From the Alvin and Rosalie Sara Check studio, PBS Kansas Presents Positively Kansas, It's Time for Positively Kansas coming up, reclaiming her place in history.

We honor the incredible 101 year legacy of a Wichita Rosie the Riveter, whose story reach all the way to the beaches of Normandy.

Also, eight decades of saved.

We go inside a milestone celebration at a Wichita church, giving vulnerable families the ultimate gift of hope.

Plus the hidden drama of the prairie.

We head outdoors to witness the stealth and strength playing out in a vibrant world of Kansas wildflowers.

I'm Sarah Scott.

Join us for those stories and more.

A half hour of information and inspiration starts right now on Positively Kansas.

And.

There are some lives that grow quieter with time and others that somehow crow louder.

For most of her years, Connie Palacios lived a life few people outside her family ever saw.

But in the end, as Cris Frank reports, her story reached far beyond Wichita.

Connie Palacios stood just four feet, six inches tall, but the life she lived reached far beyond her stature.

I'm so surprised.

I knew mom had I, you know, was famous, but not this famous, I should say.

When I, worked at boy, I rivet.

And then I was a Rosie the Riveter.

Then I came everyday.

Mom.

At 18 years old, Connie went to work at Boeing, joining thousands of women who answered the call during World War two.

Our boys were all going to war.

And so we will.

I will work hard so we can get all the planes that the army was asking.

Collectively, the women would come to be known as Rosie the Riveter.

I feel very grateful that I could, you know, work for the war effort and do my part of the day long, whether rain or shine.

She's a part of the assembly line.

She's making history working for the Rosie.

Reporter.

She trained to rivet and went to work on the nose section of the B-29 bomber.

The pay was $0.75 an hour.

To her, it felt like opportunity.

But the work wasn't always easy and fitting in what was a male dominated environment was also challenging for Rosie.

Like Connie, and those men used to make fun at a firm they didn't like for us to be there.

On her first day, she was told there was no one to work with her.

Riveters work as a team with a bunker on the inside to backstop the rivet.

Palacios was told the only bunker available was an African-American woman named Jerry warden.

I don't mind working with her, I said.

I am also, you know, a Mexican descent.

And so I said, I don't mind working with her as a Mexican American.

Palacios said she also experienced discrimination and said she was happy to work with warden.

Together, Connie and Jerry built something more than airplanes.

They built trust in a time when that wasn't always easy to find.

When the war was ended, so did that chapter.

Like so many of her generation.

Connie returned to a quieter life, raising a family, working as a beautician for nearly five decades.

A life of purpose, yes, but far from the spotlight.

Then, decades later, something unexpected happened.

A plane she helped build came back in the early 2000s.

The B-29 known as doc returned to Wichita, and a call went out for volunteers to help restore it.

Connie was 75 years old.

She signed up, and now I'm 88 years old and I'm helping restore it.

And that's kind of when we heard the story a little bit more.

But she still never really said I was a Rosie.

She just said I worked on the B-29 for her family.

It was the first glimpse of a story she had carried quietly for decades.

You know, that's kind of when reality hit all of us, I think.

But what began as volunteering became something much more.

I think doc extended her life because it kept her active.

She loved being with people at the B-29 Doc Hangar education and visitor center.

Connie found something new, not just a connection to the past, but a renewed sense of purpose.

The fuss and attention in her eyes and her heart were never about her.

She would say, I'm just doing this to tell the stories and to carry on the legacies of my friends who worked on the B-29 doc and were never able to see it fly.

And people listened at airshows across the country.

Crowds came to see the airplane, but many stayed to meet Connie.

She made sure the fuss was never about her.

Connie always felt like she was representing millions of people who had contributed, just like she did.

She signed autographs, shared stories and reminded people that history isn't just something you read.

Sometimes you can meet it.

Connie was active until just a few days before she left us, visiting plants and signing autographs and inspiring people in her life, where others once made many of the decisions for her.

This chapter was different.

This was her freedom.

A woman who helped build airplanes at 18.

And decades later, help people understand why it mattered.

She was very humble and committed to a cause that she believed in and her faith.

I think we can all learn from that.

They said we both did a good job.

But on the riveting Connie Palacios lived 101 years, long enough to see history come back to life, and in the process to find her place in it.

This is Chris Frank for Positively Kansas.

Connie was one of several former Rosies who visited the Normandy beach in France in 2024 to recognize the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

She was always ready and willing to represent the great contribution all the Rosie Riveters made.

Eight decades of faith and a crucial decade of changing lives.

Wichita's East Heights United Methodist Church recently marked its 80th anniversary, along with its ten year partnership with Family Promise, to help lift local families out of homelessness.

Anthony Powell takes us inside the celebration to show us that connection that gives vulnerable families the ultimate gift of hope.

Thank you, God, for the blessing of this day and led by Pastor Steve Spencer.

Members of East Heights United Methodist Church gave thanks to a place that means so much to them, just as it has to so many folks who have worshiped here in the church's 80 year existence back in 1946.

East Heights United Methodist began with a small group gathering at Wichita's Jefferson Elementary School just a few years later.

Congregants attended a groundbreaking so that they could have their own place to worship.

The church was completed in 1949, and since then thousands of people have called East Heights United Methodist.

A second home, a home where others are always welcome.

Just as they were on this anniversary celebration, we get to provide space for families to come in.

We are able to provide meals, shelter, and transportation and interact with folks that might never come into our church, but we get to show them the love of Christ and help meet practical needs.

Since 2016, the church has partnered with Family Promise, a Wichita organization dedicated to helping homeless families gain stability.

That ten year partnership also marked the anniversary celebration event.

Many families who've gone through the Family Promise program have spent time living at East Heights, United Methodist and other churches.

Family promise works with some of those in family Promise were there for the celebration event and were treated to a breakfast made by these church members.

Stephanie Higgins was among those at the anniversary event.

We spoke with her at East Heights United Methodist, where she and her boys lived when they first entered the family promise program, which was amazing for me because that actually brought me closer to God and, actually brought me back in touch with God, because at the time that I went into program, it was traumatic, and I had lost a lot of hope.

But with hard work and determination, Stephanie made it through the program.

I have completely changed my life.

She learned countless life and emotional coping skills, bought a home and also owns two cars.

Now she volunteers with Family Promise, is a board member and talks to others who come to the organization seeking help.

There's always something better coming along.

Family promise definitely showed me that.

And I mean, my life is hard.

It's very hard.

But at the same time, I won't lose hope again.

Meanwhile, during the anniversary celebration event, Stephanie joined Pastor Spencer and Beth Schaefer's A Family Problem and a staff member.

As the church presented a large check.

Stained glass ornaments made by church members helped to raise donations.

And while of course money is always badly needed, this day reminded everyone that the kind of partnership that exists between the church and family promise is a great example of why kindness to others is what matters most.

One of the things that I believe people are in need of is, connection, human relationships, and, and when you're alone and isolated and feeling like you have no hope, when you come into a congregation and they just wrap you in their arms and they love on you and there's no strings attached, we don't expect anybody to, have to become a part of our congregation.

We just want them to know that they are loved and they're not alone.

In Wichita.

I'm Anthony Powell for Positively Kansas.

As you saw in the piece, a check for $28,000 was presented to Family Promise.

As it turns out, though, more money was donated after the event.

So East Heights United Methodist actually ended up sending a $32,000 check to the organization.

When you think of a kaleidoscope, you probably imagine the little tube you turn in your hands and peek through.

But in the newest addition to the PBS Kansas Children's Education and Discovery Center, it's anything but little.

Chris Frank takes us inside to see a kaleidoscope that demands attention.

All right.

You're looking good.

I think we need resilience is great job.

Whatever this is, it's big.

It's heavy.

And it's about to become the newest star of the Kushner Garvey Children's Education and Discovery Center at PBS Kansas.

Everybody watch your toes.

What first seemed like a mystery tube to the kids?

Here is a kaleidoscope.

Now, kaleidoscope usually fits in your hand, not in a hallway, but this new feature in the Children's Education Center is redefining what a kaleidoscope can be.

At nearly 13ft in length and nearly 22in in diameter.

This colossus demands attention.

Okay, how about that one?

Wow.

That's a typical reaction from a first time viewer.

Can you see?

And then there are the kids reactions.

Seeing the changing shapes and colors inside a rainbow.

You see the rainbow colors.

Hey, hey.

I think I'll triangle you.

Three year old Winona, one of the many children fascinated with the jumbo kaleidoscope.

It is a huge kaleidoscope.

Wendy Wurtz and her sister built it.

My sister and I have always had a love for Kaleidoscopes.

Hers was more than mine for a while.

At work on break.

One day, we're sitting outside and there's this huge cardboard tubes sticking up out of the dumpster.

And she says, oh, that would make a heck of a kaleidoscope.

And it ballooned from there.

And it has made a kaleidoscope.

The sisters worked at a Texas aerospace company that builds custom interiors for business jets.

They used scrap material from that shop to build the kaleidoscope.

The scraps came from very costly wood.

I've been told that some of this wood is, you know, well over $500 a foot.

Some of it is even more expensive.

The idea came about in 2003.

Edwards says it took about four years to complete it.

Iwerks and her husband, T.J., also brought several hand sized kaleidoscopes for the children to experience.

It's the different styles of the marble.

This style here you turn in the end to activate the kaleidoscope set.

Finished for nearly ten years in a Texas farm shop collecting dust before being brought to Kansas.

The kaleidoscope was displayed at Exploration Place for a time also.

It needed a home and it's found a home here.

So for now, PBS is the new parent that we're going to leave it here with PBS, and hopefully everybody can enjoy it and have a chance to come out.

And I love the education center here with all the kids and the different activities.

Kristina Hoffman homeschools her four and a half year old son, Eliezer.

Coming here, she says, is a learning experience.

Us.

The main component of a kaleidoscope is the triangular mirrors in the body.

So coming here, it's an extension of our education at home.

And we loving all the hands on stuff that we can do here and, know all the resources with, different people who do come in and do this, these kinds of things and playing with the different toys.

The education center has plenty of spaces for kids to play and learn, and from time to time, the kaleidoscope will come out as one more hands on experience.

So what started as costly shop scraps?

Now spins into remarkable shapes and colors for everyone to enjoy.

This is Chris Frank for Positively Kansas.

Watch for announcements on our web page at KP.

Torchy for when the kaleidoscope will be on display.

Now to the great outdoors, where wildflowers produce fascinating shows as their sweet and colorful blossoms attract a host of insects and spiders.

In this week's Kansas Wild Edge Report, Mike Blair shows us how these creatures use stealth and strength while feeding on their beautiful food sources.

If you have the time to sit in a patch of wildflowers for an afternoon, especially when the heat index is above 100 degrees.

But that's perfect for arthropods, and they provide a wildlife show worth watching.

I spent hours today among grassland bloomers and observing with binoculars and cameras.

I was spellbound at the life around me.

On its face, the viewing was all about pleasantries.

Butterflies, bees, grasshoppers and wasps fed on the flowers.

Larvae fed on the leaves.

Pew painting and emerging as adults.

Courting and mating continued the live stream.

It made a kaleidoscope of color, and the soft buzz of humming wings added music to the summer ambiance.

But the sprawling flowers, busy with thirsty and well dressed visitors, was a killing field as well.

In the jungle of leafy cover drama, waited.

Hunters like winged prairie, Robert flies dash to catch unwary diners.

These ferocious and abundant predators aren't picky.

They eat each other as well as large and dangerous prey like bumblebees.

Almost always successful in their attacks, they are sometimes stung and killed by escaping adversaries.

Other hunters, like ambush bugs that hid among the blossoms, seized their prey as it landed within grasping distance.

Then they pierced deeply with huge siphon mouthparts that liquefied and sucked out the victim's body contents, leaving only dry shells.

For some predators.

Natural camouflage helped them to hunt.

Crab spiders hid in plain sight, able to grab and stun their victims instantly with potent venom.

Jagged ambush bugs, lying motionless were all but invisible to feeding prey, and they too were able to subdue larger and more powerful victims with their swift bite.

But camouflage can work both ways.

Amazing color patterns and even shapes and forms helped hide charm from hunting eyes.

Walking sticks were a great example, as they fed invisibly among grassy plants.

Spiders were ever present.

Among them the skillful and dangerous jumping spiders.

These, whose eyesight is among the best of the arthropod world, were fearless in attacking large prey like powerful grasshoppers.

Some even killed in a larger spiders that wandered close.

Amazing discoveries like these are always part of an outdoor day.

And I was better for the hours I spent watching.

I'm Mike Blair for Positively Kansas.

That's a wrap for this week.

With federal funding cuts, PBS Kansas has to decide which shows to keep.

If you want Positively Kansas to stay on the air, you can go to CP dawg and make a $100 donation as a thank you.

Your name will appear at the start and end of future episodes I host for free because these stories are important and bring us together as Kansans.

And if you'd like to see more positive and inspirational stories like these, you can also watch me on fierce, feisty and 50 plus.

You can find the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Google, or you can watch it on YouTube or on our website at fierce, feisty and 50 plus.com.

I'm Cierra Scott.

See you next time.