Fr. Toney Kulandaijesu, Mark Herl, Rene Michaud, Fr. Fred Gatschet during the 24/7 Travel Store check presentation to the St. Joseph Food Pantry in Hays.
Submitted
For 10 days in October, locally owned travel center 24/7 Travel Stores donated 5¢ for every gallon of gasoline sold at its stores to their local food banks.
The 24/7 Travel Stores donated $1,932.07 to the St. Joseph Food Bank in Hays. The funds raised during the event can be used however the food banks wish, including operating costs and perishable groceries.
24/7 Travel Stores has 10 locations across nine cities, spanning the state of Kansas: Goodland, Colby, WaKeeney, Hays, Russell, Salina, McPherson, Abilene and Maple Hill.
The amount raised across all locations totaled $23,917.24. President of the company, Mark Augustine, is excited to see the impact these funds will have.
“Food Bank Fill-Up was a huge success far exceeding the amount we set out to raise, Augustine said. “24-7 Travel Stores wants to thank each food bank, their volunteers and our local communities for getting involved and supporting this event.”
Each night in the United States, an estimated 600,000 people live on the streets.
This October, the goal was to get 2 million people to show that even a small act of love, such as donating a pair of socks, can make a big difference in the lives of our neighbors who are homeless or need assistance.
The Thomas More Prep-Marian Key Club collected 663 pairs of socks in October.
The socks will be donated to the Mary Elizabeth Maternity Home and First Call for Help in Hays.
TMP STUCO supported the project and matched money donations to purchase socks.
B.J. Rupp, Doerflers’ Harley-Davidson sales associate, talks to Tigers Motorcycle Club members about bikes during a recent visit to the store.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
Some Fort Hays State University faculty are hoping to pass on their love of the open road to students in the newly formed Tigers Motorcycle Club.
Sponsor for the group, Dennis King, FHSU assistant vice president of student affairs, has been riding for years and has a large collection of bikes.
He said the joy of riding is all about the experience of the ride.
“You see, smell and feel things that you just don’t when you are in a vehicle,” he said. “You are much more aware of your surroundings. When you do ride, you are much more in touch with the road — when you are taking a curve, going around a turn.
B.J. Rupp, Doerflers’ Harley-Davidson sales associate, talks to a Tigers Motorcycle Club member about bikes during a recent visit to the store.
“You can be going 60 miles an hour on a windy day, and the wind is behind you and it is like you’re standing still. You can be going 60 miles an hour and it is just an awesome surreal feeling. … It’s just the thrill of the ride.”
King has a Suzuki, Yamaha, a few Hondas and a Harley, but his favorite bike is a 2005 Triumph America.
“It was one of those that I snuck down to Wichita and bought, and then called home and said, ‘Hey, I bought this bike.’ Depending on the reaction, I was going to come home or not come home,” he said.
Turning a wrench, King said has been his midlife crisis. Ten years ago he couldn’t do anything with a motor. King and a friend work on bikes for a hobby, and that is how he has built up his collection.
“Each bike is unique. Each brand is unique, and each one is a thrill to ride,” he said.
The club already has 18 members in its first semester, but they hope to grow.
The goal of the club, King said, is safe rides and educating young people about maintenance and safety. King hopes to grow the club to the point where they can have regular rides and attend area bike events together.
A FHSU faculty member talks to Tessa Stump, junior in animal science and agribusiness, about a bike during a recent club tour of Doerflers’ Harley-Davidson.
The group recently took a tour of Doerflers’ Harley-Davidson in Hays.
Club President Austin Krejdl, senior in agribusiness, only has a moped right now, but he is saving up for a motorcycle.
“I really like being on two-wheels,” he said. “I like being out on the open road. It is relaxing too after a long day to go on a ride.”
Tessa Stump, junior in animal science and agribusiness, also has dreamed of having her own bike ever since she rode her dad’s Screaming Eagle Harley.
She grew up around horses in Funk, Nebraska, and compared riding a bike to riding a horse.
“I love the fact that I can be on the open road and just enjoy it,” she said, “so it is kind of more peaceful for me.”
Even though Stump doesn’t have her own bike yet, she said she has enjoyed the club.
“It gives me one day out of my week to go out and do something I actually enjoy,” she said.
The club is open to FHSU students, faculty and staff. You can sign up for the club by logging onto to your TigerLink account and searching for Tigers Motorcycle Club.
Your bishop was just taken out, your opponent fell for the bait as you cleverly steal their rook. A few moves later you have them in check. Chess is an intellectual game that challenges the brain and is being introduced this year in the form of a club.
Chess Club is new this year with librarian, Erin Holder leading the charge. It is a place for people of all skill levels who are interested in playing from people who are hoping to get sharper skills and play completely or if they are just wanting to learn.
“The need for chess club is here,” Holder said. “Not only to provide that outlet for students, but having somewhere for that other community to gather and enjoy something as well has honing their skills that chess provides.”
The benefits of chess are that it can develop problem solving, abstract reasoning, and creative thinking skills along with a tremendous amount of patience. It can prevent Alzheimer’s by exercising the brain on both sides and can improve memory and reading skills.
“By playing a game, you would be able to bring all of that into your daily life,” Holder said.
Chess Club will meet in the library every Thursday at 3:15 and will last around an hour.
“Just give it a try,” Holder said. “If you know absolutely nothing about it, we will have an area for those who just want to play for fun. If you want something competitive, we have that as well. If you want a place to come hang out, you don’t have to participate. You can sit on the sidelines and watch.”
LA CROSSE — The Rush County Historical Society and Kansas Barbed Wire Museum will host the annual Old-Fashioned Christmas from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23 in La Crosse.
Visitors can browse the five museums: the Historical Museum in the 19th Century Timken Depot; the Post Rock Museum, one of the seven wonders of Kansas Customs; the Nekoma Bank Museum, a restored 1916 rural bank; the Pleasant Point School Museum; and Kansas Barbed Wire Museum.
There will be live musical performances including piano and organ. Visitors can enjoy hot cider, homemade cookies and popcorn, or roast their own marshmallows over an open fire. There will be a make-it and take-it crafts section for kids to make an old-fashioned toy to take home.
Free horse-drawn wagon rides will be available from 6 to 8 pm, weather permitting.
Courtesy photo
A Civil War-era Army Post Surgeon sponsored by Sternberg Museum will make a return visit to talk about some of the unique naturalist activities of Post Surgeons including fossil collecting and studying environmental issues.
There will be one-night only displays in the recently restored Pleasant Point One-Room School Museum. Restoration of the school has been completed and visitors will have the opportunity for a sneak peek before the school’s official dedication next May. The century-old school is a time capsule of early 20th century rural education with nearly all of its original furnishings and books.
The events begin at 6 p.m. Friday at the museum campus on the south edge of La Crosse on West First Street. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit the museum on Facebook, on the web at www.rushcounty.org/RCHS or call 785-222-2808.
The Hays USD 489 school board discussed its search for a new superintendent at its meeting Monday night.
Superintendent John Thissen gave his letter of resignation to the board on Oct. 19. He will finish out his current contract, which runs through June 30.
The district has bids from three entities to aid in the search: Kansas Association for School Boards, $5,850; McPherson and Jacobson, $4,850; Ray and Associates, $24,250. Ray and Associates specializes in multi-state searches.
The board has worked with KASB on previous searches. Board member Luke Oborny and President Mandy Fox said they had been pleased with KASB’s past work. However, the board asked Assistant Superintendent Shanna Dinkel to contact other school districts that had worked with McPherson and Jacobson to learn more about the firm.
The board plans to vote on awarding a contract for the search at its next meeting on Nov. 26.
ECC project
The board reviewed its timeline for a renovation project of the Oak Park Medical Plaza. The complex will be renovated for the Early Childhood Connections program.
The district is currently in a protest period for the financing on the project. That period is set to end on Sunday, Nov. 25.
The board is set to vote on the contracts for the project at its Nov. 26 meeting.
The district has received a $1.47 million federal grant for the renovation of the property.
Teachers’ contracts
The district reached an agreement with teachers last week. Dinkel said the teachers are set to vote on ratification of the contract on Wednesday. The details of the agreement will not made public until after the contact is ratified.
Approval of the contract will be on the agenda Nov. 26.
Fox asked staff to do a review of classified staff pay, comparing it to the pay of similar positions in the community. She also asked for a budget analysis of where the district will be financially if the teachers ratify their contract.
“We want to do what is right for them as well,” she said of classified staff.
The Project 489 dinner and auction raised $40,000 on Nov. 3.
This included $7,800 being pledged toward the USD 489 Foundation for Educational Excellence.
Most of the $40,000 that was raised will reimburse the district for security upgrades that were made to all the district’s schools this summer. The $7,800 will go toward ongoing school projects that are funded by the foundation.
Forty-seven oral auction items and 210 silent auction items were sold.
Congratulations to the raffle prize winners: $500 Cash Raffle Winner— Bonnie Pfannenstiel; $500 Chamber Cheque Raffle Winner— Chelsey Ladd; $1,000 Cash Raffle Winner— Mike Lind; Polaris Ranger Raffle Winner— Joseph Boekner.
The foundation board said they would like to thank all of the volunteers, attendees and donors of the first Project 489 Dinner Show and Auction for making it such a success.
Corrected 10:02 a.m. 11/13/18 for total amount raised from fundraiser.
The Hays USD 489 school board is set to discuss its search for a new superintendent at its meeting at 6:30 tonight at Rockwell Administration Center.
Superintendent John Thissen gave his letter of resignation to the board on Oct. 19. He will finish out his current contract, which runs through June 30.
The board also will review its timeline for a renovation project for the Oak Park Medical Plaza. The complex will be renovated for the Early Childhood Connections program.
The district is currently in a protest period for the financing on the project. That period is set to end on Sunday, Nov. 25.
