 | Faye Graves, a native Wichitan, attended school at Friends and Wichita State, concluding at Midwestern Theological Seminary. He has been active in media for many years with Channel 12, KIRL, KFDI, KOOO AM & FM (Omaha), KFRM & KICT 95, as an owner, manager, producer, director and announcer. He has served as President of the Haysville Board of Education. He has also served on several national boards of the Southern Baptist Convention. Faye currently serves as Executive Pastor and Director of Administration and Education at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 S. Topeka, Wichita. You may contact Faye by e-mail fmgraves@amenibc.org, or by phone at (316) 262-1452. |
Nostalgia
2010-05-01 14:25:00
Remember...
Answer: Yes I do. My wife and I took our grandchildren to the wonderful zoo a few weeks ago. While there, we thought back to the old zoo in Riverside Park. When the River Festival came to Wichita recently, you could feel the excitement. The parade, the fireworks, the crowds and all of the events always make for a wonderful and most memorable event. These too help remind me of the weekend afternoons back in the 40’s when we visited the old zoo.
The whole family would get together and go to the Riverside Park area. The old zoo had lions, monkeys, and alligators in the pit outside, a bear, ducks, geese, peacocks and wildlife in the small water and caged area. Bob Saylor was the head zoo keeper in the old zoo building. He and his employees took care of all the animals. The River Festival reminded me of these times and of the old Boat House days. My wife and I still enjoy getting some burgers and pop and driving to the Riverside area and eating in our car and watching the activity around the Arkansas River. Recently we watched the people in kayaks practicing for the River Festival. When we had the old Boat House, you could rent row boats, canoes, kayaks and paddle boats. On weekends there were tour boats that would hold as many as 20 people that you could take for a ride for the price of a ticket. Just a little further north on Broadway there was a big house that was used as the headquarters for bicycle rentals. You could rent single bikes and double bikes and many families would rent a bicycle and ride across town for recreation.
There is discussion of moving the whole River Festival to the Riverside area for next year’s event. This has not been definitely decided, but this area has always been a fun area for families and fun. The River Festival is a great event for all of us at this time to forget our problems and just enjoy. Once again this year, it met all expectations and was a lot of fun. It was even more special to my wife and me this year for all the memories it brought back. Have a fun and safe summer.
