The Healing Kids Hearts Retreat is still taking applications.
Organizers are urging loved one to get their children’s names in for the retreat as soon as possible.
Children experience the loss of loved ones just as adults do but youngsters grieve differently than adults.
The Center for Life Experience (CFLE) in Hays is offering a special retreat March 30 for children dealing with death.
Healing Kids Hearts is in its fourth year.
The daylong retreat is for children ages 7-12 who’ve lost someone significant in their lives, whether a relative or a friend.
“They don’t talk the same way as adults,” says Ann Leiker, CFLE executive director and a licensed social worker. “They may want to grieve creatively, doing things like making a memory box with pictures and drawings.” Music and story writing is often part of the process.
Children attending past retreats have made bird houses and memory stones to place in a garden to honor loved ones. This year’s activities will include a balloon launch.
The young participants learn about grief, how to embrace it and how to cope with it so they can move forward in their journey of healing.
Each child is paired with a trained adult volunteer as a matched “buddy” for guidance and support throughout the day.
“They become friends and they just share. The kids come in pretty quiet and by the end of the day, they’re smiling and they have hope,” Leiker said. “They have memories of their loved one that they can share.”
“Healing Kids Hearts” will be held 9:45 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, March 30 at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, 3000 Sternberg Drive. The deadline for applications for participants and volunteers has been extended, but organizers would like to have applications by March 8 if possible. Applications are available on the CFLE website.
Cost is $10 per child which includes a T-shirt, tote, lunch and snacks. The cost for families with two or more children attending is $5 per child. Financial scholarships are available.
A separate session for adults will be held during the morning.
More information is available by calling or texting Leiker at 785-259-6859, or by email at [email protected].
My good friend, a single man in his 60s, didn’t like going to the medical clinic for anything, let alone a cold. His illness started with a fever, aches all over and a sudden overabundance of mucus. After one or two days of those obvious viral symptoms, for which we have no good therapy, he got better, except he acquired a new dry hacky cough.
Initially he did what he should have and stopped going to work, put a box of tissues and a waste basket next to his comfort chair, drank plenty of hot lemonade and tea, got plenty of rest and took Tylenol. After a few days and while covering his dry cough and washing his hands a lot, he went back to work. So far, so good …
On day five or six, he developed a fever again with new and profound weakness. His dry cough became productive and the mucus occasionally was streaked with blood. After one more day of fever, he developed shaking chills, and his daughter called me to explain her dad seemed to be in trouble. We got him to the emergency room where they began powerful intravenous antibiotics. He had pneumonia, a life-threatening bacterial lung infection, which invaded because the viral infection first weakened his lung defenses. The bacterial infection had also spread into his blood stream and was disseminating throughout his body. This is called sepsis and it kills unless treated very early.
My friend was very sick for about four weeks but recovered to be strong enough to go back to work again thanks to excellent medical and nursing care with effective support, antibiotics and rehabilitation. In retrospect, antibiotics would not have helped if they were started too early during the viral process. The time to attack early with antibiotics should have been at the time of the second fever. Studies show if antibiotics are given during the viral infection, a bacterial pneumonia will still follow in about the same frequency, only now there will likely be resistance to that specific antibiotic.
Take home message: Bacterial pneumonia can follow a viral respiratory infection, but, antibiotics won’t help until the bacterial infection begins;
We should all cover our coughs, wash our hands frequently and keep our fingers out of our own eyes and noses;
The flu shot saves lives by preventing the viral infection in the first place.
For free and easy access to the entire Prairie Doc® library, visit www.prairiedoc.org and follow The Prairie Doc® on Facebook, featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc® a medical Q&A show streaming live most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Many universities in Kansas are seeing a drop in the number of enrolled international students, which education leaders said hurts campuses’ cultural diversity and school finances.
Protests at KCi in January 2017 against the travel ban -photo courtesy Fox4 News
The number of international students enrolled in Kansas Board of Regents colleges has declined by more than 11 percent since 2015, or roughly 1,560 students.
Many of the affected schools already face limited state funding and declining enrollments, which is compounded by the lost revenue from international students who pay out-of-state tuition, often live on campus and contribute to local economies.
International students account for a roughly $260 million economic impact in Kansas, supporting about 2,500 jobs, according to data from the nonprofit NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
“These are 600 fewer students paying out-of-state tuition coming to our university,” said Charles Taber, provost of Kansas State University. “That’s millions of dollars of revenue loss.”
Chuck Olcese, director of international support services at the University of Kansas, acknowledged that money often leads conversations about a decrease in the number of international students. But Olcese said “the more guiding factor is the ability to make an international environment for students from Kansas or wherever they’re coming from across the U.S.”
About 70 percent of University of Kansas students may not have met someone from another country nor had any serious interaction with another culture, Olcese said.
Many school leaders have attributed the decline in the number of international students coming to Kansas to the perception that the country is increasingly unwelcoming to immigrants, pointing to issues such as President Donald Trump’s travel ban .
“The travel bans that came out right after the Trump presidency took effect and children being separated from parents at the borders, these all make international news in big ways, and just kind of underscores an unwelcome feeling,” Olcese said.
He said it’s difficult to imagine any profession that isn’t being affected by these issues.
“If you’ve done your whole education in a very isolated environment without interacting with someone who thinks different culturally than you, you’re really at a disadvantage,” Olcese said.
Members of the Alpha Gamma Delta Amazing Race team interview Vera Storer at Homestead Assisted Living on Saturday.
Members of the Amazing Race teams took a step back in time Saturday during the fundraiser for First Call for Help.
Seven teams raced through Hays Saturday completing challenges for the fundraiser.
One of the challenges included interviewing residents at the Homestead Assisted Living Center.
Virgil Howe, 86, shared pieces of his life with the racers.
He grew up on a farm in northwest Missouri near St. Joseph. He always had an interest in animals. However, his parents determined because of his health, he would attend college instead of working on the farm. He ultimately studied plant pathology.
He said the person who had the most impact on his life was Dr. Irene Mueller at Iowa State University.
The Circle K International Amazing Race team packs a saddle bag at Doerfler’s Harley Davidson on Saturday.
He had just come back from the service. He had been studying pre-med, but after serving as a hospital corpsman, he decided that was not the way he wanted to go.
“This lady made plants living things to me,” he said.
The racers asked Howe what he liked to do in high school.
“Do you really want to ask me that?” he said. “I still had to work on the farm, but at night there were some very pretty girls I liked to keep the company of and there was some guys that I would get together with on Saturday and Sunday night. Occasionally, I would like to read. I read most of my life.”
He said his favorite gift was when his granddaughter made him a great-grandfather on Christmas Eve.
A member of the Crazy Kiwanis putts at Precision valley Golf during the Amazing Race Saturday.
“How could you have anything better than that?” he said.
When he was about 12 or 13, he wanted a BB gun in the worst way. He opened up all his gifts at Christmas and he had socks and jeans.
“I tried to act like that was fine,” he said.
When he went to put on the pants, his father had slid the BB gun inside the leg of the jeans.
Howe said his favorite president was fellow Missouri native Harry Truman.
“I thought he made momentous decisions and he accepted the responsibilities for them,” he said. “And then I always admired him as an ex-president. When people tried to hire him for things he was not qualified, he would always say, ‘You don’t want me. You want the president, and the president is not for sale.’
“I always thought he was a wise man even though he was defiled and criticized and poked fun at.”
He said he also admired Eisenhower and was able to meet his grandson.
The Alpha Sigma Alpha team dips ducks out of a hot tub at Pools Plus during the Amazing Race.
Howe said the happiest day of his life was when his daughter was born, but he it was also one of the longest days of his life.
His wife went into labor in the early hours of the morning, and Howe took her to the hospital. The staff at the hospital sent him home and said someone would call him when the baby was born.
At 6 that evening, he still hadn’t received a phone call. He went back to the hospital, and the nurse said he thought his wife had given birth that afternoon.
“I was a basket case,” he said.
He went to the hospital and saw his wife. She said they had a daughter.
He went to the nursery and recognized his daughter immediately based on her light-colored hair, just like his.
Another team interviewed Vera Storer, 83.
Store grew up in Garnett, Kansas, on a farm.
She said her favorite subject in school was biology. She went on to become a nurse.
She said she enjoyed going to basketball games when she was in high school. The FHSU students on the team asked her if she played basketball, and the Store explained her school did not have girls basketball when she went to school. The girls played for fun over the noon hour, but only half court.
She said her favorite gift was her wedding ring.
She said her mother had the most impact on her life. She raised six children mostly by herself because her husband was away working in the oil fields. The family did not have much money.
“She was a strong person,” Storer said.
President George HW Bush was her favorite president.
She said the happiest days of her life was when she got married and when she graduated from nursing school.
Storer, who has four children, said if she could have done anything differently, she would have enjoyed life, taken more trips and played with her kids more.
“I was a nurse. I was working. My husband was a teacher. We were busy, busy, busy,” she said.
Other challenges included throwing darts, counting money at Sunflower Bank, tasting popcorn at Popt, putting at Precision Valley Golf, stacking a pallet of cookies at the Girl Scouts of the Kansas Heartland office, identifying juice flavors at Otter Juice Company, gathering numbered duck from a hot tub at Pools Plus, shopping for school supplies at Walmart for the First Call for Help Backpack for Kids program, packing food boxes at St. Joe’s Food Pantry, gathering food for the First Call food pantry and packing a saddle bag at Doerfler’s Harley Davidson.
Teams included the Krazy Kiwanis Springer Style, Teddy Bears from the Kansas Highway Patrol, Circle K. International, Alpha Gamma Delta, People Be Crazy, Courage Caring Hearts and Alpha Sigma Alpha.
The Kiwanis were honored as the top fundraisers. Team members included Chris Springer, Ashley Springer, Jonathan Springer and Michele Springer.
The Hays Kiwanis Club donated $1,500 toward the Race, which sponsored four teams: Krazy Kiwanis Springer Style, The Circle K International Racers and two FHSU sororities: Alpha Gamma Delta and the Alpha Sigma Alpha Team.
Best costume/uniform went toPeople Be Crazy . Members on that team were Cassy Zeigler, Olavee Raub, Jamie Wolbert and Jen Schield. The team was sponsored by Raub & Zeigler LLC in Ellis.
Quickest time was People Be Crazy.
All the money raised will go toward First Call for Help’s rent and utility assistance program.
“Thanks also to the numerous volunteers who helped make this Race a success,” Laura Shoaff of First Call for Help said. “We would like to extend a huge thank you to the business locations listed below, who hosted a challenge this year and donated $25 or more to First Call For Help. Thanks also to the community members who donated food to the racers during our ‘Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood mini food drive challenge’ to benefit our First Call For Help food pantry. Thank you so much to all the businesses who also donated prizes to be handed out to the contestants and volunteers following the Race.”
For more information on First Call for Help, see its website.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita may sell 24 acres around its planned new ballpark for a Triple-A baseball franchise to the team’s owners for $24.
Image courtesy city of Wichita
The City Council will decide this week whether to sell land worth more than $800,000 to the team owners for development.
One of the team’s owners, Lou Schwechheimer, says the development around the ballpark should spur economic growth elsewhere in Wichita.
The city plans to spend up to $81 million to build a new stadium for the team that will move from New Orleans to Wichita. The team is an affiliate of the Miami Marlins.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has issued a rare order directing the Brown County District to sentence a sex abuse offender for a third time, saying the man was a victim of “judicial vindictiveness.”
Brown -KBI offender registry
County District Judge John Weingart sentenced defendant Wyatt Brown to 30 years in prison for aggravated sodomy. Brown’s lawyers appealed the sentence, saying it was incorrectly articulated. The Supreme Court agreed and ordered a resentencing.
Weingart responded by adding one year to Brown’s sentence after the victim’s family said they were traumatized by an appellate process forcing them to relive the crime.
Smith’s attorneys appealed again. The Supreme Court ruled Friday that Weingart effectively punished Brown for exercising his right to appeal, and ordered him to be sentenced for a third time.
Assistant City Manager Jacob Wood has ended the Winter Storm Traffic Emergency plan for the city of Hays. People who live or work along emergency snow routes can now return to their normal routine of parking on the snow routes.
The city of Hays Public Works Department will continue with snow removal operations throughout the evening. Tonight the crews will focus on removing snow from the downtown area.
While the worst of the winter storm is over, the Hays Police Department is asking that motorists limit their travel if at all possible. Those that must travel are advised to do so with caution, and are encouraged to give themselves extra time to reach their destination. Please remember to drive slow, pay attention to vehicles in front of you, and allow for extra stopping distance.
Christa Mae Nye, 93, of Colby, went to be with her Lord and Savior on March 3, 2019. Christa was born on December 25, 1925 in Mulvane, KS. She spent her adult life in Colby, KS and was active in Eastern Star, Rebecca’s and Oddfellows. Christa held the office of Worthy Matron for the Eastern Star in the Colby Chapter. She was a long-time member of First Christian Church in Colby.
Christa is preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Duane Nye; son, Dennis Kenaman; parents, Ethel and Calvin Niblack; brothers, Jack, Vernon, Pete, R.A., Bill, Chet, Glenn, and Larry; and sisters, Roberta and Cora. She is survived by her children, Don Nye (Ann), Bill Nye (Marsha), Sharon Hunt (Clyde) and Velma Meitl (Jerry); brother, Richard Niblack; sister, Ruth Morris; sister-in-law, Shirley Benda; 15 grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
The last 3 years of her life were spent at Prairie Senior in Colby. The care and love she received there was exceptional. The family will be forever grateful for the wonderful care she received. We would also like to thank Brian Unruh for all his care and concern for her.
There will be a visitation from 1:30-3:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 6, 2019, at Baalmann Mortuary, 190 S. Franklin Ave., Colby, Kansas, followed by burial in Beulah Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the Colby Senior Center, in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701.
Eddie Dwain Ingram, age 63, unexpectedly passed away on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 in Lubbock, Texas. Eddie was born April 14, 1955 in Tribune, Kansas, the son of Dwain M. & Theoma A. ( McDonald ) Ingram. A lifetime resident of Greeley County, Kansas, he was Regional Supervisor for ARMtech Crop Insurance and a life-long farmer in Greeley County.
Eddie was a member of the Kansas Muzzleloaders Assn, N.R.A. and the Smokey Hills Brigade.
Eddie’s surviving family includes-
Two Children-
Cortlandt Ingram- Branson, Missouri
Tava & Chris Foster- Montclair, Virginia
His Mother-
Theoma A. Ingram- Tribune, Kansas
Two sisters-
Lynnette & Roy Lewis- Nickerson, Kansas
Lesa & Dale Nolan- Tribune, Kansas
Three Grandchildren-
Gunnar Foster, Lincoln Foster & Khyber Foster- Montclair, Virginia
Three nephews, one niece, two great nephews and two great nieces.
His father, Dwain Ingram preceded him in death
A celebration of Eddie’s life will be held at 2:00 pm (MDT) Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the United Methodist Church in Tribune, Kansas.
Burial will be in Greeley County Cemetery in Tribune, Kansas.
Friends may call from 10:00 am until 8:00 pm Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at Price & Sons Funeral Home in Tribune, Kansas.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Greeley County Museum in care of the funeral home.
Condolences may be sent to the family through the funeral home website at priceandsons.com
Proud lifetime Kansan Alberta Hayden passed away peacefully in her lovely apartment on March 1, 2019.
Alberta Inman Rice was born June 30, 1917 in Russell County, Kansas to Arthur Rice and Hannah Inman Rice, the sixth of eight children. The Rice family moved to a sod house in Wallace County, KS on October 29, 1929, the day the Stock Market crashed. The family’s dream of a nice frame house was never to be realized, but Alberta was a proud member of “The Sons and Daughters of the Soddies.”
Alberta was an excellent student, but hard times in the Dirty Thirties limited her formal education to eight years. That education included spending the night of March 26, 1931 in her Wallace County school house due to a fierce and famous blizzard.
During her teenage years in The Dirty Thirties, Alberta suffered from dust pneumonia, a condition that left her weak the rest of her life. However, it probably contributed to her longevity due to her lifelong motto, “never give up.”
William B. (Bill) Hayden, Jr. and Alberta were married in Goodland, KS on April 22, 1942. They lived on the farmstead they built in Southwest Sherman County for 53 years. Alberta loved agriculture and the rural life. She was a meticulous housekeeper of her beautiful home, and loved sharing the beauty of her flower garden and the bounty of her vegetable garden with others. She delighted in serving meals from food that was 100% produced on their farm.
Alberta loved entertaining and socializing. Her home was the site of many large family gatherings. Alberta belonged to two local ladies clubs and a garden club. She & Bill hosted the first neighborhood Fourth of July picnic and fireworks, a tradition that rotated among the various neighborhood hosts for over thirty years. Alberta also helped organize a neighborhood card club. She was secretary of the Sherman County Century Families for 13 years.
Alberta was a member of the Goodland United Methodist Church, UMW Circle III, and the Methodist Quilters. She especially enjoyed the fact that five generations of women in the family worshipped in the Goodland Church: Hannah Rice, Alberta, Gaylene Shank, Tiffany Musil, and Hannah Jones.
Bill and Alberta pulled a travel trailer and spent eighteen winter vacations in southern states. They enjoyed their new friends and learning about each other’s home cultures.
In 1995, the Haydens moved from their farm in to Goodland, KS. Bill passed away in 1998, and Alberta continued living in what she fondly referred to as “her lovely apartment.”
Alberta was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and her siblings, Chester Rice, Ellen Ahrens, Katherine Krause, Pansy Downtain, Dorothy Horton, Florence Rice, and Joseph (Jiggs) Rice.
She is survived by son Ben Hayden (Billy) of Norman, daughter Gaylene Shank (Dennis) of Goodland, granddaughter Tiffany Musil (Casey) of Louisburg, grandson Cade Shank of Wichita, great-grandchildren Megan Scott of Hays, Hannah Jones and Zachary Musil of Louisburg, sister-in-law Vida Rice of Middleton, ID, and many nieces and nephews, most of whom spent wonderful times on the farm.
Christa Mae Nye, 93, of Colby, went to be with her Lord and Savior on March 3, 2019. Christa was born on December 25, 1925 in Mulvane, KS. She spent her adult life in Colby, KS and was active in Eastern Star, Rebecca’s and Oddfellows. Christa held the office of Worthy Matron for the Eastern Star in the Colby Chapter. She was a long-time member of First Christian Church in Colby.
Christa is preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Duane Nye; son, Dennis Kenaman; parents, Ethel and Calvin Niblack; brothers, Jack, Vernon, Pete, R.A., Bill, Chet, Glenn, and Larry; and sisters, Roberta and Cora. She is survived by her children, Don Nye (Ann), Bill Nye (Marsha), Sharon Hunt (Clyde) and Velma Meitl (Jerry); brother, Richard Niblack; sister, Ruth Morris; sister-in-law, Shirley Benda; 15 grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
The last 3 years of her life were spent at Prairie Senior in Colby. The care and love she received there was exceptional. The family will be forever grateful for the wonderful care she received. We would also like to thank Brian Unruh for all his care and concern for her.
There will be a visitation from 1:30-3:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 6, 2019, followed by burial in Beulah Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the Colby Senior Center, in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701. For condolences or information visit www.baalmannmortuary.com
LEBANON – Imogene Grace Roush, 84, passed away Friday March 1, 2019, at Independent Living in Smith Center, KS.
She was a housewife. Imogene was born the daughter of George and Nina (Samuelson) Deichen on May 30, 1934 in Banner Township Smith County, KS.
Survivors include her husband Leland of the home; daughters Connie (Mike) Tholstrup of Concordia and Cindy (Arlyn) Steinert of Hoisington; sons Kirk of Carrollton, TX and Kelly (Sue) of Lebanon; brother Herb Deichen of Wichita; sister Louise Kingsbury of Smith Center; 9 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.
By BECKY KISER
