It's time for Positively Kansas.

Coming up, we take a look back on one of the pivotal moments in Kansas history 150 years ago.

Learn how a large group of hearty immigrants came and transformed Kansas agriculture and small town life.

Also, we'll show you how folks in Valley Center celebrate the change of season and well jump in the water with some scaly creatures that can get ornery if you invade their space.

Im Sierra Scott.

Those are just some of the stories that are cued up and ready to roll in this edition of Positively Kansas.

One of the greatest influences on Kansas life emerged 150 years ago.

The arrival of the German Mennonites from Russia transformed the economy and culture, and largely shaped what the state would become.

Jim Grawe takes a look at this momentous period in Kansas history and its lasting impact.

It is another fall planting season across central Kansas, but this one is special.

It's the 150th.

In 1874, thousands of Mennonite immigrants who had literally just arrived to the state.

So the first seeds of hard winter wheat.

They, they arrived here, late August, early September.

And a lot of them got wheat planted yet before winter set in.

So they had a crop that that next year growing the kind of wheat that was planted in the fall and harvest in an early summer was unheard of in Kansas prior to the Mennonite arrival.

But that's what they were skilled at growing during the several decades they lived in Ukraine.

Previously exiled from Germany.

Their pacifist and their tradition is very much that you don't fight in wars and you don't take up arms against, individuals in a capacity of warfare.

And so that made them not terribly popular in parts of Europe.

Were being part of the state Army is an expected aspect of life.

The Mennonites specifically migrated to Kansas because the climate was similar to Ukraine.

So was the land, and plenty of it was available along with the promise of religious freedom.

The railroads, the expansion to the West.

They were.

The U.S. was eager to, to have immigrants at that point.

The railroad, got land from the government.

And so that the government stole from the Indians.

And that whole story.

But the railroad wanted to sell the land to make money, and they wanted to have people here to have commerce.

The Mennonites arrive in 1873, 1874, and they arrive just as Kansas is reeling from the grasshopper plagues.

And so the the in the 1870s, you have these waves of grasshoppers that had come down off of the Rocky Mountains, and they devastate the dominant crop at the time, which was corn.

By 1874, you have Kansas looking for something to replace the devastated corn crop.

And what happens is that the Mennonites arrive with this wheat that you plant in the fall.

It goes dormant in winter and you harvest it, in the spring and early summer.

And so it was able to navigate the turbulent ends of the Kansas climate with our harsh winters.

This marked the start of an agricultural revolution led in many respects by successful Mennonite mill owner Bernard War Canty.

He had arrived in Kansas a few years earlier from the Ukrainian region of Crimea to scout out the area.

He came here and he decided, Kansas, our week will grow here.

This would be a good place for our people to come.

So he started, sending letters back home telling them about his trip through this area.

War canteen had a grist mill all built and ready to go in Halstead.

But at the time, thousands of Mennonite families arrived in 1874 with everything they owned, including their wheat seed.

The new crop was a huge success, and by 1886, War Canteen had expanded his milling business to Newton.

By the 1880s, he was importing thousands of bushels of seed, and by 1900 he was importing out of the Crimea, train loads of wheat.

And that transformed the center of Kansas into the breadbasket of the world.

Kansas quickly became the nation's top wheat producing state.

Now, one fifth of all the wheat grown in the U.S. is grown here, primarily in central Kansas, where a Mennonite presence remains strong.

The Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum and Gospel preserves the history of many of those families who settled here.

I mean, I am part of this community.

My ancestors, my grandparents, my great grandparents, on and on and on.

So I take a lot of pride in being the director here that I can actually share this with other people.

Different groups of Mennonite families have established different traditions.

The term Mennonite is a big umbrella, and there are many flavors underneath that umbrella, from conservative to progressive.

Mennonite lifestyles and priorities vary widely, but they are bound together by faith and a history that established Kansas as the wheat state and breadbasket of the world.

For Positively Kansas, I'm Jim Grawe.

Jim is working on a one hour documentary about the history of the Kansas Mennonites.

Look for that to premiere sometime in 2025.

We'll keep you posted.

Good old family fun and community spirit.

It was everywhere in Valley Center recently as the town celebrated its 62nd fall festival.

Anthony Powell was among those taking in the sights and sounds and from in the air to on the ground.

There wasn't a bad seed along Meridian, as thousands of folks watched the start of the 62nd Valley Center Fall Festival.

For those who come here every year.

Each festival seems more special than the last, primarily because of two words the citizens wear at the end of the parade.

And they're six blocks.

Seven blocks north.

That's just lined with people.

Just a big gathering of people, of friends and family.

I don't think I've missed one in my 54 years.

I was actually born in Valley Center.

My dad was a barber for 50 years.

Meanwhile, as the parade wound up, it was time for everyone to set their sights on all the various rides.

What more fun could you ask for?

Especially for the younger folks, the all of the rides and everyone's positivity.

Everyone being so happy and the food makes you happy.

And this was the place to be.

Countless vendors cooking up a variety of mouthwatering meals.

Others were working up an appetite in Lyons Park as they took part in a pickleball tournament.

Meanwhile, for small businesses here in Valley Center, the Fall festival means invaluable exposure and a chance to gain new customers long after the festival ends.

Main Street Coffee just one of the many businesses overflowing with people.

Oh it's huge.

It's huge.

Typically during a week like this, we'll will triple or quadruple our income.

It's really good for us.

Yeah, there's there's people from all over the state here today and it's good for all our businesses.

All our businesses are open.

Art Smith of Main Street Coffee, says the festival pays off long after the crowds have gone home.

Kind of call it passive marketing.

It's where people walk by, say, hey, I didn't know there was a coffee shop on Main Street.

And they come in and they see what we have here, and they generally come back after that first time.

So another year marks another incredibly successful Valley Center Fall Festival.

So many memories made the good old fashioned kind with folks outside just talking and having fun together.

That's honestly really good for society, and society is being run over, so it's good to have this so no one's on their phones, people talking to one another, families getting together and not looking on their phones and talking to each other.

Yeah.

It's it's it's really good and it's entertaining.

It's family friendly.

We've got everything you want to do down here.

And that's why you can bet the streets will be packed again in September 2025, when this great city celebrates its 63rd fall festival in Valley Center.

I'm Anthony Powell for Positively Kansas There are simply too many activities at the festival to show you them all, so we'll tell you.

There were also frog and turtle races, a crochet contest called The Fastest Hook, and a fishing derby that probably should have also been called the fastest hook.

Now more than ever, we need books that inspire, motivate and just make us feel good about the world.

Well, Ibrahim Abraham has written a book that does just that and it's called The Bravest American.

And I'm so excited to have you here to talk about this incredible book.

Thank you for having me.

Absolute.

First off, you used average people.

Just ordinary people.

There are a lot of heroes out there you could have written about.

Why did you choose ordinary people?

Because I am inspired by ordinary individuals depicting extraordinary capacity in the relentless pursuit of a better life for themselves, their family and their loved ones.

And what I love is the stories really do touch your heart.

They're all unique.

They're all different.

Why did you want to write this book in the first place?

Good.

I was, before I became the author of The Greatest American.

I was a survivor myself.

I, I was a victim of house fire here in Wichita.

I think it was, November 24th of 2017.

And I was a single dad for a while, and I had lost my late daughter, and.

But I did not let that tragedy define me.

I still have a PTSD till this day to where I can sleep at night.

Because anytime I hear a siren, I hear a gunshot or hear and a loud noise is just bring back that same memory.

So I say to myself, what shall I do to keep me busy so I can escape whatever I, I am going through?

So.

And again, I have a obsession for writing.

I write, right?

Right.

So.

And then I just took one day say, okay, you know what?

I'm just going to keep writing every night.

And initially I wanted to write about my story, but in the middle of the script.

So I ask myself this fundamental question, who am I?

And then I realized I am nobody.

I am one among many.

So I say to myself, no, I'm not writing about myself.

And already I have people around me who always encourage me.

They will come and look at my diary sometime.

They come to my apartment.

I see bunch of papers everywhere and I say, you're going to be an author someday.

I was like, maybe they're just playing with my head and maybe making a mockery of me, or maybe just being flattered.

But when I made my mind to write and then it hit me, I got to write.

I had to write something that impact everyone.

And then this title stuck to my head.

The Bravest American.

Because it is a narration, it is a narrative that resonate with the story of many.

And I agree with that, because all the stories in some way touched me.

Some of them maybe weren't as personal as other ones.

I love the fact that you took what could have been a tragedy and destroyed you, and you found a way to help others with it.

What are you hoping as somebody reads this book will take away from it?

That's if you're ever facing any struggle, any challenges, any difficult time.

You are not alone.

Together, we will always find a way to break through.

And this is why I say that the bravest American are the ordinary American.

Do unsung heroes who, in their own quiet way, exhibit a bravery that is as profound as it is overlooked.

So, as I told you more than ever, we need positivity.

We need this inspire nation.

What did writing these stories.

Because people had to tell you these stories.

What did writing these stories do for you?

It.

Remind me of something that I always told myself that if I don't know where I am coming from, I should at least know where I am held into.

If I don't know where I am coming from, and I don't know where I am held into, I should at least acknowledge where I am.

So the bravest American is.

Because of the fear.

They knew that tomorrow is not promising, and I'm afraid to lose what I have now, because I don't want to go back to yesterday.

So because of that fear, they tend to be resilient.

They tend to be preservations, and they tend to find a way, a pathway to break forward even in the face of adversity.

So what this really meant to me is when I hear the story, like how I met Sara, there was, there is a quick trip now is called Jumpstart on Murdock somewhere, Broadway or Murdock.

So I was to get in a gas on my car and this lady approached me, and then she goes, hey, I have $10.

Can you give me a ride home?

I want you to say no, because strangely, yeah, of course, you know, but something.

And my heart broke me to say yes.

And what break me to say yes is, as an immigrant that I came here, I, I felt like alone.

I am vulnerable, alone.

Like, I don't have that family.

That's brotherhood of a relative that I can call and say, hey, I need this.

So I felt like, I know that pain.

So I transformed into positivity.

So I said, I will give you a ride to wherever you go.

So when I took her from San Francis area up to some west Central in Tyler, and she was telling me what she's going through, she have stage four breast cancer.

She was a single parent.

She's a single parent, and she has to go to work.

She have to come back and take care of the kids.

She has to still go to the chemo And some time she sleeps less.

She lost her appetite.

Like hard days is going on like ups and downs consistently.

And then it hit me.

She has a story.

I have a story.

It's a multiple story.

And then that's why I said to Bravest American, it is a narrative that resonate with the story of many, so many.

We all have stories.

Absolutely.

We do.

Wonderful book.

Thank you.

Because reading it inspired me to I think we all have a battle that we're fighting that most people know nothing about.

So thank you so much.

My pleasure.

And now we go to Kansas.

Wild edge.

Set to May day.

And a newly hatched reptile is crossing the road.

This is a common snapping turtle.

An animal normally found only in water and it's looking for its first home.

Though tiny, it's not to be trifled with.

It's not like its friendlier cousins, especially the red eared slider, commonly sold as babies in pet shops.

A little snapper will bite hard and often it's never recommended as a pet.

And that's especially because it gets big.

It's extremely powerful at 25 pounds, and common snappers can live almost 100 years and grow throughout life to wild weights of 40 to 75 pounds.

Then they are veritable aquatic monsters at the top of the food chain in their watery homes, with virtually no natural enemies.

They live throughout the eastern half of the US.

Snapping turtles stay submerged most of their lives.

They live in lakes, ponds, and streams.

They move only to find new waters or to lay eggs in warm soil.

They breed there through nostrils located at the very tip of the nose, and their long necks allow them to snorkel with.

It.

They can go without breathing for up to three hours during warm months.

And winter hibernation.

They can survive six months under the ice by allowing gaseous exchange of oxygen and water across membranes of the mouth and throat.

Some aquatic turtles commonly bask, crawling up on logs to soak up the sun's warmth, especially in cool weather.

Snapping turtles almost never exhibit this behavior.

Staying underwater in all conditions.

Even so, it very rarely occurs.

Mating occurs from April through November, and sperm can be stored for up to several years by the female.

Eggs normally hatch in May and June.

Snapping turtles have powerful hook jaws and nasty dispositions.

They can strike like a snake, and they readily bite when cornered on land.

Large ones can bite off the ends of fingers, but in the water they are docile and they move away from humans.

Therefore, they should not be feared when swimming in natural waters.

Snapping turtles are omnivorous, meaning they eat both plant and animal matter, and they readily scavenge dead fish and wildlife that sank to the bottom.

They also eat aquatic plants like duckweed.

But they are capable predators, too, waiting motionless under water for minnows, frogs, or snakes that come close.

And being quite powerful.

They are able to catch larger prey like ducks, coot, and shorebirds that venture near.

Snapping turtles.

Don't try to make friends.

Just let them do their thing in the Midwestern outdoors.

I'm Mike Blair for Positively Kansas.

Next time Mike gets an up close look at the often elusive Kansas Coyotes.

Some research indicates the average adult will change careers as many as seven times.

I know, I sure did.

Anthony Powell met a man named John Morrison who left his field for something completely unrelated.

And ever since, this proud Wichita has been capturing the beauty of the Sunflower State here in the park.

Look for, unusual weather, or lighting on a crisp February morning.

We met up with John Morrison in one of his favorite places to take pictures.

College Hill park.

For two decades, John has made places like the park, his campus producing a wide range of pictures that showcase the Sunflower State in a breathtaking way.

At his nearby Prairie Vistas Gallery in the Park Lane shopping Center, John gave us a tour of some of the countless places he and his camera have visited.

Well, this is, of course, Cottonwood Falls.

That's the Chase County Courthouse.

The Chase County Courthouse is the oldest courthouse still in use in Kansas.

This serenity of this tree in the dead of a Wichita winter is also one of his favorites.

Well, that's a river elm.

And I just thought that the snow falls showed its bones in a fantastic way.

Dozens and dozens of pictures from all corners of Kansas hang on John's gallery walls.

An incredible collection for any photographer, but especially one who made it a second career back in 2002.

John knew it was time for something different.

Career wise.

He had spent years as a computer programmer and was ready to retire.

But what to do next?

A book would provide the answer.

It was probably on a bargain table.

I had a bookstore like Borders or Barnes and Noble.

So just a chance experience?

Yes.

And American Wide by Australian photographer Ken Duncan immediately impacted John, especially when he saw this photo of sunflowers taken in Goodland, Kansas.

John says he always had a small interest in photography, but the book inspired him to do it full time.

My wife was very supportive.

She's always been supportive.

This is a retirement activity, so I don't have the same requirements for breaking even that somebody that's 30 would have.

John says it's the best decision he ever made.

There are so many things he loves about photography.

Just the intrinsic, fact of being outside, in the open air.

I like that I like to be able to hear the sounds that you hear, especially at sundown.

Hear the coyote's and the other animals check in with each other.

Getting to explore Kansas, where he moved in 1974 from Oklahoma and finding new and exciting locations to shoot is another fantastic part of the job.

But by far and away, what John finds most satisfying are the reactions these photos receive.

These are people who will see a photograph and say, oh, that looks just like where I grew up.

Or in some cases, it is where they grew up.

Many of Flint Hill shots are, of that type.

In this day and age, when technology seems to make our lives so hurried, John relishes in the fact that one of his seemingly simple photographs can take people back to a time when life seemed simpler.

This line of trees in Reno County is what we call the tree Tuttle, and we always made our folks drive thru there when we drove to Wichita from great beyond.

So if you're looking for a beautiful way to see Kansas, or are perhaps wanting to revisit the place you grew up, stop by and see John Morrison.

It sure to be an experience that will leave you feeling proud and perhaps nostalgic about the Sunflower State for Positively Kansas.

I'm Anthony Powell.

As an artist, John says he doesn't make the kind of money he did with computers, but that's more than okay with him.

His photography gives him the kind of satisfaction money could never buy.

Well, that's a wrap for this week.

PositivelyKansas@KPTS.ORG is our email address if you have a story idea.

Until next time, I'm Sierra Scott.

We'll see you again soon.