By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
FHSU University Relations and Marketing
A phrase from the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” has been misquoted for years as “If you build it, they will come.”
Nonetheless, that expression — which is supposed to end with “he will come.” — is one that organizations have been hanging their hats on ever since.
Getting students to visit downtown Hays is what the Hays’ Downtown Development Corp. and Fort Hays State University were hoping to accomplish when they partnered to form “Core2Campus” in 2013.
An activity during the first couple of weeks of school to familiarize students with downtown Hays, Core2Campus has grown into an event that students have come look forward to.
After all, what college student wouldn’t be drawn to an outing that promised food, live music and the chance to win prizes?
So it was on a beautiful fall evening last Thursday that several hundred students joined FHSU administration, staff and faculty in a march from campus to downtown Hays.
The FHSU marching band was playing, the Tiger cheerleaders were leading cheers, and FHSU President Mirta M. Martin was waving to passers-by as the group made its way east on Eighth Street. They turned north on Ash Street until they reached 10th Street, where they turned east for the final two blocks of their march.
The group was joined along the way by students and staff from North Central Kansas Technical College and Hays Academy of Hair Design. Once they reached their destination, officials from all three schools and Hays Mayor Eber Phelps welcomed them to downtown.
“This is one of my favorite events in Hays,” said Phelps, a Fort Hays State graduate himself.
Sara Bloom, executive director of Downtown Hays Development Corp., grew up in Lindsborg and came to Hays in 2002 to attend Fort Hays State. An FHSU graduate, Bloom has lived in Hays for most of those 14 years, returning to town about a year and a half ago after a year’s absence to take on her current position.
The students were told to enjoy the food and music and visit as many as they could of the 27 businesses that were participating in the event. At each stop, students could pick up a ticket for prizes to be given away later in the evening.
Six freshman women from FHSU’s McMindes Hall — from as far as east as Ottawa to as far west as Lamar, Colo. — were giddy as they left Breathe Coffee House in the 700 block of Main Street on their way to the corner of 10th and Main for the prize drawing.
“How late are you open?” one student asked Patrick McGinnis, the coffee shop’s owner who was sitting on a railing just outside the door, greeting people as they went in and out of his business.
“I’ll stay open till 2 o’clock if you need a place to go,” McGinnis said.
Students — many sporting the black and gold of FHSU, including several freshmen with Class of 2020 across the front of their shirts — stayed long into the evening, hoping to have one of the numbers from their stash of tickets called as a winner.
An FHSU student was a big winner even before the meal began when Wichita junior Michael Turner found a gold “Core2Campus” brick worth $500 hidden downtown. Another student won a laptop, while others took home iPads and PC tablets. There were gift certificates galore, with the total number of prizes worth $3,000 — the majority of those coming from downtown businesses.
“We want you to know you can walk downtown,” Bloom told a group of FHSU students as they gathered near the Memorial Union before the walk. “You are very important to the city of Hays, and we want you to be connected with the city.”
Cole Harris and Tristan Sasse, newcomers to FHSU after transferring this year from Cloud County Community College in Concordia, were impressed with the event.
“I thought this sounded like a good way to get involved and meet some people,” said Harris, a sophomore history major from Hebron, Neb.
“Same here; it’s nice to get out and see this many people,” said Sasse, a junior informatics major from Smith Center.
From business owners to representatives from Hays’ three post-secondary institutions, the students were given a big welcome.
“We are so glad to be part of the education opportunities in Hays, America,” said Eric Burks, president of NCK Tech.
“I love the fact that we’re all here together,” added Len Melvin, co-owner of the Hays Academy of Hair Design and an FHSU graduate.
FHSU President Martin agreed.
“We are one family, and we will always be one family,” she said. “Welcome home, Tigers.”
Terry Lee Riddle, 38, died Aug. 27, 2016 at Deaconess Hospital, Oklahoma City. He was born Jan. 8, 1978 at Phoenix, Ariz., the son of Ron and Shannon (Pound) DeHaan. He was a 1996 graduate of Macksville High School. He enjoyed playing football and running track, especially hurdles, at Macksville and ran in the AAU Nationals at Rochester, Minn. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, and being with family.
