53

THE KANSAS LIFELINE

July 2018

Taxpayer-supported treatment

changed his life, he said. 

“Y’all paid for my treatment,” he

said. “Today, I have 87 employees, and

about 30 to 40 percent of them are

recovering from addiction. They pay

taxes, they help people in their

community. They go to Alcoholics

Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous

meetings, they live in Oxford Houses

and recovery houses, and they are a

strong part of your community.”

A smoker might try to quit tobacco

use four or five times, he said. A

diabetic who cheats on their diet might

be in and out of the hospital. But

someone with an opiate addiction who

relapses is seen as the “scum of the

earth,” he said.

“The idea is to help these people,” he

said. “If nothing else, I want you to

think of it as a cost-saving project.”

A $500,000 detox center in

Sedgwick County, with support from

local and state governments, is saving

almost $9 million a year in stress on law

enforcement budgets and other

governmental line items.

“I can’t pick, any more than a

physician can with a diabetic, who’s

going to live, who’s going to die, who’s

going to get cured and who’s going to

stay ill,” he said, “but state-funded

treatment has paid you back 20-fold in

the sense of what these people do in our

community. I encourage you to support

them.”

A popular party

game gaining

notoriety is for

young people to

raid their parents’

medicine cabinets

for pills such as

Xanax and codeine,

then combine their

findings in a bowl

to dip into, potluck

style. 

Sarah Green is a writer,

editor and consultant. 

A graduate of the William

Allen White School of

Journalism and Mass

Communications at the

University of Kansas,

Green has written for

local and national publications including The

Hutchinson News, the KHI News Service

and Saveur magazine. She lives in Wichita.

he KRWA Thursday morning breakfast is a bit out of the

norm, thanks to the serving by Chris Cakes of Wichita. 

Chris Cakes is the original pancake catering company that

flips flapjacks... by the millions! Chris Cakes uses a custom

designed grill and dispensing unit that allows the

organization to feed large and small groups extremely fast

and efficiently. Add a dose of humor and some fancy

pancake flipping and you have a one-of-a-kind event that

people just love to watch while they enjoy delicious

pancakes! Chris Cakes was the outcome of a breakfast fund-

raiser by the Kiwanis Club in Pocahontas, Iowa in the

mid-1960's. They were preparing for their annual pancake

supper. Since the preparation and presentation of the meal

was labor intensive, requiring a large group of men, the idea

of building a portable grill capable of serving large groups

of people in a short span of time was contrived by Mr. Lorin

Christiansen. His idea was to build the grill and reduce the

workload at the pancake event and, occasionally, lease the

grill to other groups. However, since Lorin was the primary

cook and always the entertainment it was natural that he and

his grill become a team. Thus,

Chris Cakes Pancake Catering

was founded. Today, Chris Cakes

has franchises in numerous states. 

Kathy Xenos (Short Stack) of

Chris Cakes of Wichita, arrives

at Century II at about 5 a.m. to

set up. Short Stack always

brings an ample amount pancake

mix and a whole heap of

redneck humor. Short Stack

flips pancakes left and right,

backhanded even, and can

plant a cake on top of

someone's head 20 feet

distant. “You want another;

here it comes! It's a lot of fun

that was enjoyed by more

than 400 starting at 7:30 a.m.

on Thursday, March 29. 

Watch It – Catch It! It's a Flying Pancake! 

T