Enjoy a few pics and some video too! It’s all happening at Frontier Park on South Main in Hays, America! Enjoy your weekend everyone and be safe during Oktoberfest 2011 / FHSU Homecoming.

Joe Dolezal and Galen Schmidtberger

Post Submitted By Tom Wilbur

Birth.  Life.  Death.  The cycle of life, in three words.

From the moment we are born, we are created by God to grow—in stature, skills, understanding, wisdom, maturity, and spirituality.  He has given us the tools to embrace the day and make a difference in the lives of each person we meet.  The opportunity to love and share, create and nurture, need and provide.  And then, interestingly enough, we’re given these physical bodies we inhabit, and then we die.

Some of us hit life’s snooze button early on—we’re pacing ourselves, and anxious to get the day over with as fast as possible.  Others are as energized about this day at age 95, as they were when they first appeared to the world from their mother’s womb.  We have met these people on occasion, and they are incredibly interesting, dynamic and fun.

Still others seem to be driven to make positive changes in all that they touch.  Their world may revolve around a specific place— maybe their home town is their sphere of influence.  Or an industry.  Or people of their same race or ethnicity.  Or their church.   Or the classroom.  But they are engaged, and involved in creating an environment for a better life….for everyone.

It seems to me that these days, we feel compelled to teach our children that they should learn about events and places and things—and that all children should be brought up to be able to recite certain stuff.  And place a lean mark in a multiple choice circle on an exam.  We present information, and then we test kids on it—feeling that there’s a requirement to place a quantitative standard in place– and gauge how we are doing in comparison to each other.  No Child Left Behind might fall in that category.  Or ACT tests.  Or simple assessment grades.

I am fascinated by a quote my brother, Paul, recently shared with me, by Pablo Casals, the Spanish cellist, who said:

Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children?  We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France.  When will we also teach them what they are?

We should say to each of them:  Do you know what you are?  You are a marvel.  You are unique.  In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you.  Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move.

You may become a Shakespeare, a Michaelangelo, a Beethoven.  You have the capacity for anything.  Yes, you are a marvel.  And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?  You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.

We are all marvelous creatures, with a string of a million moments that make up our existence. The challenge Casals sets forward is– as he states: We must . . . make the world worthy of its children.  I wonder what kind of grade we should give ourselves on that one?

Do we provide a world of love, opportunity and support for our children?  Do we demonstrate values like integrity, grace, and humility in serving others?  Do we create an environment that develops the core being of our children, instead of making them into recitation devices?  Is there a way for us to measure how well we are doing in that regard, or is it even necessary?  Do we provide the appropriate opportunities to allow them to develop, first as a child, learning to adapt to their surroundings?  Do they have time to play, and explore?  Or do we as adults live our lives vicariously through them, with tethers, restraints, and boundaries based upon our own notions of who they should become?

I grew up in a time and space where kids actually went outside for the day just to be outside.  I know it’s hard to imagine.  We interacted with other little humans, instead of hiding behind electronic devices.  We could carry on a conversation.

We built treehouses, and had Kool-Aid stands.  We played in the mud and the water of a recent rain— chased frogs, and dug up earthworms.  We had to be accountable to the moment, and to each other . . . lest someone scrape their knee, or fall from their bike. Sometimes we ventured a little too far, and did something so bad, we got a spanking.   Yep, a spanking.

We kicked the ball up and down the street with the other kids in the neighborhood, and lived in homes where the front door was rarely locked, and where children were safe to roam.  And when it got really hot on a Kansas summer day, we’d drink water from the hose outside, or maybe come inside for a while and play board games, or read books—delighting in a cool glass of sweet tea from a neighborhood Mom’s pitcher in the fridge.

Watch TV all day?  Unthinkable. Spend more than a minute of two on the phone?  We couldn’t.  We had a thing called a party line, and had to share.  Ship inappropriate movies into our homes?  Never happened.  We were kids, and were allowed to be kids for a while—as we developed our minds, and grew.

Take kids out of church on Sundays to play organized sports? The reverse was true—in order to be in a league in our home town, you were required to attend Sunday school—at least if you intended to participate in organized sports through the Y.M.C.A.

Obesity in children was the exception to the rule.  So were non-nuclear families.  Divorce and bankruptcy happened occasionally, not the majority of the time.  People paid their debts, and there were consequences for not doing so.

I guess I’m just an old fogey now, yearning for simpler times for our children . . . times when we were actually allowed to be kids— and allowed the time to look at the sky above and contemplate, instead of beating yet another level on a handheld video game, or being overwhelmed with nightly homework.

Maybe there ought to be a class in school called, “Play, Dream, and Achieve”.  We wouldn’t need to give out a grade.  It would be, what it is . . . simply giving kids time to process life.  And every so often, a child could actually be left behind, to allow more time and more space for their aspirations and goals to be developed, nourished, and supported. More time for their developing brains to mature—without fear of retribution, or feeling inadequate based upon a set of scores.  More time to think, and dream, and run, and jump, and play.  After all, what’s the hurry?

We could create such a world for our children.  We should create such a world for our children.

Think of the possibilities.

tw

Tom Wilbur is President/CEO of BANK VI in Salina.  He is a lifelong resident of Salina, is a graduate of the University of Kansas, and has been a regular editorial contributor to newspapers and magazines.  He can be contacted at [email protected]

Submitted By Richard D. Fry

The administration’s bringing Obama Care (ACA) to Kansas has revealed a lot.

The prime duty of a government is to protect the life, liberty and property of the citizens. Legislators take an oath to protect the Constitution, have a duty to promote the wishes of the majority of their constituents within the bounds of the Constitution and to keep their constituents (and sometimes all citizens) informed of important things that are going on, of which the citizens are likely not to be informed or well informed.

The violation or attempted violation of the Constitution is one of these issues of which the citizens should be informed.

Only one legislator is speaking out against the implementation of ACA in Kansas.  Several “don’t want to get involved”. That’s like the sheriff sneaking out of town when the bad guys show up. Shame!

Some say it’s not going on. They have not made a reasonable attempt to “inform their discretion”, as Jefferson would say.  These folks need to be called out because they cannot protect you and the Constitution sitting in the closet.

If you are not opening your legislators’ closet door then you are sitting in a closet as well.

The views and opinions expressed in this post are soley those of the author. These views and opinions do not represent those of HaysPost.com, and/or any/all contributors to this site.

By John Fedele ~ Salina Post

As we get closer to the primaries and the 2012 election, it is important that the public keeps their eye on the prize. It is not the White House. It is control of the House and Senate.

In truth, the White House is not winnable because the Republican Party does not have an electable candidate.

• Bachmann is a woman and America is not ready for one, unless the media wants one, as they did in the case of our current president.
• Romney is a proven loser from the last GOP primary, and look who he lost to…McCain.
• Perry is Bush on steroids, and from Texas.
• Christie is a great Pillsbury Doughboy for the press to latch onto. Besides he makes too much sense and, until recently, didn’t show any eagerness for the job.
• Then comes Newt, who is by far the best candidate solely based on his experience with the workings of Washington D.C. His problem is he knows the workings of Washington D.C.
• Then there is the Pizza man. I think Cain would be a great candidate. It would divide the Black Vote, and give the media a fit when it comes to playing the Race Card.

No, the prize is the Congress. Representatives and Senators from the Republican Party with Tea Party ideas are what we need in Congress. If the GOP can control the two houses, it doesn’t matter that Obama is still president. He wouldn’t be able to veto anything because the senate would be able to over-ride. If truth be known it would be a wonderful second term for Obama. He wouldn’t have to make any decisions, could play golf every day and take as many vacations as he wanted, since the Congress would be running the country. So, here’s the thing, make sure we control the two houses. That is how we can correct these past few years.

 

The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. These views and opinions do not represent those of HaysPost.com, and/or any/all contributors to this site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The singer upset ESPN with comments made on Monday.

 

You may have noticed that Monday Night Football did not open with Hank Williams Jr.’s iconic football anthem Monday night.  The network gave Hank the boot after comments he made Monday morning while appearing on the Fox Network’s program “Fox and Friends.”

While on the program Williams, Jr. was asked what he thought of the summer golf game between President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner.  In his response he said, “That’s like Hitler playing golf with (Jewish Israeli leader Benjamin) Netanyahu,” and also called the President and Vice President “the enemy.”

Those comments did not set well with the TV bosses at ESPN, who yanked his weekly kickoff anthem, ‘Are You Ready For Some Football?,’ from their Monday Night Football broadcast.

Williams, Jr. later released a statement attempting to explain himself.

The statement said, “Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme – but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me – how ludicrous that pairing was.”

Whose side are you on? Sound off. 

On the way to Wichita for football last Friday night the top of conversation turned to baseball and more specifically to the MVP races.  I was quick to point out my picks as Curtis Granderson in the AL and Matt Kemp in the NL.  One guy pointed out that Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers, a pitcher, should possibly get the AL nod.  Ummmm….NO!  Would the place kicker get an MVP award in the NFL?  How about the caddy in golf?  The really good free throw shooter at the end of the bench?  The zamboni machine in hockey…ok I really couldn’t think of one for hockey, not really a fan.

Pitchers already have their own MVP award called the Cy Young.  This award is given to the best pitcher and eliminates position players.  So why should pitchers that appear once every five days, at most, be put into the same award category as everyday players?  Voters shouldn’t have to compare apples to oranges in deciding that a player that is expected to play his position and bat very well is more or less valuable than a player that pitches and if he is in the NL bats…usually terribly.

Nobody should get upset if Justin Verlander or any pitcher doesn’t receive the MVP, if he doesn’t win the Cy Young then yes by all means howl away.

Pitchers should never bat, but that is another topic for another day.