- Halloween is coming from pumpkin carving to costume parades, preparing Halloween treats for those fun annual gatherings, and the historic events that happen throughout our state that all play into the history of what makes this holiday so special.

Coming up on Inspire.

Inspire is sponsored by the estate of Ray and Ann Goldsmith, the Raymond C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation, and the Lewis h Humphreys Charitable Trust.

Woo.

Hello.

Thank you for joining us on this special Halloween edition of Inspire.

It's always fun sharing time with my wonderful inspire sisters, Danielle Norwood, Amy Kelly, and you.

And we are diving into the fun and spooky and fascinating world of Halloween in Kansas.

- From the origins of the holiday to Unique Traditions right here in our own state, we're going to uncover stories that might thrill or chill you, and you don't want to miss the three of us getting creative with some Halloween desserts.

Woo hoo.

- Let's get started by welcoming our guest, Katie Keckeisen, who is a local history librarian at the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library.

But during today's show, we will refer to her as Katie Keckeisen spooky historian.

Katie, thank you for joining us on Inspire to See.

Okay.

So, alright, you have to, before we get started, why spooky historian and what does this time of the year mean to you?

- This is my favorite time of the year.

I celebrate Halloween all year round.

My Halloween decorations are up pretty much year round.

My neighbors love it.

The 12 foot skeleton is always out.

Oh my gosh.

You're one of those people.

I'm one of those, but I also, I really like studying kind of the creepy, macabre side of history.

So I have studied, and I speak about the history of spiritualism.

I'm really interested in kind of the, the ghost stories, but where they come from in history, like where did they start?

What is the origins around this?

It's all about kind of putting stuff in context as a historian.

You know, things didn't just grow out of nowhere.

What brought this about, you know, so - Do you determine what's true and what's maybe semit true?

For example, before we went on air, we were talking about the albino lady at the Rochester - Cemetery.

Yes.

Right.

So yeah, like there, everybody that grew up around Topeka knows about the albino lady, the story of the albino lady, you know, looking through the houses around Rochester Cemetery and, you know, haunting the grounds.

But it turns out that there might have actually been an older woman who had albinism, who lived out there around Rochester Cemetery and just kind of happened to every once in a while walk around how scandalous.

But, you know, kids being, kids stories, you know, take on a life of their own.

And so all of a sudden it's like, oh, there's this ghostly, you know, albino lady that haunts Rochester Cemetery.

And, you know, as they say, you know, in the movies is like when the legend becomes fact print the legend, you know?

Oh, sure.

It's, it's all about like, what makes a good story.

And nobody ever lets facts stand in the way of a good story.

So sometimes as the historian, you have to be like, well, actually this - Yeah.

- Didn't, this person didn't like, when somebody says, oh, they died in this house.

It's like, well, no, because X, Y, and Z. So - There are a number apparently of ghostly apparitions, especially on Kansas Avenue, because I know when I worked around the Capitol - Yes.

- All over that area, apparently it was laden with them.

So what's true and not true?

'cause I've heard of people's, you know, brushes moving from one place to another.

Ah, the, the Candyman has down in his basement some ghosts that Yeah, he interacts with.

Yeah.

What is real, what is not - Real?

Well, you never know what's real and what isn't.

Okay.

Because, but the fact that Kansas Avenue is like the oldest part of Topeka, that's where Topeka grew up around was the river.

Okay.

And Kansas Avenue was kind of the main drag.

So those are some of the oldest buildings can be found right there.

And so if you're gonna have anywhere that has history just built straight into it, it's gonna be places like the Capitol where people actually have lost their lives during the construction.

And then, you know, even afterwards.

So whenever you've got kind of that tragic history surrounding a place, or even just, there's a wealth of history there that a building has stood there for so long and been so many things and meant so much to so many people, it's gonna take on those stories.

You know, we, even the the library where I work, you know, people are like, oh, the library's haunted.

I'm like, I've worked, I've worked in haunted locations.

This doesn't feel like an actual place, but like, I would love to haunt a library as a ghost, like give me eternity with all the books that I could possibly read.

I thought, sounds great, Ghostbusters, you can do that.

Yes, exactly.

- Exactly.

Catch when you're reading.

Exactly.

So, should, should we ask what is haunted?

You say, oh, something's haunted.

What does that mean to you?

Haunted to - Me, it's the, the feel of a place.

Okay.

That there is just this, you, you get this feeling of like, oh, this place has a history and that doesn't have to mean that, you know, stuff is gonna start moving around or, you know, you're gonna get chills or whatever.

But that when you step into a place that you can tell has stories behind it that really kind of reverberates through you, you kind of get a feeling about that.

- And is it kind of like your spidey sense?

Like you go in - Bet?

Yeah.

I mean, I, so I used to work at the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie, Wyoming.

Oh my.

And it was, oh my, it was the only prison to ever hold Butch Cassidy.

RIP Robert Redford.

Yes.

But, yes, so the, but it was, you know, note was no longer a prison.

It was a state historic site, but I would lead lantern tours of the prison at night and I wouldn't tell ghost stories.

I was like, but I'm telling the stories that I can't tell when there might be a kid on the tour necessarily.

But I would have to get set up for those tours.

And there were some nights where I went into the, you know, old prison building and I was like, okay, it's a building.

And there are other nights where you walk in and you go, Ooh, okay guys, don't mess with me tonight, please.

- Ooh, - You - Said that ahead of time.

- I would say that out loud just in case.

Ooh.

Yeah, dad, you lost Danielle.

We just lost her.

And there was one in anyway, and there was, yeah.

And there was one, I always, one part of the tour where I was like, okay, you wanna see how dark it would actually be at night?

And I'd turn off the lights - Oh.

- Because it was lantern lead.

So I just turned my light down and there was nothing else.

And Oh, I was like, this is, yeah, this is what I live for.

Oh God.

- Goodness.

- So yeah.

That's, that's, that's, have you had a spiritual run in sort of, kind of, I'm still, I always tell people that I am a optimistic skeptic.

You know, I, I would love to like actually see something actually have, you know, you know, a close encounter, something fly across the room.

But yeah, I've been to like the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, and I stayed the night there.

And during one of the tours I took of that, they said, oh, well, you know, does anybody wanna hold hands with a ghost?

I was like, me immediately.

Me.

No, you did not.

Yes, I did.

And we were up in the top floor, whereas typically the children stayed with their nannies when the rich people were staying there.

And, you know, sometimes kids would die as they said.

And so I would, you know, I went to one part of the thing and they said, okay, you know, we're gonna have the, see if the anybody wants to come, you know, hold your hand.

And it felt like I was getting the flu, but up my arm.

And then the tour guide had to say, now I'm gonna tell them to like, like, okay, now you gotta let go say goodbye.

Like, you gotta let go 'cause you don't wanna take them back with you.

And I was staying by myself in a totally different hotel, and I was like, yes, I do not need to be taking anything back with me.

No hitchhiker, no hitchhiker, no hitchhiking, ghosts.

- Right.

Okay.

This is the most interesting conversation I've had in a long time.

I know that you all are feeling the same way.

So we're going to be back in a moment.

You need a break from this anyhow.

But we're gonna take a look at the Halloween Dessert Fun that we had with Sarah Jean from Oh My Goodies.

That's coming up in a few.

- We are thrilled to have our delicious guest, Sarah, here with Oh My Goodies.

And Sarah, your business has just taken off.

Tell us briefly if you can, 'cause I know we wanna get to the, to the decorating, but tell us about your business.

- So my business is, oh, my goodies.

I do all custom cakes and cupcakes.

I started four years ago, actually just last week, I had my big birthday anniversary for Oh, my Goodies.

And I just loved watching people decorate cakes and cupcakes.

And I was just, the art combined with my love of all things Sweet.

I have a huge sweet tooth, and I love cake, always love cake.

So I thought, well, why can't I take that love of cake and make it pretty, and something that people can enjoy to help celebrate all life's big moments.

Okay.

When you go to a celebration, there's always cake.

Cake, - Right?

Yeah.

Okay.

So she's booked out until next September.

So that tells you how good she is.

And that's why we want you to see what she's doing.

You have all these great flavors.

Tell - Us Yes.

Yes.

So that way you guys can do this at home.

So I brought a mix of some of my most popular flavors.

So I've got chocolate strawberry that I use, fresh strawberries and wedding cake, lemon with fresh lemon juice.

And then my best seller besides wedding cake is snickerdoodles.

So really, I do cinnamon rolls once a year in a big fundraiser.

I donate all the money every year.

Last year I did over 2000 cinnamon rolls.

Whoa.

And they sold out in seven minutes.

Wow.

Goodness.

It was a little insane.

You're gonna have to give us the date on that one.

Yeah.

Small business Saturday they go on sale.

So, - So you're gonna teach some novices how to do - Yeah.

I came up with some kind of easy designs that you guys can do at, at home yourself.

So let's start with, let's do, this is, I think the easiest.

We're just gonna do this on the strawberry cupcake here in the front.

And it's just white buttercream.

And I'm just gonna do a swirl and we're gonna make this one look like a ghost.

Ooh.

Just a simple swirl like that.

- Okay.

- And then you take the black, I'll pick it up here to make it a little easier and just give him some eyeballs.

- Oh, I love - It.

It's pretty, - Do we need to have some sound effects?

- Ooh, that is a pretty simple one.

So I kind of, I made this cake to bring for display and then also to share with the host because - For inspiration, - Everybody, - Which is awesome.

Yeah.

And - This, by the way, these are fondant.

She made this out of fondant.

These little pumpkins is amazing.

Little pumpkins.

- Yeah.

Everything she does is homemade, which is impressive to me.

- Yeah.

This one, we're gonna do a spider.

So this one, I'm just gonna do a little swirl of vanilla buttercream again.

- Okay.

- And then we're gonna take that black again, and we're gonna put some legs on it.

So we gotta do eight legs because we're gonna do a spider.

But the Oh, that awesome.

Best part of this one is then you take an Oreo, Hey, super easy, the Oreo.

And then you give it a couple eyeballs here in the front.

We'll put the buttercream just to make it stick.

And these are a little, that looks really, that is - Awesome.

That looks really good.

- These are just little sprinkles.

You can buy them anywhere.

Sweet.

Baking supply out at Ferland Plaza.

You can buy 'em at Walmart, Michael's, anything.

And they're just little - That's adorable.

And kids would love those - Spider.

That's really spider.

Yeah, I could do that.

Right?

I could do that.

Easy.

Easy.

Yeah.

Okay, now we're gonna show, I'm gonna show you my favorite ones.

Okay.

Okay.

So we're gonna make these little monster guys.

So I just colored some buttercream and they, these are just marshmallows.

I bought the salted caramel marshmallows.

They're salted caramel inside.

Wow.

I didn't even know they didn't, I didn't either, but I think they'd make great s'mores soup, by the way.

Sure.

So I just stuck 'em on with a little bit of buttercream.

And then you're just gonna take your little piping tip.

Aw.

And, and this does not have to be perfect.

In fact, I think the messier the better because it's a little monster.

- She makes it look pretty easy.

Say this is right up my - Alley.

And then you just cover it.

And then after you cover him, try to get all of it on there.

- And you could make different colors.

You could mix different colors on your monster ly, - And then you can take these eyeballs again.

Oh, gotta have eyeball.

It kind of reminds me of Mike Gki.

Mike.

Ow.

It's Mike Kowski.

And then I've got orange too.

So you can do an orange one.

- Okay.

Like this.

- I like this little guy.

You can put all the eyeballs on.

Who says they only have to have one or two?

So, okay.

- Yeah.

So are - We.

So you guys wanna try?

Yeah.

Now, which, which flavors?

This is this wedding.

That's a wedding cake.

Yep.

- Okay.

I'm taking this - Wedding cake.

I think you need to try the orange.

The orange one.

I have like a, it looks more like fur.

- Ooh.

- So, okay.

Kind of the same thing.

You just kind of dab it and pull it out.

Do you wanna do the spiders?

I'll do the spider - Because I, I can do that.

Let's give you a chocolate one.

C one one.

Yeah.

Make sure I'm gonna do it behind so they can't see what I'm doing.

- Did I want to do mine though?

Oh.

Oh, come on Danielle.

No, I think you can do the ghost.

Okay.

I can do a ghost.

You do a ghost.

Which one can I use?

Strawberry for the ghost?

Absolutely.

- You could use whichever flavor you - Want.

Okay.

I do strawberry.

- And then I wanna use the blue - Because I wanna, oh, he's gonna have two colors.

- Yes.

Oh, I wanna - Look at you being pretty, can you hand me the black please?

Absolutely.

Yes.

Thank you.

There you go.

This is fun.

I'm, I'm not gonna show you guys unless it looks good after you're - Finished.

Well, I love this.

Surprise us all because then, you know, so you just love what you do.

- I absolutely love it.

I feel.

And you have - A full-time job also.

- I do.

I work full-time in an office and I love the work I do there.

I get to work with public education and so I feel like that's also very important.

Here's some black for you, Danielle, for his eyeballs.

- Okay.

I happen to get it on me.

- Mine is spider ish.

Oh, I love it.

That's nice.

- Oh, there we go.

Goly eyes.

- Googly eyes go.

I love it.

You see it.

Googly eyes, spider.

I get that.

There we go.

It's so nice to have you.

Oh, this was fun.

Awesome.

Awesome.

And you know what, we are just gonna have a delightful time eating this.

- Yes.

You guys are gonna have lots of cupcakes.

We'll finish decorating the rest of these.

Absolutely.

I get to share with all your friends.

- We need to tell everybody how we can reach you - So you can reach me.

The most common way people find me is on Facebook.

Yep.

So I am at, oh, my goodies Ks.

And you can see my logo.

It's, it's pretty easy to find me.

And then you can message me through my Facebook.

I also have a website.

Oh my goodies.org.

Nice.

So you can message me through there as well.

- Aha.

Happy Halloween.

We love her goodies.

Ah, that was so much fun.

Thank you.

Sarah Jean from Oh My Goodies.

And now we return with spooky historian, Katie Keckeisen from Sunflower State Activities coming up.

And let's go to Atchison.

Yes.

- One of the most haunted places in Kansas.

So it is, it is touted as being the most haunted town in Kansas.

I could see that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, you look at any website that talks about like haunted Kansas and Atchison is going to have place after place after place after place.

That's just, why is that?

Well, if you want the kind paras, scientific thing, a lot of people equate it that there's limestone in nearby, which is said to be a good attractor for spirits, like a conduit of sorts.

The river is also one.

Okay.

And so you kind of, but also just the fact that it is like a very old town and you've got a lot of the original buildings, you've got a lot of families that have stories there that set down roots and never, never left both physically and spiritually.

And so you have things that are, you know, places that even like parks, there's parks that are haunted in Atchison, not just houses and buildings, parks.

Wow.

They say that the river is haunted by a woman who, you know, went over one of the bridges in a carriage and now calls to people to come join her in the water.

Ooh.

So it's, I mean, you've got the Sally house too.

So, I mean, you know, you've just got all of these places that lend it itself to being this kind of haunted town.

And it still very much feels that way just because it, it has retained that feeling of just that older town, like that frontier town.

It's got the big mansions, But you know, in the center of town you don't really get a lot of that modern kind of architecture.

So it just, it just feels like it's a place out of time.

- Would you say that the mysterious death of Amelia Earhart would also contribute to some of that, or?

- I would certainly not say no.

Okay.

Just because, I mean, it's, it's right there, you know, and part of her history is that mi you know, the mystery there too.

So I think that that's totally fair to say.

Okay.

- But there are other places in Kansas that are also, that have Halloween festivals.

Oh - Yeah.

- So I know we've got Neo Walla.

Yes.

And we've got the Hiawatha Halloween frolic.

Yeah.

What, what can you tell us about - Those?

So yeah, a lot of these smaller town kind of celebrations, and I wouldn't even say that they're small celebrations.

Alad has now become like this huge - Thing.

Yeah.

Big.

- But the Halloween frolic in Hiawatha is supposed to be one of the oldest community Halloween celebrations in the country.

It began in about, you know, 19 teens.

They started actually having a parade in about 1912.

And then the frolic was added on in 1915.

And this was during a period when a lot of kids, mostly boys, were using Halloween as an excuse to cause mischief.

Mm.

And left un like there were parties that people would go to and whatnot, but left unsupervised, the boys would go out and they'd tear up sidewalks.

And I guess the big thing was pulling people's gates off the hinges.

- Oh my - Gosh.

Setting up, you know, harvesters in the middle of the street, putting carriages on top of buildings, just, you know, weird pranks and stuff.

But many of these towns had just finally had it.

They were like, this is, no, we're done, we're done trying to clean up from this.

And so they started to have these festivals, like the frolic, like al as a way to like, kind of channel this need for some kind of, you know, festivities around Halloween, but channel it into something that was actually sanctioned by the community.

So parades and dances and, you know, parties and, you know, just big celebrations like that.

So that's really where a lot of those came out of.

- Yeah.

I love a good frolic.

Oh yeah.

You know, but I wouldn't have thought that, but you know, let's go to Awa because I know that involves so many bands.

- Yes.

It has become like, kind of this big, it's almost like a marching band festival now.

Like, you know, everybody loves to go down there and hear the, you know, all of the bands, the parades.

Like, I think they've got three or four different themed parades depending on, you know, what your age is.

They've got one just for kids, they've got one for adults, they've got one that's more with the like queen, the queen royalty sort of thing.

Yeah.

So it's, it's, it's just kind of grown into this thing that's huge.

Yeah.

And I, I absolutely love it.

It's so cool.

- So how did Halloween become, we know it's Hallows Eve before all Saint, all Saints Day, right?

That it pretty much is my knowledge of Halloween.

Other than we, it's a lot of fun, a lot of pranks, a lot of, a lot of candy.

- A lot of candy, a lot of horror, you know.

Yeah.

So Halloween really comes out of the Celtic Pagan holiday, Noah Soen.

And that was the celebration of the end of the harvest.

You know, it is the end, kind of the, the end of the year for, you know, basically life.

Like, things are gonna start dying, things are starting, gonna start going dark.

They're gonna go back to the earth.

And it's also when it was claimed that the veil between the worlds was the thinnest.

So if you were going to do any work with the ancestors or the spirit world, that was the time to do it.

And so when, you know, Romans conquered the Celts, then they brought in their own kind of, you know, traditions and those got kind of muddled in a little bit.

One of the festivals was I think called Pomona.

And it was, that's where we get Apple bobbing from is because it was celebrating like, you know, harvest the end of, you know, the apple harvest and, you know, that sort of thing.

They also, you know, just all of this different kind of end celebrating the end of a successful farming year for an agricultural society.

And then when Christianity became involved, it kind of, you know, tacked on the All Saints Day where it would fit within the calendar of those that they were trying to convert.

So it would make more sense kind of to just go from one celebration to another.

And that became all Hallows Eve.

And originally it wasn't necessarily all about candy or whatnot.

It was, you know, let's all bake goodies, let's, you know, have parties.

People would dress up because it was said that that would confuse the spirits and they wouldn't come bother you if they didn't eat.

They couldn't recognize.

Yeah, I - Didn't know that.

- Okay.

So that was one way.

Oh, that's cool.

Was that, you know, if you had, you know, family members on the other side that were gonna come back and start, you know, prodding at you and asking you why you weren't married yet, that, you know, you could put on a little bit of a veil or a mask and you could kind of avoid that conversation.

But, you know, food was important too, because it was a way of giving gifts to the other, to the, the ancestors.

You've got that with like Dia de los Muertos.

Right.

You know, they have offerings.

So all of these different holidays just kind of melded into the Halloween that we celebrate today.

- Oh, this is so we could talk to you for hours.

Yes.

Yes.

I think this needs to be a two-parter.

We, we cannot tell you how much fun we've had talking to Katie Keckeisen.

And thank you so much for coming.

Of course.

Thank you.

And, and putting your own spin on the Halloween Fun.

And thank you for hanging out with us today.

Wanna know some of your Inspire hosts, favorite Halloween memories, well stay tuned and we'll have some fun stories when we return.

So just stay with us - Ladies.

I didn't know what kind of serious fun that Kansans have with Halloween.

And I know that there's got to be some fun Halloween stories from your maybe recent past or childhood that you would like to share with us.

And I'll even get the ball rolling.

Cut.

Okay.

You can start.

Hope you get started.

So, okay.

Being Pentecostal fifth generation, you know, we weren't necessarily celebrating the holiday, but the only time that I remember was Granny allowed me to dress up like Laura Ingles Wilder from Little House on the Prairie.

And they had a little parade around the school where we could like actually show off our costumes.

So she had like an old western dress and I had two pigtails and I went around the school dressed up like Laura Ingles.

'cause that's as close to Halloween as the Pentecostal girl was getting.

That was my favorite memory.

And they all went down from here.

- That's gonna say that sound like your only memory.

- It's basically because people had to smuggle candy into me.

They felt sorry for me not trying to change the mood.

- Yeah, - Sure, sure.

- Y go ahead.

Sure, sure, sure.

Ahead.

I was gonna say, what I love about it is, is all the kids that come to my house Yeah.

You know, I love seeing the, their costumes.

And I - Do you have a lot of kids cooking?

Oh gosh, - Yes.

Tons.

And I start, you know, I start sc scoping out the candy early and then I made like a shoots and ladder thing, especially during COVID.

'cause you know, you weren't supposed to touch, you know, so it, it went down and all it was was a piece of guttering and I slid it down and they had to put their, and I had it on ladders, you know, real ladders.

Wow.

And I wrapped the ladders, but then they stood there at the bottom with their little bags, you know.

Oh.

And just to see the delight on their faces as it was coming down.

I said, okay.

Coming down.

And they'd be like, oh, you know, and that's just the fun of it.

I just liked the fun of - It.

Yeah.

I, we didn't do a lot when I was, when I was a kid for Halloween, it was just your normal kind of stuff.

But when Patrick and I got married, we're all theater people, right?

- Yes.

- And so he, and he was at the time a a middle school band teacher.

And he would deck out the house like a haunted house.

I mean, I mean, the whole thing.

Not inside the house.

Outside the house, outside the whole thing.

I mean, it, it was, I mean, it was awesome.

It was awesome.

And he invite the kids over and, and we'd have people running around and people in the yard and Yeah, it was, it was, it was great.

Yeah.

And these kids are screaming, Mr.

Kelly.

Mr.

Kelly.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we, do you all still do that?

I mean, - Are these places that we should be stopping by?

Well, you could stuff at my house.

Yeah.

But I'll say I, I had some spooky sounds on a cd and my little neighbor girl came up.

She was too afraid to come up.

And then I felt terrible.

So I said, wait there just a minute.

I went and turned it off because, you know, I don't wanna scare 'em.

Yeah.

And you know, we wanna remind you about Halloween safety as well.

Well, please always make sure they have a flashlight.

Yes.

Don't have long costumes that are gonna get caught on somebody's pumpkin, you know, might have a real candle in it and all that kind of stuff.

And stay with your kids.

- Yeah.

- You - Know, and, and should adults trick or treat?

I've always wondered that.

I used to ask that on my talk show, like, are adults allowed to trick or treat?

'cause I'm like, some random dude coming up to my house triggering hurry.

No, I don't know that he's getting any candy.

- My dad used to go trick or drinking.

Oh, care.

Oh, well, he wasn't alone.

It'd be when we were kids, you know, we'd have a group of us going and the dads would be in the streets and they'd, they'd have their little highballs trick, direct trigger drink.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

So, so it depends.

It depends.

And I know some people who decide, instead of giving out candy, give out the little shot, you know.

Oh, seriously?

- Yes.

Oh, okay.

Well, they'll get candy.

- Maybe that's a Kansas tradition we didn't know about.

We - Didn't know about it.

- Did - Not know about that.

Okay.

Well, Halloween isn't just about tricks and treats.

It's about community.

So get out there and enjoy it all Kansas style.

And we thank our spooky historian Katie Keckeisen and Sarah Jean from Oh My Goodies for joining us today.

- And if you find yourself inspired to learn more about our guests and, and wanna see what's coming up on future shows, visit our website at www.ktwu.org/inspire - Inspiring women inspiring you to enjoy all Kansas has to offer no matter what part of the season it is.

We're inspiring you on KTWU.

Thank you for watching.

- Inspire is sponsored by the estate of Ray and Anne Goldsmith, the Raymond C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation, and the Lewis h Humphreys Charitable Trust.