From the Alvin and Rosalie Sara Check studio, PBS Kansas Presents Positively Kansas, It's Time for Positively Kansas coming up, carving a Kansas legacy.

We travel to Hays to celebrate the remarkable life of sculptor Pete Felton, who shaped his career out of the very stone that built the frontier.

Also a second chance on the range.

We go inside a special sanctuary where dedicated volunteers rehabilitate broken spirits and restore hope to abandoned horses.

Plus a window into the past.

We explore how the original public schoolhouse in Derby escaped decades of explosive urban growth to preserve the town's quiet history.

I'm Cierra Scott.

Join us for those stories and Kansas Wild Edge on this edition of Positively Kansas.

And.

Some artists paint on canvas, others work with clay or bronze.

But Kansas sculptor Pete Felton built a remarkable career carving the very stone that helped build western Kansas.

Recently, hundreds gathered in Hays to celebrate his life and legacy.

Here's Chris Frank.

For nearly 70 years, sculptor Pete Felton shaped Kansas limestone into works of art seen across the state.

A large portion of his work is showcased in Hays, where Felton was born, raised and where he died February 4th, 2026 at age 92.

One of his early works is Buffalo Bill Cody.

This was Felton's first large commissioned piece.

The statue completed in 1961.

Placed in front of Hays Public Library, there's the lawman in front of City Hall at 15th and main.

It was one of Felton's favorites because Felton lived across the street from it, seeing the statue every day.

The largest concentration of his work is in Ellis County, where about 30 sculptures stand, including pioneer students on the Fort Hays State University campus.

And while many of his works are rooted in western Kansas, some stand at the very center of state history.

For eight feet tall, 110 statues of Dwight Eisenhower, Amelia Earhart, Arthur Capper, and William Allen White have stood in the Capitol since 1981.

So thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people have seen Pete Felton's work.

They just weren't aware of who this person was, what it represents, how it was made, and what's the story behind it?

Back in 1979, Felton was commissioned $60,000 for those sculptures, yet he didn't even sign his name to them.

And in fact, Pete was never about getting acclaim or fame with anything he did.

So, believe it or not, it has only been since 2023, since 2023, that there is a plaque acknowledging Pete as the artists of those four famous Kansans that have been standing in the portico since 1981.

And so it was wonderful that that finally happened.

But when I was carving, those people come up and tell me stories about them.

Mader was a friend and fan of Felton's.

She interviewed him for Smoky Hills Public Television in 1993 that in that interview, Felton spoke of his longtime fondness for Amelia Earhart.

I was ready.

I wanted to do a statue of Amelia Earhart.

I'd done models of her for several years, and so this was my chance.

You know, if I had to do three guys to, you know.

And so when I got the contest, y, it took about, two years to carve those and a year just getting the contest and visiting the places and making the models.

So it was a three year project all together.

It took a heavy lifting cranes to hoist each two ton statue into the Capitol.

Great care was taken not to damage the corridors.

When the four statues were in place.

Then 48 year old Felton posed with several artist friends who helped get the statues in place.

Now, public art often becomes part of the landscape.

People pass it every day, sometimes without ever knowing the artist behind it.

His works are both big and small by weight and size.

The grandest was Felton's carving of the monarch of the Plains sculpture.

This buffalo monument is located at Old Fort Hays.

It's eight feet high, ten feet in length.

Felton carved it on site from a 24 ton block of Indiana limestone to honor American bison, Plains Indians and local history.

Felton started this two years in advance of the City of Hayes centennial of 1967.

Felton said this work was all his idea.

I said, what this town needs for the Centennial is a big statue of a buffalo, and it was very difficult to do because I'd never carved anything that large, and I didn't know how long it would take.

And we had trouble getting the stone up there.

Felton started sculpting in 1957 after serving four years in the Navy.

He took classes at Fort Hays State, including an art class.

This Abraham Lincoln portrait was his first work.

He knew immediately sculpting was to be his life vocation.

He left school and pursued his passion.

His body of work grew over the years, especially in northwest Kansas.

Around here, every community, almost every community had a pet Felton that was wanted.

Now that I talk to people from other towns that, damn, we should have got a Pete Felton, you know, sort of thing.

So, he was it was well known enough in this region that everybody wanted one, but there are school mascots all over this part of the state, from Syracuse, Kansas, to Garden City, Kansas to, you know, to, a big horse up at Stockton to things further, further east.

And though Felton worked with other materials, he always returned to limestone, his true canvas.

In fact, Felton would say he saw himself in it.

Limestone is of Kansas.

Limestone is ordinary.

Limestone isn't.

You know, it's sparkly and bells and whistles.

He said it's it's understated.

It's plain and temperamentally.

I'm limestone ordinary here.

Plain workable.

So it was native to his place where he grew up.

And the place is I mean, he didn't need to have it fancy, but he was always curious.

He may not have been known as well beyond this region, but he still had a faithful following.

Those fans and friends turned out to pay tribute and share their Felton stories at the Ellis County Historical Society there.

Many of his smaller works were displayed on tables for people to see and appreciate.

Just steps away is Felton's art studio and gallery, which still feels alive inside.

Visitors could view in amazement how the artists utilized material scraps to piece together mosaic tile walls and back splashes, and thereby turning the studio's bathroom into an artwork.

So when he found any of these tiles anywhere at garage sales, or, you know, he would piece them together and it just started because he was interested.

Just a month before his passing, Felton received one of the state's highest honors the 2026 Governor's Arts Legacy Award.

Felton was too ill to attend.

Close friend Bruce Burkholder received the award on Felton's behalf.

He told me many times, he said, every day of my life, I've done exactly what I wanted to do.

Friends say Felton never had a job.

As we think of it, they say he made just enough money on his commissions to support himself and his art.

Till the last day he was alive, he was reading and researching.

Pig friends say was truly about the craft.

You know, those of us that knew him, the legacy of what a great man he was and how he supported the arts that could be forgotten.

And that's what we want to keep up.

And we want to document that.

But his legacy, even if this didn't exist, for him to pick it out would put Felton's name on.

No sculpture is going to last a long, long time.

The artist is gone.

But in towns across Kansas, his work remains quietly telling his story in stone.

This is Chris Frank for Positively Kansas.

A Legacy Fund has been created in honor of Pete Felton to help preserve his studio and stone gallery, and he's ensuring his work continues to inspire future generations.

Tucked away in Valley Center is a sprawling ranch dedicated to rehabilitating horses and finding them a home.

Hoping the Valley Equine Rescue and Sanctuary has been going strong since 2005, thanks in large part to volunteers who work around the clock to make sure a rescued horses receive the best possible care.

Anthony Powell visited the ranch.

Hope in the Valley Equine Rescue's annual open house, brought in lots of folks fascinated by these magnificent animals.

It also attracted people looking to possibly adopt a horse.

We want to make sure it's going to be a good match with that person.

We want him to come out several times looking at their horse and, see if that's one that they think they might be interested in.

The adoption process here can be complex because the horses on the ranch had been abused mostly from starvation before arriving here.

Since its founding in 2005.

Hope in the Valley has helped nurse 800 horses back to health, with many ultimately finding a new home.

It all began when, after buying the Ranch land, founder Andy Armstrong started going to horse sales around Sedgwick County.

I was shocked at the condition some of these people were bringing their horses in to sell them, and I was shocked at the condition they were in.

They were starving.

They were not.

They hadn't been taken care of.

Armstrong knew she needed to do something about the abuse, so she dedicated her ranch to neglected horses.

She also assembled a team of veterinarians and volunteers to help in the lengthy process of getting the animals back on their hooves.

You don't just take a big bunch of food and throw it in front of them because you'll kill them.

It'll kill them, and you have to do is start real slow and do a re feeding program on them, where you start out a handful a day and increase it over time.

It will take 6 to 12 months to get the weight back on a horse that starved that bad.

Looking after the horses is a 24/7 job and would not be possible without the 90 volunteers who work around the clock at Hope in the Valley.

Kelly Benton has not missed a day since signing up in 2019.

So my husband was searching for the perfect 30th wedding anniversary gift, and he realized that every time we drove by this place, I would cry out, horse!

As a retiree.

She's working more now than when she had a full time career, but doesn't mind a bit.

Being around horses is very therapeutic, and I often think that they probably give us more than we give them.

It's a very spiritual, soulful interaction with a horse.

It can also be challenging at times.

As we found out during our interview with Andy Armstrong.

We work, we have a contract, we contract with, Sedgwick County Animal Control and.

Oh.

Oh, shoot.

What is he doing?

That's a good on camera.

Oh, he's trying to jump over the fence.

These are, he's trying to jump over the fence, for crying out loud.

Yet another example of why Armstrong is so grateful for her volunteers.

Well, I tell everybody that this place wouldn't run if it wasn't for these guys.

If it wasn't for all these volunteers that you see out here, they make this place run.

For folks like Kelly Benton.

It's a labor of love.

That's why during the open house, Benton and other volunteers spent lots of time telling those who attended why they, too, should sign up.

Out in the country, fresh air around these magnificent creatures.

It's a it's a special experience.

It really is.

And one, says Benton, that can help both people and horses through ups and downs.

What do horses teach us about life?

They teach us that you can come back from just almost anything, as long as you have a good support system around you.

People in your corner cheering for you.

That's what we need.

People helping people.

People helping animals.

That's how we all get through things.

In Valley Center I'm Anthony Powell for Positively Kansas.

While Hope in the Valley started in 2005, its founder, Andy Armstrong, didn't retire as a full time nurse until 2015.

That's when she went into full time horse care.

But she says nothing would be possible without her dedicated volunteers, most of whom have day jobs and work at Hope in the Valley with whatever time they can find.

The city of Derby exploded in growth in the 1950s and 60s, leaving very little behind the quiet old town it once was, but deep in the heart of the community.

The original public school building still stands as a living window into the past.

Anthony Powell takes us there in this fast paced world in which we live.

There is something very calming and, of course, nostalgic about visiting a good old fashioned, sturdy brick building like the Derby Historical Museum.

Step inside and you'll find a very festive atmosphere, with 2024 marking a very special birthday for this landmark.

The building that we're celebrating was actually built in 19 2324.

They finished it, had the first classes in the building, and in 1924 it was the school for Derby.

High school was upstairs.

Grade school was downstairs.

The last high school graduating class here was in 1952, because by that time McConnell Air Force Base was under construction, Derby was growing and the new high school was built.

The impact aviation and the military has had on Derby is reflected throughout the Historical Museum.

On the day we visited, a military room was open to the public.

This was, a 1/32 scale.

We also got a presentation by longtime Derby resident and aviation enthusiast Jim Miller, who discussed his passion for building model airplanes while giving out tips for anyone interested in the hobby.

And you often have to do a little filing nail file Emery board.

Back in 2023, Miller donated his World War Two model airplane collection to the museum.

He started constructing the models in the late 70s and kept on building for the next 45 years or so.

Miller says the model airplane hobby is one that teaches discipline and tenacity.

When you start out, you have a box, full of plastic parts.

Some it's also instructions.

It's also provided him a way to celebrate a passion that began as a very young boy, when I was about four years old.

We lived about five miles west of the Hutchinson Naval Air Station, which was quite active during World War Two, and after that for a number of years.

And I used to be out playing in the yard and see these cadets flying over in their Stearman biplanes, which at that time were little yellow biplanes with tandem machine.

And I would shoot at them with my little Tommy gun and they would waggle their ways at me.

On this day, we also learned so much about Derby's evolution as a city.

It's now more than 150 years old.

It does have a long history.

It was.

It was scratched out on the prairie in 1871.

And so the first 80 years of its existence, however, it only had about a 200 population.

So it was a very, very small farming community.

Of course, it was the aviation industry and the military that changed all of that.

Beginning with Boeing, Wichita, Boeing got a contract to build the B-47 and they decided to build that at the Wichita plant.

So in order to do that, they had to bring about 20,000 people to town to staff their apartments.

There was no place to live.

Nothing had been built for decades.

Seeing that need Derby leaders stepped up and paved the way for their city to grow, starting with McConnell, that was constructed as a training facility for pilots of the B-47 in 1950 and 1960.

Derby's population multiplied by a factor of 12, which made it the fastest growing community percentage wise in the country at the time.

Today, it is the state's 17th largest city, so from learning about the historical museum's role as Darby's first school to the impact aviation and the military has had on Derby, making the city one of the fastest growing in all of Kansas.

You can find it all here at this treasured building, people from all over the Sunflower State, across America, and even a few overseas visit here annually.

But coming here means the most to Derby natives who celebrate the building special birthday while reflecting back on a very important time in their own lives.

What we find is that people that have been in Derby for a good number of years, a lot of them went to school in this building.

So there is a very intimate, personal connection to the building.

They walk in and they say, oh, yeah, that was my classroom over there in Derby.

I'm Anthony Powell for Positively Qantas.

The Derby Historical Museum recently met a $200,000 matching fund goal to begin infrastructure improvements.

They include new heating and air conditioning systems and a second floor wheelchair lift.

Work will be done room by room so the museum can remain open on Saturdays from 10 to 2, with free admission.

Turkeys are considered the king of the Kansas game birds.

We have a lot of them because of what you're about to see right here in this week's edition of Kansas Wild Edge with Mike Blair.

The return of spring and warmth brings many signs to Kansas wildflowers caressing frogs in a common wildlife dance, strutting wild turkeys.

This familiar April scene plays out as the big birds prepare for nesting season, traveling in mixed flocks and feeding on insects and emerging greenery, the hens build energy reserves for laying eggs, and the bigger toms or gobblers look for girlfriends while showing off their best moves.

These strutting dances are among the most spectacular displays of breeding birds.

Dark, iridescent feathers turn fiery colors in sunlight, and the tongs turn circles to dazzle the hens.

Gatherings are often noisy, with many birds cutting and yelping as they move along.

Gobbling is the trademark call of lovestruck Toms.

Fighting may occur among the dancing male turkeys.

Each night, the turkeys fly high into trees to roost.

Even then, some gobblers call and display among the branches, but each new sunrise brings another show by these wild Kansas residents.

Wild turkey hens have been sitting on nest and incubating eggs for the past 28 days, getting up for an hour now and then to feed and exercise.

Now, in early May, the first clutches are hatching and I chanced upon a brood just one day.

Old.

They had followed their mama into an alfalfa field to pick bugs in, with the tall plants hiding them.

My only tip off was the strange, bold action of the hand.

A wild turkey would never allow such a close approach unless she was protecting very young chicks.

I grabbed the camera and walked close while the hand spreader fan and scolded me.

Sure enough, I soon saw a tiny head of the speckled bolt.

And then another.

And then another.

I had to look close and the little one snaked in circles, trying to keep up with the hand circling and calling just a few feet away.

It was nearly impossible to get film as they played hide and seek, so I backed off a little and they moved toward an open lane, then walked and called, and soon the whole group crossed the opening toward the cover of the tree line.

She moved slowly so the little ones can keep up.

Sound was their only beacon, since the alfalfa was twice their height and hid her from view.

Finally, I began to see the whole clutch.

They came from several directions, but I counted roughly 13 as mom led them into the forest edge.

As always, the unexpected encounter led to a wildlife memory I'll never forget.

I'm Mike Blair for Positively Kansas.

Well, that's a wrap for this week.

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

If you want positive for Kansas to stay on the air, you can go to Kcpt Dawg and make a $100 donation as a thank you.

Your name will appear at the start and end of future episodes I volunteer to 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 this, you can also watch me on Fierce Feisty.

I'm 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 Ciara Scott.

See you next time.