Online enrollment for Hays USD489 is once again open. We encourage all returning students to the district to try to complete the online enrollment. Below you will find information for completing the online process.
Central Enrollment is rescheduled for Monday, Aug. 5, from noon to 7 p.m. at the Hays High School cafeteria (enter through the gym doors). New students to the district and incoming kindergarten students who have not yet enrolled should come during that time to have a PowerSchool account created and receive all the necessary information.
The district will again have many registers available for you if you are needing to pay cash/check for your enrollment fees.
Ayva Silva, 9, of Hays slowly climbed to the top of a ladder holding a styrofoam cup wrapped in multiple layers of blue and black tape and toilet paper. Inside, buried in a nest of mini marshmallows, was a single raw egg.
When she reached the top of the 6-foot ladder, she raised her arm and dropped the cargo. It hit the floor with a thud.
Elizabeth Quakenbush,12, of Gorham drops her egg vessel from a six-foot ladder at the Hays Public Library as Sarah Doyle, young adult coordinator holds the ladder.
After about 15 minutes of ripping tape and cutting away the padding, Silva reached into the innards of her vessel and triumphantly produced her intact egg.
About a dozen teens attempted the alien egg drop challenge at the Hays Public Library on Tuesday afternoon. This summer’s reading program theme is space, so the kids were given markers and googly eyes to decorate their “alien eggs.”
Some of the kids were not as lucky as Ayva. They peeled away the layers of their vessels and were greeted with the gooey messes of broken eggs.
The event is one of many that have been part of the summer young adult program at the library.
Sarah Doyle, young adult coordinator, said the library offers STEM activities like the egg drop challenge, as well as arts and crafts, games, and movies. The young adult department is also trying to introduce more life skills activities into the programming, such as cooking classes.
“This is definitely a STEM program,” she said of the egg drop. “We are looking at doing some critical thinking, figuring out works best and following scientific procedure just to see what they can come up with in their creative minds to keep the egg from breaking when it hits the ground.”
The children used cardboard, fabric, styrofoam cups, cotton balls, marshmallows, tape, straws and other items to create their egg carriers.
“We like to experiment with different things, whether it is usual or not, give them some ideas and let them run with it,” Doyle said.
The young adult program is usually geared toward youth 12 to 18. However, if there are enough materials available, the library allows preteens to join the group as Doyle did on Tuesday.
Blake Fabin, 12, of Phillipsburg said his favorite program this summer was a visit from the FHSU Maker Van during which the kids made bridges.
Mylissa Molnar, 13, of Hays said she comes to the library almost daily to participate in the youth programs. Her egg vessel included a cage made out of plastic straws, a paper bowl and a bed of cotton balls.
Once school starts, the young adult programs will be daily at 3:45 p.m. Mondays through Fridays on the second floor of the library. Most programs last an hour with the exception of movies and game nights, which will go longer. The activities are free.
Ayva Silva, 9, of Hays opens her egg vessel Tuesday at HPL during the egg drop challenge.From left Lucas Miller, 12, of Hays, and Mylissa Molnar, 13, also of Hays work on their egg drop challenge vessels Tuesday at HPL.
The event will be 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, in downtown Hays.
Barrels and Bites is replacing Wines and Steins. This year the event will include heavy hors d’oeuvres, wine and spirits.
The event is replacing Wines and Steins. This year, the event will include heavy hors d’oeuvres, wine and spirits.
“Wines and Steins has been going on for almost a decade, and if DHDC is known for anything, it is known for change and new things, so we have decided we’re going to say goodbye to Wines and Steins and create a completely new event called Barrels and Bites,” Sara Bloom, DHDC director, said.
DHDC also sponsors Brews on the Bricks, a beer festival. People had approached DHDC about having a wine festival. DHDC was also approached by a local distillery about offering its products at a downtown event.
There still will be a stroll of downtown businesses, but DHDC is limiting that stroll to 12 businesses. Inside each business, event goers will have several choices of drinks. Each business will feature either a winery or distillery. This will include whiskies, bourbons and vodkas.
“We will have wineries and distilleries that will be coming to Hays, and they will be pouring their products and talking about their products and giving tastings of their products and telling you about their process,” Bloom said.
She added, “We are really excited to be featuring some of those local and regional wineries and distilleries because, just like craft beer, vineyards and distilleries are popping up and becoming more popular. We are excited to explore that world as well.”
Bloom said event goers will enjoy wonderful hors d’oeuvres as part of the event.
“Everything from salmon and pork sliders, a charcuterie table … bacon-wrapped chicken, crab rangoon pizza, meatballs and cheeseballs,” Bloom said.
Desserts will be served after the stroll at an after party from 9 to 11 p.m., weather permitting, at the Downtown Pavilion. Some of the items on that menu will include, cookies, brownies, truffles and a chocolate fountain.
The after party will host live and silent auctions. With every auction item purchased, you will take home an additional dessert item.
Some of the auction items include tickets to the FHSU Encore series, autographed memorabilia from Nathan Shepherd, art pieces, all-season FHSU sport passes, and dinner and vacation packages.
All proceeds from the event benefit DHDC. Barrels and Bites is one of only two fundraisers for the organization, with the other being Brews on the Bricks.
Only 300 tickets will be sold. Tickets are $65 each, $70 for individual tickets online and $450 for a table of eight or $460 for a table of eight online.
“It is always really exciting for us to host an inaugural event such as this,” Bloom said. “We hope the community can get excited along with us. We want to continue to thank the community for their support of downtown Hays and our organization Downtown Hays Development Corporation. Through these events we’re able to continue to be able to follow our mission, which is to be able to bring awareness of downtown Hays and continue to develop and revitalize it, so thank you all for your support.”
USD 489 enrollment is ongoing at HHS today and Thursday. Photo courtesy of USD 489
Central in-person enrollment will be at Hays High School, 2300 E. 13th St., from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 6;30 p.m. Thursday.
Families with new students and incoming kindergarten students must enroll in person.
Families enrolling students in person need to bring identification, birth certificates for the children, immunization and health records for the children, DCF records if applicable and a utility bill or proof of address.
Please enter through the gymnasium doors.
Online enrollment is live and parents can still enroll online. Click here.
You can access the online enrollment portal by using your PowerSchool log in information. If you don’t remember your PowerSchool password, there is an option on the login page to reset the password.
Please email Amy Arnhold at [email protected] if you have any questions with the electronic enrollment process.
Below you will find links to school supply lists for USD 489 schools.
With everything from “Kitch to Classic” – it’s time for Artful Resale.
Join the Hays Arts Council for a fundraising art sale at the Hays Arts Center Annex, 1010 Main St.
5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9 and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10.
The HAC’s funding allocation from Ellis County was eliminated. To offset that loss and capitalize on recent and previous “artful” donations the HAC has received, it’s the perfect time to clear out the HACs storage and share it with the public … paintings, reproduction and decorative art, photographs, ceramics, sculpture, fiber art, hand-crafted jewelry, art glass, pottery, etc. Art recycling at its best!
While the HAC has a nice assortment of things from previous donations, it would be awesome to collect some new items. If you have any artful treasures of your own that are just too good to toss, but have been relegated to the hall closet, basement or are simply hiding out under a bed, The HAC will find them a new home. Your gift to The HAC could be tax deductible. Remember, the HAC is collecting art and decorative items only – no other “garage sale” type items for this sale.
If you have any artful goodies you’d like to send our way, the HAC would love to have them.
Donated items can be dropped off at the Hays Arts Center, 112 E. 11th St. — and, please give the HAC a call if you need to drop off items outside our regular weekday hours 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 785-625-7522.
Macie Price, a Cervs employee, rings up Snoballs and beverages for a family at the Vine Street Cervs. Cervs will celebrate its 25th anniversary Aug. 16 to 18.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
The first Cervs at 27 and Vine streets in Hays when it opened in 1994. Photo courtesy of Russ Pfannenstiel.
From a single gas station to an independently owned chain of convenience stores that is beloved for its Popt Popcorn and Snoballs, Cervs has been a Hays staple for 25 years.
The business began in 1994 when Verlin and Elaine Pfannenstiel opened their first location at 27th and Vine in Hays. They bought what was then a gas and service station from the Brown family.
The family developed the name Cervs by combining a letter from each member in the family.
That first store had a single Snoball machine with two flavors. The Snoball did not originate at Cervs. They started at the Stop and Shops, which was another area convenience store chain.
During the school year, you can go into Cervs after school gets out, and there is a line at the Snoball machines. But it’s not just kids, adults seem to love the syrupy, icy drinks too.
Owner Russ Pfannenstiel, 50, said it seems to be a phenomenon unique to this part of the state.
Verlin and Elaine sold the business to their son, Russ, in 1999. Russ graduated from Fort Hays State University in 1991 with a business degree. He worked at a lumberyard in Russell for eight years before moving back to Hays to run the family business.
Russ expanded the business to three locations in Hays, including Hall Street in 2002 and Main Street in 2007.
At left, you can see the original Cervs Snowball machine. Photo courtesy of Russ Pfannenstiel.
In 2008, two more stores were added to the Cervs family, including a store in Hoisington in June 2008 and a store in Great Bend in July 2008.
The company started making flavored Popt! popcorn out its Main Street store in 2014. That business, run by Russ’ wife, Bonnie, eventually moved to a stand-alone location on 27th Street. The Popt! retail store also sells candy, homemade fudge and assorted bottled sodas.
Cervs is also known for its handmade bierocks. You can get the traditional beef in the afternoon along with taco or ham and cheese and breakfast bierocks in the morning, including bacon, egg and cheese or sausage, egg and cheese.
Russ Pfannenstiel is self-admittedly a guy who does not like to be in the limelight. He seldom does interviews and he would prefer someone else to cut his commercials for the stores.
In an industry that used to be dominated by independently owned gas and service stations, Cervs is today a rare example of an independently owned and operated business in a chain-dominated industry.
“I think the single mom-and-pops are becoming harder to operate — keeping up with the fuel and keeping up with the investment in it,” Russ said.
He said he thought the support of the community has been important in the success of the business.
The Snowball machines at the Cervs at Vine and 27 streets in Hays.
“I have been surrounded by some great people,” he said. “I have had some fantastic employees, and we’ve had the support of community in western Kansas.”
Cervs employs 50 to 55 employees across all five locations.
Pfannenstiel, as do most employers in Hays’ tight market, sometimes struggles to find employees. However, he said he has employees who have been with him for some time. He often hires students and said he finds it rewarding to see those young men and women graduate and move on to jobs in their fields.
Why do people like working at Cervs? Pfannenstiel jokes, “You get free Snoballs.”
“It is clean. It is well lit,” he said. “We try to make it a fun place to work.”
Three employees at the Great Bend store came to work for Pfannestiel when he purchased those operations 11 years ago, and they are still with the business. Pfannenstiel said having dependable, long-term employees has made branching out into Great Bend and Hoisington easier.
Pfannenstiel continues to update and look for new product lines that will bring customers into the store. Five years ago, the Cervs at 27th and Vine was renovated and yogurt machines were added. Two years ago, the Hall and Main Street stores were renovated, the Great Bend store was renovated this spring.
“It is fun going through the remodel process and seeing the finished process,” he said, “and getting customers’ feedback and seeing what they would like to see different and incorporating it into the store and the layout.”
The beverage area a the original Cervs. Photo courtesy of Russ Pfannenstiel.
The business also recently made the transition from Conoco branding to Phillips 66. Both brands are owned by the same company, and the parent company preferred to brand its gas stations as Phillips 66 from Kansas City to Denver, Russ said.
Russ said he continues to enjoy the challenge of running Cervs despite its demands.
“Every day is different,” he said. “There is not the same thing. You have a different challenge every day. The people are fun to work with, not only the employees, but the customers and the vendors you work with. It is never the same thing from day to day.”
Russ said Cervs is a fun business, but it is a constant learning process. His hopes for the future …
“To keep it going, keep it a fun place, always coming up with the next new and unique item to bring into the store and be open to any additional possibilities that are out there and being in a position to act upon them,” he said.
His advice for entrepreneurs who are just starting out is this, “You live and breathe it. It is on your mind 24 hours, seven days a week. It is not an 8 to 5 job. It is an extension of you and your family.”
Cervs will have a 25th anniversary celebration Friday, Aug. 16, through Sunday, Aug. 18. During the event, Cervs will be collecting food for the Community Assistance Center in Hays and the Community Food Bank of Barton County. Bring in two or more canned goods and you can be entered to win Royals tickets with a parking pass and a year’s supply of Snoballs. Additional giveaways will include concert tickets, bicycles, coolers and other items.
The anniversary event will also include 10 cent 16 ounce coffee Aug. 16 and Aug. 18, a Snoball drinking contest at the Vine and Great Bend locations on Aug. 16 and 25 cent 20 ounce Snoballs on Aug. 17.
The Ellis County Public Works Road & Bridge Division has announced that Union Pacific will be performing railroad crossing maintenance on the crossing located at Walker Avenue and Highway 40, reference DOT #814307L, MM 275.46.
The maintenance will begin at 7 a.m. Thursday and will last through Saturday.
Motorists traveling in the affected area should use alternate routes of travel until the project is completed.
Please direct any questions to Union Pacific at 303-405-5031
Beginning Tuesday, Main Street will be closed between Fifth and Sixth Street for sanitary sewer repairs. Through traffic should use Fort Street or Oak Street as alternate routes. Construction is expected to be complete by Friday.
Signs will be in place to advise the traveling public of utility work in the area. Motorists should use caution in these areas.
The City of Hays regrets any inconvenience this may cause to the public.
If there are any questions, call the Office of Project Management at 785-628-7350 or the contractor, M&D of Hays, at 785-628-3169.
Cindy Lightle, right, references something in a cookbook as Judy Zerr-Schalberger serves herself a plate during the July meeting of the Hays Public Library Cookbook Club.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
If you happen into the Hays Public Library during a meeting of one of their new clubs, you will not be greeted by the hush that is typical of a library.
Instead you will hear ooh’s and ahh’s, mmm’s and happy munching sounds — and a group of ladies exploring new culinary creations through a Cookbook Club.
The group meets on the third Thursday of the month at 11 a.m. The group is in its first year at HPL.
From far left to right, pull apart buttermilk biscuits, dump and done ramen salad, Thai noodles and scalloped potatoes with ham and bacon made from recipes in “Cravings: Recipes for All the Foods You Want to Eat” by Chrissy Teigen and Adeena Sussman.
There is no cost to attend, but you need to bring a dish made from a recipe from the cookbook selection of the month.
The morning I visited, the group was enjoying dishes from the “Cravings: Recipes for All the Foods You Want to Eat” by Chrissy Teigen and Adeena Sussman.
“I just pick and choose whatever I see coming through the shelves,” said Abby Artz, adult services program coordinator and sponsor for the group.
She said she looked for cookbooks with simple recipes with familiar ingredients.
“Most of the ones I have chosen are not easy to make, they still kind of challenge us a little bit, but it is genuinely something we would enjoy eating, not something outlandish and crazy.”
Cindy Lightle, Cookbook Club member, says she likes to follow the recipes exactly. She says it helps her learn new cooking techniques.
Some of the other cookbooks the group has tried include “Genius Kitchen;” “Heartlandia” by Adam Sappington, Ashley Gartland, and Jackie Sappington; “Sweet and Simple: Desserts for Two” by Christina Lane; “Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables” by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg; and “Smitten Kitchen” by Deb Perelman.
Cindy Lightle, club member, said the ways the members choose the recipes differ. Some choose recipes they think will be easy. Others said they looked for recipes with ingredients they thought they could find in Hays.
Lightle started with desserts and now she has moved on to biscuit variations. Yet others have literally opened the cookbooks to a random page, pointed to a recipe and said,”I am going to make that.”
“I like following the recipe,” Lightle said. “We said from the start, ‘Follow the recipe.’ Even though there are a lot of good cooks in this group, even though you know you would make it a different way, follow the recipe and maybe you learn a different way to make it. Then we will talk about why we shouldn’t do it that way again or why we should.”
Judy Zerr-Schalberger, who once worked in a school kitchen, said she is a little more free-wheeling with her recipes. For her Dump and Done Ramen Salad from the latest cookbook selection, she used her entire bag of broccoli slaw.
“What was I going to do with 4 ounces of broccoli slaw?” she said.
Zerr-Schalberger said she has had to adjust to cooking for just herself. She said she has learned to cut down recipes and freeze.
Although the ladies try to make different dishes, Lightle happened to make the same salad, so they compared how the two recipes tasted with the two cook’s slight variations.
The women use the club as an opportunity to share their tips and tricks.
Fellow club member Linda Beech suggested Lightle use a food processor to cut in her butter for her biscuits, and Lightle said it worked.
One recipe for devil eggs suggested boiling the eggs and then letting the egg whites soak in lemon water for two to 24 hours in the refrigerator before preparing. Zerr-Schalberger brings her water to a boil, adds the eggs, shuts off the heat, lets the eggs sit in the hot water for 15 minutes and then takes the eggs off the heat and runs cold water over them until they are cool to the touch. She said said the eggs shells crack cleanly in half almost every time.
Ruth Deines said she joined the group because, “I love to cook, and I like to eat too.”
She said she is picking up on recipes she can’t eat anywhere else in Hays, like the Thai noodle dish that she made for July’s club meeting.
Ruth Deines, Cookbook Club member, said she has discovered recipes through the club that she and her husband are now enjoying regularly.
Deines said she has continued to make the smashed chickpea salad with turkey meatballs she learned from a cookbook the group tried. She said her husband loves it.
Artz said, “It helps you learn what not to make and broadens your range when you are cooking for yourself.”
The group is trying to grow its membership and is open to meeting at a different time, including an evening. If you are interested in the group or would like to see the group meet on an alternative day or time, contact the library’s adult department at 785-625-9014.
The group’s next cookbook will be “Delish, Eat Like Everyday’s the Weekend” by Joanna Saltz and the editors of Delish. You can checkout a copy at HPL. Ask the front desk. The Cookbook Club’s next meeting is 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 15, in the Schmidt Gallery.
Former Hays Area Chamber of Commerce Director Tammy Wellbrock is striking out on her own after leading that award-winning organization for eight years.
Wellbrock has founded a consulting business, Girl Twin Solutions, that will offer training for chambers of commerce, businesses, nonprofits and government entities as well as coaching for individuals.
“I had experience in doing a lot of this,” Wellbrock said. “I really felt like the chamber industry is something that is very near and dear to my heart, but I am ready for something new. I am ready for my next challenge.”
Under Wellbrock’s direction, the Hays chamber was a 2013 finalist for Chamber of the Year, presented by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. She just returned from the ACCE National Convention where she was a presenter.
Prior to her taking the helm, Wellbrock was heavily involved with the local chamber serving on the board of directors as well as various committees. She also served on the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Kansas board and was president in 2016.
Wellbrock will offer herself as a trainer to chambers as business units and as a presenter hired by chambers to train their members.
She said she plans to focus initially on chambers of commerce, but intends to broaden her scope as she builds her business. She described herself as a generalist.
“I do know eventually I will start narrowing down my focus, figuring out what is really sticking with members or the businesses and what they are wanting, and I will start narrowing down and getting deeper,” she said. “Right now, I am more horizontal in nature, and I am offering a variety of things as well as customizing to what a business may need.”
Some of her initial curriculums will include networking, facilitator training, board strategic planning and women’s leadership.
Wellbrock further explained the need for networking training.
“I am amazed through my professional career as well as through the chamber industry, specifically, how few people feel comfortable networking and being able to do it well,” she said. “Most people are geared toward trying to collect as many business cards as they can, and they don’t know what to do with that or they don’t know how to provide value to the relationships that are being built. Instead, they are just trying to get a transaction.”
She just returned from the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives National Convention where she presented on that topic. She will be presenting soon at the Wyoming chamber’s state convention on the same issue. She also has been a trainer for the U.S. Chamber for its Institute of Organization Management.
Wellbrock said she is also passionate about women’s leadership.
“I have been amazed and fascinated on my own personal journey,” she said. “There have been some amazing women that have broken down barriers. There have been barriers that have been built back up. Certainly, though, more often than not, I have observed women not take advantage or see themselves as capable, professional leaders. I would like to help other women to see themselves in that light.”
She said this is not about the #MeToo movement.
Body language, tone of voice and actions can hinder women’s success in striving for leadership positions, Wellbrock said.
“This isn’t about trying to get women in roles of authority,” she said. “It is more so they can possess that personal poise so they can have success in any interaction they wish to achieve.”
This is an area Wellbrock said she would be willing to offer one-on-one coaching.
Wellbrock said she also hopes to offer a “newbie” course for chamber executives.
“I want to help others in the chamber industry not have to go through some of the pitfalls that I did — learn through my own journey and help them,” she said.
She said if she had one piece of advice she could given herself as a new chamber director, it would have been to work at being a marathoner instead of working in sprint mode. Burnout is a real issue in the chamber industry, as it is in many industries. Although she sees herself as a chamber director who worked in sprint mode, she acknowledged that it is a pace that is hard to maintain.
Wellbrock is also developing curriculum on customer service and facilitation.
Wellbrock’s last day at the Hays chamber was Friday. She said she has committed her full attention to her job at the Hays chamber, which has left her little free time to work on developing programs for Girl Twin Solutions. Now she will be able to devote her full effort to her new business.
She said she was ready to be her own boss and she wanted to have more flexibility to spend time with her son, who will be a sophomore at Hays High School in the fall.
“Above all, I think for the first time in my professional career, I am actually making a decision I think will help me be a better mom, a better wife, a better person. I want to put forward that effort, and that is why I created this business,” she said. “So being at home and being able to be flexible with my schedule is a huge part of the motivation of why I am doing what I am doing.”
Wellbrock will continue to facilitate Leadership Hays, a community leadership program affiliated with the Kansas Leadership Center. She received her bachelor’s degree in communication in 1994, followed with a master’s degree in communication in 2002, both from Fort Hays State University.
In 2014, she completed her Institute of Organization Management designation, and earned her Certified Association Executive in 2016. She has also taught at the West (2017) and Midwest (2018) IOM.
She will not have a brick-and-mortar location initially. She will be working out of her home and anticipates she will be traveling quite a bit. You can read Wellbrock’s blog on her website at tammywellbrock.com, email her at [email protected] or call her at 785-639-2743.
“[I find it hard] to leave a place I enjoyed, and I believe that I found my true calling here in the chamber industry. This has been such a blessing to me to be able to be here,” she said. “I am one of those weird people who likes change and likes new experiences, and so after eight and a half years, this feels right.”
Disclosure: Tammy Wellbrock is the wife of Gerard Wellbrock, who works for Eagle Communications, the parent company of Hays Post.
