By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays Public Library has expanded a program that seeks to make reading more accessible to the public.

Five new Little Free Library locations were added in Hays in November in cooperation with the Hays Parks Department.

The libraries are boxes on posts located at seven Hays parks locations and one near the Victoria swimming pool.

The idea behind the boxes is “Take a book, leave a book.” Each box is stocked with books that can be taken without cost and without a need to check out the books from the library. If you like the book, it is yours to keep, said Samantha Gill, HPL adult services manager.

The library uses donated books or books taken out of circulation at the library to fill the boxes. However, the program encourages readers to also leave books they no longer need or want for other people to take from the boxes. If you don’t have a book to leave, that is OK too.

“Right now at our library we are trying to make sure that we get outside of our four walls,” Gill said. “People don’t need to feel that it is necessary to come to our physical building to get books. We are trying to figure out different ways to get books into people’s hands outside of the building who might not be able to make it to the library.”

Although the Little Free Libraries generally see less use in winter as people are using parks less, the Little Free Libraries have proved popular in the summer and warmer months.

“There have been days that I have filled up the Little Free Library at the Aquatic Park and then that evening I drive by and it is completely empty.”

Children have waited in lines for books, when they saw the library van pull up to the Little Free Libraries, Gill said.

Although the Little Free Libraries are also stocked with both adult and young adult books, the most popular books in the program have been children’s books.

Reading is very important to children’s development and shown to be a predictor of future success in school. Keeping books in the home is a key part of that process, Gill said.

All seven Little Free Libraries in Hays have individuals or groups who have adopted the libraries and help make sure the boxes are kept stocked with books. During the winter, the boxes are usually checked a couple of times of month, but during the summer, the Gill urges her volunteers to check the boxes at least once a week.

All of the boxes were hand painted. Nicole Thibodeau, local artist and library employee, painted all of the boxes except the box at the dog park, which was painted by Rebecca Grizzell.

“I think it is a fun, innovative way to get books into the hands of people who might not be able to come to the library or who are at the park and want just to browse and see what we have to offer,” Gill said. “We are really proud of it. Maybe in the future, we will add another one here or there, but for now we are really happy with the success of this project.”

A complete list of the Free Little Library locations in Hays is listed below. See a map of the locations by clicking here.

If you have additional questions about the program, you can contact the library at 785-625-9014.

Hays Aquatic Park, Fourth and Main
Seven Hills Park, 33rd and Hillcrest
Hays Dog Park, Highway 183 By-pass
Frontier Park, Highway 183 By-pass
Aubel-Bickle Park, 30th and Sherman
Ekey Park, 19th and Holmes Road
Kiwanis Park, 17th and Harvest Avenue

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Chuck and Shirley Comeau and their holding company are involved in two multimillion foreclosure proceedings involving 27 pieces of property in Hays and Plainville for non-payment of the loans.

Eighteen of those properties are in downtown Hays and another nine are in Plainville.

The foreclosure actions have been filed by Bank of Hays and Sunflower Bank.

The Comeaus took out a $7.5 million loan in September 2013 and a $949,000 loan in December 2016 from the Bank of Hays.

DFC holdings still owes more than $7.5 million on the loans as of Dec. 15.

Payment had not been on the loans with Bank of Hays since July 11, 2018, according to court filings.

The Oak Street Planing Mill, also a Comeau company, took out mortgages for $350,000 in February 2004,  $315,000 in April 2005 and $1.1 million in March 2007.

As of February 23, 2018, Sunflower Bank was still owed about $450,000.

Dessin Fournir, the Comeau’s furniture company in Plainville, was named as a party in both of the foreclosure filings, but its headquarters building, 308 Mill St., Plainville was not.

Ashley Comeau spoke on behalf of Dessin Fournir and said the company did not want to comment at this time. However, she noted this was not a hostile litigation with Bank of Hays.

Attorneys for both banks declined comment on the pending litigation.

The Hays locations listed in the foreclosures included multiple properties that were currently being occupied by businesses.

Shaun Musil rents 1100 Main St. for the Paisley Pear, a wine bar and bistro.

“We are doing business as normal,” Musil said. “I can’t control what is going on with the building. At this time, I’m not too concerned about it.”

Norman Keller worked for the Comeaus for more than 21 years at C.S. Post before he and his wife, Sandy, opened Regeena’s Flowers and Events at 1013 Main St. in a building owned by the Comeaus.

He said he was not concerned about his business. If the building is purchased by another owner, he said he would work with that owner.

Other Hays properties listed in the foreclosure include, 803 Fort St., 811 Fort St., 1008 Main (occupied by Bluetique), 1011 Main St. (occupied by Bella Luna and Simply Charmed), 106 W. 11th St., 1102 Main St. (former Strand Theatre), 1107 Main St., 1109 and 1111 Main St. (occupied by Couture for Men and Women), 106 W. 12th St., 719 Main St., 1108 Main St., 121 E. 11th St., 1012 Main St. (occupied by Something Blue), 110 W. 11th St. and 201 E. 12th St.

The Bank of Hays foreclosure also includes the Comeau home at 400 S. Jefferson in Plainville and 108 N. Main, Plainville.

Roger Hrabe, director of Rooks County Economic Development, said the Comeaus and Dessin Fourinir have been huge contributors to the local economy and one of the largest employers in the community.

“It has been tremendous,” Hrabe said of the Dessin Fournir, “Not only have they employed a good number of people, they have good employees and they are very involved in the community. Leadership Kansas has been one of the many groups to come through and tour the facility. The fact that an enterprise can do this in a small community, people take notice of that. If it can be done here, it can be done anywhere.”

Sunflower Bank has filed for a summary judgement against Oak Street Planing Mill, the Comeaus and their co-defendants. A hearing was held on Dec. 17 in Ellis County District Court before Judge Blake Bittel. Bittel is currently reviewing the case and is set to release his decision before the end of the month.

According court records, the defendants paid their October 2017 payment late at which the bank accelerated the loan.

That case involves Plainville properties, including 108 N. Main, 211 1/2 Mill, 205 N. Main, 317 W. Mill, 311 S. Washington, 211 W. Mill and 221 W. Mill.

Others listed in the Sunflower Bank case include DFC Holdings, DFC Corp., Classic Cloth, Palmer Hargrave, C.S. Post, Christopher Mraz, Lenice Larson and Liberty Group.

The Kansas Center of Entrepreneurship is listed in both foreclosure filings because it had a mortgage on property owned by DFC Corp. for $500,000.

Emprise Bank, Golden Belt Bank and Wilson State Bank were also listed on mortgages on tracts that were listed on the Bank of Hays filings.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

ELLIS — A new restaurant has opened in downtown Ellis, the Riverside Espresso & Cafe, 814 Washington.

Owner Jade Baalman said she tries to focus on dinner-style home cooking in addition to all-day breakfast.

The cafe also offer wraps, burgers, sandwiches, homemade bierocks and salads. Baalman offers regular comfort food specials on Thursdays and Fridays, such as meatloaf, casseroles, Salisbury steak and cordon bleu. Every other Saturday night, the cafe is open from 5 to 8 p.m. for a prime rib special.

Baalman, who opened Riverside in September, bills her cafe as family friendly. She will even make your kids pancakes in fun shapes on request.

The cafe has an espresso bar and also offers smoothies.

If you are in a hurry in the morning, you can grab already-prepared 12-ounce breakfast burritos or sausage and cream cheese bagels. Baalman offers homemade cinnamon rolls, scones and breakfast cookies and hopes to eventually offer made-from-scratch pie.

Baalman managed Oscar’s Cafe in Hoxie before opening the cafe in Ellis. She also has a background in catering and gourmet food.

Baalman, 34, became interested in cooking when she became a mother. She has four children, a 14-year-old son, 10-year-old daughter, 8-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.

“I love food,” she said.

At home, she focuses on paleo and whole 30, which is a diet free of dairy that focuses on whole foods rather than processed foods. Initially, she introduced some of these concepts at the cafe, but found many of her diners preferred more traditional American foods.

Baalman chose to open the restaurant in Ellis to be closer to her family. She believed the community needed another dining option.

Baalman is renting the space on Washington, which is the former home of the All in a Day’s Grind. The space is available for rent for parties.

She says she hopes the restaurant can be a community gathering place.

“That is one of the things that I had hoped for this place — that it is small enough and in a small town that people would feel they could come in here and drink their coffee with their groups. We definitely have the mom-and-pop, small-town feel that you could just come in and sit down and enjoy,” Baalman said.

The restaurant is open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays, 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

You can follow the cafe on Facebook.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Theraplay Learning Center, a pediatric occupational and physical therapy center, is opening a new location in Hays.

Theraplay was founded in Norton by Renee Miller, OT, Sue Rossi, OT, and Randa Vollertsen, PT. It is the only outpatient clinic for pediatric occupational and physical therapy in northwest Kansas.

Hannah Hesston, who will be an occupational therapist at the new clinic, said the partners in Norton hoped they could reach more children by expanding into Hays. She said the center hopes to be another resource for parents.

“The children right now get services through the school district,” Hesston said. “That has all that has been around because there hasn’t been a clinic. There’s additional interventions and activities and areas that an out-patient clinic could focus on.”

Both clinics will serve young people ages birth through 21 years old.

Some of the areas that the therapists at the centers specialize in are traumatic brain injury, autism, spectrum disorders, sensory processing differences, handwriting challenges, fine and gross motor developmental delays, feeding difficulties, genetic disorders, reflex integrations, orthotics, infant torticollis (which is condition affecting the muscles in a newborn’s neck), and plagiocephaly, which is a flat spot on a baby’s head.

The therapies at both centers are play based. Hesston gave the example of child who might have sensory issues. A therapist might introduce play using water or have them dig through beans to help that child to feel more calm when experiencing that sensation.

The enter also has a climbing structure. The climbing helps the children learn to use both sides of their bodies and develop motor planning, where your brain learns to move one arm and then the next. Swings help children with balance and their sense of movement.

Play can also help with children’s attentiveness and mood regulation.

“Children, play is their biggest occupation. It is how they learn, so we wanted to create a space where we could address the needs in more of a play-based setting,” Hesston said.

She said the ultimate goal is to increase children’s independence.

Insurance generally covers the cost of therapy. Both centers work with insurance companies from across the state, and Theraplay is working to contract with insurance providers in Nebraska.

The owners also hope to soon add speech therapy services to their clinics.

Parents can seek referrals from their children’s physicians or can self refer.

You can make an appointment with the Hays center by calling (785) 675-0443 or emailing [email protected].

Hesston said she and the other therapists would be happy to answer any questions. The Hays center will have an open house from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at 1007 E. 13th.

The Hays center will open for business on Monday. Definitive hours have yet to be set, but the center will be open Mondays through Fridays by appointment.

 

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Goodwin Sporting Goods will open Thursday morning to begin its final sale.

After 66 years in downtown Hays, owner Terry Bright will be liquidating the store’s inventory and closing permanently sometime in February. Customers will have opportunities to win prizes during the liquidation.

Bright said some of his suppliers will no longer allow him access to their full lines. Online companies have also cut into his business. Because he felt he could no longer provide full service to his customers, he decided it was time to shut the store down and retire.

“When it takes my ability to service my customer out of the equation,” Bright said, “I told them I was done. It is just going more and more to larger chains.”

The store first opened as Dee Erickson Sporting Goods on July 1, 1947, at 119 W. 11th in Hays. Duane Goodwin bought the store in 1952.

Bright started working at the store part-time in 1974. He was playing tennis on scholarship at Fort Hays State University at the time.

In 1975, Bright took over the store from Duane Goodwin.

Bright said has had many loyal customers over the years. Since he posted the notice that store would be closing on Facebook over the holidays, he has been inundated with well wishes and calls.

One customer posted on Goodwin’s Facebook page, “I am eternally grateful to Mr. Goodwin, in 1972-74, this store accommodated me in my basketball shoes. I needed a size 9…and size 12. They split a pair, and only charged my folks for one pair!! PERSONAL TOUCH WILL BE MISSED!’

Another customer commented, “Hate to see a local, independent business close its doors. Thank you for your many years of service to the community! We don’t live in Hays, but made a point to shop at Goodwin’s because we believe it’s so important to support the downtown, locally owned businesses. Good luck to you!”

Bright said his customers have valued the customer service the store has been able to offer over the years, and he wished to thank the customers and community for their support.

Although Bright said he will not miss dealing with suppliers or the long days, he said he will miss the people.

Nicale Ney worked for Bright ordering stock for 20 years. Shane Lynch left two years ago, but worked for Bright for many years in his production department. He remembered Robyn Powell, who helped when the store doubled its space from 25 to 50 feet of store front.

The store has marked down its merchandise and will be liquidating its stock as well as its fixtures. Bright will also be selling his screen printing and embroidery equipment. He has had some interest expressed in the equipment and may work with the purchaser as a consultant for a few months for training.

Bright owns the building at 109 W. 11th and plans to sell it as well. He has had several inquiries about the space, but no serious offers. The building is a retail-ready space, and he said he wouldn’t be surprised if another retailer went into the space.

Bright, 64, said he was looking forward to retirement. He plans to enjoy playing more golf.

“When you have a business, it is not uncommon to have 10- to 12-hour days,” he said. “For me to get out of town, that will be a rare occurrence and something that I am looking forward to.”

“It’s a commitment,” Bright said of owning a small business, “if you want to do things right.”

By STEPHEN KORANDA

Kansas News Service ksnewsservice.org.

Erin Wolfram, with the University of Kansas Career Center, enters a small room in Summerfield Hall on the KU campus, where she is suddenly surrounded by hundreds of suits, dresses, shirts and ties filling floor-to-ceiling racks. The Professional House of Garments is filled with clothes waiting to help students dress for success as they prepare for job and internship interviews.

The P.H.O.G., a reference to legendary basketball coach Phog Allen, connects donated professional clothing with KU students.

The facility, housed at the University Career Center in Summerfield Hall, is aimed at combating a financial challenge many students face. Wolfram said students are often working part-time jobs or in unpaid internships that don’t leave them money to pay for much more than room and board.

“Clothing, especially suits, is not something that students are really thinking about that they’re going to have to pay for,” Wolfram said.

That poses a problem when it comes time to interview for a job or summer internship.

“All of a sudden they have an interview, they need something to wear and they don’t have it,” Wolfram said.

That’s where the clothing closet comes into play. The donated suits, dresses and more can equip students for a critical part of the job interview: the first impression.

Wolfram said many employers can choose whether they want to pursue a candidate in as little as 30 seconds, and clothing is a big part of that.

“First impressions are huge in interviews,” Wolfram said.

More than 100 students have visited the clothing closet in recent months. It opened in 2011 and was based on a similar program at Kansas State University.

This time of year is a critical time for the clothing closet. Wolfram expects a rush soon as students prepare for career fairs in the early spring.

“We’re definitely looking for donations now to help replenish the closet for students who come in when they get back from winter break,” Wolfram said.

The P.H.O.G. accepts donations at Summerfield Hall, room 206, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

KU isn’t the only school in Kansas with this type of service. Similar clothing programs assist students at Pittsburg State University, Emporia State University and Kansas State University.

Fort Hays State University’s program is called Tailored for Tigers.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.