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Author: Cristina Janney

Old Chicago sets opening for May 14

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Workers lay bricks on the exterior of the new Old Chicago restaurant, 383 W. Mopar Drive, across from Walmart.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The building looks like a construction zone now, but franchise officials said they are confident Old Chicago in Hays will be open by May 14.

The franchise is remodeling space in the former Golden Corral building, 383 W. Mopar Drive, across from Walmart.

The interior is already unrecognizable from its former self, with a large bar, patio area and brick facing on the exterior. OC Restaurants gutted the kitchen and brought in all new equipment. With the patio, the restaurant will seat about 220 people.

Old Chicago has completely gutted and remodeled the interior of the old Golden Corral building.

The restaurant will offer a full bar with 40 beers on tap and another 70 beer labels in bottles, including some German beers.

Old Chicago offers menu options for everyone, said Jeff Daley, director of operations.

“The thing that I like about Old Chicago the best is the menu is so diverse,” he said.

They are known for their pizza, which includes ale-crust and gluten-free options. However, the restaurant also offer a variety of pastas, sandwiches, salads, wings and burgers.

He said the atmosphere is great for a family dinner, a night our with friends or a business meeting.

The restaurant will offer catering and takeout. Online ordering will be available a couple of weeks after the opening.

Hours will be 11 a.m. to midnight Sundays through Tuesdays and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.

The restaurant will employ 105 people and, as of Thursday morning, still had slots open for another 20 employees.

“The workforce, we are very excited about that and all the employees we have hired,” Daley said.

Old Chicago will have a full bar with 40 beers on tap and another 70 other beer labels available in bottles.

Old Chicago is a national franchise that was founded in Colorado in 1976. It already has a strong Kansas presence, including locations in Wichita, Great Bend, Liberal and multiple restaurants in Kansas City.

“We like the community. We are very excited about the growth. We are excited about the interstate location,” Daley said.

Ross Olsbo, opening operations manager, said, “You asked why Hays. This is just a great Midwestern community. It is a feel-good place coming here. Everywhere we go, we get treated with that great Midwestern hospitality. I was over at the CVB yesterday, and everyone made me feel like I was welcome and part of the community. It is nice to have that feeling. … I am glad that we are coming here and going to be a part of that community.”

Old Chicago is only using about 6,600 square feet of the old Golden Corral building. The other 3,600 square feet of the space will be leased. It will be closed off from the restaurant with a second entrance. The business has had some interest in the space, including a gym, retail or professional office space. No contracts have been signed.

Old Chicago’s kitchen was completely redone in the remodel, including adding this pizza oven. The restaurant is known for its pizza, but also serves sandwiches, salads, pasta, burgers and appetizers, such as wings.

Jim Gardner, operating principal on the project, also said the OC Restaurants would consider dividing that portion of the building into two smaller rental spaces.

The restaurant is doing a fundraiser in conjunction with its opening. Several training meals will be served by invitation prior to the restaurant opening on May 14. One hundred percent of the proceeds from those meals will go to Big Brother Big Sisters of Ellis County.

“We expect to raise a significant amount of money. The other thing that is important is that when we are doing our opening functions and training, we will have representative here from Big Brothers Big Sisters. We also think we can help raise the awareness of their organization and what they are trying to do,” Daley said.

Downtown Hays hires Dodge native as new assistant director

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Michaela Bartlett, new assistant director of the Downtown Hays Development Corporation. Courtesy photo

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The new assistant director of the Downtown Hays Development Corp. has hit the ground running.

Michaela Bartlett came on board in March just in time to help with the annual Brews on the Bricks and the DHDC’s other spring event, Shop Hop.

Bartlett will be the DHDC office manager, publish the DHDC newsletter, as well as be integral in planning and executing DHDC special events, Sara Bloom, DHDC executive director, said.

Bartlett, 23, came to Hays from working as a sales associate in her hometown of Dodge City. However, Bartlett also worked seven years for Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City in a variety of capacities. She has a bachelor’s degree in art and history from Benedictine College in Atchison.

Bartlett said she and her husband, Tate, had been looking to move for some time and finally settled on Hays. Tate works at Home Depot and is a Navy Reservist. Bartlett has extended family in the area and spent a lot of time in the area when she was growing up.

She first applied at the Hays Convention and Visitor’s Center, and CVB sent her to the DHDC, which had an open position.

“We were very fortunate for the CVB to send Michaela our way,” Bloom said. “We had over 20 applicants and six interviews, and she by far blew us away. We are excited about her background and experience and what she will be able to bring to this organization and ultimately downtown and our community.”

Bartlett said she loves being in Hays and feels very settled here. She and her husband just closed on a house.

Bartlett talked about why she took the job with DHDC.

“Being down here, I can gain a lot of connections for different things and aspects of [the job],” she said. “I also like being at the center of things and knowing exactly what is going on. If I have my family and I want to pull them in, I can say, ‘Hey, we have this going on.’ I like knowing not just what is going on downtown, but in Hays in general and having that connection to people and businesses.”

Deadline for Bricks on the Green tickets Friday; Chamber golf auction opens Monday

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Hays Post
Downtown Hays and the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce are sponsoring a patio party luncheon Bricks on the Green from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 4.
If you are looking for a great way to meet new people or simply need an excuse to get out of the office, this event may be for you.
The Patio Party is a great way to treat and involve non-golfers in a gourmet meal, swag bags, door prizes and a silent auction.
New this year, vendors from Downtown Hays will showcase different merchandise from The Bricks and give you a chance to “window shop” while you dine.
Free swag bag include deals and gifts. Every bag has a special surprise like a pair of sunglasses, or a bourbon and bowtie bracelet. There’s also a chance for you to win a pair of Wines and Steins tickets.
Tickets are $20 per person. The deadline to purchase tickets is Friday.
There are three ways to get tickets. Stop by the Chamber at 2700 Vine St., call 785-628-8201 or email [email protected].

The 9th Annual HACC Golf Tournament presented by Eagle Communications, is also Friday, May 4.

The event’s silent auction is going online this year, thanks to Nex-Tech Wireless. Use your smart phone to easily sign-up, bid and pay for the items.

The online auction will open at 8 a.m. Monday and will close at 4:30 p.m. Friday after the tournament concludes. Take your items home that day. Be on the lookout Monday morning at 8 a.m. for your link to register.

FHSU Aikido Club to offer free seminar this weekend

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Hays Post

The Fort Hays State University Aikido Club will sponsor a free Aikido seminar with Matsuda Sensei and Nakayama Sensei.

The seminar will be 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Cunningham Hall, Gym 100 on the FHSU campus.

A seminar like this would normally cost about $180, but the FHSU Aikido Club is offering it free for anyone who wished to learn more about this self-defensive martial art.

For more information, see the FHSU Aikido Club on Facebook.

Step It up for A Cure seeks to shed light on diabetes, sets events this weekend

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By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

A near tragedy in her life spurred Lexi Pfannenstiel to start an annual fundraising program in Hays to raise money for research for Type 1 diabetes.

Pfannenstiel, who was diagnosed at 9 with Type I, was working at a local business while she was a student at Fort Hays State University. Her blood sugar dropped dangerously low, which can cause seizure, coma or even death. She tried eating something to bring up her blood sugar, but it didn’t immediately help. She tried to dial 911, but her eyesight was affected and she couldn’t dial the phone.

She asked the customers at the store to help her. As she struggled, she could hear someone in line say, “You can’t be a diabetic. You aren’t old enough to be a diabetic. You don’t look diabetic. Just do your job.”

No one called 911. No one assisted her. The sugar from the food she ate finally kicked in and she was able to call her husband, who came to her aid.

“I told my adviser, ‘Something needs to change. I need to start this change, because this is not OK. That could have easily been a very dangerous situation,” she said. “If I need to communicate to somebody that I need help and then I get accused of lying and they just think I am making excuses, that is not OK.”

 

Lexi Pfannenstiel was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes at age 9.

Pfannenstiel knew something needed to be done to raise awareness about Type I diabetes not only for her sake, but for all the other sufferers.

In 2014 with the help of a Leadership 310 class, she created Step It Up for the Cure, an annual fundraising effort. Although Pfannenstiel is no longer a student, she continues to work with other students in Leadership 310 as a community sponsor to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and educate the community about diabetes.

Thanks to snow on April 14, you have two opportunities to donate to Step It Up for the Cure this weekend. The Step It Up for the Cure color run/walk has been rescheduled to Saturday morning at NCK-Tech Big Creek campus. You can still register up until race line up which is at 10:45 a.m. Check-in will start at 9 a.m. Participants can choose from a 5K run or 2.5K walk.

Cost is $15 for an individual, $60 for a team of five and $10 for each additional team member more than five.

You can register for the run/walk online by clicking here or at event the day of the race. You can also donate directly to JDRF through the website. There will be a raffle for themed gift baskets Saturday. Raffle tickets can be purchased at the race.

Step It Up for the Cure is also offering an opportunity to make quilt blocks at The Niche Friday during the Spring Art Walk. Cost of quilt blocks is a $5 donation. The blocks will be joined into a quilt that also will be auctioned or raffled as a fundraiser. One-hundred percent of the proceeds will go to JDRF.

Cassidy Griffin, a Leadership 310 student and a senior from Parker, Colorado, said the project was a wake up call. She didn’t realize how difficult living with Type I diabetes could be until one of her classmates described her sister’s experiences.

“She is a freshman here this year, and she has an insulin pump,” she said. “She has to explain to people over and over what it is.”

An insulin pump, which is about the size of a cell phone, delivers insulin via a surgically inserted tube directly to the body. Pfannenstiel said she was so frustrated about how many questions she had about her pump she stopped wearing her’s for a time and went back to giving herself shots.

“People would make comments, ‘You don’t look like a diabetic.’ Well, what is a diabetic supposed to look like? That is not a fair statement. Those are assumptions from a community perspective that very much need to be broken down,” Pfannenstiel said.

Now she sees all the questions as opportunities to inform people about her disease. She was recently talking to a coworker about her diabetes. The coworker said if she had a low blood sugar episode, she would just give Pfannenstiel her insulin. That is the exact opposite of what she would need. She would need to eat or drink something with sugar in it.

Pfannenstiel said more people are becoming informed about diabetes, but the community still has a long way to go. Working with the students has helped.

“With the groups we have worked with over the last three semesters, they have all just been amazing. They have been dedicated and motivated to make a difference,” she said, adding the project also allows the students to learn more about JDRF and diabetes.

Ashley Norton is the other community sponsor on this project. Other students on the team include Taylor Moyer, Freddy Romero and Jasmine Beaulieu.

FHSU leadership class donates $9,000 to DSNWK

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Jerry Michaud, DSNWK president, accepts a check from FHSU Leadership 310 students along with dancers from Styles Dance Centre.

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A Fort Hays State University Leadership 310 class Friday presented Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas with a check for $9,000 for its “Dancing Together for DSNWK” event on Monday, April 16 at Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center.

Styles Dance Centre partnered with the Leadership 310 class. The Styles Dance students performed multiple numbers, and the event concluded with an ensemble dance that included DSNWK clients. The event also included a silent auction with items donated from individuals and area businesses.

Click here for photos and video: 🎥 ‘Dancing Together for DSNWK’ raises funds for developmentally disabled

Jerry Michaud, DSNWK president, received the check from the students Friday. This money will be used to support a children and adult fun day, as well as go toward DSNWK’s medical fund.

Local residents inducted into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi

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BATON ROUGE, LA—The following local residents were recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

Molly Barnett of Hays was initiated at Fort Hays State University.

Allison Pfeifer of Hays was initiated at Kansas State University.

These residents are among 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the society has chapters on more than 300 campuses in the United States and the Philippines. Its mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”

More About Phi Kappa Phi

Since its founding, 1.5 million members have been initiated into Phi Kappa Phi. Some of the organization’s notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, novelist John Grisham and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. Each biennium, Phi Kappa Phi awards $1.4 million to qualifying students and members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, member and chapter awards, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives.

For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, visit www.phikappaphi.org.

DSNWK, FHSU weaving project culminates with exhibit during Art Walk

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By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

A FHSU student and DSNWK clients work on a weaving. Courtesy photo

A collaborative art project with Fort Hays State University and Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas clients will be on display Friday at Hays Public Library during the Spring Art Walk.

Amy Schmierbach, professor of art and design at Fort Hays State University, received a grant this fall from the Surface Design Association, a fiber arts group, to assist students and DSNWK clients create weavings.

FHSU students visited the Reed Center twice a week and worked with clients. About four clients at a time worked with the FHSU students on large looms to create multi-colored and -textured wall hangings.

All the fabric strips and yarn were donated for the project, and the DSNWK clients chose the colors and designs they wanted to include in the pieces.

Schmierbach has cooperated with DSNWK on several projects over the years, but said she felt a renewed passion to work with DSNWK clients after her son, who is 10, was diagnosed with autism and their family sought services from DSNWK.

She said the DSNWK clients reap benefits from the art making process.

DSNWK clients work on a weaving. Courtesy photo

“It is not a prescribed project that needs to look like ‘this’ at the end,” she said. “It gives them a lot of freedom to be creative on their own. There are very creative people.

“I think making artwork is empowering to everyone involved. I feel art has the power to change either on my end or my students’, for amateurs’ or professionals’. All these guys at DSNWK, it can change their lives, being productive, but also making these beautiful things to put out into the world that have value. I think there is a lot of great powerfulness that can come from that.”

The FHSU students who worked with the DSNWK clients get a new way of making art, Schmierbach said.

She emphasized the weavings were collaborations and not just a craft the students were teaching. She described this project as a form of social practice art.

Student McKenna O’Hare described social practice art in a statement for the exhibit as “the process of making art focused on the engagement of social interaction between individuals or communities, and it often aims to create social and/or political change through collaboration of participatory art.”

She continues by saying the act of making the art is often more important than the art itself.

The DSNWK/FHSU weavings are currently on display at the Hays Public Library.

“It is a matter of completely emerging oneself into a community to work towards a goal, raise awareness of issues, facilitate discussion, and other interpersonal interactions,” she writes.

By bringing awareness to a taboo subject, the reaction to the art is also often part of the art itself, she writes.

“Because social practice art is so broad, the end goal can vary tremendously. That may look like bringing physical change to a community, opening up conversation on hushed topics, simply bringing awareness to an overlooked community, shed light on political, governmental, or social issues, or maybe something completely different,” she said.

Other FHSU students who participated in the project included Alberto Hernandez Martinez, Garden City, and Kendra Hall, Purdy, Missouri.

Schmierbach has received another grant from the Surface Design Association to continue her program with the DSNWK clients. She said she would like to see the weavings travel outside of the community to other exhibitions to spread it message of inclusion and awareness.

Two of the weavings will be raffled to the public Friday with the money benefiting the DSNWK arts program.

Two of the weavings will be raffled to the public Friday with the money benefiting the DSNWK arts program. Tickets can be purchased at the library Friday night. Tickets are on sale for 1 for $3, 2 for $5 or 5 for $10.

 

JCPenney in Hays receives company’s highest distinction

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PLANO, Texas — J.C. Penney Co. recently honored its top performing stores with its Founder’s Award at a special ceremony on April 5 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas.

With more than 870 JCPenney stores across the country, general manager Staci Kessinger was one of over 90 store leaders recognized for outstanding performance in 2017.

Marvin R. Ellison, chairman and chief executive officer; Joe McFarland, executive vice president and chief customer officer; and Tony Hurst, senior vice president of stores were in attendance to recognize the leaders’ achievements.

“I’m proud of our dedicated associates at JCPenney in The Mall who received this special recognition,” Hurst said. “The Founder’s Award is the Company’s highest honor, recognizing top-performing leaders that significantly contribute to the success of JCPenney and provide customers with an unmatched shopping experience. We look forward to another exceptional year serving the customers in Hays.”

The Company’s Founder’s Award is presented to general and district managers for leading teams that deliver strong results in the areas of financial performance, customer and client service and business expertise.

Spring Art Walk features seasoned artists to elementary students

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By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Although the Spring Art Walk’s anchor always features the seasoned artists in the Smoky Hill Art Exhibition, this year students as young as elementary age will have a chance to show their talents too.

This is the 49th year for Smoky Hill Art Exhibition, the longest-running exhibition of its kind in the state. Seventy-one pieces were selected from a statewide juried art competition with more than 200 submissions this year. The Hays Arts Council presented $2,750 in prize money to the top pieces.

“It is almost like without that, the rest of it wouldn’t evolve,” Art Center Director Brenda Meder said of the exhibition, “That’s the granddaddy. That’s been the constant since the inception of the Spring Art Walk. That’s the show everyone wants to see and gets out for.”

“We believe we end up with this beautiful, rich, diverse array of works—everything from very contemporary to very traditional—two dimensional, three-dimensional, acrylic, watercolor, oil painting, collage, ceramic, metal sculpture, assemblage, photography, you name it,” Meder said. “No one can look at that show and not say, ‘Now that I really like.’ There are other things they may find as head scratchers, but someone else may adore the piece.”

The show will run through June 6 at the Hays Art Center, 112 E. 11th.

Below is a photo preview of the Smoky Hill Art Exhibition.

This year’s Spring Art Walk includes 28 locations with music, visual art or performance from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. There is no fee to participate.

The Niche, 707 Main, will give participants the opportunity to make quilt blocks. The event is dubbed “Step it Up for the Cure: Craft a Quilt Block for Diabetes” and is being organized by one of the Leadership 310 classes at FHSU to raise awareness about diabetes. The blocks will be assembled into a quilt and sold as a fundraiser.

“You can help to create the art for something that matters,” Meder said. “You can see that happening in a variety of ways, utilizing the arts in the best way in our community for awareness, for fundraising, for change. It is really exciting.”

The Community Assistance Center, 12th and Oak, also will conduct a fundraiser through the sale of donated art. That sale starts at 6 p.m.

Live music is going to be offered at Platinum Group, 116 E. 11th, by Joshua Adcock, Blade Buell and David Vandiver; Salon Ten O Seven, 1007 Main, by Jim Pisano and William Flynn; Union Pacific Plaza and Pavilion by the FHSU Jazz Ensemble and jazz by Brad Dawson, Luke Johnson and Ken Windholz; and Ellis County Historical Society, 100 W. Seventh, by Randy Mader.

An open acoustic jam will be at My Masterpiece, 205 E. Seventh, and Gella’s Diner will feature Blake Ruder from 9 to 11 p.m.

Hays High School will present a showcase of current issue projects as well as drama and forensics performances at A2Z Escape, which recently moved downtown to 115 W. Eighth.

A2Z is not the only place where student art can be experienced.

Prairie Garden Club youth environmental posters will be at Tri-Central Office Supply, 1101 Main St. Jackie’s Creamer’s Dance Studio, 1003 Main, will showcase examples of Grecian-style vases made by HHS language arts students, and watershed student posters will be at a vacant storefront at 809 Main St. Paintings and drawings by Thomas More Prep-Marian students Lane Werth, Annie Wasinger and Alexandra Herrman will be featured at the Hays Community Theatre, 121 E. Eighth.

The Hays Public Library will feature elementary student art on the second floor and “Weavings” a collaborative effort between Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas clients and Amy Schmierbach, FHSU instructor, on the first floor.

“We have special needs adults doing wonderful, creative, fulfilling, satisfying work,” Meder said. … “That is the richness of art. It knows no boundaries.”

A number of FHSU students will be exhibiting BFA and MFA shows Friday night and more FHSU art will be showcased on and off campus. Some of these include MFA ceramics by April Grace Noble and Heida Halldorsdottir at the Moss Thorns Gallery; “Dual/Duel” sculpture at the C.A.T.S. at new FHSU Center for Applied Technology and Sculpture; and a FHSU Creative Arts Society student exhibition at the FHSU painting lab.

Mad Matter Frame Shop & Gallery will feature “In Full Color,” mixed media works by John C Thorns Jr., longtime chairman of the FHSU art department.

At 7:30 p.m. at Salon Ten O Seven, Linda Ganstrom will receive the Daughter of the American Revolution “Women in the Arts” award.

Some sites will be open early or extended hours on Friday and other locations will be open to the public on Saturday. See the complete schedule for details.

“It really pays to start early and go late with this year’s Spring Art Walk because it is just going to be an outstanding evening,” Meder said.

Local high school performances earn Jester Award nominations

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Music Theatre Wichita recently announced nominees for the 17th Annual Jester Awards, a program designed to celebrate excellence in high school musical theatre.

The accolades program showcases the next generation of musical theatre talent in Kansas. Each year, trained volunteer judges attend and evaluate dozens of performances.

This year, 102 judges viewed 127 performances of 41 productions, involving more than 2,800 students and 41 schools across the state of Kansas. The program began in Wichita, but now extends as far as Liberal, Hays, Salina, and Pittsburg, in addition to the greater Wichita area.

Hays High School, Thomas More Prep-Marian and Russell High School received multiple nominations for the Jester Awards for their fall musicals this year.

Local nominees are below.

Hays High School nominees for “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”

Overall Production

Lead Actress (Esmeralda) Erin Muirhead

Lead Actor (Quasimodo) Ryan Will

Ensemble Performance

Vocal Music Director—Johnny Matlock

Artistic Guest (Choreography) Twanita Augustine

Artistic Guest (Director) Jennie Rajewski

Stage Crew

Design Guest—Nikki Nansel (Costume Design)

Design Guest—Jennie Rajewski, Jeremy Wann (Scenic Design)

Graphic Desgin—Alexis Robinson, Heath Meder

Thomas More Prep-Marian nominees for “Into the Woods”

Supporting Actor (Jack) Dylan Werth

Scenic Design —Dylan Werth, Lane Werth, Alexandra Herrman, Halle Lang

Sound—Avery Normandin, Karl Rack, Sheldon Weber, Bryce Wasinger, Tiffany Pfeifer, Emily Shippers

Graphic Design—Lane Werth

Lobby Design—Lane Werth, Alexandra Herrman, Dylan Werth

Russell High School nominees for “Little Shop of Horrors”

Lead Actress (Audrey) Maria Hilger

Cameo Performance (Various characters) Bobby Rhodes

Small Ensemble (The Ronnettes) Abigail Koech, Jennifer Pummell, Anastasia States

The Jester Awards Ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 6, 2018 at Century II Performing Arts Center’s Convention Hall in Wichita. Honorees in 25 categories will be announced during the ceremony, and several of the honorees will perform. Scholarship awards will be presented to three students, lead male and female honorees and a technical theatre recipient.

Tickets to the ceremony are $10 each and may be purchased at the door, online at mtwichita.org or by calling the Music Theatre Wichita box office at 316-265-3107.

Alumni of the Jester Awards program can be seen onstage and backstage at Music Theatre Wichita this summer, as well as on Broadway and in regional theatres across the country.

MTWichita Board President Michelle Moe Witte says: “Theatre provides so many young people with a sense of community. Together, they learn the value of work, collaboration, creativity and dedication. Their work is inclusive and so are the Jester Awards. Whether they belted out a tune on stage, ran the sound board or created the program – this is their night to shine. It is our opportunity to celebrate all that they have accomplished and to honor the community they have created.”

Herb Day set for Saturday

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By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Do you want a herb to signal you need a man or a crown of green that may help you remember the answers for you next test? Herb Day of Hays might have what you need.

The Hays Herb Study group is sponsoring a free Herb Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

The event is the first of its kind in Hays and herb study founder Pam “Herbie” Herl said she hopes the Herb Day will become an annual event.

Vendors will be set up in the Downtown Pavillion, and there will also be food trucks.

In addition to the market, the event will feature a series of speakers from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the gallery at Hays Public Library. The lectures are free, and there will be a drawing at the library every hour.

The schedule is below and has changed since the first printing of the event flyer.

10 a.m. Cooking with Herbs
11 a.m. Elderberries
1 p.m. Morford Lavender Farm—Lavender and lavender products
2 p.m. Prospectively Healthy—Jessica Moffitt—”Herbs for Brain and Mental Clarity”
3 p.m. Brewer’s Association—Hops and Brewing
4 p.m Swobee Honey Farm—Honey

Herl, a herbalist, started the herb study nine years ago. It is now a part of the Hays library programming. They meet at 5 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month in the gallery on the ground floor of the library. The programs are free, and you do not need to make reservations to attend. See the library website for upcoming programs.

Herl’s mother was Cherokee. As she was growing up, her mother used many natural remedies on cuts and bruises, and she learned much about herbs and their uses from her.

Many herbs with medicinal or culinary uses are native to Kansas. Some of these include echinacea (cone flower), mullein, yarrow, skull cap and yucca root.

Echinacea was used by Native Americans for snake bites and arthritis. The native people infused echinacea into animal fat and used it on their joints. It is also used in modern times as an immune booster. It can be found in teas, pill form or can be made into a tincture.

Lavender is known for its aromatic smell, but it also can be used in cooking and teas. Kansas’ dry climate creates good conditions for growing lavender. Lavender, a perennial in the state, is wind and heat tolerant, likes Kansas’ alkaline soil and does not like to have its roots’ wet. Herl said lavender was used during Word War I and II as an analgesic when medical supply lines were cut. It can also help with muscle spasms.

Rosemary and basil also grow well in Kansas. Students in Greece used to wear crowns of rosemary when they studied to enhance memory. Basil acts a bug repellant. Woman in Italy once placed basil plants in their windows to let suitors know they were looking for a man.

Sage grows wild in this part of the state. It is not only used in cooking, but to smudge or cleanse homes of evil energy.

Herl owns the Herb House, 914 Easter Ave., WaKeeney. She sells more than 150 herbal products ranging from a zit zapper to lip balm to massage oil.

However, Herl said her goal of the herb day and herb study is to spread the word about herbs.

“I want people to learn about herbs and share the knowledge of herbs for their use and delight,” she said.

Jake Gill to perform at Golden Q this weekend

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Throughout the early half of 2018, Jake Gill has raised awareness and funds to support Project AK-47, a worldwide non-profit organization. Project AK-47 exists to rescue child soldiers from lives of violence, restore their identities, and reshape regions of conflict.

After a whirlwind tour across the U.S. this summer, Jake Gill has much to

celebrate as his fourth studio album “Love’s Insanity” has landed his fifth song on the Music Row Breakout Country Singles chart. “Baby I’m on It” continues to be a crowd favorite.

The project features his newly released Top 100 single “Cricket Serenade” and also contains the chart landing album titled release “Love’s Insanity.”

The Sylvia, Kansas, native showed no signs of slowing down with the first of 12 shows in his new venue home in Nashville, Tennessee, the famed Hard Rock Cafe.  His tour this season has taken the singer to over 37 states and 180 shows, and allowed the artist and his band to meet 100,000’s of people and sample some of the country’s best food.

“The fresh seafood in the Gulf Coast has made the South a very popular stop for us.  You just can’t beat fresh crab legs and lobster,”  Gill said.

During his last show of the week on the Insanity Tour in Pennsylvania last week, Gill was fired up as the entire crowd learned the lyrics to his energy-packed single “Half Way Though a Six Pack.”  Dean McNeal with Dean Connections in Seatac Washington, said the show was a great success. Gill will continue the momentum on the Insanity Tour at 9 p.m. Saturday in Hays at the Golden Q Bar and Grill. 

For more information on Jake Gill and Project AK47, visit jakegill.net.

Correction 4:51 p.m. April 26. Gill will not be at the Golden Q Sunday.
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