It's time for Positively Kansas.

Coming up, the greatest generation is also the fading generation.

Conversations with World War II veterans have become precious opportunities.

You'll meet this Kansan who survived severe battlefield injuries to live a full life and travel the world.

Also well rock out with this Wichitan who's better known for his courtroom performances.

But the verdict is in.

His band is a real showstopper.

Plus, in Kansas, size matters.

There's no doubt about that.

And now the state has the new world's biggest.

That was just unveiled.

Those stories plus, Kansas Wild Edge are queued up and ready to roll.

Positively Kansas starts right now.

World War II is considered the war of all wars.

Our planet has never endured anything like it before or since.

But of the 16 million Americans who served in the war, just 165,000 are still living.

And many of them have been living these past 80 years or so with chronic pain from battlefield injuries.

Chris Frank has a story of one who never let that hold him back from living his best life.

Here's France.

It'll be right here.

Using a globe, Phil Dosien and his daughter, Nancy, point to some of the many countries the Dosiens traveled to over the past several decades.

Phil Dosien.

Born in 1924 is 98 at the time of this production and 99.

By the time of this first airing.

He grew up in the Bentley area was a Bentley high school senior when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Dosien joined the army and was sent to Italy to fight with the 91st Infantry Division.

Not far away started in action on the 4th of July 1944, and Germans were in retreat.

We had right around Rome where we were.

Italy had switched sides and joined the allies against Hitler by this time.

The Germans were in retreat, but they'd stop and we'd have a firefight three or four times a day here.

And in one of those firefights, a German artillery shell exploded near Dosien with shrapnel striking him.

Dosien was flown to a hospital in Rome where he stayed nearly three months.

Some 78 years later and Dosien still feels the pains from his war wounds.

Still sore today.

My foot right now, burns like its on fire.

It hurts all the time.

But we're bottom up right now.

Just burns like fire.

Dosien finally returned home on what then was called Armistice Day, now Veteran's Day, in 1945.

Phil and Joyce got married in 1946 and were married 75 years, six months and four days.

Joyce died in March of 2022 at age 96.

Just being out here with nature and listening to the birds and the solitude of it.

They were subjects of a Hatteberg's people's story in 2000, when Larry Hatteberg portrayed them as the new older generation.

The couple had retired the previous decade.

They were enjoying the fruits of their labor with traveling the world or just enjoying their rural setting south of Bentley.

Phil farmed this home ground for decades, while Joyce was a career nurse at the old Halstead Hospital.

They turned it into their scenic retreat.

Where from their deck or the living room, they could watch the Kansas Wildlife walk by.

Ive seen deer, racoons, wild turkey.

We have them all here.

Then the hawks and eagles every once in a while.

Back in year 2000, Joyce showed Hatteberg her daily routine of feeding the catfish in their farm pond.

Come on, fish!

Come on!

Time to eat!

Come on, fish!

Lunchtime!

Getting full?

The pond was higher back in 2000.

Evidently it wasn't a drought year with the water rising to the pond steps.

The aerial video from 22 years later and during drought shows a lower level.

But the catfish remain along with the turtle and whatever else lives here.

It's one of the things which makes living in the country so enjoyable to the Dosiens.

And then we've always lived in this neighborhood and we just couldn't move away from it.

When we retired, we wanted to stay right here.

Oh, I just like the solitude other than that, sit here and rest and enjoy the beautiful scenery around here.

And that enjoyment remains as Phil approaches the century mark.

Daughter Nancy weekly drives in from Council Grove to check on her father.

The trophy's on the outside wall are indicative of the hunting he's been able to do over the years without having to leave his property.

Out here, he enjoys the beauty of the Kansas countryside, and he thinks about all the places the couple traveled to.

54 countries, all 50 Americans states.

The country most frequented is Italy, where he served.

Well, this picture here was I was laying a wreath at that cemetery on Memorial Day.

That was in the early 1990s.

His army photos and service medals, including Bronze Star and Purple Heart, help sharpen his memories.

Joyce and I went back.

We've been back in Italy 12 times since the war.

On some of their trips, the Dosiens were put in situations of defending their beloved Kansas, as they explained to Larry Hatteberg in 2000.

In their travels, they are defenders of the state, champions of Kansas.

Many trips we go on, they say, Well, where are you from?

We say, Kansas.

Oh, my lord.

That's right.

Somebody told us in Turkey when we said we were from Kansas and we were enjoying Turkey so much, but we were from Kansas?

And he said, Oh, well, you're just happy to be any place.

Wrong!

They were always happy to venture out and see what the rest of the world had to offer.

And they were always happy to return to the peace and quiet that comes from living in rural Kansas.

This is Chris Frank for Positively Kansas.

The Department of Veterans Affairs says 234 World War II vets die each day.

By 2026, the number of those still living is expected to drop below 50,000.

Well, a new band has surfaced on the Wichita music scene, but it's probably not what you think.

This is not a group of young upstarts.

They've been around the block a time or two, but their music is hip and fresh.

Anthony Powell has the story.

[Singing] So pour me another cup of coffee, it is the best in the land.

It's a Saturday morning in West Wichita and The House Band with Doug Webb on guitar, Dan Monnat on drums and lead vocals, and bassist Phil Snow is hard at work.

Actually, work is the wrong word because to these guys, any chance to play is a labor of love.

We rehearse on Saturday mornings, which is unheard of, rock and roll in the morning.

And if we have to miss a practice, you can see everybody starting to get edgy.

This trio of longtime Wichita musicians had played together in the past, so the familiarity was already there.

All three were between bands when the pandemic hit, so they decided to beat the COVID blues by forming their own group.

They came up with the name The House Band because with Corona, they thought the only place they'd be playing was Doug Webb's house.

That would prove to be wrong, but the virus slowed them down in other ways.

We were two days from a job at Ya Yas.

Phil Got it.

Dan Got it.

I got it.

Just boom, boom, boom.

But nothing, not even COVID could keep this determined bunch down.

It wasn't long before they were playing gigs, at places like Ya Yas, and Riverfest.

They continued to be in high demand at venues across Wichita.

You can follow the band on its website and Facebook pages.

I'm very gratified by our reception.

People are calling, Where are you playing?

When are you playing?

Their loyal fans love the traditional rock and roll and rhythm and blues, but are also appreciative of the band getting out of its comfort zone by playing more contemporary tunes like Uptown Funk.

Normally, they try to pigeonhole you.

You're either a country rock band, you're a glam band, whatever labels they want to put on you.

And at this age, we just wanted to play.

And so I'll be honest.

Uptown Funk.

Are you kidding me?

[Singing] This hit, that ice cold, Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold.

This one, for them hood girls, them good girls, straight masterpieces.

[Speaking] It's my privilege to play with these musicians.

I mean, they are great musicians who've been playing in Wichita and other places for a lot longer than I have.

And the other great thing about it is they are so kind hearted that they let me sing all the time.

Meanwhile, if by now you were saying to yourself, I know that guy, it's because Dan Monnat has been a very recognizable figure in Wichita for many years as one of the city's most high profile attorneys.

But actually...

I've been playing music a lot longer than I've been a lawyer.

Starting from singing with my mother and the other four kids to the Hit Parade magazine lyrics.

When he was just 13, Monnat was in a band called The Lion's Mane.

He continued playing until he headed out to California for college.

I knew I wasn't going to set the rock and roll world on fire.

And so I thought, you know, I'd like to do a little more to contribute to society and humanity and law school seemed like a good way to help people, particularly people who needed to be defended.

He decided to go to law school and has been defending people ever since.

He also has continued playing music over the years, taking some time off due to his busy practice, but never losing his passion for playing, Monnat telling us music and law complement each other.

They both involve preparation and performance and passion.

And it's passion, say The House Band members, that really is the key to their success.

[Singing] Uptown Funk you up, Uptown funk you up.

They might not have been expecting to play at this stage in their lives, but are incredibly grateful to be doing so.

I thought it would be fun.

I thought we would have a good time.

But as far as musically, it's transcended anything I thought we might do.

There's a spontaneity and there's a likability.

I love playing with these guys and I love these guys and I love their musicianship.

So until they discover me, I'm going to stick with this.

And with the success the band has already enjoyed, along with the trio's insatiable thirst to play you can bet The House Band is going to be sticking around for quite some time.

For Positively Kansas, I'm Anthony Powell.

Bassist Phil Snow says music is in his blood thanks to his mother.

While he was still in her womb, she performed in a ladies quartet.

As if tourists don't have enough reasons to visit Abilene, folks there have come up with another attraction.

Abilene lays claim to having the world's largest belt buckle.

Chris Frank shows us the buckle now and what it took to place it on display in Abilene.

The large tarp covering Abilene's new world's largest belt buckle attraction was dropped just a few days before Christmas.

2022.

Now, coming up at the Christmas season, one might say it's the latest gift to Abilene's tourist industry.

Tourism helps support this community with the dollars visitors leave here.

It was so neat to watch it go up.

You know, when we started this six months ago, who would have thought that we'd get to this point so quickly?

Julie Roller Weeks is director of the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau.

In that role, Weeks keeps an eye out for new ideas for local attractions.

We have a lot of really great history in our community and plenty of things for people to see and do.

Creating a world's largest belt buckle to put on public display fits right in to Abilene's cowboy history.

It's what the Dickinson County City likes to promote.

We need to always continue to add new things to bring people back to Abilene.

She says the belt buckle was birthed from a brainstorming challenge.

Ideas were kicked around for a “world's largest ” project Abilene could reasonably get behind.

Well, we have the big spur.

It was formerly a world's largest.

So I was thinking along those lines and just started Googling what could our community create that could be the world's largest that would put us on the map and look really neat and celebrate our history?

Now every state has its share of quirky roadside attractions.

Sometimes they're labeled “world's largest ” of, you know, something or another.

Baker, California has its world's tallest thermometer, which is appropriate as one nears Death Valley.

Douglas, Wyoming has the largest jackalope.

There are several claims of largest coffee pot.

And if any of the attractions get travelers to stop, look and shop, then they've lived up to their callings as tourist traps.

Kansas has its share of quirky attractions.

Cawker Citys largest ball of twine is widely known.

Wilson has the largest Czech egg.

Goodland has the largest easel with a replica of Van Gogh's sunflower painting.

And if you position yourself just right, you can appear to be painting it.

And in the town of Lucas, perhaps the quirkiest town of all for yard art.

Well, there's a building in the shape of a very large toilet bowl.

It may be the glitziest public restroom you'll ever see.

There was a thought by some in Abilene of having the world's largest cowboy boots until they realized how large those boots would have to be.

These boots at the North Star Mall in San Antonio, Texas, are said to be the largest boots.

The world's largest cowboy boot is massive, not something that we could tackle.

So instead, they started considering a belt buckle.

Not just because it could be more reasonable in size, but because belt buckles can be so decorative with room for storytelling emblems.

I started looking at belt buckles because belt buckles really are a walking brochure that cowboys wear to highlight community and things.

I think of the centennial buckles all of our hometowns had.

Just look at some of those centennial belt buckles states and cities put out to commemorate their localities.

Some of them had sayings carved into them like Arizona, hotter than hell.

There are hundreds of them.

Kansas communities, including Cheney, Potwin and Cullison, to name a few, have Centennial Belt buckles.

Belt buckles have long been a cowboy calling card, preserving history and often being contest trophies.

Because a belt buckle is a walking brochure of your community.

When you think of a centennial, buckles, buckles with awards, you know, things like that.

And if anyone large enough could wear this, buckle it too, would be a walking brochure for Abilene's history.

How about Paul Bunyan?

Could he be big enough for this buckle?

Towns in Texas, Missouri and Montana have laid claims to having the world's largest belt buckle.

Weeks says Abilene's buckle needed to be larger than those.

And Abilene didn't have to go on a worldwide search for an artist to construct it.

The work was kept local.

Weeks asked local artist Jason Lahr, owner of Fluters Creek Metal Works, if he could construct the largest belt buckle.

He answered, Yes.

Abilene got a $22,000 grant to help fund the project through an attraction tourism grant from Kansas.

Tourism.

Those grants are funded through the lottery.

The Visitors Bureau also created 100 replica buckles for donations.

People from all over the country paid $200 for the replica belt buckles.

Their names were put on the belt buckle public display.

There's now a waiting list for more of these replicas.

Drawings were made in May 2022.

Here are photos in the Fluters Creek metal shop before, the art designs were etched in by Lahr.

Now, it took the summer and fall for Lahr with the help of family and others to complete the work to erect the belt buckle just before Christmas.

And the level of detail far surpasses anything I could have ever imagined.

The Belt Buckle is located on the county fairgrounds across from Eisenhower Park and next to the rodeo arena and grandstands.

Here are some of the measurement details.

It's just under 20 feet wide and almost 14 feet tall, not including the frame.

The Buckle features local history.

You have the images for President Dwight Eisenhower.

Wild Bill Hickok, one time Marshal during Abilene's rowdy cowboy period.

Abilene Smoke Valley Railroad.

The Historic Seelye Mansion.

C.W.

Parker Carousel Horse.

The C.L.

Brown Telephone.

A racing greyhound.

And Chisholm Trail Longhorn, inlaid with blue quartz.

Lahr and others had to battle mud and cold weather as they struggled to get the heavy display mounted in the bolts.

How nerve wracking was it?

Yeah, I was very nerve wracking.

Still is.

Lahr couldn't afford to mis-measure on where the bolts to sustain the buckle display were to be.

The old carpenter's saying is measure twice, cut once.

How many times did you measure?

Right?

Multiple.

At least a dozen.

The measurements proved to be correct.

And the warm satisfaction of seeing the display in place and ready for viewing soften the bitter cold working environment.

It's just absolutely incredible that, you know, somebody can build this and make it stand.

And just the ingenuity behind it is really, really remarkable.

There is a staircase leading up to a viewing platform.

The idea is that visitors will have photos and video taken with the world's largest belt buckle prominently placed in front of them.

Weeks is counting on Abilene getting promotion from those images being posted on social media.

I look forward to seeing photos on Instagram tagging, Visit Abilene or Abilene, Kansas of people standing at the top of the world's largest belt buckle, taking those photos, sending them back to friends and family.

And the hope is the same visitors to the belt buckle will visit Abilene's other sites, the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, the Greyhound Hall of Fame, the Seelye Mansion, among other local sites.

And maybe visitors will cruise Abilene's residential streets and take in some of the historic houses from the 1800s.

If you've seen Abilene once or visited once, it doesn't mean that we're just a one trick pony.

You need to come back and see the new things that we've added.

No community can sit very long on its past drawing cards.

It takes new ideas and new attractions to have the public wanting to come back for more.

In Abilene, this is Chris Frank for Positively Kansas.

According to tourism promoter Roxy on the Road, Kansas has 19 “world's largest ” things, so who says there aren't sites to see in Kansas?Now let's head to the great outdoors and this week's Wild Edge report.

Mike Blair takes us out on the water where there's a whole other world of Kansas wildlife that you just can't experience from the shore.

Grant me a day on the water, a small stream where each curve brings a new surprise, a chance for discovery.

Narrow places in chutes closed in, where I'm held in the palms of The Maker's hands.

A soft current where my kayak slipped silent as a mink, and the animals who live there scarcely know my passing.

Grant me a day on the water, a float with a friend where we talk in hushed tones to honor the stillness.

And we're separate but one.

We share the magic of untethered closeness, each with our views, each with our thoughts, each with our strokes.

And we know each other's feelings.

Grant me a day on the water.

A springtime day when pastel greens paint the shores and birdsong cheers awakening words.

Where currents ripple the warming breezes.

Where tree flowers swirl in eddies, and roses blush along the banks.

Where skies promise coming abundance.

Grant me a day on the water.

A summer day where heat is quenched by shade overhead.

Where birds are busy raising young, and wildlife drinks from shallow pools.

Where dragonflies patrol their haunts, and lush plants grow where leaves don't wither.

Where young muskrats play, and where those who gather nectar flit along the banks.

Grant me a day on the water.

A fall day, a jacket day.

When north winds blow cool to set the world in urgent motion.

Where life hurries to a rich harvest.

A month of color, a time of golden reflections.

In more ways than one.

Where finally it all turns loose.

Grant me a day on the water.

A winter day, a cold day.

Where bleakness is offset by the red reflection of a distant sun.

Where barren arms reach to the heavens, asking that someday vigor and warmth might be restored.

Where I'm cold, but where comes deep knowledge of life and its passing and greater life to come.

Before it's time to go, grant me a day on the water.

I'm Mike Blair for Positively Kansas.

Great stuff.

Next week, Mike takes us on a tour of Kansas State Parks, which might make a good habitat for you and your family this summer.

Well, that's a wrap for this week.

If you have a question, comment or story idea.

We sure appreciate you watching.

Im Sierra Scott.

See you next time.