A Trip Back to a Childhood Spent in Westport Orphanage

The Kansas City Orphan Boys’ Home

By Tess Vrbin Joe Bessenbacher’s most vivid childhood memories include “a white triangular bonnet.” This piece of headgear is part of the habit that the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul wore. The order of nuns ran the Kansas City Orphan Boys’ Home, where Bessenbacher spent nine years of his childhood. Over time,…

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A Sweet Memory Prompts Strawberry Hill Question

Welcome to Strawberry Hill sign

By Rachel Thomas When she was around 10 years old, Christine Rogge attended an ethnic festival in the area of Kansas City, Kansas, known as Strawberry Hill. That was decades ago, but the fond memory remains, and the south Kansas City woman turned to curiousKC so that she could pass along the rich history of that…

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Whatever Happened to Cake Box…And Those Other Restaurants?

Shakey's Pizza sign

We’ve been telling the stories of restaurants from the past this year, diving into a trio of burger shacks: Smaks, Wimpey’s, and the Nu-Way Drive-In. It’s all part of our curiousKC series, wherein local readers, viewers and listeners get the chance to ask those burning questions about where we live. [FLEX-CONTENT] Today’s trio of questions…

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Whatever Happened To…Those Other Burger Places?

It was that burger place your mom took you to after you bought shoes or the stop on the way home for an after school treat. Everybody has traditions around food — a restaurant that marks a moment in time or period in your life. Flatland recently told the story of Smaks, a local burger chain…

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