By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The band blared, local leaders lead chants and hundreds of students eager for free food and prizes marched down Eighth Street for the annual March to Main event on Tuesday night.
March to Main is organized by the Downtown Hays Development Corp. along with a committee of members from the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau, Fort Hays State University and North Central Kansas Technical College. The event was open to FHSU, NCK Tech and Hays Academy of Hair Design students, faculty and staff.
The leaders of the participating institutions and Hays Mayor James Meier lead the students in a spirited rally before they were treated to free food and chances to win a part of $3,000 in prizes donated by local businesses.
“We have spent the last couple of weeks saying welcome to our university, but tonight we say welcome to our community,” Tisa Mason, FHSU president, said. “Our community is not only the university, it is Hays. Hays is where we get jobs. We hire you and work with your families, and we really appreciate the total support of the community. Shop locally when you can. Have safe, responsible fun.”
Danielle Markley, owner and director of education at Hays Academy of Hair Design, said “Welcome students! We are so excited for tonight. We are excited for the school year. I just wanted to let you know how blessed we are to be in this community with three higher education choices for all of you— Hays Academy, Fort Hays and NCK Tech.”
Students said the allure of freebies plus a desire to get acquainted or reacquainted with downtown drew them to the event.
“I think we hadn’t been in a couple of years, and we both didn’t work tonight, so we thought why not see what they were going to do this year, maybe get some free food, check out some of the shops we have not been to in a while and just see what was going to happen,” said Miranda Merrill, FHSU senior from Brookville.
John Holmes, FHSU freshman from York, Nebraska, was downtown on an assignment from his freshman seminar class.
Sitting on a curb eating free sandwiches, a group of FHSU freshmen were having a girls night out.
Riley Bretton of Phillipsburg said the event was a good opportunity to spend time with friends.
Kate Steimel of Spearville said she came to March to Main, “to learn more about the town and learn what Main Street has.”
Leonard the dog greeted students as they made a stop at The Niche.
Emily Weigel, owner of The Niche, said of the event, “It’s great, because it gets kids in the door and they can see what we are all about and maybe they will feel more comfortable coming back to us later. They get to see what downtown has to offer. We have lots to do here in Hays.”