Events

Ashley Opliger is the President and Executive Director of Bridget’s Cradles 501c3 nonprofit in Wichita, Kansas. Her daughter, Bridget, was stillborn at 24 weeks gestation in 2014. Ashley’s mother had knit a cradle that allowed her family to hold Bridget on the day she was born. After realizing there was a need for hospitals and bereaved families to have a dignified way to hold tiny babies born into Heaven, Ashley left her career as a Speech-Language Pathologist and started the nonprofit in her daughter’s empty nursery. 

Under Ashley’s leadership, Bridget’s Cradles has grown in seven years from first donating cradles to their local hospital to now serving over 1,250 hospitals in all 50 states. From their headquarters in Kechi, Bridget’s Cradles comforts over 26,000 bereaved families each year. Ashley’s vision is to one day provide cradles, support, and the hope of the Gospel to every family who loses a baby.

Ashley leads Hope Gatherings, monthly Christ-centered support groups in Kansas and online for women throughout the country. She also organizes the Wave of Light, an annual event on October 15th, Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day, that impacts hundreds of grieving families. Ashley regularly speaks at women’s Bible studies, bereavement and nursing conferences, and makes appearances on local news stations and nationwide faith-based podcasts. She is also the host of the award-winning podcast, Cradled in Hope, that releases biweekly Gospel-focused episodes for grieving parents.

Steve Schaumburg was born in Oklahoma, went to high school at both Buhler and McPherson, traveled West for community college in Colby, and then graduated college at Wichita State. After college, his career included 8 years working in advertising agencies and more than 30 years in marketing and communications, sales, and fundraising roles within the financial services, higher education, and healthcare industries. His career took him to Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Dallas, Tulsa, and then Fort Lauderdale before making the decision to “boomerang” back to Wichita about 4 years ago to be near aging parents. Upon his return to Wichita, Steve joined The Nature Conservancy where he works with individuals, foundations, and corporations that share The Conservancy’s commitment to “protect the lands and waters on which all life depends.”

A dynamic duo, Cody Hanna and Kennady King, are the masterminds behind Victory Pyrotechnics and Special Effects. Although they both wear many hats, they serve Victory in unique ways that have contributed to its success today.

From Clearwater, Kansas, Cody Hanna founded Victory Pyrotechnics in the winter of 2017. It fulfilled one of his life-long dreams to bring extravagant and immersive fireworks displays to the Midwest. Victory Pyrotechnics sets itself apart by creating shows that combine pyrotechnics effects, special effects, music, and lighting to create an experience and tell a story. Cody, a graduate of Kansas State University, serves as the visionary for all that we do. He is seated as the Director of Business Development, where he walks clients through our Ultimate Client Experience and leads the design and operations teams to execute top-notch shows across the state of Kansas.

After a class in college and an immediate friendship (or alliance, depends on how you look at it), Kennady King joined Cody’s efforts to create a brand and a customer experience in the entertainment and, specifically, the pyrotechnics space.

After graduating from Kansas State University, Kennady joined Victory as the lead integrator. She works as the Marketing and Events Coordinator, where she maintains Victory’s strong brand position, plays a hand in all marketing efforts, and assists with people operations.

We are so excited to be speaking with all of you and introducing you to our unique business and the ways we strive to innovate in our space!

Ivanhoe Love, Jr. retired from the United States Army on September 12, 1990, after completing 28 years of service. While in the military service, Mr. Love attained the highest enlisted rank possible: Command Sergeant Major, a position he held for over 10 years. His service to his country saw him with two tours of duty in Vietnam and four tours in Europe. Mr. Love was the first African American Sergeant Major to be assigned to the Military Science Department at the University of Texas at Arlington. He was also the first African American Command Sergeant Major to be selected for the United States Military Academy at West Point. Mr. Love’s awards include the Silver Star Medal, 3 awards of the Bronze Star Medal, 3 awards of the Meritorious Service Medal. Since his retirement from the military in 1990, Mr. Love has continued being a public servant. He established the community corrections program within the 26th judicial district in 1991. During the same period, he was appointed by the Governor of Kansas to be Seward County’s first African American County Commissioner, a position he held for one year. Mr. Love developed a program to help at risk youth within the community. The program, Adolescent Support Services has been recognized by the governor as one of the state’s most innovative programs in Kansas. In 2012, Mr. Love developed a truancy program for Seward County and in 2015 a youth (teen) court program. Mr. Love was elected to the City Commission in 1992 and served one year as Vice-Mayor and three terms as Mayor of Liberal, Kansas from April 1998 to April 2001. He graduated from Leadership Liberal in 1992 and was elected to the board of trustees in 1993. He has served on the board of the American Red Cross, the high school site council, a director of Citizens State Bank for over 12 years, a trustee for the Douglas A. Smith Masonic Lodge, a Rotarian, and is a former member of the board of directors of the Seward County Historical Society. Mr. Love is currently a trustee on the hospital board at Southwest Medical Center, chairman of Focus on the Future (an oversight committee of the one cent sales tax) and chairman of the Northeast Liberal Leadership Group (N.E.L.L.). He has two sons, Sean Bedford and Ivanhoe Love III. Ivanhoe joined the Rotary Club of Liberal in 1992 A Paul Harris fellow second award recipient He served as President-Elect 2017-2018 Club President 2018-2019 District Governor Nominee 2020-2021 District Governor Elect 21-22 District Governor 22-23. Ivanhoe says that Rotary has become a way of life and is looking forward to working with other Rotarians imagining the good that Rotary will do in our communities our state and around the world. 

It's no secret that the media landscape has changed drastically, not only in the last couple of decades, but even in the last couple of years. That's cause for complaint on many levels, but is it justified? Is there anything that can be done about it? Carrie tackles the hard questions in what's sure to be an enlightening and provocative talk.

Michigan native Carrie Rengers was an Arkansas transplant before moving to Wichita in late 2002 when she joined her husband, former Wichita Eagle food editor Joe Stumpe, at the publication. She started the Have You Heard? business column with stories of what's opening and closing around the city. Since then, she's broken a lot of business news and has written on numerous other topics, including everything from serious subjects, such as COVID-19, to fun stories, such as what it's like to raise backyard chickens. She and Joe live in Riverside with their chickens, Slim Shady, Jamie Lee Curtis and Penny Lane.