Archive for "Things to Do"
Symphony in the Flint Hills 2017
Posted on June 30, 2017 by Ching under Events, Things to Do.
Here are a few pictures from our fun volunteer day at Symphony in the Flint Hills…
Krystee and Faith talking to Ben, THE Green Team guy…
This is Ben.
Krystee, Faith, and I were super excited to help.
We went on Wednesday and not all of the tents were up yet.
Faith and I played with taking some panoramic photos while we waited for Ben to return with gloves.
Retiree Bill Heins had the master plan gave us our instructions.
Bill Heins.
Some of the volunteers worked on the hay bales.
The rest of us worked on the tables. Over 200 of them.
We worked hard but took some breaks also.
This is my friend Mo.
There were volunteers from various areas of the company.
People from Wichita and Topeka came together to help.
I carpooled with Krystee and Faith.
Shane, also from Wichita, drove up separately with his daughter Claire.
We took advantage of breaks from working to take some fun photos.
Here’s Krystee, Faith, and Teresa with the official company gator.
It’s pretty fancy. š
Faith and Teresa taking a break…
We finished setting up the main tent just in time for lunch.
Lunch was provided by the Tasty Traveler, a food truck from Manhattan (Kansas, not New York). It was pretty tasty.
I had the Philly cheesesteak and cheesy hashpuppies.
I also ordered a thing of brownie bites to share.
The brownie bites were just okay. The Philly cheesesteak sandwich was just okay, too. The highlight of the meal was definitely the cheesy hashpuppies. They were delicious! I could eat those all day long!
Ben gave us a little briefing while we enjoyed our break and lunch.
Of course, break time means selfie time.
I took a couple of me and Shane, and me and Shane and Claire.
We worked a couple more hours after lunch before calling it a day.
We walked from the parking area to the work site that morning but in the afternoon Ben was nice enough to give us a ride back to Faith’s truck in the gator.
While the Green Team’s portion of the work was finished, I wasn’t quite done because I volunteered to help at the ticket gate on the day of the event. Brian and I went back on Saturday and worked for another six hours. We arrived at the Symphony in the Flint Hills site at 12:30 PM, well ahead of our 1:00 PM shift.
Of course, since Ben is a rock star, he was already there when we got there.
Brian and I got the opportunity to work with this lovely young lady from Council Grove. Kara happens to know my friend/coworker Amy who moved from Valley Center to Council Grove not too long ago. What a small world, right?
My job wasn’t too hard. We were at the regular ticket gate so I just had to take general admission tickets and, if I came across any guests with patron tickets, send any patrons to the patron gate so they can get all of the special treatment and services that they are entitled to as patrons.
It wasn’t a tough job but, man, we were busy!
Brian’s main job was to install the official Symphony in the Flint Hills gray wristbands. Yes, I said install. I said it all day long. People got a kick out of it because it sounded like I was installing software or something. Wristbands are kind of flimsy. I suppose it works. LOL.
Anyway, our gate stayed open after they closed down the other ticket gates so then we really got flooded. And then one of the guys carding people and installing yellow alcohol wristbands left because his shift was over. So then Brian ended up having to do that part and I ended up having to both take tickets and wristband people. I was really slow at installing the wristbands at first but I got pretty efficient toward the end. I was cranking them out like a pro after a while. It just takes practice.
Our shift officially ended at 7:00 PM but, by the time our gate was closed and we grabbed our stuff, it was fifteen after and the concert had already been going a half an hour. There was no point going back to the car to get our lawn chairs.
The walk from the parking are to the concert site is the shortest that it’s ever been but it’s still quite a ways away. There was no point sitting with the crowd anyway because by then the lawn chairs were parked all the way back to the food tent. We just ended up hanging out at the food tent instead. We weren’t getting that much closer with chairs.
I’m not sure what the final attendance numbers were but there were a lot of people this year. I even recognized a few people who came through our ticket gate.
Here’s a panoramic photo to give you a better idea.
Brian and I were both grateful for the volunteer opportunity and were glad that we could help but we’re thinking next year we are just going to attend the event and not work that day. I really would have liked to have been able to watch the concert from beginning to end and get a good spot.
We also couldn’t bring a picnic dinner because we had to work for six hours so we ended up spending $40 on dinner that wasn’t that satisfying. It supported a great cause so we didn’t mind chipping in but for the same amount of money we could have packed a really nice picnic!
Working at the ticket gate was a great experience, though. We got to see some Symphony in the Flint Hills pros with their wagons loaded with stuff. We have a really good idea of what to bring and not to bring and how to bring it so that walking from the parking lot to the concert site isn’t a big ordeal. We will be ready for next year. That’s for sure.
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Bowling and Escapology at the Alley
Posted on June 28, 2017 by Ching under Things to Do.
Have you checked out the newest attraction at the Alley yet? It’s pretty amazing.
Brian and I decided to check it out after bowling one night.
The cool thing is that you can enter from the arcade or through the private entrance outside the bowling alley.
Either way, you can’t miss the massive lounge which is the perfect waiting area for large groups. They had nice, dark furnishings, consistent with the escape room theme. Brian and I thought the only thing missing was a server to serve drinks while you waited for your room escape adventure to begin.
You can’t start until you sign an electronic waiver on one of these tablets. I liked that they had three stations which speeds things up a bit specially if you have a large group with you.
At the time we went, they had six escape rooms — four unique ones and they had two of their most popular escape room. I thought this was a great idea should you want to have a little friendly competition going.
Our options were Antidote (the most popular room, which they have two of), Cuban Crisis, the Code, Budapest Express, and Under Pressure.
Brian and I chose Antidote because, besides being the most popular, it was also the least challenging. I really didn’t want to go full-out on Brian’s first escape room experience. I mean, what if we don’t get out? Brian would hate it and he’d never want to do it again.
As it turns out, even though we make great partners in life, we suck at solving puzzles as a team. The good news is we both still had a great time and Brian didn’t hate it. He’s actually open to doing it again.
Most people would consider not getting out of the room a failure but I consider our experience a success. Yes, we sucked, but at least we didn’t fight or, worse yet, end up killing each other. I was really worried that not getting out meant arguing and fighting and getting divorced. LOL.
So if you’re a couple with marital issues but aren’t quite ready for counseling yet, maybe locking yourself in a room with your partner is the answer. I’m joking!
It was really fun, though. I highly recommend it for couples and small groups. They max out at 6 players per room. Although, I have to say, it was very challenging to complete all those puzzles with only two people.
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Cinco de Mayo Zumba in the Square
Posted on May 25, 2017 by Ching under Events, Things to Do, Zumba.
Here are some pictures from the first Zumba in the Square event of the year which, coincidentally, fell on Cinco de Mayo. I ended up being in charge of this one because Pat, our fearless Zumba in the Square leader who normally organizes these events, just happened to have a schedule conflict that night. Lucky for me, I had the help of several amazing instructors.
Amy, Andrea, Charis, Johnna, Missy, Nick, and Todd all taught some songs. A picture of our kick ass ZumbathonĀ® playlist is on the left.
It was such a blast leading songs for a fun-loving group!
We had a great turnout!
Afterward a bunch of us went to Carlos O’Kelly’s to continue our Cinco de Mayo celebration. We had to wait a little bit before they could seat our group because there were 30 of us. It was a great time, though!
I ended up making some new friends.
Anyway, I was so delirious from the ZumbathonĀ® that I completely spaced and left my water bottle at Old Town Square. We were almost home before I realized my folly. It’s a very special water bottle. It was one of the S’well bottles we’d gotten from Brian’s parents for Christmas. I was really upset that I left it.
Brian knew that I was really upset about leaving my water bottle so we agreed to go back and look for it. As luck would have it, the bottle was still there on the grass where I had left it. I got really lucky!
Although, I did tell Brian that if my water bottle was no longer there when we returned I wouldn’t be too upset because that would mean that some homeless person has taken it and they probably need it more than me. I’m really glad that I got my S’well bottle back, though.
We got home really late after making a trip back to downtown and then driving back home. It was a long, exhausting day but totally worth it. We had such a great time! If you missed the event, fear not. We’ve got another Zumba in the Square event coming up in a couple of weeks. The next one is scheduled for June 16.
I won’t be able to lead any songs at that event because we are celebrating with family that day. We’re having a cookout at our house to celebrate Brian’s birthday (June 13), grandma’s birthday (June 19), and Father’s Day. I hope you can make it to the next Zumba in the Square event though because it’s fabulous and not to be missed! It’s one of my favorite summer activities!
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WASAC’s Take Back the Night
Posted on May 21, 2017 by Ching under Community, Events, Things to Do.
These are pictures from our team building volunteer activity for the Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center‘s Take Back the Night event. My friend and coworker Alex is an avid volunteer for the agency and she arranged it so that we would man the Community Quilt Project station at the event.
I don’t really know much about WASAC and their programs but I agreed to volunteer in support of Alex. She is always so generous with her time and volunteers for things at organizations that I’m passionate about so it was my turn to return the favor. There are no pictures of Brian because he didn’t want to do this event with me. It turned out all right because we had enough representation at the event. It would have been nice to have him there but it was okay that he wasn’t. There wasn’t much to the volunteer activity.
We basically just talked with people at the event and encouraged them to participate in the Community Quilt Project. We had two tables with several blank fabric squares and colorful markers. We also had completed squares on display as examples. Each person’s contribution is an art work or saying on fabric square, which would then be incorporated into a big community quilt.
I wanted to contribute to the Community Quilt Project so I designed a couple of patches also. Some people got really artsy and did drawings but I’ve never been any good at that so I just wrote a bunch of encouraging words down and decorated/colored them.
I’d never been to one of these events before so this was my first. I’m not sure what the participation and attendance was like last year but this event was very well attended. I think it also helped that some awesome food trucks were there, including my friend’s truck Kamayan.
It was interesting to hear stories from survivors and supporters. I think it actually worked out better that Brian didn’t go because he would not have had the attention span for it. Please visit the WASAC web site to learn more about support groups, volunteer opportunities, advocacy, and other services.
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New Keeper of the Plains Statue
Posted on May 1, 2017 by Ching under Projects, Things to Do.
A new Keeper of the Plains replica statue was unveiled in our office building a couple of weeks ago. It is one of several 10-foot tall fiberglass replicas of our famous Keeper of the Plains statue that’s part of the “Keepers on Parade” project launched by Together Wichita in 2014.
Brian and I have been anxiously awaiting the unveiling because we collaborated on the design concept last year. When work announced that we would be commissioning our very own Keeper of the Plains replica for the atrium of our Wichita office, they held a design contest.
I wanted to enter the contest but I wanted Brian to help me. Anyway, as the deadline approached, I ended up getting busy with work. On the last day, I found out from Ebony that we only had a few entries. I told Brian what I wanted drawn and he whipped it up real quick. Then he scanned them and emailed them to me for me to send to Ebony. Below is the design that we submitted.
It’s not even colored because we ran out of time. We submitted our design literally moments before the cutoff. Who would have thought that the judges would appreciate the simplicity of our design concept.
That was last year. We’d been waiting for the completed statue since. Here’s a closer look at all the sides of the completed Keeper of the Plains replica statue.
The artist made several changes that improved the overall outcome. They kept the general concept of our design but added and changed some of the elements. I thought all of the design changes worked. The statue turned out even better than I could have ever imagined.
If you are interested in seeing this one in person, it’s located in the atrium of the Ruffin Building on the corner of Douglas and Broadway (100 N. Broadway). There are three others at the pop up park. Those were the first three I had ever seen actually. I have seen several since. They’re scattered all over town.
One of these days I will go and check out all of them. There’s a Keeper Finder map on the Together Wichita web site which makes it a lot easier to locate all of the “Keepers on Parade” statues. If you’re looking for something to do, this would be a fun weekend activity or cheap date idea. It reminds of the time that Brian and I went on a sculpture scavenger hunt on the Wichita State University campus a few years ago. That was a lot of fun.
Perhaps we will see you around at one of these installations. Happy hunting!
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