By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Always quick with a smile and a handshake, Chad Haynes, 31, is a well-known person around Hays and, after sustaining serious injuries in a motorcycle accident early last month, the community has responded in a big way. A series of fundraisers have been planned to support Haynes, the first occurring this weekend.

The events are being organized by Danielle Scott, a cousin to Haynes.

“I just wanted to do something to help him out,” Scott said. “It has just kind of really gotten big from there.”

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at The Mall, 2918 Vine, a benefit bake sale is planned for Haynes, with donations pouring in from the area, including baked goods from Great Bend High School, as part of a service project.

“We are doing all of this all for Chad,” Scott said.

Donations of baked goods can be dropped off from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. before the sale.

In conjunction with the bake sale, there will be prizes offered including various packages and items donated from local businesses.

To help spread the message of bicycle safety, Doerflers’ Harley-Davidson, 1100 E. 43rd, will also be on site providing motorcycle safety information.

A second fundraising event is planed next month.

A 5K run/walk is scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 17. Registration will begin at 9:10 a.m. the morning of the race.

Participants will run a course near Sunrise Park, 19th and MacArthur, where the run will start and end.

Registration for the race is $25.

For participants who register before Sept. 30, aT-shirt commemorating the event will be given out during registration. The form to register can be found here.

A GoFundMe page has also been set up, collecting donations for Haynes. In the last month, the page has collected over $1,600.

Haynes has remained hospitalized in Wichita since the Aug. 8 accident in Russell County.

Laurie Mortinger, co-director of the community assistance center opens the new dropbox to check for donated items.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Sometimes the little things make all the difference, and the Hays Community Assistance Center has found a new donation drop box is a win-win, allowing donations to get to people in need, rather than passersby.

“I’ve seen a lot of drop boxes out of town and I know that we get stuff dropped off and a lot of times they’ll string it all over the yard, they go through it, or somebody will pick it up,” Laurie Mortinger, said co-director of the Community Assistance Center, 208 E. 12th.

But solving the problem was not a easy as just buying the box for the center. They looked into the cost of buying one, but with most being made on the coasts, shipping cost was prohibitive.

Luckily, local businesses stepped up and were able to fabricate a box for the center.

The center’s board “talked to steel fab in Hays, they said they thought they could make us one,” Mortinger said. “Leon’s Welding, they have the paint shop, they painted it for us.”

The box was put in recently in front of the center and, much to the satisfaction of the center staff, is being used, having already filled up once.

“We finally got it put in, and we had just a really good response for us,” Mortinger said.

The box helps ensure donations get where they need to be.

“We like people to give us donations,” she said. “We would rather you didn’t leave it at the door when we’re not here and not open — as we usually don’t get it.”

For items too big to fit in the box or for large donations after hours, staff can also be made available for a drop-off, Mortinger said.

While the new box is helping to keep donations coming in, the staff is also preparing for their next big food drive — “Trick or Treat so Others Can Eat,” which helpings ensure food is available for those in need.

“We serve disabled, senior citizens, single mothers, anybody that can use our services,” Mortinger said.

“We get no city or federal money at all,” she said, instead the center runs completely on local assistance, including donations from local grocers and cash donations from community members.

Even locally grown food gets put to use at the center.

“If you have that extra garden produce or fruit trees, bring it to the center. Our clients can always use that stuff,” Mortinger said. “We have the two public garage sales and private donations are what keep our doors open.”

The center has two part time staff and over 40 volunteers.

“We couldn’t do it without them,” Mortinger said.

The center is also thankful for the community that has kept them open for 30 years.

“We couldn’t have done it without the support of the community. Hays has been very generous to us,” Mortinger said.

She estimated 75 to 100 food orders are given out every month, with up to 200 people coming in every month — and a large portion of those using the center regularly.

The center will host its largest drive of the year next month, “Trick or Treat so Others Can Eat.”

The center is open 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

The Downtown Hays Development Corporation – organizer of downtown events that occur throughout the year – is getting ready for its next event, Wines and Steins next Friday, but while the events will give participants another opportunity to explore downtown Hays, it serves an important role for the organization as its primary fundraiser for the year.

“Wines and Steins is our huge fundraiser for the year, we do a lot of events, but all of them are just events for us, we break even on almost everything,” said Sara Bloom, executive director of the DHDC.

“We get some of our money from the City of Hays, we get the other half from this one event,” she said.

While the event helps provide for the DHDC’s funding needs, it is an community event, like others the DHDC organizes.

“It draws people downtown to celebrate the beauty that our downtown has become,” Bloom said. “It also celebrates the DHDC and all that we have accomplished.”

The event will give participants to opportunity to visit downtown shops, with each having refreshments available, but as the name suggests, it will be adult fare and no one under 21 is allowed to participate.

“There will be beer selection and a wine selection at each stop, as well as a hors d’oeuvres that the participating business is providing to complement those drinks,” Bloom said.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. with check in where a pamphlet will be distributed showing all 16 event locations. ID’s will be used as the way to check in and ensure no one under 21 is participating.

At 9 p.m., the businesses will close and the post-stroll celebration will begin behind the former Emprise Bank, 1200 Main. The celebration will include music, food and as a matter of course, more drinks as well as the live auction in conjunction with the silent auction going on throughout the event.

“We have everything from a gift card truck to massage packages to airline tickets,” Bloom said.

All items for the auction were donated to assist in the fundraising effort.

“We’re very very thankful for all of the donors that have given to the auction, as well as our many many sponsors,” Bloom said, noting the sponsors cover the expenses in order for the event to be a fundraiser.

Tickets are on sale now, at $50 each, with less than a third of the 300 total tickets still available. They can be purchased online at downtownhays.com, at any of the stroll stops, or at the Hays Welcome Center, 2700 Vine.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Hays Post video by Cooper Slough

The ACT college readiness letter for Hays High School has been released, and Hays students scored well compared to state averages.

The ACT tests four areas of academic achievement — English, math, reading and science — Hays surpassed, or met, the state average in every category except reading.

The Hays average was 22.1 and the state average was 22.4.

English was even with the state average at 21.3, locally math was 22.9, with the state average at 21.6 and science was 22.5 compared to 21.8.

Hays also beat the state average for the composite score as well with an average of 22.3 versus the state at 21.9.

Hays increased averages over last year in every category except reading as well.

With the averages scores beating the state averages the ACT report also showed college readiness was higher at Hays High than the state average in every individual category, however, Hays did not beat the state average in meeting all four together, with a 31 percent readiness report for Hays students and an state average of 32 percent.

The state of Kansas also had fair testing results, ranking at 21st in the composite score average.

For a full look at nationwide ACT results click here.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

One of the newest restaurants in Hays – The Golden Griddle, 230 W. Ninth – is about to make ordering easier with the development of an online mobile ordering app.

Once the sole domain of large chain restaurants, the Griddle hopes to bring the ease of mobile ordering to their stand alone restaurant soon, allowing patrons the ease of ordering and paying online and arriving only to pick up their order.

“It basically just eliminate the hassle of calling and ordering over the phone,” said Brady Herman, general manager.

“I know larger chains … they just pay people to run that constantly, but this is the first non-chain business to try it,” he said.

With the new business still settling into its customer base, Herman has hopes the app also drives additional business.

“Our expectations are very high for the carryout. I think it will eliminate a lot of hassle,” he said. “I think it will generate a lot more carryouts, since they don’t have come inside and wait in line.”

Herman also hopes when the app is finished, it will also be available through Facebook.

With any technological innovation comes implementation concerns and this one has been no different, but those are being addressed in the time before the launch in order for a smooth rollout to take place.

The team that is building the app – made up of people from all over the world, including former IBM employees – will be selling the app to the Griddle outright, and is concerned the app might have errors when Apple iPhone system updates occur, in which case they will need to be rehired to fix the problem. The Griddle is also exploring the best setup with the current point-of-sale system in the restaurant.

“We have a point-of-sale system back by the window that has a cash drawer,” Herman said, but an iPad also might be mounted in the area to assist staff with the ordering process.

The system could be ready as early as October and, as part of the launch, the Griddle is planning a test scenario with the public to ensure the system is fully ready prior to a full-scale launch. But the app is nearly ready.

“It’s built. I’ve seen it. There is just a little more back end stuff they have to finish up,” Herman said.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

QUINTER — On Tuesday, the Gove County Medical Center in Quinter officially opened its new lactation clinic to a crowd of about 50 people, including breastfeeding advocates from the Northwest Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition.

“The lactation clinic will provide education and support for infants and breastfeeding mothers including nutritional information, physical and emotional support and assistance with challenges of breastfeeding,” said Carolyn Nelson, grant writer, in a release after the event.

“Coleen Tummons, CEO, performed the ribbon cutting with the support of Dr. Shelly Gruenbacher, Annie Staats, R.N., DON, and the three lactation consultants, Jamie Mense, R.N., IBCLC, Stephanie Mesch, R.N., CLC, and Wendy Schmidt, R.N., CLC,” she said.

The event also featured a history of breastfeeding during the last few decades.

“Karen Huffman and Patrice Ostmeyer, former La Leche League leaders, shared how the status of breastfeeding has changed dramatically from the 1960s when it had negative connotations to the positive status it enjoys today. The change of status is in large part due to the vision and efforts of these women and others,” Nelson said.

The BESTT – Breastfeeding Essentials Support Thriving Together – Lactation Clinic will be open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Tuesday excluding holidays.

 

 

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Hays Middle School has confirmed two cases of viral meningitis, causing many parents to be concerned about sending their children to the school. Those concerns are unfounded, however, as the viral form of meningitis should not be confused with the much more serious – and often deadly – bacterial meningitis.

“We have had two confirmed cases of viral meningitis this school year at the middle school,” said Mary Ann Shorman, lead nurse at Hays Middle School, in a notice sent to school staff.

“Viral meningitis is not contagious. If you have close contact with someone who has viral meningitis, you may become infected with the virus that caused that person to be sick, but you are not likely to develop meningitis as a complication of the illness,” she said.

According to the Center for Disease Control there is no specific treatment for viral meningitis in most cases. Most people who get viral meningitis completely recover on their own within seven to 10 days. However, people with meningitis caused by certain viruses such as herpesvirus and influenza, may benefit from treatment with an antiviral medication.

Meningitis is defined as inflammation of the tissue covering the brain and spinal cord and is commonly caused by non-polio enteroviruses.

While there are no vaccines for the illness the CDC offers the following tips to avoid the viruses that can cause meningitis.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after changing diapers, using the toilet, or coughing or blowing your nose.
• Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact such as kissing, hugging, or sharing cups or eating utensils with people who are sick.
• Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your upper shirt sleeve, not your hands.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, such as toys and doorknobs, especially if someone is sick.
• Stay home when you are sick.

Symptoms of meningitis include fever, headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to bright light, sleepiness, nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite and lethargy, according to the CDC.

The full fact sheet from the CDC on viral meningitis can be found here.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Reports from school districts from Salina to Ellis have prompted schools in the area to issue alerts to students to be on the lookout for malicious activity and possible abduction attempts.

Ellis High School sent out a notice following an incident that occurred Friday.

“One of our middle school football players was approached and followed by a person in a gold van on their way to football practice. It was reported that the van had VEV Oil on the side and that the driver was an older gentleman with a beard and mohawk,” said Corey Burton, principal at Ellis High School, in a notice to students and parents in Ellis.

Reports have been filed with the Ellis Police Department, he said.

“Students and parents are reminded to always report suspicious activities as soon as possible to the Ellis Police Department and the USD 388. We would also like to encourage students to ride one of the district buses transporting students from EJH to the football field and Washington Grade School for practice,” Burton said.

A similar report occurred Friday in Russell, along with recent incidents in Salina and Holyrood, but it is unclear if those reports are related.

“We don’t know if these are connected,” said Ellis Police Chief Taft Yates, noting there have been differences in the reports from the other areas, including the vehicle description and the number of people involved.

The suspect’s description from Ellis apparently matches the description in a recent attempted abduction in Salina. Click HERE for that story from Salina Post.

While the incident is under investigation, Yates urges caution.

“We know nothing about them,” he said.

If something suspicious occurs he advises to keeping a safe distance and “please don’t wait to call law enforcement.”

For the time being, the Ellis police will have extra officers in the school area, Yates said.