells, who was a city manager in 1937, had this idea that Wichita could promote itself at special events in town and around the country if they had a flag, a, you know, a dramatic flag.

So for the opportunity to win 40 bucks, McAllister gave it a shot and he won the contest with this design.

We think it's pretty spectacular.

The central feature is a sun comprised of the Native American symbol for a home in a blue circle that represents contentment with one's home.

The red and white rays extending from the sun symbolize the freedom of each person to come and go as they please.

The eye-catching flag was hot stuff when it burst on the scene in 1937, but times changed after World War Two.

Many relics from the 1930s were considered passé.

Most people didn't know that we had a flag in the 90s.

Christopher Gulick, who's a local artist, came to the museum and really wanted the flag to be more well-known.

That's when I first heard about the flag.

Oh.

It's stunning.

Yeah, it's a beautiful.

It's the balance, and the colors are wonderful.

Christopher Gulick is a lifelong Wichitan, but didn't know about the flag until one day in the 1990s, when he happened to notice one flying outside Century II.

That was about the only place you could ever see one.

At that time, though few people ever noticed or took the time to wonder what that thing was, way up high on the pole.

My my art co-op.

We were working on lots of things to try to just raise the awareness of how much, how much really good art there is in this town.

Just raise the awareness of the arts in general.

And and again, the subject back to the city had had been hiring consultants to help them come up with a way to have a visual or an identity for Wichita.

And my point was, we have an identity.

We have a visual.

You don't have to pay any company 250,000, half a million dollars for something you already own.

It's paid for.

It's free.

Use it.

And that seemed to be the turning point at which the Wichita flag started to slowly return from the dead.

In 2003, the Historical Museum took Gulicks suggestion and introduced an exhibit dedicated to the flag.

Awareness started to build, but it's only been in the last couple years that Wichitans have started to go crazy over McAllisters Wichita flag.

Part of the credit there goes to Janelle King, who owns this store called the Workroom.

She's a strong promoter of Wichita the arts and local businesses, and she took it upon herself to have Wichita Flag merchandise designed and made so she could sell it.

That was not my intention in starting.

I'm not a, product manufacturer, but nobody was carrying it.

Nobody had it.

You know, I was seeking out different things.

I couldn't find it.

So we started producing our own.

And we've even distributed to we wholesale at different locations around town.

And King says her flag swag has been flying off the shelves.

We now have a game with my children, and I like anywhere we go.

It's kind of like playing slug bug, but we give high fives every time we see the flag to the point it's getting a little bit obnoxious.

Like it's like I five high five like constant.

Yeah, because it's everywhere.

Whether it's an actual flag flapping in the wind or some variation thereof.

Cecil McAllister's design is proof of the old adage that artists never become famous until they are dead, although in this case, Johnny Freedom says it's not really about McAllister or about the flag he designed as marvelous as it is, but it's really about what that flag represents.

Well, the flag means a lot to me, probably in the same way that it means a lot to other people in Wichita.

it's kind of been the centerpiece for the Pride in Wichita movement.

you know, being excited about being from Wichita, not being ashamed of being from Wichita, you know, saying Wichita, you know, is a crappy place to live.

Wichita is actually a really cool place to live.

Cecil McAllister died in relative obscurity in 1969, at a time when his flag had all but been forgotten.

But he would be happy to know that he and his flag are forgotten no more.

You can learn more about the Wichita flag and Cecil McAllister in a couple really nice exhibits at the Wichita Sedgwick County Historical Museum.

Now to a local legend who is still around.

He is considered one of the greatest living architects in the United States, a pioneer in design who shattered racial barriers.

Among the projects Charles McAfee helped design are the Ulrich Museum, DFW Airport in Dallas, and Morehouse College in Georgia.

But it's a project in a park here in Wichita that's among the closest to his heart, one used over the decades by thousands upon thousands of Kansas kids.

A project about to be shuttered by the city for good.

Justin Kraemer explains, I've seen it all.

There's no there's nothing in here I haven't seen.

Charles McAfee spent six decades in architecture with national awards and international attention for a wide array of projects, from working as a design consultant to the Olympic Games in 1996 and several projects for the Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, to Omaha's Love Museum, along with Wichita's Ulrich Museum, to fire stations in Dallas, and metro stations in Oklahoma City.

But it's one of his very first projects, built just blocks from where he grew up in Wichita, that remains one of his favorites.

The pool at McAdams Park.

I'm very proud of it, and no question about it.

it meant so much to me personally, because this was a way for me to be able to give back to the community to do something, a first class quality, something that the whole community could be proud of.

McAfee is quick to joke about the additions he designed to the Wichita Eagles building on Douglas Avenue, facing the wrecking ball this spring.

I built the East Building.

I actually I did five jobs down there, and it looks like they're all trying to tear down everything I've ever done.

But he finds nothing funny about the city's decision to shutter the pool at McAdams after nearly 50 years.

You need to know how to swim.

You know you don't save anybody's life playing tennis.

You don't save anybody's life playing football or baseball.

But you can save somebody's life if you know how to swim.

It happens every day.

This is not, to me, a luxury.

This is a necessity.

The city council decided to close six Wichita pools.

Five will stay open this summer, but the pool McAfee designed at McAdams will close immediately.

McAfee doesn't mince words when talking about why he thinks, why he sees it as a pattern of city leaders not caring about the community around McAdams Park.

What do they do over here?

Nothing.

Nothing happens over here.

You almost can't get a business loan to open any kind of store or restaurant or anything else.

it's difficult to get money to build a house.

Appraises down appraise housing in this neighborhood.

I mean, there is what it cost to build.

But the appraisers down.

Appraise it.

So when you go to a bank and try to borrow the money, you don't have a decent appraisal.

People just don't give a damn.

City leaders scoff at the idea that they close the pool because they don't care about the area and deny racism played any role at all.

For the city.

it's straight economic.

Stats show the pool here was used the least out of any pool in the city.

But McAfee says there's more to this story.

Still, maintaining the city should have done more to promote the pool with activities for kids in this neighborhood.

The whole deal is you got to have a program and you got to have people believe in the program.

On the other hand, if they don't believe in this community, then I understand it.

Plans call for the destruction of McAfee's award winning design after it's stood in Wichita for nearly five decades.

McAfee jokes, it's so well designed.

The only thing that could take it down is a wrecking ball.

For Positively Kansas.

I'm Justin Kraemer.

Plans call for the pool, designed by McAfee at McAdams Park, as well as other pools closed by the city to be replaced with splash parks.

Now to another source of Wichita Pride.

It's called the sunrise boundless play scape, and it's right smack dab in the middle of Sedgwick County Park in west Wichita, opened nine years ago.

This is heralded as the most handicapped accessible playground in south central Kansas, maybe even the entire state.

And it's about to get even better thanks to Sunrise Rotary Club of West Sedgwick County, the group is working to raise $1 million to expand the playground and keep it in tip top shape.

A million visitors a year has led to some wear and tear and demand for an even bigger play area.

I think the reason we get so many people here at the playground is, just because of its size at scale, its diversity.

We've got equipment from 2 to 12 years old.

I can't tell you how proud I am of of our Rotary Club, our little Rotary Club.

And just the, the muscle that we've kind of flexed to, to create this, it's incredible.

And the amount of traffic that it brings and the, the availability that it brings for all, all walks of life is, is just incredible.

Some of my, my favorite stories are from adults, that, are in wheelchairs and haven't been able to, you know, play alongside their kids and, and this, this playground offers them all of that.

The sunrise Boundless playscape has been a life changer for some families.

It's designed to make play possible for children with disabilities and to help moms, dads and grandparents with disabilities share the fun with their kids.

My husband and I welcomed our first daughter, Kelsey, into the world, and one of the things I was most worried about was how I could give her a very normal life.

having been in a wheelchair as a parent and so one of the things that we like to do together was go to the neighborhood park, and we always ran into challenges because of the sand that was in the swing area.

In fact, one time she said, I wish I had a stand up mommy because I couldn't push her in the swing.

If you'd like to find out more about efforts to upgrade the sunrise and Boundless Playscape, look for the link on the Positively Kansas page at KPTS.org.

Whether it's a physical limitation or something else, nobody escapes life circumstances.

And for many people, that means having to drop out of school, sometimes at a very early age.

But there's a place in Wichita where people who never finished high school can go to realize their dreams of getting a diploma.

Anthony Powell takes us there.

Nacole Cole a story of celebration, triumph and courage.

37 year old single mother of two and former high school dropout Nicole Cole receiving a $40,000 scholarship to further her education.

But on this night, what meant the most by far to Nacole and her classmates receiving their long awaited high school diplomas.

When Nicole began her quest at the Wichita Adult Learning Center, she had zero credits.

A deep fear of math made getting through a challenge, but Nacole says her fierce determination wouldn't allow failure.

Mostly, though, she credits the center's support.

It is the reason that I'm finishing my education right now.

The teachers helping me and making sure that I was able to graduate means a lot to me, and I hope that it always stays open for other adults who need their education, because I feel like this is very important and adults deserve to get an education also.

The center is housed inside the Chester Lewis Academic Center in northeast Wichita, named for the famed Kansas civil rights attorney who helped lead the Dockum sit-in.

The courage displayed by Lewis and others so many years ago, serving as inspiration to those who work and attend here.

The blessings win over the challenges.

It's extremely gratifying when one of my students earns their degree.

Doctor Cindy McGilvery is the Adult Learning Center's director.

She loves her array of students who range in age from 18 to 70, all with different stories.

Some of them are very computer savvy.

Some of them do not know what a mouse is.

70 year old great grandmother Geraldine Washington was more afraid of a computer mouse than a house mouse when she first came to the learning center.

Now she's a whiz and is close to graduating.

Back in the 60s, Geraldine dropped out of East High after becoming pregnant.

Now, she serves as a role model to young women facing the challenges she once did.

When they see me here trying and everything, I think it kind of help them.

So it's been great.

But it's not just learning that takes place.

Perhaps the struggles of these students make the friendships they form here so incredibly strong.

Birthdays, holidays, other special occasions are indeed special.

Small wonder why students fiercely protested talks of closing their beloved center in 2016.

They say they owe this place their life.

It is just the beginning for me.

I actually told Miss Cindy by the time I'm 45, I will have a PhD.

So yes, this is definitely just the beginning.

And the beginning is exactly what the Wichita Adult Learning Center has provided for so many people, and will hopefully continue to do so.

As for the graduates of 2017, well, they're now headed for a new adventure and adventure that might include furthering education or getting a job that requires a high school diploma.

But whatever they choose, they'll be armed with the confidence that they have achieved something that they once deemed impossible.

For Positively Kansas.

I'm Anthony Powell.

Now The Chester Lewis Learning Center is part of the USD 259 district.

So if you're interested in going back to school, you can call the district or go to its website and apply.

This next story is about a Kansas woman blazing her own path in the business world.

Diana Schmidt has been operating K Lanes Boutique in West Wichita for 20 years, but continues to adjust her business to meet the changing times.

Isnt that cute.

That is so cute.

No more just waiting for the customers to come to her.

Now she's going to them in this.

It's a mobile store she calls the Paisley parrot.

Retail's changing so fast as the internet gets more active.

And you just you just have to keep thinking of what's next.

And what can I bring to my customers that will excite them and make them want to shop with K lanes.

Schmidt loads up the truck with an assortment of women's clothes and accessories, hits the road, and turns shopping into a real event.

I think this appeals to the ladies that are looking for a shopping experience.

You know, something different, something unique.

It's a party in your driveway.

You invite your girlfriends over and we open up the truck.

And it's an experience.

So it's it's a good time with good clothes.

It may look small, but there's room for 500 pieces of clothing and a dressing room.

If you'd like to find out more about the Paisley Parrot.

Look for the link on the Positively Kansas page at KPTS.org.

Now to Pratt, where it's not just business as usual at Tonja Harrison shop either, because this is not your typical flower shop.

Harrison doesn't just sell flowers or grow them from seeds, she makes them out of latex balloons.

I'm the only one in Pratt only business in Pratt that makes them so it's very unique to Pratt.

there might be 1 or 2 people in Wichita.

I don't know if there's anybody in Hutch.

I mean, it's just a very unique niche to us.

Harrison says her flowers last for years and look and feel more lifelike than other types of artificial flowers.

She sells them at her store and online and has customers all over the country.

She says spring is her busy time with Mother's Day, graduations, June weddings, and other seasonal events.

These are actually prom.

I love doing prom because we are so custom.

to the girls.

The girls have so much fun coming in.

They pick out everything they pick out everything they pick out from the wristband to, the tool to the bling.

Everything.

This set, for example, the girl I picked out this wristband because her date was wearing gray and he really wanted it.

His was actually in the shotgun shell.

We add magnets it's on the back of it, so this was his boot near holder.

Harrisons store is called balloons and more.

If you'd like to see more of her creative latex flower designs, look for the link on the Positiv I am so excited because I'm here with one of my best friends in the world who is multi-talented.

I think you know she's the fashion maven.

You've written for The Eagle, you've been in shows at Music Theater Wichita.

Is there anything Bonnie Bing cannot do?

I don't think so.

And now!

I can't do math.

Okay, well, at least we found something.

And a great many other things.

Youre just very kind.

No, I've been around.

Trust me, you are the best hostess ever.

But now you get to add that you are also an author of a book.

I'm so excited about this.

This is ponytails.

The money from the sale of the book goes to the merry-go-round at Botanica, and it's a very special merry-go-round.

It's from Joyland.

And if you're a longtime Wichitan, you know about Joyland and you know about all the fun rides out there and the beautiful merry-go-round.

So it's pretty exciting, and it's one of the few Herschel merry-go-rounds left in the United States.

I've seen some of the horses that are being restored.

Arent they beautiful?

They are stunning.

They are.

When that project is done, it's going to be incredible.

It really is.

Now, how did you come up?

Because I know they came to you and said, can you write a book for us to help raise money.

How do you come up with the idea?

Its a great story.

It was really fun.

I worked with, Jamie and, the staff at Botanica, and they kind of had something in mind.

They knew they wanted it about merry-go-round horses.

So we had the idea of having the merry-go-round horses being found, and then they were in bad shape, so they have to go all over Wichita.

They go to Mark Arts and get painted up and pretty.

They go to Koch Arena and exercise and it takes them- They even get to see, the Riverside Park and all of the wonderful things close to Botanica.

Then they end up at Botanica.

That's why I love to read the book, because you put a lot of landmarks that people know.

Right.

And love.

And one of the things is you've spent a lot of time reading this book.

Talk about that.

The most fun thing I've done in a long time is watermark has story time.

And so I got to go and I read the book and I showed them all the the beautiful illustrations.

And what's really fun is this little gecko.

River Fox is really at Botanica, and he's the one that shows everyone around.

Right?

And this little guy is, Galla the gecko.

He's on every page.

So when you get your book, you look for it.

He might be tiny, but he's on every single page.

I read the book, and I didn't notice that.

Thats right!

See so now I need to go back and check it out.

He's on every page.

See, here he is over here.

One of the things that I thought was so cool about this book is I love the story, and I know some people have reacted to it and they actually tear up the end of it, which is probably not what you expect.

But people really do have a reaction to it.

Talk about what it feels like when somebody reads that book and then talks back to you about how they feel.

Well, it's it's really fun because when they say, oh, my grandkids said, “Do it again, grandma read it again!

”.

And so I love hearing that the kids really do like it.

Children today have so much when it comes to TV and movies and and DVDs and everything else that it's it's amazing that they still will settle down and look at a book.

I know, I love that.

I do too!

I love books!

I think it's so important to see the to to get kids reading.

I think it's just one of the great benefits of this.

Now, I know when you wrote the book, you had in your head scenes what it would feel like.

Now somebody illustrates it.

How did it feel the first time you saw the illustrations?

Oh, I almost had a stroke.

I just loved, you know, when you write something, I've done a lot of photo styling and so you know what you want it to look like, and then you finally get to see it.

But with him, he knew the story.

And I just said, make it soft.

And and he did.

It was just perfect.

John Pirtle's a genius.

I totally agree with you.

Really.

That book is so neat and I've read it.

And thank you, by the way, for I have an autographed copy.

Yes, yes she does one of the early I know, I love it.

How does it feel, though, to have something lasting like this that for generations people will be reading this book?

I hope so, and it'll be fun.

You know, I just thought, you know, when I'm long gone, it'll be an estate sale somewhere.

Well I'll buy it if it's an estate.

Yeah!

I love it!

Might be sold for a dime, but it will be there.

But now it it isn't inexpensive.

It's $30.

But I'll tell you what.

It is worth it, because not only do you get the book, you know that you're helping bring that Merry-Go-Round back to life.

Well, I want to say thank you to Bonnie because it's it's amazing.

No, this community would not be the same without you.

I really mean it.

Oh you're nice.

So where are you-said the book's $30.

Where can we get a copy if you want to get a copy?

Well, of course, at Botanica.

And if you haven't been to Botanica lately, you need to get over there.

It's absolutely glorious.

And then also at Watermark Books, as well as the first place.

Excellent, Bonnie thank you.

And thank you for taking the time to be here I love it.

Thank you.

Well, that's a wrap for this week.

But on the next Positively Kansas, theyre the Sonny and Cher of the Wichita art scene.

Meet this highly acclaimed couple who do amazing work, both individually and together.

See how they're inspiring more Kansans to explore their artistic talents.

That's one of the many stories we're working on for next time.

Im Sierra Scott, thanks for watching.

Brought to you by Central Security Group, your experts in home automation, security and peace of mind.

View video on your smartphone and control your home's lights, locks, heating, cooling and more.

Security app compatible with Apple Watch and Amazon Echo.

The preceding program was brought to you by tz productions, offering 40 years of media experience.

The Kansas Oil Museum and historic downtown El Dorado proudly displays over 140 years of Kansas history, antique vehicles, geology, natural history or hands on fun for all ages.

Our ten acre museum and historic boomtown has something for everyone.