Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure. Jane Austen We just celebrated Memorial Day in the United States. This day of remembrance was It became Memorial Day as a US Federal holiday in 1971, the year I graduated High School. In practice, many use it as an opportunity to remember family and friends who […]
The Joyland Carousel – Exposing Hidden Connections
I have never been to the Joyland Amusement Park founded by the Ottoways in 1949. Although still active until 2004, I simply never had a reason to check it out. As a child, my amusement park exposure was limited to school playgrounds, county fairs and carnivals, but I loved the carousels. I also love seeing lost things […]
The Abstract – Maison Steinbuchel’s Personal History
We have the original abstract of our Kansas Historic Landmark home dating back to the land grant of 160 acres from the Osage Land Trust. In past BLOG posts, I have told how three individual lives, immigrants from France and Germany, converged in Wichita, Kansas. How through love, hope, taking risks and even tragedy ended up as […]
A Bike Ride Into Hidden And Buried History
“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike” – John F Kennedy One perfect Kansas day, I had a book to return to the library, so I decided to get my daily exercise by biking to the Wichita Downtown branch. I took my vintage French ten-Speed Motobecane (we do have new things, but […]
How History Makes a Difference – Three Families of Maison Steinbuchel
We live in a designated Kansas State Historic Landmark, The Steinbuchel House. We are fortunate there is a book that tells the story of how three families converged to become the household that occupied this property. From 1912 to the late 1940s, this clan shaped the story of this home. The book is currently an […]