By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

After spending three months in Hays as part of an around-the-world trip to learn new ways to be a family, author Dan Kois is back to promote his book “How to be a Family: The Year I Dragged My Kids Around the World to Find a New Way to Be Together.”

Kois, accompanied by his daughter, Harper, will speak and sign books at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Hays Public Library.

Kois, an editor for Slate magazine, his wife, Alia Smith, and two daughters, Lyra and Harper, left their home in Arlington, Va., for the grand experiment on being a family.

They also spent three months each in New Zealand, The Nertherlands and Costa Rica before ending their journey with a stint in Hays, America.

“The book is about our epic 2017,” he said. “As the title suggests, we spent time in four different countries to try to shake ourselves out of our family rut, our parenting rut, to see what family living was in places other than where we lived before, which was Arlington, Va., a suburb of D.C.”

The Koises chose Hays in part because they wanted to learn a different way to be American parents. They are also friends with playwright and Hays resident Catherine Trieschmann, who Dan knew from college.

“We were looking for the real small-town experience,” he said. “Where we live, it is a suburb of a big city. It is very stereotypically fast-paced. Our kids are over-scheduled, and we are overworked. We thought a kind of closeness of community and a more deliberate pace of life might be great for us to experience.”

Kois said he did find that to be the case in Hays.

“We immediately made a lot of friends. We became very involved in our community in our three months here in service and in church and in neighborhood activities,” he said. “We really did find we were a lot more relaxed and chilled out here than we found ourselves to be in Arlington.

“Our kids found school a wonderful place with great friends, and we found the pace of everyday life just a lot more manageable than what we had been previously doing.”

The final quarter of the book is about Hays in which Kois talks about the glut of parades the family experienced in the fall and how it immediately gave them a sense of community and belonging.

He also describes the showing of the French documentary of “A Quiet America,” which was filmed in Hays in April 1976.

He writes about the Hays Symphony’s Halloween performance, where his daughters were drafted to act alongside the symphony with other children and adults.

Kois said he learned from his family’s international travel there is no one way to do things.

“You can go to New Zealand where kids have enormous amounts of independence and kids are encouraged to take huge risks with their bodies and their educations,” he said. “You can go someplace like The Netherlands where the entire society is built around cycling and cars aren’t used by most families and where children are prized for their independent thought, but just coincidentally all behave the same way like very traditional Dutch people.”

In some cases, the Koises found the communities in which they lived had things they can bring back and use in their family, and in other cases they found they didn’t fit in at all.

“In The Netherlands, our older daughter had a huge problem fitting in and never really felt completely at home,” he said. “Our younger daughter fit right in and immediately transformed herself into a tiny Dutch woman.”

As a parent, Kois said he brought home a lot of humility from the experience.

Some aspects of the trip turned out just as he imagined. Other aspects were so difficult he wondered why they ever attempted the trip.

“I also think both me and my wife have found a real new closeness with our kids and a sense that all four of us, all of us as team can really set out and accomplish things that we might never have thought we otherwise could do.

“One of the big problems we had that I hoped we could address on the trip was this sense that each one of us in our family lived our lives in sort of separate little pathways or lanes. We each had our things that we were worried about. We each had our school or work or home or whatever that was our concern, but we rarely all four of us got out in the world and challenged ourselves and challenged each other in ways we had to overcome all together. A year on the road definitely gives a chance to do that.”

Lyra and Harper both weigh in on the adventure in the book. Lyra at the end of the book is asked about how her dad portrayed her in the book. She answered she thought he was wrong.

Kois said the girls, who were fifth and seventh graders at the time, say in the book there were some very challenging times during the trip, but they grudgingly admit it was kind of cool.

“I’m going to take that as a huge win for me,” Kois said.

The family has moved back to Arlington, and they are trying to apply the lessons from the trip to their old life.

“In big ways and small, it is making our old life feel a little bit better and a little bit easier and a little bit new. Taking for example the lessons I learned about community here in Hays—the way that people in this smallish city make this the city they want to live in.”

He gave the example of Cathy Drabkin, who learned how to bake bread and now has her own bread business and Catherine Trieschmann, who wanted more theater in Hays, so she created pockets for that to happen.

“We’ve taken those lessons and tried to bring them back to our big community to make Arlington the place we want it to be instead of complaining about the things that it isn’t,” he said.

Kois’ book is available anywhere books are sold. They will be for sale at the signing. The Hays Public Library has copies for checkout pending availability.

By CRISTINA JANNEY

Hays Post

Students from Hays High volunteered Tuesday night for the annual Trick-Or-Treat So Others Can Eat because they know what it means to be in need.

Mercedes Nuss, a HHS senior, said when she lived with her mother, her family regularly came to Community Assistance Center for food. The family also received help during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

“It helped out a lot because we didn’t have the money to provide for our family like we wish we would have,” she said. “They helped us a lot, so it feels good to pay it forward and help others who are in the situation I was when I was a kid.”

Nuss collected food door to door for the CAC with fellow students in the HHS JAG-K program. JAG-K helps students who have risk factors that could contribute to them not graduating from high school.

“It is really comforting to know that people care about it as much as they do,” Nuss said of the food drive. “I know when I was a kid, it helped out a lot. It meant a lot to me and my family.”

JAG-K sophomore Ashton Herrman’s family also used a food bank when he was younger.

He said he volunteered, “because we lived in Colby, and we were really poor. We had to go to a friend’s house for hot water. We did [use the food bank]. Now that we are doing better with money, I feel it should be my job, because I have been through it to know how much this helps people.”

“This place is really beautiful. I am really glad the community cares for this. It just warms my heart.”

Twenty-seven organizations collected food across the city. Some of these included Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H, FHSU groups and church groups. HHS DECA students, Lions Club, CAC volunteers and church group volunteers helped sort food at the CAC.

Theresa Hill, CAC co-director, said the pre-Halloween food drive is the largest donation event of the year. The food bank shelves were bare leading up to the event, and the center was using monetary donations to fill food needs.

The CAC serves about 5,500 people annually. Between 80 and 100 families receive food from the CAC monthly.

Last year the food drive brought in about 16,000 food items. Organizers were hoping for about 20,000 items this year. The CAC also accepts cash donations during the event.

Shaina Prough is the sponsor for HHS DECA, which helps organize the event. She said Tuesday night collections were looking good. Warm weather seemed to be aiding in collection.

53-year-old Bonnie Werth’s involvement with TOTSOCE goes back to the beginning of the event in 1983, when she and her sister, Connie Haselhorst, began collecting food. The sisters helped make the school-sponsored event through DECA in 1985.

As the food cans clanked and piles of incoming food grew, Werth said watching the event was an “Aha moment.”

“This has really grown to be more than just people from the high school doing it,” she said. “They are seeing the need for having canned good and how it is really benefiting a lot of needy families and people who need help.

“It makes me teary-eyed. It makes me excited to know a lot of people benefit from something that started small and got larger.”

Not only has Werth been participating since the program’s inceptions, she is passing on a passion for giving and volunteerism to younger generations through 4-H and her grandchildren. She collected Tuesday with the Big Creek Astro 4-H Club.

“Giving of your time is what is most important—selflessness,” she said, “and teaching them sometimes we need to take time out of our day, even if it busy, to give something to somebody else.”

She added, “I am just in awe of how many volunteers help now with getting the canned goods moved for the Community Assistance Center.”

The CAC will continue to receive food through this week, so Hill said she didn’t anticipate having a total on food collected through the event until Monday. The CAC hopes the food collected this week will last until the next major food drive sponsored by mail carriers over the Mother’s Day weekend. The food collected during TOTSOCE is also used in the CAC’s annual holiday food baskets.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

New owners have taken the helm of SouthWind CrossFit and are bringing new offerings to the fitness club.

 Melissa Meagher, 33, and Anthony Fox, 28, took over the business, 229 W. 10th, in August.

Both Fox and Melissa have a backgrounds in fitness and athletics, and Melissa and Fox were both coaches at the SouthWind before they purchased the business.

Fox has a bachelor’s degree in health and human performance and a master’s degree in movement and sports studies. He also has a certification to train college athletes. He was also formerly a trainer at the Center for Health Improvement.

Fox said he spends a lot of time watching people’s movement and trying to help them improve their technique.

“I think that keeps people safe,” he said. “I want to push people to get stronger, but I also know where to ride that line of what is going to push you to get better without you getting hurt.”

Melissa is a level 2 CrossFit coach. She was a Division I volleyball player at Central Connecticut State University and also an assistant high school volleyball coach at TMP.

Melissa said after her college sports career was over, she was dealing with a lot injuries. She joined SouthWind as what she characterized as “broken.” The gym worked with her at the level she was at and helped her rebuild her strength.

She said she is now in the best shape of her life, even better than when she was playing college sports.

“[The gym members] get to ask me questions about how did you do that. I can talk to them about how recovery is really important — how to take care of your body while you are trying to get your body back to shape,” Melissa said.

She added it helps people to be able to see others have been in their shoes and have been able to get back in shape.

In addition, her high school coaching experience, Melissa said, helps her connect with her athletes and work with large groups.

“That is really important in this gym too,” she said. “You get to know every single person in class. I can look at every single person, and I know all of their names. I know all of their injuries. I know what goals they are going for. Nobody gets neglected in this gym.”

The new owners have varied the classes offered at the gym. In addition to the 60-minute CrossFit classes, they now offer 45-minute Get Fit classes, 30-minute Quick Fit classes, an endurance course on Saturdays, open gyms, CrossFit Kids and an Athletic Development Program for high school athletes who want to work on strength and conditioning in the offseason.  

Get Fit classes are for people just learning CrossFit or people who want the CrossFit class but are not involved in competitive sports.

“They want to get the good workouts in and learn more in technique and learn more in movement,” Melissa said.

Quick Fit classes are for those who don’t have very much time. They don’t use barbells, but they use all of the other equipment.

The gym is continuing its Legends course, which is geared to people who are 50 years and older. It is 60 minutes three days a week.

CrossFit Kids is aimed at getting kids involved while their parents are working out, Fox said.

“We are very about family,” he said. “As they see their parents doing something that is healthy and good for them, we are hoping they will follow in their footsteps as well.”

CrossFit is defined as using constantly varied functional movements at high intensity, Fox said. This includes a lot of squatting and lunging, and pushing and pulling.

These movements apply to daily activities. Getting out of chair is similar to a squat. Lifting groceries is similar to a dead lift, Fox said.

Especially in the Legends class, the coaches are working on improving strength for daily life activities. Some of the gym members said they were unable to kneel at church, and their goal was to be able to do that again.

Melissa and her sister Becky’s mom joined the gym. She has had two total knee replacements. If she was sitting in a chair and holding a grand-baby, she had to have someone there with her, because she couldn’t get out of the chair with one her grand-babies in her arms. Through the CrossFit class, she was able to build enough strength so she could do that.

“You don’t have to have the goal be awesome or to be a competitor,” she said. “You can just have a goal as simple as I want to be able to get our of a chair on my own. We will work with you.”

CrossFit is more focused on functionality and not how your body looks, and everyone’s workouts are individualized, the duo said.

Gym membership costs vary depending on what type of classes you want to take. Endurance courses are $19 per month, Kids CrossFit is $29 per month, the Legends class is $49 per month, Quick Fits are $69, Get Fits are $89, CrossFit is $99 and full access is $119.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Ellis County has organized a group of 17 community members who want to make sure everyone in the county is counted in the 2020 census.

The response rate for the state of Kansas in 2010 was 73 percent. Ellis County was about 82 percent. The census would like to see a count rate above 90 percent.

Complete Count Committees are nonpartisan groups set up by states to make sure everyone in their state is counted on April 1, 2020. Hays Mayor Henry Schwaller is on both the state Complete Count Committee and the Ellis County Complete Count Committee.

Some of the people on the Ellis County Complete Count Committee, include HaysMed’s Edward Herrman, Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty, Ellis County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes, USD 489 Superintendent Ron Wilson, and Ellis County Commissioner Dustin Roths.

Other organizations represented include Grow Hays, United Way of Ellis County, First Call for Help, City of Ellis, City of Victoria, Ellis County Ministerial Alliance, Hays Public Library and the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce.

“We wanted to create a body to cover every single pocket of people in Ellis County,” Schwaller said, “particularly those who have been hard to count.”

Schwaller said the census is an economic and social issue.

Although the census is used to establish representation in both Topeka and Congress, census numbers are also used to determine funding for a slew of federal program.

Schwaller gave the example of the Northwest Business Corridor project. The city and county are currently seeking federal grant funds for road improvements on 230th Avenue north of Interstate 70. If the county’s population is not counted correctly, that funding could be in jeopardy.

Funding for transportation, hospitals and education facilities are also determined by census numbers.

“(For) every individual in Ellis County who is not counted, we will lose over $2,000 per non-counted person per year for the next 10 years,” Schwaller said. “That could really hamper our efforts to, again, build roads, assist Fort Hays in getting proper financial aid for students and help the medical center.

“The federal funding is key to keeping the community alive.”

Accurate population counts are also important in recruiting new businesses.

“As we talk about recruiting new businesses, either retail or tech firms, they look at whether a community is growing or not and whether we have the population to support them,” Schwaller said.

The census has determined certain populations are hard to count. These can include older residents, who might not have access to technology, college students and children ages birth to 5.

Students who are living in Hays as of April 1 need to count themselves in the census as Hays resident, Schwaller said. FHSU will have its own Complete Count Subcommittee to target the student population.

The committee can look at data on the census site, not only who was counted in 2010, but what areas may be being underreported in 2020.

“In the past, the census counts in Ellis County have been questioned,” Schwaller said. “In the 2000 census, we were a little short after having some growth in the ’90s. That really hurt the community — the City of Hays and Ellis County — because it meant we couldn’t unlock some federal programs to help us with our airport, maintain major streets in the city and get funding for programs. We just didn’t qualify.

“Their participation not only benefits the community as a whole, but it benefits them because they are counted and they are shown as living here. They’ll have better roads, better access to better services.”

Between now and the end of 2019, the committee will develop a plan to get the word out about the census. In late January, the committee will begin to promote that message, including notification that local residents will receive information on how to log on to the census website and complete their census surveys. This is the first year you will be able to complete the census online.

Schwaller said the committee hopes to have personnel at the Hays Public Library and Forsyth Library who can help residents log on to the site census website.

He emphasized the census website is encrypted and  secure, and none of your personal information will be released to businesses or other government agencies. When the census data is released, it is released as aggregate data, which omits details such as your name.

Other states provide funding to promote the census — Kansas does not. The Kansas Health Initiative is providing funding to the Kansas League of Cities to promote the census. Ellis County’s committee plans to apply for a grant through that program, Schwaller said.

RELATED STORY: Census: Inequality grew, including in heartland states

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RELATED STORY: With Millions In Federal Aid At Stake, Kansas Urges Latinos Not To Skip 2020 Census

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

A Hays developer is hoping to breathe new life into an old motel by renovating it into apartments.

Mark Ottley is renovating the Villa Budget Inn on the corner of Eight and Vine streets into studio and one-bedroom apartments.

The project began in April, and Ottley hopes to have the first phase of the project open after the first of the year. He said he hopes to have all three phases of the complex open by this spring.

The studio apartments will be about 400 square feet with one bedrooms in the 700 square-foot range. Eight of the 39 units will be studios with the rest will be one-bedrooms.

The eight studios will be in the two-story section of the former motel that faces Seventh Street.

Kitchen additions are being built onto the sections of the hotel that face-east/west.

The motel’s former office will be torn down. The complex will eventually have its own laundry facility on site, and Ottley said he hopes to replace the pool in the motel’s courtyard. The apartments will have small patios that will open onto the courtyard, which will include new grass and seating areas.

The apartments will have two entrances/exits, one of which will open onto the courtyard.

The complex will also have off-street parking.

Ottley has yet to determine the rents for the apartments, but said he believes there is a demand for this type of housing in Hays.

He owns other rental properties in town, and said he sees the greatest demand for one- and two-bedroom units.

He said he decided to take on the project after observing it from the property across the street. He owns and renovated the former service station also at the corner of Eight and Vine streets. His son now runs Happy Auto Sales at that location, 801 Vine.

He said he hopes the renovation of the hotel will further improve the image of the Eighth Street corridor. The Cenex station behind the motel on Vine Street was also recently renovated. Ottley said he hoped the renovations of all three businesses will project a better image for people entering the city from the south on U.S. 183.

Ottley was not sure when the hotel was built or when it closed for operation, but it has been vacant for some time.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Housing was among the top concerns a group of Hays residents raised during an informal conversation group known as Civic Dinners.

About 80 cities across the country will participating in the Civic Dinners program in the month of October. Hays conducted its first set of group discussions on Tuesday night at Gella’s. Another Civic Dinner will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, also at Gella’s. You can register at www.civicdinners.com/tlc-hays. Please bring money to purchase your dinner.

The discussion centered around several basic questions with each person in attendance given a few minutes to answer. Those participating Tuesday included, Melissa Dixon, Hays CVB, host; Mike Morley, Midwest Energy; Errol Wuertz, Landmark Realty; Donnette Noble, FHSU; Grady Dixon, FHSU; Tom Lippert, FHSU; Chad Meitner, TMP; Aubree Broyles, Nex-Tech; Ruth Deines, Friends of Hays Public Library; and Cristina Janney, Hays Post/Eagle Radio.

Meitner said he had sticker shock when he and his family were searching for housing.

Broyles also said she had friends who were struggling with the real estate market in Hays.

Wuertz, a longtime Hays resident and real estate agent, said he had a family that has been looking for a home for four months, and they have not been able to find anything they want to buy.

As he talks to developers, Wuertz said, they tell him it is hard to build in Hays. In a larger community, a developer might build a whole development, but in Hays the same developer might only be able to build and sell one house at a time. Developers can build a lower prices if they can purchase materials in bulk and build more houses at once.

Grady Dixon said he would like to see more work done to renovate and beautify existing homes in the city.

“If you see a single house on a block renovated,” he said, “it can change the character of the whole block.”

Wuertz noted Manhattan has a rental inspection program, but no such program exists in Hays.

The group also discussed how the lack of housing affects the ability for employers in Hays to recruit and retain employees. Wuertz said the First Care Clinic board is trying to recruit a dentist but is having difficulty getting someone to come to Hays.

Morley said Hays has a brain drain. Hays’ senior population is increasing as retirees move into town from more rural areas to be closer to services such as HaysMed. More babies are also being born in Hays. However, Hays is seeing a domestic migration out of the community of young to middle-age adults.

To keep Hays vibrant, Morley said Hays needs to stop that migration.

The group discussed a couple of quality of life issues that were essential to stop the exodus. One of those issues is schools. Several group members said they were disappointed two school bond issues have failed in the last three years.

Morley said he moved his family to Hays over places like Wichita and Dallas because of the quality of the schools.

“We pay $40,000 to $50,000 per year to FHSU to use their football field,” he said. “The first bond issue had a new turf field. We could have paid for that two times over in what we are paying FHSU. How many ankles and knees have been destroyed on that field. Hays and TMP could share a field if only people would look to the future.

“We could have paid 1.5 percent when interest rates were low, but now we can pay 4 percent. We end up paying more for less.”

Other quality of life issues the group discussed were the need for more shopping, diversity in dining options, a new senior center, a local architecture firm and a homeless shelter.

Melissa Dixon expressed frustration the community dissolved its beautification committee. She said the north and south entrances to the city don’t tell the whole story of Hays. People often don’t get to see downtown or the other things to do in Hays because of that. They never make it off the Interstate, she said.

As the CVB director, she is constantly fighting the perception there is nothing to do in Hays.

Deines, a transplant from Lawrence, said she struggles to learn about news and events in Hays.

The theme for the night was “What makes your city lovable?” so the group also talked about aspects of Hays they love or bring them joy.

Noble, who moved to Hays three months ago to work at FHSU, said she appreciates her three-minute commute. When she lived outside of Chicago, she spent 20 minutes on a train every work day.

“I think people have been engaging me, and there are some very joyful people here,” she said. “For a city so small in a town that is supposedly in the middle of nowhere, there is an art community. A week ago, I want to Rockalooa, and loved that. I love the diversity here.”

Grady Dixon also said he appreciated the city’s design and the ease of getting around.

“The city is functional in its design,” he said. “We are a small city, but there are other cities our size or smaller that have traffic.”

Several of the group members, including Meitner, said they appreciated how giving and involved people are in the community.

Lippert said he loves Hays, but residents need to continue to address quality of life issues.

“We need to have foresight to be good stewards of our future,” he said.

Several members of the group expressed frustration to the reaction to the Vine Street roundabouts and the bike path path project before that, both of which they said they supported.

Other aspects of Hays the group thought made it a great place to live were the dog park, Hays Public Library, a vibrant downtown, the Downtown Hays Market and the community’s diversity.

In addition to an eight-person adult group, seven children participated in their own discussion group.

This group include Brianna Griffith, ninth grade, Hays High School; Tyra Loffredi, ninth grade, Hays High School; Gilda Torres-Allen, ninth grade, Hays High School; Tayshaun Birch, 11th grade, Hays High School; Sage Talkington, seventh grade, homeschooled; Brooks Dixon, third grade, Lincoln Elementary; and Delia Dixon, sixth grade, Hays Middle School.

Their group was facilitated by Jane Talkington, assistant professor of management at FHSU.

According to Talkington, the youth said what they love about Hays is the different personalities of the people of Hays, its rich history, their curly hair that got curlier and wilder in the wind, people are nice, people are good, the high school teachers are great (special shout out to Ms. Codi Fenwick, debate teacher), the famous people from Hays area (like Dennis Hopper) and the fabulous and kid-friendly public library downtown.

They also said they were proud of  Jana’s Campaign.

They saw infrastructure of public facilities, such as the leaky high school building as a community challenge.

The students said they wanted a bookstore, skating rink, ice hockey rink, more stable weather and equality. They also wanted the culture of Hays to value the individual and eliminate discrimination based on weight or color of skin. 

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

A local nonprofit is working to create an anti-vaping club for students.

The Smoky Hill Foundation for Chemical Dependence is working with Hays Middle School to form the first chapter of Resist in northwest Kansas. Representatives of the foundation gave a presentation at the middle school recently on the dangers of vaping.

At a recent Hays USD 489 Board of Education meeting, Principal Tom Albers said students who wish to be in Resist must take an hourlong online course on vaping and its dangers.

The goals of Resist are to fight big tobacco, empower and educate teens, influence Kansas policy on vaping, reduce tobacco use, and prevent chronic disease linked to tobacco and vaping.

The foundation received a grant to work on developing the local Resist chapter. It is working closely with the Hays Recreation Commission. The advisers hope to have a vape-free dance, take students to Topeka or Washington on anti-vaping advocacy trips and perhaps offer a club scholarship.

The goal is to expand the club to all of Ellis County.

Alisha Dinges and Jobeth Haselhorst of the foundation gave a condensed version of the student presentation to USD 489 school board members on Monday night.

Albers said the staff found a ripped up JUUL bracelet in the bleachers after the foundation’s presentation to students. He said he hopes that meant the talk had an effect on someone.

Dinges said big tobacco companies are targeting kids by creating vaping devices that are easily concealed. The JUUL vape devices look similar to flash drives and can be easily slipped into pockets. Other vape devices are made to look like inhalers and yet another device is connected to the strings of a sweatshirt hoody.

Vape juice can contain harmful substances, including tin, lead and nickel. Although some vape juices claim to be nicotine-free, these are routinely found to have up to 3 percent nicotine.

A full report on the effects of inhaled vape juice is not supposed to be released by the FDA until 2022, but the deaths have been attributed to vaping and the foundation representatives emphasized vaping is addictive and can be dangerous to youth.

Despite the increasing health concerns being raised surrounding vaping, vaping has been on the rise among youth.

One in three high school students reports they have tried vaping, and one in 10 reports they vape regularly.

Students report in surveys they vape because their friends or family vape, the vape juice is available in fruity flavors or they think vaping is less harmful than smoking.

Students are finding easy access to vape juice and devices. Some are being supplied by older peers or siblings, some by parents who think vaping is safe, some kids buy online, via social media, or from retailers who don’t check ID.

School board member Luke Oborny said at the meeting. “Thank you for making people aware of this. It’s sad they are targeting our children. I appreciate what you are doing.”