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It's tim for Positively Kansas coming up.

I think without Blacky and a sense of humor, I think I would be locked up in Larned.

This Wichita woman share the bizarre story of the goings on at her house.

It involves her mother, who is in the throes o dementia, and this little dog.

This is a bittersweet story full of love and laughs.

Also, when I came in and the kids saw me, they were like, who are you?

We have no idea who you are.

This hateful school counselor shocked everybody by the way he reinvented himself.

Learn what he did, how he did it, and why.

It's become an important life lesson for all the kids at Freeman Elementary.

Plus, I mean, I expect a little bit of reaction, but it's just been overwhelming.

It's been crazy.

Scooby-Doo, where are you?

Oh, yeah.

You're riding around the streets of Wichita.

Cool.

We'll learn the stor behind the new Mystery Machine that's turning heads.

I'm Anthony Powell, filling in for Sierra Scott.

Those stories and more are coming your way.

Positively Kansas starts right now.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Dementia is a devastating disease.

It robs people of their minds and personalities and leaves loved ones heartbroken.

But a Wichita woman named Cheri Oatsdean has stumbled upon a way to find joy in this otherwise joyless situation.

It all began with a new addition to the family.

Jim Grawe has the story.

Say hi to Blacky.

His wife left him, and now he's in a midlife crisis.

When we adopted hi that day at the Humane Society, we did so much to help his life because he'd been kicked out of his home.

He'd lost his wife and children, and he was just so grateful for our love.

Fortunately, there's a new development.

And now he's had this great news.

We'll get to that in a minute.

First, let's welcome you to the world of 96 year old Charlotte and Newhouser and her daughter, Cheri It's a world where this cute little dog plays a role bigger than reality, a role that Cheri says has been a godsend in this house.

There's always joy.

In 2013, Cheri became her mom's caretaker after dementia set in.

Cheri says that decision was a no brainer.

Why wouldn't you?

She' the best person I've ever met.

And she was there for me during my formative years.

She worked three jobs.

Jim.

and then when I had some struggles later in life, she was never.

Would never turn me away.

So how can you refuse such a beautiful soul at the same time?

Sherry brough in this other roommate as well.

I decided at the beginning to get her a dog.

So while I was at work, she could have someone to talk to.

And boy did she exceed my expectations.

Cheri says the two have been inseparable from the get go.

And as her mother's condition has progressed, Blacky has taken on a persona that keeps her mother engaged and keeps life interesting for everybody who darkens the door of their house.

There's always joy, and part of the joy comes through Blacky because she has conversations with him.

Cheri says the relationship has brought so much joy that she had to share it with the world.

So she has put pen to paper and turned the goings on between Blacky and her mom into a book.

It's real.

It's nonfiction, but it is fictionalized because of my mother's imagination.

She makes up stories about Blacky that came from her pet, her past.

Charlotte worked most of her life as secretary to a top executive at Beech Aircraft.

She was much loved and respected there.

A top notch career gal, as they used to say.

But along the way, she faced personal challenges such as divorce, single parenthoo and struggling to pay the bills.

And now Blacky is dealin with some of those same issues.

She has some kind of a conversation with Blacky where she tells me she's had very black eyes, had very good news.

I said, what kind of good news?

I didn't know he had a cell phone or a post office box.

And she always ignores anything to do with reality when she goes on.

She says, well, he's heard from his attorney.

Did you know that?

Blacky, divorce is not final.

And he's so relieved.

And I go, well, bless his heart, I never knew.

She said, oh, no.

He's been through quite a bit.

Cheri chuckles.

But it is not mockery.

It is enjoying the moment.

You know, I think I must hav a screw loose because whenever she says anything that's a little off the wall.

I always just go with the flow.

I think it's exciting.

I go, wait a minute.

You've heard from Blacky again, but why do you tell you this time?

I look at it as an opportunity to have a really good belly laugh, because they're adorable stories.

There's no criticis or trying to correct the facts.

This is Cheri respecting her mom for who she is now and making the best of a difficult situation.

And I am sorry to report that since I shot that story, Cheri's mother has passed away.

Cheri says the book now serves as a legacy of her mother' final years, and an ongoing gift to other families dealing with dementia.

Anthony.

You can find Cheri's book on Amazon.

She says she'd also like to create a coloring book about Blacky for kids who may have a grandparent afflicted with dementia.

Now, to a Kansan who may be th biggest loser you'll ever meet.

Jim Grawe has the story.

The thing about change is you're going to have to want it.

Haysville Elementary school counselor Nate McGee is literally half the man he used to be.

He lost 200 pounds in one year.

I decided I want to live.

I want to get out of this bodily prison that's holding me back from doing so many things in my life, and make a change.

But fo the first 29 years of his life, Nate was resigned to the fac that he would always be obese.

I was conten going to fast food restaurants and getting a Triple Whopper, or getting a couple of grown stuffed burritos after wor because it was quick and easy.

I was content being that heavy person.

But was I happy?

No, I definitely was not happy being who I was by age 29.

Nate had reached 400 pounds.

The last straw cam when he took an airline flight.

He took up a seat and a half, making the person next to him uncomfortable.

He was also embarrassed to have to as for a double seatbelt extender.

When he got back to work, his boss challenged him to a weight loss competition and Nate agreed.

And he immediatel cut down to 1500 calories a day and started exercising regularly.

From the first day that I went to the gym, they said it would take me years to lose 200 pounds.

And so that was a goal.

I wanted to prove them wrong.

And did he ever.

Nate chronicled his weight loss in photographs.

Half of him disappeared over the course of a year.

Now he is under 200 pounds.

Nate has shared photo of his meals on Facebook to show that you can still eat foo that tastes good and slim down.

But there is no magic formula, he says.

You have to be disciplined.

The thing about change i you're going to have to want it and you have to invest that time in yourself because it's not a diet.

It's a lifelong thing that you're going to have to stick to.

It becomes a hobby.

It becomes just a second pastime to your life because if you want to be fit, if you want to be healthy you have to put in the effort.

And that takes time.

And this experience has given Nate street cred in his job as school counselor to preach determinatio and discipline to his students.

On my desk, I have a picture of myself.

It was a picture of myself.

And back when I was that heavy weight, 390 pound person.

And I keep that as a reminder on my desk for every student that walks in my door, because it is a good example of goal setting.

If you want to achieve something, if you want to reach a destination in your life, if you give your best and you want to make that change, it's achievable.

For Positively Kansas, I'm Jim Grawe.

Nate says losing the weight finally gave him confidence to ask a girl for a date, and now he and that women are in a steady relationship.

Speaking of inspiration, we have this story for 30 years, including 19 at Newman University.

Mark Potter devoted his life to coaching basketball.

But back in 2004, something happened in his life that changed him forever.

He has taken that experience and made it his mission to help other deal with what he went through.

Listen.

Post-player as we get them-We made the miss.

We have done a horrible job so far.

Intense, passionate, emotional sedan Kansas native Mark Potter left nothing on the tabl during his decades of coaching.

He began his career at Cheney High, then moved on to Kapaun Mt.

Carmel and South High befor taking on his biggest challenge, returning to his alma mater, Newman University, in 1998 to help restore a program that had been eliminated 11 years before.

Despite the odds, Potter propelled Newman to great success, amassing the highest win percentage in school history and helping the school go from the NAIA to NCAA Division two level.

His Jets squaring of against Division one competition like Wichita State and Kansas State.

But despite all the high notes, the stress of coaching, especially at the collegiate level, took its toll.

You know, it's it's day in and day out of nonstop recruiting, nonstop preparing for the next game.

So in the season, there's six months of just, you know, I don't know if 24/7 is the right way to describe it because you got to sleep.

But when even when you are sleeping, it's like you're thinking about what you got to do.

Potter says he not only felt like a coach, but also a psychologist helping player deal with off the court issues.

But of course, that's not all.

There's things you can't control, and that' probably what I would very good at in regards to the stress level.

But you know, when you have injuries to players and things that happen, you know within a course of the season, it can completely an totally affect, the end result.

It became too much.

And in the fall of 2004, Potter sank into a major depression.

Despit losing 30 pounds and confidence as a coach, husband and father, he was in denial until his wif Nanette gave him an ultimatum.

She demanded.

And when I say demand, I mea demand that I went to the doctor because I told her I wasn't going to go.

And, you know, she threatened to get my six eight, 280 pound assistant coach to com pick me up, put me in the car.

Potter missed several games, but most importantly, he received help and was able to return to the sidelines.

At first, he didn't want many people to know about his absence, but word soon got out.

What the coach didn't anticipate was the tremendous public outpouring of support he received.

Many people told him his story helped their depression.

Potter knew he couldn' stay silent and began speaking publicly on the side about his experience.

Many many people suffer in silence, and I suffered in silence for a long time.

And then finally, you know depression doesn't discriminate.

The depression didn't care that I was a head coach and that I had a season to coach and guys to take care of every day.

In early 2017, after 19 years at Newman, Potter decided to walk away from coaching.

It was a tough decision, bu he knew he had another calling.

Speaking full time about hi experience with mental illness, which he has done ever since.

And what I'm trying to do is to really attack that stigma of mental illness so that people will start the conversation and really, more importantly, feel comfortable enough to start the conversation, so that we can really, you know, come up with some solutions.

And that, he believes, is the crux of the issue.

We have a mental illness epidemic in our country, he says.

And yet so many people remain hesitant to talk about it.

I cannot emphasize enough that the things that I, you know, their strength and going to get the help.

And I see this over and ove and over where people are like, no, that's weakness You know, we shouldn't do that.

It has changed my life.

Thanks to medication, his family and faith, Potte says he has never felt better.

And despite the tremendous pain he suffered years ago, he looks back on it and says, I'm very grateful that it happened very blessed that it happened.

And be grateful because, he says, it's made him a better man, husband and father, not to mention the countless people he has helped and continues to help deal with mental illness.

Potter's wife Nanette played a big role in helping him deal with his depression.

When he speaks, she often joins him and talks about the importance of caregiving.

When somebody is suffering with mental illness.

If you're a kid betwee 6 and 60, I bet you know this.

Scooby dooby doo.

Where are you?

We got some work to do now.

Scooby do and his crew have been solving spooky mysteries for generations.

And guess where their van has been spotted?

That's right.

The Mystery Machine has been seen cruising the streets of Wichita.

But you won't find Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Velma, or Daphne inside.

You'll find this guy.

I mean, I expect a little bit of reaction, but it's just been overwhelming.

It's been crazy.

This is Shawn Lawrence.

He owns a business called E graphics that creates decals and designs for all sorts of things.

And he just decided why not?

So instead of driving around a plain white van, I decided, hey, let's let's do this.

So Shawn and his son worked together over the course of a few days, and turned his work van into a replica of the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine.

He's very proud to drive it.

I mean, I grew up watchin Scooby Doo, watching episodes.

He taught us right from wrong.

And this day and age, I mean, we kind of need that.

Shawn kne the van would be a conversation piece for some people, but he says the response has been overwhelming.

Oh, man, it's been crazy driving down.

Actually, when we first got i done, we took it to a car show.

we run a little bit late on a drive now, cataloging 6 or 7 people, driving up the side is taking pictures.

When I go to get gas, it takes me about 30 to 45 minutes to get gas because people come up.

We haven't parked here at the shop.

People come up 5 or 6 time a day, get out with their kids, or just take a picture of it and send it.

I see it on social media all the time.

Shawn says he only thought old timers like him would appreciate the van.

He didn't realize that Scooby Doo remains popular with kids nowadays, and he's delighted to see the reaction from small children.

Little 4 or 5 six yea old kids come up and the Mister Machine, Scooby Doo.

And it's been pretty, pretty phenomenal.

It's kind of crazy.

So far, Shawn says he hasn't investigated any monsters o ghosts or solved any mysteries.

But stay tuned.

He's ready for it now, though.

We have lots of aviation buffs in the air capital, but nobody has a story quite like Larry Mong.

He is recovered.

A relic from the past that reminds him of his dad's contributions to the aviation world.

Correspondent Jeff Goodwin has the story.

In the corner of Larry Mong' workspace hangs an antique clock that represents a time when traveling by air.

Used to be as easy as buyin a ticket and boarding a plane.

Oh, in about 1998 or so, they were redoing Love Field after Braniff left and southwest was taken over and they ditched this fly Braniff clock that was in the terminal.

And I bought it from an antique deale that got it from a salvage guy.

The clock was built by the Waltham Watch Company.

It is said the company produced more than 40 million watches, clocks, speedometers, time fuzes and other precision instruments.

Between 1850 and 1957, Waltham Watch Time was famous.

If you saw that on a clock, you knew it was supposed to be really accurate.

Larry had another reason fo buying the clock a personal one.

The only reason why I bought it is because my dad was in the aircraft, and I thought it was cool.

While Larry was growing up, his dad, Ralph, worked as a mechanic for American Airlines and was an avid tinkerer.

In the 50s, my father designed his ow airplane called the Mong Sport.

And, he was only 25 when he started building it and 27 when he finished it.

Working in his living room.

The plane Ralph designed, developed and built was fast and agile.

His radical aerodynamic design attracted the attention of several airplane race enthusiasts.

It was unique and fast because of its very small wingspan and, such things as adjustable wing struts instead of flying wires, because flying wires, when you get up doing a cup, you know, 150 miles an hour, they sing and vibrate.

To get his plan certified, Mong joined the EAA, the Experimental Aircraft Association.

After becoming EAA member number 90, Mong sold hundreds of his Hmong Ms1 spor plane designs to do it yourself for airplane builder and pilots, the Mong or Munster, as the pilots loved to call it, quickl established itself in the U.S. aviation race world.

There were 3 or 4 Mongs in this race, and this one guy, Dallas Christian, had been beate Everybody for about two years.

Well, the record was like 157 miles an hour, and he, won the race to 178 miles an hour, which was 25 mile an hour faster than the record.

And it set the pace for years, in racing.

Larry says a key to his dad's success in designing the Mong Sport was due to his passion for flight and an uncanny ability to think outside the box.

He was a very smart man, but had no college education, which, you know, sometimes those are even smarter because they don't know the rules and the laws.

I guess.

For Larry, having the antique airport clock reminds him of a much simpler time, and also reminds him of a time when most folks agreed that everything imaginable is possible.

For Positively Kansas, I'm Jeff Goodwyn.

Unfortunately, we're not aware of any Mong Sports still in the Wichita area, but two of the las remaining planes are on display in museums in Wisconsin and Illinois.

I am joined now by Marie Fiebach a Wichitan who is both an author and a public speaker.

As a matter of fact.

She's written a book called Feed Your Family Tonight, and it's all about getting that meal on the table in the midst of the chaos.

That's right.

And I say that with the capita “C” that so many families have.

Tell us about this idea, because it's a great one.

It seems simple on the surface, but so many familie are running into this problem.

They can't figure out ho to get food on the table at home because there's so much going on.

That's exactly it.

When you're running your kids to soccer practice and play, practice, dance and piano, you're trying to figure out when you're going to eat.

So I help busy families figure out when that time is.

They can actually get dinner on the table, and then help them with tools and techniques to make that possible, even when you're busy.

How did you come up with this idea?

Or have you always loved to cook?

Did you?

Did you think you were an efficient meal preparer?

Or how did the idea come about?

I have always been a really good cook.

When I was little, I would enter stuff in the state fair.

It's somethin that's always been a part of me, and I realized that my friends were asking me how I did it, and it was something that came naturally to me but didn't come naturally to them.

So I started teaching families how to prepare a little bit ahead, or to think about what they're going to have on what night.

You don't want to fix something last minute when you're going to be running in the door.

That's the night for something in the oven or the crock pot, because the tendency is and we can all see this when we drive around Wichita.

Drive thrus with a line wrapped around the building, because that is the easier thing to do.

Oh forget it.

Let's not eat at home.

Let's not cook.

Let's just go t let's just go to a drive thru.

So true.

But you know, the ke to getting out of the Drive-Thru is to always have a backup at your home.

You need to have 2 or 3 things that you can get on the table in 20 minutes or less.

One of my favorite things is to have taco meat in the freezer so that I can pull it out, pull out some lettuce, and in 20 minutes I've got dinner on the table, which is almost faster than the drive through some days.

Good segue, because you are going to prepare some taco seasoning for us right here.

I can see that, right?

Yes.

Yes, yes.

Show us how you would do this in, you know, in a quick and efficient manner.

Well, you know, this taco mix is something that you can keep on hand, make it ahead of time, and then just take it out as you need it.

It starts with a cup and a half of chili powder.

Okay.

And I just mixed this straight in the jar that I keep in my keep in my, cabinet all the time.

And then there's three quarters of a cup of cumin and two tablespoons each o garlic powder and onion powder.

Okay.

A quarter cup of paprika and two tablespoons of oregano and two teaspoons of black pepper.

And this last ingredient I don't know.

Do you like things spicy?

Well, it depends on the degree of spiciness.

A little bit of kick is okay, but one teaspoon gives you just a little bit of spice, but not too much.

But if there's little kids in the home, you can emit it so that it's not too spicy.

There you go.

And then all you do is stir it up.

And then when you go to make your taco meat for every pound of browned meat, you can use hamburger or ground turkey.

You put in two tablespoons of the mix, a half a cup of water and one teaspoon of salt.

And when I talk to busy families and tell them what I do, I actually tell them I make 12 pounds at a time because I have four kids at home, including a teenage boy.

And so that gets us 6 or 7 meals.

He can probably eat to 12 pounds by himself.

Right?

On a good day, he sure can.

and so, you may not need 12 pounds, but 3 or 4 might.

So you have something in the freezer all the time, and you can help avoid that drive through.

Okay.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

It seems like you want to identify meals like tacos that you can prepare quickly.

Maybe spaghetti might be another one that you can cook a lot of and do quickly.

Is that am I in the right ball park?

You're definitely in the right direction, but sometimes you want to do something that takes a little more time, but you think ahead.

If you're going to have something where you're running in the door and you're going to have to eat dinner right then do you know wha my favorite thing for that is?

What's, it's roast chicken because I prep it the night before when I'm cleaning up the dinner dishes.

Have it in the refrigerator.

I throw it in the oven between running my kids to all their activities.

And then when we come home, I take it out of the oven and dinner's ready.

And another thing that we were talking about before we began the interview that that is so important.

Cooking at home facilitates eating together as a family much more easily, which is so importan because that's something that's been lost on a lot of families across America because of all the chaos.

Well, that's just so true.

It's so hard to find a time to come together as a family.

But if you think and you really look at your activities and plan when you're goin to eat around your activities, you can take that time and gather your family.

This is your time to spend time together.

I was telling you, we don't have a television in our kitchen because we want to have that time.

Be our family time.

Back to the cooking.

What do you say to the people?

Oh, I could never do what you do.

I'm not a good cook.

Well, what's your response to those people?

It doesn't take much to be a good cook.

And I'm telling you, I actually wrote my cookbook with that type of person in mind.

When I did my research, I found out there were two kinds of cooks.

One is the cook that uses recipes only for suggestions, and one is the cook who follows the details.

And I wrote both types of directions in my book, and I actually had a gal who was one of my recipe testers.

She had never roasted chicken before and she was so afraid to do it.

And she said why have I not done this before?

Your directions are so clear.

No excuses, no excuses.

Feed your family tonight by Marie's feedback.

Marie thank you so much for your time.

Oh thank you.

It's a joy.

Well that's the show for this week.

It was great to have you with us.

If you have a story idea, send it off to positivelykansas@kpts.org We love hearing from you.

I'm Anthony Powell in for Sierra Scott.

We hope to see you back her for the next Positively Kansas.

Thanks so much for watching.

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.

Supporting KPTS and the communities it serves in South central Kansas.

Great start here on KPTS