It’s that time of year again. Students in Hays and the surrounding communities are heading back to school, and local law enforcement agencies are urging residents to be on the lookout for students.
Hays Assistant Police Chief Brian Dawson said the HPD is reminding motorists to slow down and pay attention, especially in and around school zones.
“We’d like motorists to make sure that they slow down when driving near the schools and keep their eyes open for students crossing the roadways,” Dawson said.
Dawson advised drivers plan additional time in the morning and afternoons.
He said, early on each school year, it takes some time to get the flow of traffic down. He urged drivers not to block traffic looking for parking spots.
“We need to get familiar with dismissal times and the flow of the parking lots and release of children,” Dawson said.
Motorists should also be mindful of crosswalks, Dawson said, and allow pedestrians to cross the street in those crosswalks.
“(We) just want people to slow down and be observant and pay attention to their driving so there aren’t any accidents and that people are safe.” Dawson said.
Dawson also said people must check in with the school if they visit.
“They like to know who’s in their building and they don’t want to have to run down people that are walking through the building that don’t have an ID or haven’t been identified or have checked in,” Dawson said.
ELLIS – If you’re interested in introducing your child to the world of shooting sports, hunting, fishing and other outdoor-related activities, mark your calendar for Saturday, August 20. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Hays area businesses, conservation groups and shooting sports groups will offer a free day of target shooting and outdoor activities for youth 17 and younger at the 19th Annual Youth Outdoor Festival. The event will be conducted at the Hays City Sportsman’s Club, ¼ mile north of I-70 Exit 157.
Youth will learn about and experience trap and skeet shooting, archery equipment, air rifles and BB guns, muzzleloaders, small-bore rifles, and more. There will also be a casting competition, paintball target shooting, and a fur harvesting demonstration.
Youth will be closely supervised at each station by expert volunteer instructors, and all equipment will be supplied. Hunter education certification is not required, but youth must be accompanied by an adult. Registration for the event can be completed onsite prior to participation. Lunch will be provided, and youth will have a chance to win prizes, including guns, fishing tackle and other outdoor equipment.
For more information, contact Kent Hensley at (785) 726-3212 or Troy Mattheyer at (785) 726-4212.
From left: Dr. Kendall Krug, PID Gene Vogel and Lion Sylvia Reinhard.
By Dr. ANNE NIELSEN Kansas State School for the Blind Field Services
TOPEKA — Dr. Kendall Krug was awarded the Claude M. DeVorss award for his outstanding work with the Kansas Lions Statewide Low Vision Program (KanLovKids), by PID Gene Vogel and Lion Sylvia Reinhardt at a recent training in Topeka for the Kansas Teachers of the Blind and Visually Impaired.
KanLovKids is a program administered through the Kansas State School for the Blind to provide vision evaluations to students who have low vision from birth to 21 years of age.
This is the 10th year that the Kansas Lions Sight Foundation has donated $10,000 per year to subsidize the cost of low vision evaluations. The KLSF has given the KC Blind All Stars to date, $100,000 since 2006. One hundred fifty students are evaluated in this program every year.
Submitted by Jim Huenergarde, Hays Lions
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Two Ellis County Extension Agents were recognized at the recent National Association of County Agricultural Agents Association conference in Little Rock in late July.
Holly Dickman, Ellis County Extension Agent for Horticulture, received the Achievement Award that recognizes Extension agents with less than 10 years of experience for excellence in their fields for expertise and professionalism. Dickman reaches many people in the county and region with her media work with “Green and Growing weekly television segments, “Let’s Get Growing” daily radio tapings and bi-weekly public service announcements for homeowners, gardeners and landscape professionals. She works diligently in answering the hundreds of phone calls that come into the Extension office during the growing season and manages and works with 26 volunteer Master Gardeners.
Campbell, right, accepts his award.
Stacy Campbell, Ellis County Extension Agent for Agriculture, received the Distinguished Service Award which honors outstanding Extension professionals with more than 10 years of experience and represents the top 2 percent of NACAA membership. Campbell has strived to offer agriculture producers a well-rounded Extension educational program with an emphasis in various crop and livestock production management practices and issues and risk management strategies. He writes a weekly article for the newspaper in an effort to inform and keep ag producers aware of the latest information that can be useful to them. He has developed a GMO presentation and game that is given each spring and fall to middle school youth at the EARTH/Water Festivals.
After months of work at the site, Tebo Village will soon be completed, opening up new retail space to the Hays area.
The 12-storefront, 25,000-square-foot retail development sits at 43rd and Vine, with anchor tenant Pasta Jay’s in front of the retail space and expecting to open soon.
While the retail space remains under construction, Chance Reeser, construction manager for Tebo Properties, said a few tenants are already lined up.
“We excited about it,” Reeser said.
And that anticpation permeates through Hays, as well.
“We are really excited about seeing an additional space available for retail locations,” said Aaron White, executive director of the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development.
White said his office has been actively using the space as a recruitment tool for retailers interested in coming to Hays and may help fill gaps in retail options that were identified in the community retail survey.
Work on the site has been ongoing for a little under a year, but overall the project is only slightly over schedule.
Permitting issues first delayed the development.
“That kind of slowed us down a little bit, but we got it worked out,” Reeser said.
Most recently, however, construction has been slowed by weather.
“A lot of rain, weather slowed us down. It was really muddy and then high winds,” he said.
Construction is expected to be wrapped up in about a month, Reeser said.
Sales tax revenues are projected a continued decline in 2017, according to Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Hays city commissioners unanimously approved the 2017 budget of $37,990,318 following a public hearing Thursday night.
The mill levy still remains at 25, although that required some belt-tightening. Commissioners issued a warning to outside agencies that receive city funding to expect cuts in that funding in 2018.
City Manager Toby Dougherty again outlined the 2017 budget highlights:
25 mill cap maintained
Balanced budget
No hiring of more full-time employees
No salary increases for employees
Continues funding of reserves and payment of cash for large capital projects
Full funding of Street Maintenance Program
Reconstruction of Eighth Street and Allen Street projects schedule moved up in Capital Improvement Plan
Emphasis on sustainability to take care of capital assets
Dougherty also noted the “continued shallow decline in sales tax revenues.”
“We are budgeting a reduction of $250,000. … We offset that with $300,000 in expenditure cuts,” Dougherty explained. “We’re still $50,000 ahead of the game and, with our unreserved fund balance and the cushion we have in there, if we do have that protracted decline (of sales taxes) … we’re OK with that, too.”
Commissioner Henry Schwaller said it was “important to point out the vast majority of the city’s revenue comes from sales tax.”
“Over 10 years ago, we decided we would no longer rely on property taxes to fund the general operations of the city,” Schwaller recalled.
“We are the only city that actually has this kind of mechanism whereby which we fund our general fund with sales tax revenue strictly,” Hays Mayor Eber Phelps pointed out.
After thanking Finance Director Kim Rupp and city staff for their work on the budget, Vice-Mayor Shaun Musil said, “I think it’s important we do everything we can to get raises for city employees next year.” He referred to Commissioner Lance Jones’ comments in an earlier meeting about city funding for outside agencies.
“I’ll be honest with you. I think that’s probably going to be where we cut next year,” Musil said.
“You’re reading my mind, Commissioner,” interjected Schwaller.
“We can’t give money we don’t have,” said Commissioner James Meier, who praised the recent work of city employees in the wake of a major water leak July 4th and the July 13 storm damage.
“We tried to do a reset on these outside agency funding requests a long time ago,” Schwaller said. “I think, for the first time, our expectation going into 2017 that there are no guarantees for any outside funding in 2018 and that we start with a fresh slate.
“It doesn’t matter what they got this year. They have to justify what they want, and what they’re going to do with it, and what the outcomes are. I don’t see that happening anymore.”
Commissioners agreed the outside agency funding issue should be discussed within the commission between now and the next budget cycle,” discussing it publicly as this is the standard moving forward,” Commissioner James Meier said.
“It’s not an entitlement program. It’s over,” added Schwaller.
Commissioner Lance Jones agreed to a harder look at outside agency funding in 2018.
Commissioner Lance Jones clarified he “didn’t bring up the issue because he was frustrated with any agency.”
“I just don’t understand the city’s funding of the DHDC (Downtown Hays Development Corporation). I don’t see how they’re any different from the (Hays Area) Chamber of Commerce, whom we don’t fund at all, and who does a lot for our community, like the DHDC does,” Jones said.
“Yes, definitely. I think we have to look at the outside agencies a little harder next year if it comes down to the same budget crunch that we’re looking at right now,” Jones agreed with his fellow commissioners.
City funding in 2017 for the seven outside nonprofit agencies remained at the 2016 levels for a total of $437,508. That’s the same total amount distributed for social services, economic development and quality of life groups each year since 2014.
City of Hays 2017 Budget Outside Agency Funding
Care Council: $164,000
FHSU Scholarship Program: $100,000
Ellis Co. Coalition for Economic Development: $87,550
New USD 489 Superintendent John Thissen told city commissioners combined efforts will make Hays a healthy, vital community.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
It was one of two events Thursday evening for new Hays USD 489 Superintendent John Thissen as he introduced himself to Hays city commissioners at the invitation of Mayor Eber Phelps.
“I’ve never been to so many meetings in just five weeks,” Thissen quipped as he spoke during the citizen comments portion of the meeting.
“Hays has been very welcoming and it’s been a very easy transition,” he said. Thissen’s contract started July 1.
Thissen came to Hays from Herrington USD 487, where he had served as superintendent since 2007. Thissen replaced Dean Katt who resigned at the end of June to move to Independence, Mo., to work in the school district’s human resources department.
“From my nine years experience at Herrington, I come here and kind of have it in mind that a school district has to end up working with the city in so many different ways,” Thissen said to the Hays city commissioners.
In fact, in Herrington it was so easy, Thissen explained, “we ended up co-habiting the building. Half of the building was the city office and half of the building was the school district office…I had many meetings with the city manager.”
He talked about “the understanding and how it all really worked together” between the city of Herrington, the schools, the medical community, service organizations and businesses.
“I know it’s a small community,” Thissen acknowledged, “and it may have been a lot easier in some ways with it being simpler, but at the same time it just seemed that’s the way you did it.
“Coming here to Hays, I’m trying to learn the connections and establishing those lines of communication.”
Thissen said he was “very excited to be a part of the Hays community.”
“I’m doing all I can to end up making sure the community is a healthy, vital community. I do know the base of that is having leaders who have integrity and have a vision for the future of the community, with the people being the full purpose of what our work is all about,” Thissen said.
“The combined efforts is what’s going to do that. I know that’s a little more complicated than putting up walls around the various organizations, but that doesn’t work very well. It’s a necessity to end up working together and communicating,” he concluded.
Thissen told Hays city commissioners he hopes to have regular meetings with City Manager Toby Dougherty.
Thissen also told the commission he has an upcoming meeting with City Manager Toby Dougherty and he hoped it will be come a regularly scheduled talk.
The commissioners liked that idea and thanked Thissen for coming to their meeting.
“It means a great deal,” said Commissioner Henry Schwaller. “In December, I asked that we meet with your body–the school board–and the county commissioners on a regular basis…but nothing has come of it.
“I believe you’re right,” Schwaller continued. “There’s a lot of things we do well if we do them together. We get a lot more accomplished. I extend that offer to the school board again (and to Ellis County.”)
Thissen nodded his head in agreement as Schwaller spoke.
“I don’t come here with any ideas of what’s changing,” Thissen replied. “It’s a matter of understanding what is here and gather information from many different people, and then working from that to say maybe a year from now, I have an idea of what is really of interest to change, or really focus on.”
He talked again about the variety of meetings he’s had since moving to Hays, including a tour of First Care Clinic. “What’s been built up there is fantastic for this community. I’ve also been invited to go to LINK (Living Independently in Northwest Kansas.) There’s just so many connections that are so good for the community.”
“Hays is really a vibrant community,” Thissen added.
“It was so great to see it all come together. It was amazing!”
Ellis County Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Executive Director Jenny Bates’ smile was ear to ear as she reflected Wednesday evening on the success of the inaugural Hays Duck Derby at the Hays Aquatic Park (HAP).
It’s a new fundraiser for BBBS and will replace the annual Christmas 4 Kids telethon held in early December.
All 5,000 bright yellow toy ducks were sold for the derby races and there were 15 cardboard canoes whose builders paid an entrance fee to the Soggy Bottom Challenge, according to Bates. Children under 13 also purchased ducks for a separate Duck Dash.
The hot dog feed line across the street from HAP.
All proceeds, including those from the hot dog feed held just west of HAP under the shady trees on the lawn of Early Childhood Connections, go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ellis County.
“A little more than $45,000 was raised,” Bates was able to announce late Thursday afternoon. “I just can’t believe it!”
“This funding helps us match kids (Littles) in our program who need a volunteer (Bigs)–a special person in their life–just to help them with everyday things that they’re going through,” said Bates. “This fundraiser helps us to be able to do that–screen volunteers, make the matches and then support the matches throughout their entirety.
“Our longest match right now is 10 years. It’s amazing the things we get to see every day in our office, and the impact it’s making on kids here in our community.”
Still, added Bates, “there are 40 kids waiting to be matched with a Big Brother or a Big Sister. We always need more volunteers.”
(Courtesy Andrea Clinkscales)
Volunteers were swarming all over the Hays Aquatic Park last night, with a large contingent from the Hays First Methodist Church and its youth group.
“We had no idea what to expect for this first time,” Bates said with a delightful laugh.
Bates said the HAP employees counted 650 people coming through the front entrance of HAP and another 300 or so people went through the east gates where the cardboard canoes were on display in the parking lot before the event started.
It was a long list of contributors read throughout the evening by emcees Gary Shorman and Mike Koerner of Eagle Communications, and Nancy Jeter. Jeter retired in December as the BBBS executive director and still serves as a volunteer. She came up with the idea of the duck derby fundraiser.
Bates thanked them all.
“We couldn’t have done without them–so many donors, volunteers and great partners who support Big Brothers Big Sisters,” she said.
Check back with Hays Post for more coverage of the fun and excitement at the Hays Duck Derby.
2,500 yellow duckies swimming in one of two heats during the BBBS Hays Duck Derby
DUCK DASH WINNERS
1. Carrico Bike – Kylie Leiker *
2. Carrico Bike – Isaac Moreno *
3. Carrico Bike – Jess Schwein *
4. McDonald’s Happy Meal Every Week for 1 year – Rocquel Clingingsmith
5. 2017 Season Pass to Hays Aquatic Park – Gail Kuehl *
6. 8 Miniature Golf Passes to Precision Valley – Caleb Ridder
7. Family Night Out Bowling to Centennial Lanes – Timothy Huls *
8. Sternberg Museum Family Membership for 1 year – Sam Allen *
9. Yellow Duck Alarm – Gail Kuehl *
10. Jumbo Inflatable Duck – Emily McEwan *
Happy Meal with Dessert –
11. Judith Isbell *
12. Nichole Dreiling *
13. Emma Kessler *
14. Cameron Daughtee *
15. Steve Paul *
16. Steve Paul *
17. Nelson Handle *
18. Isaac Martinez *
19. Georgia Weems *
20. Zach Chance *
21. Shaun Musil *
22. Jenny Molstad
23. Jenny Molstad
24. Lanie Garcia
25. Connor Schmidt
26. Erin Ruder *
27. Willow Swagerty *
28. Reilly Leiker *
29. Kinley Sprenkle *
30. Alleynah McVey *
SOGGY BOTTOM CHALLENGE AWARDS
Best of Show Award: Lang Diesel
Spirit Award: Downing-Nelson Oil – Miss Liberty
Titanic Award: Paul-Wertenberger Construction
SOGGY BOTTOM RACES
Race # 1 Challengers: Hays Hobby Shop, Bank of Hays, John O. Farmer Oil, Williams Real Estate, Happy’s Auto, Paul Wertenberger Construction Winner of Boat Race #1: John O. Farmer
Race # 2 – Challengers: APAC, Downing-Nelson Oil, Glassman Corporation, Western Well, Lang Diesel Winner of Boat Race #2: Glassman Corporation
Race # 3 – Challengers: Lifetime Dental, Northwestern Printers, Walmart, Ellis County Sheriff Winner of Boat Race #3: Ellis County Sheriff
Boat with the fastest time and overall winner with Naming Rights for next year’s Soggy Bottom Challenge: John O. Farmer
DUCK DERBY WINNERS
Duck #14 – Honora Freshwater Pearl Bracelet (3) – Diamond R Jewelry (Dustin Roths) Winner: Rebecca Kuehl
Duck #13 – $100 Gift Card, Pullover & Bag from Hays Car & Truck Alignment (Jim Werth) Winner: Kathy Harper
Duck #12 – Adams Blue 10.5 Rt Hand Driver golf club – Precision Valley (Landon Paul) Winner: Scott McGrath
Duck #11 – Country Stampede 2017 tickets – 4) multi tickets (Jeff Copper) Winner: Don Burlison
Duck #10 – Kansas City Royals Tickets (4) – Eagle Radio (Todd Lynd) Winner: Pam Mayers
Duck #5 – Bronson Traeger Grill – sponsored & presented by Crawford Supply (Mark Washburn) Winner: Kenton & Carol Oliff
Duck #4 – Porta-Bote – sponsored & presented by Mid Kansas Auto Auction (Trevor Ottley) Winner: Ronan Sramek
Duck #3 – Sprint Center Suite for Miami Heat vs. Minnesota Timberwolves NBA Game. Includes tickets for 12 & 2 parking passes; Sponsored by Sizewise Winner: Alan Moore
Duck #2 – 1 week vacation to cabin in Black Hills South Dakota sponsored & presented by Randy & Tammy Walker Winner: Dirae Boyd
Duck #1 Grand Prize – 2014 Red Ford Fiesta, 10,000 miles and still under warranty. Sponsored & presented by: James Motor Company (Stan Dreiling), Hays Chevrolet (Wayne Kieffer), Auto World (Dick Werth), Car Zone (Greg Werth), Lewis Automotive Group of Hays (Ross Harms), Happy’s Auto (Camron Walter), Mid Kansas Auto Auction (Trevor Ottley)and Lang Diesel (Brian Lang) Winner: Al Downing
The Ellis County Commission wants to modify the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), commonly referred to as the three-mile boundary, around the Hays city limits.
Ellis Co. Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes and Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty met several times to discuss possible modifications to the boundary and then presented it to the Planning Commission July 18.
Ellis County adopted countywide zoning in 2006 after which the city and county commissions signed an ordinance/resolution defining the current ETJ.
As Dougherty pointed out to city commissioners during their work session last week, Ellis County can unilaterally make changes to the city of Hays’ ETJ. Within the ETJ, the city has control of zoning and platting. The county has control of everything in unincorporated areas or not controlled by an ETJ. The city of Ellis also has a three-mile ETJ.
The proposed boundary change removes 19 square miles “yet still protects Hays and its potential growth areas for a long time to come,” Dougherty told the commission.
The east edge was left as is. “We don’t feel the east side warrants any change because this is a pretty active growth area for the city,” Dougherty said. “This boundary we feel should stay the same.”
The southwest side of the current boundary is state-owned property, either by Fort Hays State University or Kansas State University.
“When the commission discussed the Blue Sky Acres rezone request, one of the comments made was it’s highly unlikely we’re ever going to develop south and west of the state-owned property. That’s why we changed the boundary, taking out of the ETJ the privately-owned land on the opposite side of that state-owned land.”
In the northwest there are flood plain issues, and to the far north is an industrial area and a feed lot.
“Highly unlikely we’re ever going to want to annex that into the city,” Dougherty said, “so your potential for growth is limited there.”
The active growth of the city, Dougherty predicted, is “probably going to be along the areas where infrastructure can be extended,” as he pointed to areas immediately north of the city limits.
The proposed ETJ boundary, which removes 19 square miles, in in blue. The current boundary is in yellow.
“There’s absolutely nothing scientific about this,” he cautioned. “This is just us sitting around going through the map.”
And it can change.
“The reality is, this is not an immutable boundary. It can be changed, as evidenced by the fact it was adopted in 2006 and we’re talking about the possibility of it being modified now.”
“If Hays was to experience a residential growth spurt north of Walmart, north of 48th Street, you can always revisit the county and ask them to possibly modify it to accommodate that.”
The county is the entity that sets the three-mile boundary, Dougherty reminded city commissioners. “The city commission has a voice in the process but the decision is theirs to set the three-mile boundary.”
Commissioner Lance Jones said he saw “no issues at all with it.”
“I was just looking at a map that shows how much developable area is in the city of Hays already. With the city population at 21,000 right now and we expand out to that new blue line, you’re probably talking over 100,000 people and I don’t see us getting there any time soon,” Jones said.
Vice-Mayor Sean Musil agreed with Jones, but also added, “In talking to developers, I think we’re going to be up north there a lot quicker than what we think.”
Dougherty agreed it was a possibility, while also noting nearby industrial and commercial areas that would have to be “leapfrogged” around.
“We have time to make course corrections if it does happen. If we start seeing a lot of plats, a lot of movement in that area–significant investments in infrastructure–we have time to ask the county for a modification to allow for that, for any part of it.”
“I think this is completely reasonable,” concluded Commissioner James Meier.
Dougherty will return the commissioners’ comments to county administrator Smith-Hanes.
The proposed boundary change would not affect the current makeup of the Planning Commission. Members consist of six city of Hays residents and three members who live within the three-mile extra territorial jurisdiction.
Commissioner Henry Schwaller was absent from the meeting.
Thomas More Prep-Marian is working on completing a few campus renovations before the new school year.
Among the renovations is an expansion of the public restrooms in Al Billinger Fieldhouse, as well as a resurfacing of an existing parking lot just east of the fieldhouse.
“The lot to the east of the field house is primarily underclassmen student parking, and will get an asphalt paving, and will be reconfigured to accommodate better traffic flow and larger parking stalls,” said Jeff Brull, TMP-Marian Advancement Director.
Brull also said the bathroom expansion was the last of three significant improvements made to the fieldhouse, the first two being a new roof and a reconditioned gym floor.
“The existing restrooms (in the field house) were small and in need of repair, so it was necessary to not only renovate, but also expand to accommodate the number of people that come to events,” Brull said.
Al Billinger Fieldhouse has a capacity of 1,100 people.
The fieldhouse is not the only building on campus receiving improvements. IT staff in the main school building are also putting the finishing touches on a complete wireless network overhaul to satisfy the requirement for higher internet speeds.
Starting this school year, all TMP-Marian students will be receiving a Chromebook computer for daily educational use, through a private gift by Lillian Schumacher, a 1951 graduate of the Girls Catholic High.
“This truly wasn’t a case of ‘Here’s Chromebooks, go change how you teach,’ ” Brull said. “The teachers have been training on these for quite some time.”
Brull also said he’s happy with the progress they have made this year with the improvements on campus.
“The site planning committee and capital means committee are always looking for ways to be more efficient, and to be good stewards of the resources we have,” he said.
For many, it might be the coolest video game system in town, but the simulator being installed at The Tactical Experience is much more than a video game — it is a valuable tool for military, police and residents looking to sharpen tactical skills in a safe setting.
Brad Crawford, The Tactical Experience owner, brought the system to Hays after a career in the military.
Originally from Cincinnati, Crawford served in the military for the last 15 years, but decided Hays was a good fit with his wife’s family in the area. She is originally from Victoria.
“I couldn’t continue service, so what I decided to do is get out in the civilian sector and use all the experience I have and do something really cool,” he said.
Opening the simulator, located at the Hadley Center in downtown Hays, gave Crawford an opportunity to continue teaching – something he said he really enjoys.
Initially, Crawford looked at opening a live fire range but found the cost to be prohibitive. He then looked at the technology available and realized there was a virtual way to do business with the shooting industry.
“It just worked hand-in-hand. I got in touch with some of the guys in the industry, and they were actually really interested in the concept of a commercial deal with this because this is usually a military or law enforcement technology,” he said.
The technology used at the Experience is what Crawford used during his time as a trainer in the military and provides numerous options to give an experience similar to what trainees would experience in the real world.
“It’s probably the best stuff you’re going to get. We use this kind of simulation technologies in the military to train soldiers going overseas because it’s cost effective,” Crawford said. “I’ve been deployed five times, and I can tell you some of the stuff that happens in this simulator is very realistic.”
The simulator also offers advantages to standard range training.
“There are certain things you can do in a real steel application setting, and there are certain things that you can’t because of safety considerations. With this, you are a little more open to the things you can do,” Crawford said.
He also said it broadens the experience, adding things trainees can do that they may not do in a real world training setting.
“We can actually put aggressor forces in there that come at you … you have to use everything in your tool box,” he said.
Support forces can also be added during a simulation.
“It’s just amazing what we can do,” Crawford said.
As an added benefit the simulator can also record performance, in order to track training progress as users return to the simulator.
“When somebody comes in, as a repeat customer, we can pull all the old data that they had and compare to the new data and actually see the progressive learning curve,” Crawford said.
While the current simulator is already impressive, around the middle of next month a MILO Range will also be added, giving users even more training options, including the full range of law enforcement tools, including tasers, OC spray and batons.
The Experience
The options available to users are almost limitless, and a number of integrated technologies in the simulator provide a simulation that can be invaluable to military, police or residents wanting to sharpen their skills and can provide a good amount of fun for anyone just wanting to have a realistic firearms or flight experience.
For a fully immersive environment, an Oculus Rift system is available at the simulator. Oculus Rift is the premiere virtual reality hardware available on the market today.
“Basically, you are in a fully immersive world when you put those things on,” Crawford said. “You really feel like you are in it.”
While the level of reality with the Oculus system might not be suitable for everyone, the full-size simulator is better, Crawford said, but even the full-size simulator offers features that create a realistic environment complete with on-screen visual tracking.
The simulator is like a sandbox can be developed into scenario specific situations from range firing, home defense scenarios that include barricades to simulate obstacles in the room, flight operations and vehicle training.
Weapons used in the simulator are real weapons, with modified laser bolt assemblies that include combat shotguns, sniper rifles, pistols, OC spray, batons and service rifles.
Those weapons will soon feature a CO2 blowback system.
“When you actually pull the trigger the bolt will go back and give pretty good recoil,” Crawford said. “This is a really good tool because we can actually use these for training.”
Auditory feedback is provided by a Dolby Surround Sound system, which gives realistic audio to the simulation, and a smoke machine in the room gives sensory feedback to explosions in the simulator.
“With the simulator, I can do everything from shooting at a range to shooting off the side of a helicopter. It’s really just what the client wants,” Crawford said. “We can design a template and they can come in and have some fun.”
While a user is in a simulation Crawford can also manipulate the simulator behind the scenes, adapting the scenario in real time giving the user an even more realistic training experience.
The Experience details
Crawford is currently in talks with law enforcement in the area and military recruiters to set up training time blocks, and a mobile operation is also available for those departments looking to use the simulator to beef-up training — but the system is available for individual use, as well.
Individual sessions will be booked on their website, along with the type of simulation desired.
The cost for an individual session is $60 an hour, with reservations, and $100 for two people at once.
The simulator will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The simulator is located in the Hadley Center, 205 E. Seventh, and can be easily accessed from Eighth Street, with parking available near the door.
The Tactical Experience opened to customers Saturday after a Hays Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting Friday afternoon.
Customers can schedule simulator times by visiting their booking website, which allows the customer to see times available and select their desired scenario.
Duck racers can adopt just one duck for $5, or incrementally adopt more ducks for more money, all the way up to an entire 25-duck colony for $100.
There will be two heats of 2,500 ducks per heat, launched into the HAP Lazy River. The top 500 ducks in each heat will compete in a Championship Race to determine the winning ducks for prizes.
Hays Duck Derby Grand Prize is this 2014 Ford Fiesta.
Prizes will be awarded to the first 14 ducks crossing the finish line of the Championship Race.
Grand Prize is a bright red 2014 Ford Fiesta donated by James Motor Company, Hays Chevrolet, Auto World, Car Zone, Lewis Automotive Group of Hays, Happy’s Auto, Mid Kansas Auto Auction and Lang Diesel.
A separate Duck Dash 4 Kids will be held for children younger than 13. Their brightly colored ducks are available for $2 and will compete for kid-friendly prizes.
More family fun includes free swimming in the zero entry pool starting at 5 p.m. and a hot dog feed starting at 5:30 p.m. for $3 per person. Quacktivities–kids games–include a hula hoop contest and duck waddle races.
Winners will be announced at the Duck Race Awards Ceremony following the Championship Race. Winners do not need to be present to win.
By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
By BECKY KISER
