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It's tim for Positively Kansas coming up.

While you're learning this stuff, you're actually impacting someone's life.

When you get your heart and brain working together, great things can happen.

That's what a group of Kansas teens discovered.

Check out who's on the receiving end, also.

And I bowl pretty good.

And my teammates put up with me.

Actually she's the star of her team and she's closing in on triple digits.

I'm not talking about her score.

I'm talking about her age.

Jim Grawe introduces us to th oldest bowler in Kansas, plus.

I was a little surprised.

I'm really excited.

This Kansas teen is a national champion.

At what you ask?

You'll going to have to stick around and see.

And this car is also a national champion.

You might find Joan Kennedy racing it along the roads of Harvey County.

Find out what makes her Mean Machine so special.

Also, the first African-American astronaut is in the House to tell us what it was like to blast off into space.

It's a jam packed show, so sit down and buckle up.

Positively.

Kansas starts right now.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Sierra Scott.

How great is it to learn something and help others at the same time?

It's a total win win, right?

Check this out.

Ready, set, Go!

Two year old Maddie Riemann has a new way to get around.

She can play like other kid now, thanks to these high school students who attended a four day engineering camp at Wichita State.

Maddie has a disability that prevents her from using her feet, so there was no way for he to drive a little car like this.

But these teens figured out how to change that for Maddie and three other children with similar challenges.

So, for example, in a traditional car, you buy right off the shelf, the accelerator pedal is at the foot.

Some of these children cannot use their feet.

And so what we do is we open the car up and get all the wiring out, and we move the accelerator to the steering wheel.

So the students have to learn how to apply what they've learned in their circuits class, to actually making a new circuit and doing a different kind of wiring.

I think the satisfaction out of this project, rather than like any other robotics competition or like something in class in engineering, is that while you're learning the stuff, you're actually impacting someone's life.

And like kind of the knowledg that you learn in the classroom can be applied here.

And it's really cool, so.

I actually get a lot of satisfaction out of that.

I, I both get to experience taking things apar and building them into something that can do more than it was meant to.

And I can also use that to just help these kids get around and have a new experience in their lives.

It's just a great thing to give our kids mobility, because a lot of them, even a lot older than Maddie, can't go outside and play with their friends or go explore like other little kids do, and this gives them a way to be able to do that.

The kids got the cars for free.

Now, this camp was put on by Wichita State's Go Baby Go program, which operates year round at the college level, retrofitting play car for kids aged three and younger.

Now to a car for big kids.

It's fast, it's loud, an it turns heads wherever it goes.

This rare beauty recently won an award for its remarkable original condition, and it's like a time machine transporting its owner back to her youth.

Jim Grawe has the 4-1-1.

So, ready.

Set.

Go?

This is Joan Kennedys 52 year old, baby.

It's a Pontiac GTO.

Exactly as it was when Joan and her husband John bought it in 1965.

This is the original window sticker.

They were like a lot of young people in the 1960s with a flair for style and a need for speed.

He's a high flyin stock car jockey with a room full of trophies.

I like to live dangerously.

Honey, I'm going to leave the driving to you.

We didn't have all th electronics to occupy our time.

cars were just the thing.

Some sporty cars are only pussycats.

Pontiacs GTO is all Tiger.

Those 348 horses really roar when you get on it.

We called it romp on it.

That's the word.

That's expression of the day.

If you romp on it and you hear the carburetors kick in, that's pretty thrilling.

The car recently won an award from the GTO Association of America for its excellent original condition.

This was last week in June.

How exciting was that?

That was very exciting.

Joan and her husband were not car collectors.

They bought the car to drive.

It was our daily driver.

They drove it for about 90,000 miles.

Then in the early 80s, we - it needed overhauled and we had enough miles on it, we put it in the garage.

It stayed in the garage, and we stumbled over at my car was parked outside to drive to work every day.

So when he died, I had phone calls.

People who knew it was there called and aske if I was going to sell the car.

And no way am I going to stumble over it every day for all those years and sell the car.

So she got it overhaule and repainted and got this mean machine back on the streets.

Where it's once again burning rubber and turning heads, just like it did in 1965.

I feel young again.

It is a real cream puff, Joan let me drive it, and it was a bigger thrill than I expected.

The acceleration and roar of that engine made me wish I had a car like that.

How about you, Sierra?

You know I love fast cars!

Thanks, Jim.

From cars now to boats.

When you think about spendin an afternoon on the open waters with your sails and cares blowing in the wind.

Landlocked Kansas may not readily jump to mind as the ideal place to lift anchor, in spite of it being further fro any coast in the United States.

Loyal members of one club say Cheney Lake offers its sail boaters an experience oftentimes better than they'll find almost anywhere else.

Justin Kraeme introduces us to the Ninnescah Sailing Association, who have been filling their sails with Kansas winds on the lake for more than 50 years.

Gregg Greenwoo may live in landlocked Kansas, but there are few thing he enjoys more than lifting sail and plotting a course across the open water.

Depending on where the wind is, you gotta figure out how to get there.

And you do that with your crew, the position of your sails.

You got to maintain an ide where the wind is at all times and and it's it's just really peaceful.

If central Kansas doesn't jump to mind when thinking of the best places to sail, sailing enthusiasts with the Ninnescah Sailing Association say you're overthinking it.

The wind is constant, pretty steady.

On most days, we can count on a more 10 to 15 knots.

And, yeah, it's exceptional.

For good sailing, all you need is consistent win and a big enough body of water.

Cheney reservoir provides both.

So well in fact, enthusiasts from around the nation have taken notice.

For a number of years.

Sail magazine has actually ranked Cheney reservoir as one of the top ten, inland sailing lakes in the country.

And it's because we are so flat out here in terrain that we have a good prevailing south wind.

most of the summer.

The Ninnescah Sailing Association first formed back in 1965 just three years after the feds started forming Cheney Reservoir out of farmland and the Ninnescah River.

It was a group of 3 or 4 men back then that, realized that central Kansas had plenty of wind and, they would like to try sailing.

It was literally barren, except for the Rose Estate thats put in and the shelter house over there, the state put in and used to be our main gathering point.

And there were virtually no trees, which is amazing if you look at it today.

The association grew steadily over the years, building to more than 200 member until the drought of the 2010s dried up the reservoir, making sailing impossible.

We had only about 18in of water, where we're sitting right now in these slips.

right now there's a good, 6 to 8ft of water underneath.

And most of the boats.

Now that the drought is over, the water levels are back.

And so has been in Ninnescah Sailing Association members have been returning to conditions arguably better than before the drought.

Kind of think of it a our little oasis on the prairie.

I mean, it's you know, people come in here, you've got a member in it that is, this west of Enid, Oklahoma.

And he said he couldn' believe it when he came up here.

When he first drove in.. How beautiful this area was.

I think were s really and best kept secret in this area.

It's been her 52 years now with Kansas sailors passing down their love of the pastime to generation after generation of Kansas sailors.

We're teaching our grandchildren to love sailing right now, so it's a fun, family oriented, activity.

It's much easier to learn the most people think.

A lot of people think sailing is real complicated to learn, and it isnt once you learn the basics, you get up on the water and just absolutely love it and people take off and do real well.

A family activity you wouldn't expect to find in the middle of central Kansas.

For Positively Kansas, I'm Justin Kraemer.

The association offers lessons to both teens and adults to learn how you can sail.

You can learn more by clicking on the link on the Positively Kansas page at KPTS.org.

Here's a story about a teenager who spent his summer with his nose buried i his computer, and it paid off.

Recent Eisenhower High graduate Josh Garrelts won the Microsoft Word National championship.

That's right.

There's a national championship for proficiency in that computer program that nearly all of us use, but none of us have mastered it the way Josh has.

He brought home the gold from the competition in Orlando, Florida.

What kind of reaction have you gotten from people?

A lot of confused reactions, but a lo of them are like really excited.

And they like and expect out of me.

And there are some who kind of did expect that out of me, and they're all really happy for me.

Josh first won the Kansas State championship and then competed against champions from other states for the national title.

Contestants were given a printed document and 50 minutes to recreate it.

Josh credits his teacher, Kristen Salazar with helping him become so good at Microsoft Word.

But Mrs. Salazar says Josh, who plans to study computer science at Wichita State, earned the crown through his hard work and determination.

It does make me very prou because this is my second one, and it just shows what kind of caliber students we have coming out and gettin ready to go into the workforce.

You heard right.

Josh is Mrs. Salazar's second studen to win a national championship.

Two years ago, it was Andrew Parker from Goddard, who took the national title in PowerPoint.

If you don't know, PowerPoint is a companion program to Microsoft Word.

Kansans are also known to be pretty good bowlers, too.

Wichita has hosted numerous professional tournaments throughout the years, and Wichita State has one of the top collegiat bowling programs in the nation.

But our secret weapon in the quest for bowling superiority is Maggi Watson.

Who is she, you ask?

Jim Grawe shows us.

In the world of bowling, Maggi Watson is Wichita's grand dame.

The Great Plains bowling Congress has declared Maggi to be the oldest bowler in Kansas.

She's 98.

I grew up during a dirty 30s in western Kansas, and she still throwing strikes.

Check it out.

My husband bowled to he was 97 and he he lived 101.

So, he would come and watch me bow after he wasnt bowling anymore.

He came along and watched me bowl.

Maggi is the star of the roll abouts.

That's her team that bowls every week in the senior league at the alley on East 13th Street.

I used to have a 9 pound ball and then I had a 10 pound ball, but 10 pound ball got too heavy, so I use a I use a ball that belongs to the Alley.

It's an 8 pound ball.

It doesn't quite fit my hand, but it works pretty good.

And I bowl pretty goo and my teammates put up with me.

Her average is 114, but Maggie has been known to get a hot hand and roll i the two hundreds, on a good day.

Her personal best is 235.

I like to win.

What makes her skill all the more impressive is that her eyesight isn't good enough to see the pins.

How do you do it, then?

Well, I look up above and know what I have.

But how do you.

How do you throw the ball?

Well, what do you aim at?

I kind of know just about how to let it go.

I don't know how to tell you that from practice after you do it long enough, you know.

Even in the senior league, Maggie is old enough to be everybody's mother.

Still, she's the team's MVP.

No two ways about it.

I hope I'm still walking at 98 like she is, but she's an inspiration to everybody.

You know she never gets down on herself.

I want to beat myself up when I throw something dumb like a gutter ball, you know?

But she's always there to step up and say, don't worry about it.

You know?

Just go ahead and bowl.

Maggie says bowling helps keep her healthy as she closes in on the big 1-0-0.

That and a sensible lifestyle.

I did slow football in time, but I quit long time ago and I don't believe in overeating or overindulging in anything.

I got to go bowl.

Okay.

Maggie says she never really bowled until 1980, when she retired from her job as an occupational therapist at the VA hospital.

She acknowledges that the Lor has been good to her healthwise, but she also believes i the old adage use it or lose it.

She believes activity is the key to longevity, and she says bowling is good exercise for people as they get older.

Sierra, back to you.

Now striking out to the good old days when you could stop for a soda at the corner drugstore and pick up a pair of bloomers at the five and dime.

But the old time Main street so many of us loved isn't completely gone.

Anthony Powell has the story from Newton.

Not man businesses anywhere in America, especially a bookstore, can say they have lasted 125 years.

But Anderson's books and office supplies in Newton has joined that elite club.

85 year old Phil Anderson, who still works at the store daily, represents the fourt generation to run the business.

He believes several factors have helpe the store succeed for so long.

I attribute it to family connections.

We've always had family involved in the store and you know, one of us is always here.

Phil's grandfather started it all way back in 1892.

Phil's son, Murray, who helps in the store, gave us a glimpse of when it first opened.

He carried GE refrigerator that they would unload on the, from the from the depot and bring on flatbed cars all the way to the store.

He was, the first Kodak dealer in this area in the state.

But, Murray adds, it wasn't just big ticket items like refrigerators tha his great grandfather offered.

Joyce Hall from Hall Brothers in Kansas City, called on him and asked him to carry his card line.

That became hallmark cards.

And the store still carries hallmark cards.

In later years, Anderson's became known as the place for school supplies, but the real key to longevity has been the abilit to offer a wide variety of items that you simply can't find most other places.

Like wood toys, puzzles, fountain pens, and ink, just to name a few.

And yes, even typewriters.

So many of them grew up with typewriters.

I realize the younger generation doesn' even know what a typewriter is, but must be a lot of typewriters still in use.

But don't think the younger generation doesn't have a strong appreciation for this place.

It's just sentimental.

It has an old timey smell, even, and just like the hardwood floors.

But yeah, it just reminds, like, reminds me of, like, historic Newton.

The Anderson family is like a big deal in Newton.

And the store has always been here.

And then when you come to Newton and it's like you tell people that are from out of town about the places you have to see, and then you're like, Anderson's been here forever.

Now, to help compet in the modern world, the store bega offering online service in 2004.

Some days it ships product all around the world.

But of course, technology can't replace another thin Anderson's is so well known for.

Service.

This is your first one?

Yes, she is.

Number one.

Checking things out, checking out our inventory?

And of course, there's the experience of just being in the store as if you took a trip in a time machine.

The wood floors, the tin ceilings, the ceiling fans, just the, the sheer, nostalgia of being in a general store.

As for the future of the store, well both Murray and Phil would like to see it go another 125 years.

Murray says his son, Aver is showing signs of inheriting the family's entrepreneurial spirit, so he might just be the next Anderson to guide this iconic Newton landmark for decades to come.

For Positively Kansas.

I'm Anthony Powell.

Anderson's has moved locations a few times during its 125 years, but since 1938, though, it has been at 627 North Main, inside the building that housed the first JCPenney store in Kansas.

Now to a man who blazed a new trail for the future and broke the color barrier of space.

Here's Jim again with this very special guest.

We are excited to have Colonel Guy Bluford in the studio.

He is history's first African-American astronaut, having flown on four space shuttle missions between 1983 and 1992.

Colonel Bluford, I could also call him Docto Bluford because he has a Ph.D..

He came to the Air Capital to receive an award.

It's the annual pride Award presented by the nonprofit group Real Men, Real Heroes.

The group's aim is to provide exemplary role models for Wichita youth.

And if your kids accomplish half of what Colonel Bluford has in his life you no doubt will be thrilled.

Thanks for being with us Colonel Bluford.

Appreciate it.

What was the most exciting thing about going into space?

I think just this just to see the Earth from 150 miles up.

You can see a thousand miles in any direction.

So it's, the view ou the window is pretty exciting.

But also, I like the Zero-G.

I like being able to float around in Zero-G. That's also a great experience as well.

Wow, I can imagine How did you become an astronaut?

Was it a dream that you had since childhood?

No, it wasn't a dream since I had since childhood.

I started out, being an engineer.

I wanted to be an engineer as a kid.

And then I eventually became a flier in the Air Force.

And then eventually I got a PhD and became an engineer.

And then I transitioned into being an astronaut.

So it was sort of an evolutionary process from interested in being in in airplanes to an interest in being in space.

So as a kid, did you ever imagine going into space?

I never even imagined going into space.

Remember when I was a kid, Astronauts were comic book characters.

Okay, so I realized that astronauts were not real people at the time.

So, my primary interest was in airplanes.

And, that's how it all got started.

But so what was the path to becoming an astronaut?

You served in Vietnam, is that right?

I, I joined the Air Force after graduating from Penn State.

I flew fighters.

I was an instructor pilot for a while, and then I went back to school and got a master's and PhD in aerospace engineering.

And I was an engineer supervising a major, engineering group.

And then I applied for the astronaut program and then got accepted and then spent 15 years in the astronaut program flying in space.

So I saw I was sort of how I got into the program went from airplanes to space, flying airplanes to flying in space.

So it was a combination of all of that.

What do you remember about that first launch in 1983 on board the space shuttle?

I was excited about it.

I mean, I remember being on the launch pad.

I remember the the countdown cloc going all the way down to zero.

I remember the liftoff.

It really is quite a dynamic liftoff.

And then you go from zer velocity to 18,000 miles an hour in about 8.5 minutes.

So it really is a tremendous ride.

And what actuall was your role on these missions?

Well, it varied my, my primary rol was being a mission specialist.

So I was a scientist engineer on the flight.

On the first flight, I was a flight engineer.

So I assisted the pilot an commander in flying the vehicle.

But I've flown I've deployed satellites in space.

I've worked in laboratories in space.

I've deployed and retrieve satellites in space.

I've operated an arm in space.

So I've done quite a few things on, off, on, on the various flights that I've flown.

So how important was it to you that you were the first African-American, U.S. astronaut in space?

Well, I was very honored to be in that role.

I thought it was important for me to set the example to open up doors for other African-Americans to fly in space.

So I was very pleased to be offered an opportunity to be the firs to open up the doors for others.

And hopefully we've had others.

We've had quite a few others that have flown into space after me, so that was that was my biggest concern.

But still, you are overall in very much an elite group of people, period, who have gone into space.

Yes, I would agree with that.

we've got, a little over 500 people who've flown in space right now and, African Americans, we've had about 14 or 15 of them who've who flown in space.

Well, I don't know how many times you've been to Wichita, but as an epic aviator, what does it mean for yo to come here to the air capital?

Well, I'm very pleased to talk with the the organization, the the Rea men, Real Heroes organization.

So I'm pleased to be back here.

I've also been in Wichita once before because I dropped off another astronaut here at McConnell Air Force Base.

But otherwise, it's good to be here.

Right.

And, you've accomplished so much.

What does it mean to you to be honored as an exemplary role model?

Well, I, I feel very honored, but I'm also here to, to highlight these individuals who are doing some good work and mentoring, black youth.

So I think that's pretty important.

And, I'm more interested in recognizing them than them recognizing me.

But I think, I'm very pleased to be here.

Well, Colonel Guy Bluford, it's such an honor to meet you.

My pleasure.

Hey, thanks for coming.

My pleasure.

Good to be here.

If you'd like to learn more about the Real Men, Real Heroes organization, look for the lin on the Positively Kansas page at KPTS.org.

Sierra, back to you.

That's a wrap for this week.

But our team of journalists is working on more great storie for next time, including this.

You'll find livestock like this on only one farm in the entire state.

Jim Grawe paid a visit and got the scoop from Kansas's only shrimp farmer plus.

We have a strong belief in land stewardship.

We always believe that that arises from affection for a place and affection for the physical ground that you inhabit.

We'll visit another Kansan who's farming outside the box and reaping a lot of joy.

Justin Kraemer will have all the juicy details, and.

What does the farmer say?

Work work work work work work.

We talked to the man behind the music.

Viral video sta Derek Klingenberg in the House to share some of his hilarious song parodies about Kansas farming.

Wheat and beef are great.

But next week we celebrate what's creative and unusual down on the farm.

It should be a blast.

Im Sierra Scott.

We'll see you then.

What does the farmer say?

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