Wichita, Jewish community team up for rare addition to Century II’s holiday light display
The city’s annual holiday display of jolly lighted Christmas characters in front of Century II has always been reliably unchanged: a happy waving snowman, a smiling dragon donning a Santa hat, a rigid saluting soldier.
This week, though, the display on Kennedy Plaza got an addition, the first one in years. On Wednesday, city workers put up three new lighted structures — a giant menorah accompanied by two dreidels. The structures, which represent the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, face Douglas on the west side of Century II, sitting just in front of A. Price Woodard Park and just to the east of the Douglas Avenue Bridge.
The addition of the decorations was the result of a three-year campaign by a local mother of five — Maggie Pichinte — who also is a member of the the Hebrew Congregation of Wichita. It all started back in December 2016, on Sara’s fifth birthday, she said.
There are few things Sara loves more than driving down Douglas and checking out all the glowing holiday displays, Pichinte said. Her family took her for a birthday outing that night, and Sara was gazing out the car window when she asked asked her mother, “Where are the Hanukkah lights?”
“I told her, ‘That’s a really good question,’” Pichinte said. “It kind of sparked my curiosity, and I started looking up who to reach out to.”
Pichinte got in touch with David McGuire, the city’s superintendent of park maintenance and forestry. He asked her to round up the signatures of all the rabbis in town so that he could submit a formal request. She started working on it, but the roster of rabbis in Wichita was in flux, she said, and it proved difficult.
This fall, she said, she got back in touch with McGuire to find out if there was any other way. She was spurred into action after the death of a close friend, who always joked with Pichinte that she’d never get the city to add the lights. “That’ll be the day,” he’d tell her.
“My perspective was if we could get Hanukkah lights, that would shine a light saying, ‘We are a vibrant community and we’re not going anywhere. This is our forever home,’” she said.
McGuire told her he’d take the request to the city, and Pichite got in touch with the Mid-Kansas Jewish Federation, a group that represents the Jewish community throughout much of Kansas. That includes Wichita’s Jewish community, estimated to include about 1,000 members spread between two temples and a Chabad.
The federation agreed to put up some money, too, and purchased the two dreidels at a cost of about $1,000. Meanwhile, McGuire was able to get the city to commit to about $8,000 for the menorah.
The dreidels are a gift to the city, said Julie Fruhauf, the federation’s director, and the city agreed to keep and maintain the structures and add them to the annual display.
Fruhauf said she respected Pichite’s efforts and that the lights will be especially meaningful to the youngest members of Wichita’s Jewish community, who sometimes feel a little left out during the excitement of the Christmas season.
Maguire said his department is always willing to work with people who have ideas about how to make all residents feel a part of things.
“We love being able to be inclusive of the community... when residents come to us with ideas of how to make the holiday season even more special to our community,” he said. “We’d welcome anyone with any other ideas of how to be more inclusive to reach out and partner with us as well.”
Pichinte said that this week, the family took Sara, now 8, out for her annual drive down Douglas to look at lights and celebrate her birthday.
They didn’t tell her about the lighted additions downtown.
“I pointed and said, ‘What is that?’” Pichinte said. “And she screamed and she said, ‘Those are Hanukkah lights! Those are actually Hanukkah lights!’ It was a wonderful surprise.”
Community Menorah Lighting
The Mid-Kansas Jewish Federation is putting on a community Menorah Candle Lighting at the site of the new lighted structures in front of Century II
When: 5:45 p.m. Dec. 23
Where: A Price Woodard Woodard Park, 401 W. Douglas
What: A ceremonial lighting of the new display with hot chocolate and doughnuts provided. Security will also be on site.
RSVP: Organizers are asking for RSVPs so they can plan refreshments. Just e-mail jfruhauf@mkjf.org
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 12:36 PM.
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