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Vol 45 No. 10
www.theactiveage.com
Kansas’ Largest Newspaper
October 2024
Printed at Valley Center, KS
‘This is the best country in the world’
Holland native, 88, eager to cast his first vote in America next month
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By Sherry Graham Howerton John F. Kennedy was leading the nation when Neal Bakker immigrated to the United States more than six decades ago. Twenty-four years old and speaking little English, Bakker arrived in Kansas under the sponsorship of a fellow Dutchman, Wichitan John Borst, to work in Borst’s greenhouse, Livingston Rose Garden & Nursery. As Bakker evolved from employee to business owner, he raised a family and solidified an already deep-rooted work ethic. But while he embraced his adopted country and celebrated the opportunities it provided, gaining his U.S. citizenship was not top of mind. “All of those years, I was just concentrating on making a living, and in a way, I’m kind of embarrassed,” Bakker said. “I was raising a family, and it just never really dawned on me. But I am proud to be an American.
Neal Baaker has served generations of Wichita gardeners. This is the best country in the world.” Then in 2021, he earned his citizenship with the help of close friend and Wichitan Peggy Griffith. Griffith says that Bakker shared with her his desire to vote, but she knew that earning his citizenship
would be a challenge for Bakker based on logistics. “He didn’t have access to or experience with computers and all of the technology it took to pursue citizenship. I was happy to help.” A Different Path Bakker, 88, owns Wichita Greenhouse at 3649 N. Arkansas. His customers span five generations and have sought his goods and expertise on everything from tulips — the flagship flower of Holland — to roses, vegetables and just about anything else that grows. His life might have been very different had he not made the United States his home. The third child and the oldest son in a family of eight children, Bakker grew up in Voorhout, a village in south Holland. His father was a shoemaker and his mother succumbed See Voter, page 6
Joe Norris enjoys getting off the beaten track while traveling.
In search of twoheaded cows and stranger creatures
By Joe Norris In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, there’s a beautiful town square park that you enter through one of two huge arches made of elk antlers. When huckleberries are in season, you can sit in the park and enjoy a huckleberry lemonade or one of several other tasty huckleberry concoctions. They’re crazy for huckleberries in that part of Wyoming. A few summers ago, my wife and I were enjoying a huckleberry iced tea in Jackson Hole Park when a lady came striding through an antler arch and across the grass toward us. She was balancing a softball-sized scoop of huckleberry ice cream on a sugar cone. The lady we later came to know as Dolores turned and plopped down on the bench next to us. “Yep,” she said, taking a big lick See Two-headed, page 7
New Goddard Senior Center off to fast start
By Becky Funke GODDARD — The Goddard Senior Center is on a roll. What had been a group of older residents getting together informally cut the ribbon on the new Goddard Senior Center last month, days after the Goddard City Council approved $46,000 in funding for it ($6,000 of which came from Sedgwick County). This month, the center will start serving Friendship Meals and Meals on Wheels out of the center, which is located in the Goddard Community Center at 122 N. Main St. The Senior Center has use of the community center from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday,
offering exercise programs, cards and games, educational programs and more. A partnership with Genesis Health Club in Goddard allows center members to also take part in Silver Sneakers exercise and water exercise programs there and will offer pickleball in Goddard Senior Center members start their the coming months. morning with an exercise class. Senior center time as a Senior Expo and Resource membership has grown to about 250 Fair at the center. people in a few months. Last month’s See Goddard, page 8 grand opening was held at the same
Questions about services?
Central Plains Area Agency on Aging/Sedgwick County Department on Aging: 1-855-200-2372
Butler County: (316) 775-0500 or 1-800-279-3655 Harvey County: (316) 284-6880 or 1-800-279-3655
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