Here goes the neighborhood
A Crown Heights woman and her family have been on a quest to recreate a recipe that — far as they can tell — only exists right here in Wichita. Sweet, chewy on the outside, soft in the middle, these so-called Mediterranean biscuits have become the stuff of local legend.
And if the restaurants won’t give up the secret, well, this family is determined to crack it on their own.
Inventor Elliott Frey came to Wichita from Los Angeles in the summer of 1960 wearing a pencil-thin mustache and carrying 65 patents. Among his inventions was the Duo-Bed, the name he gave to an array of sleeper sofas that transformed hotel rooms by transforming themselves. Beds became couches. Headboards became desks. Frey called it a “furniture revolution.” Out with the overstuffed sofas. Duo-Bed was the flexible and space-saving hotel furniture of tomorrow.
So, where is all of his furniture today?
Rusty old Neighborhood Watch signs still dot the streets — cartoon eyes glaring from fading metal. Once, maybe they meant something. Today, they feel like old fears, bolted in place.
In this story, we go knocking on neighbors doors to ask: Do these signs make you feel safe?