From the Alvin and Rosalie Sara Check studio, PBS Kansas Presents Positively Kansas, it's time for Positively Kansas.

Coming up, he's been the unmistakable voice behind nearly every big moment in soccer history.

Or join him in the booth as a broadcasting icon prepares for his final sign off.

Plus, we'll meet an Andover man who doesn't need to see his cards to win the game.

See how he's mastering life's challenges with a winning hand.

Then we're stepping into a hidden Wichita treasure trove, where the hum of the sewing machine saves a vanishing piece of our heritage.

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They'll take you to nature's social club.

Watching what happens when Kansas wildlife gathers for a drink in the summer heat.

I'm Cierra Scott.

Join me for a half hour of information and inspiration on Positively Kansas.

And.

The soundtrack of a city is changing.

For 46 years, one voice has been the unfailing heartbeat of Wichita State sports.

The eyes for the blind and the thrill for the faithful.

Mike Kennedy has turned radio waves into history.

But now the microphone is going silent.

Chris Frank reports on the man whose words defined an era.

As he wraps up his final season on the air.

That's the ball game.

Wichita State with another important conference win.

Final score the Shockers 69, temple 57.

46 years ago, Mike Kennedy got his dream job of calling WSU shocker basketball.

Dribble open.

Free.

No.

Off the back.

Rebound temple Tobias and cleared it quickly.

His is the voice generations of soccer fans have grown up with.

Kennedy says it's time to step away from the mic and spend more time with family.

I still love doing it.

I still enjoy it, but it's just time to move on to something else in my life.

Spend more time with Debbie.

To.

I have two granddaughters that are Division one athletes that I would like the opportunity to to go see more of.

And as I've said, I've watched and described other people's kids and grandkids for 50 years.

It's time to go watch a couple of my own for a while.

Welcome back to Coke Arena.

The 77 year old lit shocker nation know of his plans at the start of the season.

WSU held Mike Kennedy Night, February 21st to honor the broadcaster.

With the Shockers playing temple.

Fans arrived early for photo ops and autographs, with Kennedy now just a half century ago.

This Wichita native was just another student on campus.

And I was majoring in music at Wichita State and was destined to be a teacher if I continued with that, and with all due respect to teachers, or just came a point where I just felt like this is not really what I want to do.

It was his dream to be a sports broadcaster.

As a child, he grew up listening to the likes of Harry Carey and Jack Buck doing Cardinals baseball and Curt Gowdy calling the game of the week.

But my general sense was that those jobs sort of went to former athletes, and that there probably wouldn't be much opportunity there.

He found his first broadcasting opportunities at radio stations in Chanute and Pittsburg.

In those jobs, I got to do a lot at it high school, junior college and college football and basketball, some junior college baseball, Legion baseball.

I got I got to do a lot of games.

That experience led to his return to Wichita Kake radio and television and broadcasting Wichita Arrows baseball games.

Then in 1980, he started calling Shockers basketball, and that was the year we played the back to back games with Iowa here in the roundhouse and then Ku in New Orleans to get to the elite Eight.

Two of the greatest, most exciting games in the history of Wichita State basketball back to back.

And, I got a little spoiled.

Now, one of Kennedy's nicknames is trivia.

Mike's nickname was still is trivia because his recall was so unbelievable.

Shocker.

Fans appreciate that.

He's always amazed me.

He would start talking about 1972.

Do you know the players names, the scores he had tremendous memory.

You know, you'll see a lot of people in the arena with their earphones, and they're listening to Kennedy because they're getting a lot more experience out of the game.

By listening to him.

Well, and he's made more free throws than anybody on this ballclub.

I think that our chemistry is and always has been very good, a constant through all those years and nearly 1500 basketball games.

Is Dave Dull by Kennedy side with commentary.

But one of the really enjoyable things is Mike brings his professionalism every game.

He's always prepared exactly the same.

His enthusiasm for the game never wavers.

And you know, the information that he's providing is spot on.

It's perfect.

Welcome back to Coke Arena.

Tonight's matchup between Wichita State and Temple.

Mike draws such beautiful word pictures for the listener that they get a sense that there are actually at the ball game, viewing the ball game because he is so descriptive.

And my goal is to support Mike and to support the game.

So when I detect that, Mike has a breath that he is taking, I can quickly insert a thought about what's happened, but get right back out again.

Sure, he's anxious to show them how much is improved tonight.

Absolutely.

He's got a lot to prove, and he certainly has done it many times already this season.

Kennedy describes Dole's ability to quickly comment and ask for, and they just always was able to do that.

And, as soon as we started traveling and getting to know each other better, we became good friends.

And he is to this day one of the best friends I've ever had, one of my closest friends.

There are individual play by play announcer who've been at the microphone longer than Kennedy, and Dole's 46 years, but as a team, they are the longest running broadcast duo in college basketball.

But we've done it together longer than anybody else.

Kennedy also calls shocker baseball.

He has had many memorable calls between basketball and baseball.

Long pre God.

How about this for a week?

What a shot by Van Fleet and any sports broadcasters.

Dream is the chance to call a national championship.

Run it.

Pros 70 move it's doctors are day.

So camp here's a believable story.

What?

The state has won the national championship.

Craig from with a complete game victory fittingly struck out 72.

And the ball game.

And what the court state has done it in unbelievable fashion.

You know you don't get that experience very often.

And then certainly, beating Ohio State to go to the Final 4 in 2013, I mean, both of those are right up there at the very top.

It's oh, it is over.

Ladies and gentlemen, say it slowly and savor it.

Wichita State is going to the Final Four for the first time in 48 years.

Memorable moments from a remarkably long career.

The Shockers might be.

Mikes extended family was there as the university hung a Kennedy banner from the rafters on his special night.

Well, that was the biggest the the banner.

And then I would say also just the, the players, coming over to give me a fist bump as they were introduced before the game and then all of them coming over after the game to take pictures and, and stuff that, that got me.

You know, both those things really got to me.

Kennedy says retirement is something he's thought about the past three years, but there's no single thing other than, I've done this so long.

I still love doing it.

I still enjoy it, but it's just time to move on to something else in my life.

Kennedy wants to spend more time with family and time on the golf course.

Know I got to God's great people.

I got less than a. That's you know, I don't know if it's going to get any better than that.

They got they got a hell of a thing to do to replace.

As for Kennedy, he leaves knowing he's given his all.

And he says he'll always treasure moments like this, when the entire shocker team came over to congratulate him on a storied career.

Oh my word.

The Shockers win.

This is Kris Frank for Positively Kansas.

We congratulate Mike Kennedy on his retirement.

There's no announcement on who the next voice of the Shockers will be.

Mike Kennedy was the eyes for generations of fans.

And our next subject can't see the cards in his hand, but he refuses to be left out of the game.

Anthony Powell introduces us to an Andover man who proves that in life, it's not about the deal.

It's how you play the hand, the.

A few times a week, several folks gather at the end over senior center for Bridge Club.

It's a tight knit group.

Many have been playing together since 2004, when the club started.

On this day, they waited for their newest member.

Someone they say has not only brought skill to the table, but more importantly, lots of joy and inspiration.

Tom Hanson it is amazing.

Moments later, led by his guide dog Hank.

Tom Hanson walked into the center before talking about bridge.

We got to know a little more about Tom growing up in Wisconsin.

He lost his sight when he was just six years old.

But he never lost his determination to succeed.

Holding several top jobs with organizations for the blind while also earning a bachelors, two masters and a doctorate degree after retiring.

Tom and his wife Sue did some traveling, including a trip to the Wichita area in 2024.

They liked it so much they decided to move to Andover in 2025.

The people here at the center are run very great.

I don't like the convenience where we are.

We have almost everything we could want.

Meanwhile, during the Covid years, Tom wanted to tackle a new challenge and decided on bridge.

It's amazing how skilled he is given the relatively short time he's played the difficult game and of course, his lack of sight.

He relies heavily on his incredibly sharp mind.

You have what you call a dummy when you play and you get the bed and you play with a dummy, and when he plays, you tell him what the dummy hand holds.

And he memorizes all that.

Tom is so very grateful for the way club members have welcomed him.

I'm feeling more of a part of them.

You know that this is a forum that's going to go for quite a long time when I'm not bringing somebody new.

And I think I took a little bit of time on both sides to get comfortable with what I think.

I think we both are feeling good about that.

Of course, when you talk about Tom, though, you can't forget about Hank.

Everybody here loves Hank.

Hank is Tom's second guide dog and says his life quality has dramatically increased thanks to Hank.

I just love me.

The independence that, And more comfortability on and feel safer, more at ease traveling with him than what I did with my wife.

Can.

Tom hopes his story provides inspiration about being dealt a tough hand.

He urges others in the same boat to view difficulties as challenges, not obstacles.

Set some goals for yourself and also have hopefully support your family or friends nearby.

Tom Hanson has certainly found friends nearby at the Andover Senior Center.

It's become a home away from home, and represents another positive chapter in a life that's been full of positives in Andover.

I'm Anthony Powell for Positively Kansas.

Tom says the secret to his independence is total organization.

He and his wife, Sue, run a tight ship where everything from the pantry to the Braille labeled spice rack has its exact place.

It was once the fabric of every Kansas home.

But in a world of fast fashion, this timeless art of sewing is in danger of unraveling.

One Wichita woman is spending her retirement ensuring the threads of the past are never lost.

Jim Gray takes us to a unique museum dedicated to stitching history together.

It's often said that clothes make the man or woman look a day.

A trim, tiny, tasty tidbit he and Karen looks as if she just stepped out of the salon of a Fifth Avenue cafe here.

And here's Nancy.

He looks like a page out of Vogue.

But first, of course, a man or woman has to make the clothes.

Maybe it's a famous fashion designer.

The label.

Gordon.

God.

This is the shirt.

Or maybe it's someone like Katrina started.

I started out sewing by hand, making Barbie clothes and stuff.

And I got my first sewing machine between second and third grade.

Her lifelong passion and career has been sewing for 50 years.

Stockton ran an alteration and custom sewing shop in Wichita.

I, I had one particular customer that always wanted clothes that looked like Cher's, but maybe if I could turn back time.

If I could find a way.

Now she operates the Sewing History Museum in this historic house on North Waco.

Avenue.

For me, it was something that I could do to thank Wichita for having supported us all that time and give back to the community.

Her goal with the museum is to inspire and encourage others in hopes of making sewing more a part of everyday American life the way it used to be.

And Alice is devoting some of her leisure to learning to.

So that's something she'll be glad she did when she's older.

And right now she gets a big kick out of.

Stockton has collected more than 500 sewing machines from all over the world.

Some date back to the 1850s.

I traveled about five, 5 or 6 different states to get them all.

Some she bought, others have been donated.

The museum offers a walk through time that demonstrates the changes in technology, as well as the remarkable engineering of even the oldest machines.

A lot of people, if they have their great grandmother's sewing machine, they it's old, it's ugly, they junker.

And we can refurbish, and oil them.

And the old ones are much hardier.

They're much stronger than the newer ones.

Stockton is also scheduling classes to teach sewing, which she says is a very practical hobby that could bring a lot of creative joy.

In Wichita, for Positively Kansas, I'm Jim Gray with.

The museum occupies the first floor of the historic Chapman Noble House on North Waco.

You can find more information and class schedules on the Sewing History Museum on their Facebook page.

Late summer and early fall can be dry times in Kansas.

Water holes become community centers and many species of animals share a drink.

In this week's Kansas Wildland Report, Mike Blair shows us how such watering holes are great places to watch and learn about Kansas wildlife.

It's another hot summer day with temperatures in the one hundreds.

Animals without a ready source of water can suffer.

Upon.

Makes things easy, but drying water holes are fleeting.

Even so, they're used heavily while available, even if fouled by livestock.

An hour or two of watching shows.

A parade of animals and birds, drinking and bathing to stay cool.

Among them are such unlikely visitors as ornate box turtles, who wade right in for relief from the sun.

Birds return again and again, visiting every ten minutes or so.

Bigger animals do the same, and deeper water.

Here a coyote takes a midday swim.

A raccoon hits a tank near a windmill.

In summer, bucks in velvet come for a drink.

While the sun is still high.

Water is crucial for surviving summer's heat.

If you can take some discomfort yourself.

Water holes are always good places to observe wildlife.

I'm Mike Blair for Positively Kansas.

Next week, Mike takes us fishing at Milford Reservoir at one of the best times of the year to land a big one.

It's an ancient tradition, sparking a modern revolution.

Beyond the convenience, there's a powerful connection and keeping your little one close.

Chris Franke introduces us to a McPherson woman leading the charge to bring this timeless practice to the heart of Kansas.

Okay, it's a half price floating there.

Of course, it's a winter day in McPherson and Alicia Allen is clothes shopping for 14 month old son Silas.

Sure, it's quicker for a parent to hoist their baby into their arms and just start walking with them, or use a baby stroller.

It takes about an extra, I don't know, 30s to a minute at the car.

Some.

Some days are quicker than others.

But Allen says she'll most often secure Silas into a sling instead of putting them into a shopping cart.

The first thing it's called baby wearing.

And Allen likes to point out the benefits of it.

It's convenient, to to be able to shop hands free and not have to hold your baby, but still have them close enough so they're there, they're secure, they're bonding.

They have that touch of their parents.

They, And you're still hands free.

They you can feed them like, if you're breastfeeding.

Mother, you can, do that while shopping, which is really convenient.

Allen says baby wearing has been around since ancient times.

Native Americans were known to carry their babies and wraps next to their bodies in other countries like Africa and, Europe.

And they've all had some form of baby wearing.

It's becoming more common in the industrialized world in recent decades, popularized by some pediatricians.

Allen wishes she had known more about baby wearing when her teenagers were babies.

She says it would have made carrying them so much easier.

I heard of them, but not very common, and so I didn't do it then.

Allen says often, while out in public, other moms will approach her, saying how they wish they had known about baby wearing.

So I get a lot of wish they had that when my kids were young.

They don't.

They just weren't very common.

Say hi to everybody.

Say hi.

He loves attention and he's a social guy.

So Allen wants to introduce others to baby wearing.

So she held this show and tell class at her church to introduce other parents to the practice.

Why not help other people?

And I know when I go out and about in the store, I often see parents struggling with the car seat carriers, and I know how heavy those things can be.

Allen has experimented with many of the baby wearing products on the market.

What do you guys have the most interest in seeing slings or carriers?

She points out the benefits and drawbacks of each.

I have a little baby here, and I know you have a little baby, too.

For some of the parents, this is new, while for others baby wearing has been their practice.

I don't see a lot of people baby wearing.

No, I do not.

I moved down from Montana and pretty much everyone up their baby wears, so I didn't realize it was that uncommon here.

Some of the moms say baby wearing helps them to multitask, not have to carry them on my arms at having free hands because I have other two kids I have to chase around so I can carry her and chase my other two other directions.

I recommend it to every mom.

Missy does seem to year carried all three of her babies.

Absolutely yes.

My husband even when he used a sling for my babies, I have found baby wearing to be.

I'm hands free and it's it's really helpful.

He can sleep while I grocery shop.

He can nurse while I grocery shop.

He's cozy.

He's more patient by the time we get through grocery shopping with him sitting in the buggy.

He's upset.

His arch and his twist and he's wanting out when I have him in a carrier.

He's happy through the whole trip, no matter how long we're in there.

And so I thought, let's see if I can spread a little bit of this.

I didn't realize there's a half price clothing day.

So we got there and that's it is.

So it's always nice to find out up here.

Oh, a good price to begin with.

And they're all bargain price.

Alisha and Silas will continue being a walking billboard, for they be wary every time they go out in public and responding to the curiosity of those they meet.

Hope you get your binky in McPherson, Chris Frank for Positively Kansas.

Well, that's a wrap.

With federal funding eliminated, the future of Positively Kansas is now in your hands.

Please go to CPT dawg and make a $100 donation directly to this program to keep us on the air as a thank you.

We'll proudly feature your name as a supporter at the beginning and end of future episodes.

I host the show for free because local stories like these deserve to be told.

Thanks for watching.

I'm Ciara Scott.

See you next time.