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

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

The following program i brought to you by tz productions offering 40 years of media experience.

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

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

Security app compatible with Apple Watch and Amazon Echo.

Ho ho ho!

It's time for a special Christmas edition of Positively Kansas.

People love it.

We invite friends and family out every year, and they just come in and are shocked at the way it looks.

How many Christmas trees can you fit into one house?

You'll meet the Valley Center woman who's pushing the limit and loving every minute of it.

Also, if you still haven't finalize your menu for Christmas dinner, well, we have a light and delicious idea.

You may never have heard of, but it's a holiday tradition for this chef.

Plus, this man's memories of Christmas in Kansas have been put to music and shared with the world.

Learn why these old eight millimeter movies strike a chord with so many people.

We also have music.

We're glad you're here.

I'm Sierra Scott.

Our Positively Kansas Christmas special starts right now.

For many families, it's one of the highlights of the holiday season.

Picking ou and decorating a Christmas tree.

Now meet a Kansas woman who's taking that tradition to the extreme.

In fact she may have set a world record.

Jim Grawe paid a visit.

Let's see what he discovered.

I like finding things and putting them on trees that people wouldn't think about.

Putting on a tree.

It's fun.

And, it brings back so many memories.

When I see a Christmas tree, I just feel good.

And if one is good, more must be better, right?

Well, that's Carmen LaBarges philosophy anyway.

There are trees in every single room.

Bathrooms, hallway, every bedroom, everywhere.

In fact, Carmen has get this 466 Christmas trees in her rural Valley Center home.

People love it.

we invite friends and family out every year, and they just come in and are shocked, at the way it looks and and mesmerizing just watching all the lights.

This is a Christmas tradition that started small and just grew and grew and grew.

When our sons, who are now, 30 and 32, when they were young, they each wanted their ow Christmas tree in their bedroom.

So I made a Christmas tree for them.

And, as I'm a special ed teacher and one year I decided to be a great idea to make a Christmas tree for every one of my students.

And it kind of just exploded after that.

The biggest is 12ft high, the smallest a petite six inches, and there is every size in between.

Each one has a theme.

There's one that's decorated with the old cookie cutters that belonged to Carmen's grandmother.

There's a Star Wars tree, a Star Trek tree, an Elvis tree, a kiss tree, a Bo Scout tree, a barbed wire tree.

We have everything from, the bottle tree, and the tree mat made ou of wine corks to a NASCAR tree.

We also have sports trees.

we have WSU, K-State, and the Chiefs and the Royals.

The collection has grown t the point where it takes Carmen and her husband five weeks t get them all out and decorate.

This is my master bathroom, an it is a peaceful oasis for me.

There are trees that are lit up and battery operated.

we do not bathe with the plug in trees going.

There is also a tree in her that has shotgun shells on it.

Carmen assures me she's not crazy.

She just loves Christmas.

And this has become a part of her family Christmas time tradition that never gets old.

Jim says that once the Christmas season ends, Carmen spends several more weeks dismantling the trees and putting them away.

Most are artificial, so she stores them away until next year, when she decorates them all differently.

Meanwhile, all year long, she's brainstorming new ideas and making and collecting more trees and ornaments.

Right up there with the trees and the gifts.

What would Christmas be without lots of great food?

Here in Kansas turkey, ham and other Midwestern fare.

Always a slam dunk this time of year.

But as our Hispanic populatio grows, many of us are introduced to a wider range of holiday possibilities.

We sent Anthony Powell to the popular Molina's Restaurant in North Wichita to learn about a popular Christmastime dish in Mexico.

Grab a pen and paper.

You might want to write down this recipe.

Well, we're going to try to show a, meal, a typical meal, in Mexico or Mexicans.

What we used to get, during Christmas, there's different dishes.

But today we're going to have Pacioli.

Pacioli.

It's going to be very easy.

As I said.

Let's think about that.

This is a flame below the pot.

Okay?

Okay.

So we're going to use.

The meat just cutting or add the onion.

Yeah.

Garlic does that.

We're going to give you the recipe at the end just in a step by step.

And that way you can really, have the chance to see it.

You put the garlic so let it boil in, and in the meantime, when you have this you need to start just making, like a puree with al the ingredients mixed together.

One is just really boilin or the other, the meat is cooked when it's just, tender.

We add the spices.

That is so.

So tasty.

And look what I learned today.

My my traditional, you know, meal for you in Mexico.

Yes.

This is for any special occasion.

Any special occasion.

Not just Christmas not just Christmas.

But it's very popular at Christmas time.

Yes.

Because of the weather.

I mean it's it's colder i some regions in Mexico, school.

So was always, always and perfect for Christmas in Wichita because usually aroun Christmas time it's colder.

Yes.

You and your family hav traditions that you like to do.

in Wichita for Christmas.

Yes.

It's an eating all day feeling, the sharpness of food and people.

I'm sitting here with probably one of the most intelligent women I know.

You not only do Kansas week here on KPTS.

But you speak fluent Spanish and teach it.

And on top of that, getting a masters in history, as you are so well-versed in so many things.

And one of the thing that we're going to talk about today is kind of the history of Christmas in Wichita.

The first Christmas, as most people remember, as far as accounts that are in the Wichita Eagle were from 1869, 1870, 1869, mostly folks went to the saloon and drank.

Oh, okay.

All right.

Well, that's kind o how some people celebrate now.

Yeah, bu some things don't change much.

Exactly.

But by 1870, they had really gotten a community going, and they had their firs community Christmas celebration.

They had two Christmas trees that were community Christmas trees they had gathering there on Christmas Eve.

If somebody wante to give a gift to somebody else, they brought it and they actually hung it on the tree and put it under the tree.

They hung it on the tree as part of the decoration.

would have been decorated with strings of popcorn and dried cranberries may have had candles.

Sometimes they would put candles on like little tin holders on it.

They had to be very careful about that.

Oh yeah.

Fires everything.

Back then, fire was a big danger.

one tradition actually, that was very unique here in Wichita was the Amidon Christmas dinner.

Colonel Sam Amido he was a very prominent member of the Wichita community.

Wichita Eagle referred to him as the best lawyer in the Middle West.

And he was a good friend of President Wilson.

He was at a community Christmas Christmas celebration and looked around.

And of course, the kids were enjoying their candy that had been handed out.

And he realized that there were several kids there that didn't have a dinner that was guaranteed that day.

so that first year he fed about 250 kids.

Wow.

And it grew every year.

by the 1920s it was the only requirement for entrance was a big appetite.

And he was feeding about 2500 people a year.

the prominent members of the community were active as the waiters.

you had congressmen, you had judges, you had governors coming i and waiting on everybody else.

It just continued to grow every year.

We know it continued at least into the late 70s.

It got national attention.

It was such a big deal and so unique.

In 1924, they serve 20, expected to serve about 2500 people, 200 turkeys twenty barrels of cranberries.

I mean, this was a huge operation that they put on every year.

And then after the meal they had entertainment.

So one year they would bring in the vaudeville acts and they had a band.

Another year they, took them out to the I think it was the Orpheum Theater.

They had vaudeville act and then a movie moving Picture show as they called it, then.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Big deal!

It was truly a celebration put on by the leaders of the community for the entire town, extremely unique and got a lo of attention around the country.

That's so cool.

What a great story.

Pilar, thank you for coming on and talking about that.

That's so cool.

And you kind of touched on entertainment.

And I tell you what, whether it's 150 years ago or now, music really kind of is a big part of Christmas.

And Ernest Alexander has a special treat for you.

Wow, what a beautiful song.

Well, for many of us, some of our favorite Christmastime memories are from childhood.

Well, that's certainly the cas for a man named Allen Glasgow, who spent much of his early life in Wichita.

A lot of that life was captured on film and now has inspired a beautiful song, Jim Grawe has the story.

I think when I enjoy watching him the most was at Christmastime.

A lot of the family has passed on.

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

It brings back a lot of memories.

reminds me of the good times.

Holidays, birthdays, vacations.

Those special times in the history of a family.

Capture it in home movies.

You were a family unit.

divorc was almost unheard of back then.

So most families had both parents.

and it was just an easier time.

In the 1950s and early 60s, Alan Glasco 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 millimeters silent film.

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

so, yeah, you had pretty big family gathering.

there are no spectacular feats nothing shocking or outrageous.

Alan, titled this film, The Wichita Years and uploaded it on to Internetarchive.org.

He says he only did it so family members in 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 same reaction.

Yet these 62 minutes of film, a compilation of some 20 reels of home movies, have struck a chord with film producer and musicians around the world over the past few years, the Glasco family movies have been used in some 20 music videos and other productions.

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

So many have.

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

So I don't have any groupies on my front porch.

So.

But Canadian singer songwriter Alana York didn't just use clips for a video.

She recently wrote and recorded an entire song about these home movies Old family home movies.

from the 50s, but this 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 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, bu 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 it, yeah.

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

But also I felt like I was a tourist an 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 ca as they're going on the highway in a place in the United States where I have never been.

Like it was just such an exclusive, because to me, it felt like an exclusive behind the scenes look at this family.

And but at the same time, it was it felt, 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 righ in the exact center of the US.

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

Its a beautiful song.

I was just really humbled that she made, a song about the film.

And I went online.

I read the words and, you know, there's a couple verses in there.

That's just my feelings when I watch it.

The Glasco's moved to Colorado in 1961 when Allen was nine.

His dad and grandfathe 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.

Sadness came with the Boulder, Colorado because of the closure of the store and the stress on family.

Things just didn't seem the same after that.

There's something just so special about the Wichita years, and it's interestin 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.

I love that story.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this special holiday edition of Positively Kansas.

We'll leave you with more music from another of Kansass very own.

He's world renowned organist Brett Valiant.

Have a wonderful holiday.

We'll see you next time.

Brought to you by Central Security Group.

Your experts in home automation, security and peace of mind.

View vide 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.