By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
FHSU University Relations and Marketing

Growing up in a baseball family in Hays, Hayden Hutchison mastered a multitude of pitches at an early age.

From the time he started playing organized baseball, Hutchison usually was penciled into the cleanup spot in his team’s lineup. By the time he graduated from Hays High School in 2013, Hutchison was being recruited by colleges as a top-notch infielder and had set school records in hitting and pitching.

But nothing could have prepared him for the curveball that derailed his athletic career and forced him to readjust his plans.

Baseball for Hutchison now consists of watching his younger brother play for HHS and catching some Major League games on TV.

A potential MVP for any team he was a part of, that all changed for Hutchison when a broken hand, recurring knee injuries and a stress fracture at Neosho Community College in Chanute sidelined him indefinitely.

A talented athlete whose passion added another dimension to his arsenal, Hutchison now has found a new passion – entrepreneurship. Following that series of injuries, Hutchison returned to his hometown and Fort Hays State University.

Similar to the way he tackles any challenge, Hutchison dove head-first into his major of business administration and soon became involved in the Center for Entrepreneurship.

Scheduled to graduate in May 2019 with his bachelor’s degree, Hutchison’s newest venture is helping charter a CEO chapter on campus. CEO, the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, happens to be the acronym on Hutchison’s radar these days.

While he is interested in pursuing logistics positions, Hutchison said he would like to own his own business someday – be the CEO of his own company.

“I would love to do that, but I’m not at that level right now,” he said. “I want to spend five to 10 years in a career and get some experience to understand the business process. That way I can obtain the skills to maybe branch off and start my company.”

It’s a sharp contrast to his goals when he graduated from high school in 2013.

“My main attention was on sports, and I was going to breeze by with some easy major,” he said. “I knew at some point I wasn’t going to keep playing baseball, so I knew I should get a degree. That time just came faster than I was expecting.”

Coincidentally, Fort Hays State was an option for Hutchison all along, as he was being recruited as a student-athlete to play for the Tiger baseball team where his dad, Matt, had excelled in the early 1990s.

But the younger Hutchison’s mind was set on playing at a Division I school. So he took the path of playing for a nationally known community college program, hoping to be seen by some D-I recruiters.

Hutchison will tell you now that the university in his own backyard has more to offer him as a student than he could have ever imagined.

“As I began spending more time on academics once I got to Fort Hays State, I realized the return of time investment,” he said. “I had never really cared about that, was just interested in athletics. Now, by being involved as much as I have been, the return has been extraordinary in my opinion.”

“I credit Fort Hays State for offering these opportunities,” Hutchison continued. “Once you take advantage of them, FHSU continues to support you through them.”

Hutchison it’s ironic that he probably never would have realized those opportunities if it hadn’t been for his injuries.

“I didn’t really have another plan. Hays is home to me, and I had done three semesters of school already,” he said. “I thought, ‘Why not finish my degree in my hometown at an affordable university?’ ”

Hutchison said he soon learned affordable was just one of the many positive features that make FHSU a postsecondary gem. He also learned how to put the competitive nature that is part of his DNA to good use on a different playing field.

Hutchison hit a home run, so to speak, when he applied for the $5,000 Robbins Ambassador Scholarship sponsored by the W.R. and Yvonne Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Only two students received the award, and he was one of them.

He also was chosen as one of 20 to 25 who participate each year as a VIP Ambassador, a prestigious group of student leaders chosen to represent FHSU at official campus events.
It was at one of the ambassador events when Dr. David Snow, director of FHSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship, told Hutchison about CEO, a national organization for entrepreneurial-minded students.

“I was excited about getting something like that going,” Hutchison said. “Entrepreneurship is in our college title, and of all the things we have for students here at Fort Hays State, we don’t have a student-led organization for entrepreneurship. I thought we needed that.”

Snow said he was impressed with Hutchison’s organizational and leadership skills even before he met him. When Hutchison learned that Snow was named the new director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, he emailed Snow at his former university in Pikeville, Ky.

“He was thinking of creating a student group from scratch,” said Snow, who suggested to Hutchison that connecting with an established organization with bylaws and procedures already in place would be easier than to launch a new chapter.
So Hutchison soon became the one leading the charge for establishing a CEO chapter at Fort Hays State. In two months time, the new CEO now has between 15 and 20 active members, several who are preparing for the CEO Global Conference and Pitch Competition Nov. 1-3 in Kansas City, Mo., as well as the Kansas Start-Up Challenge in November on the FHSU campus.

Hutchison had to put his project on hold for a couple of weeks in September after being selected a finalist for the 2018 Homecoming royalty. After being chosen as a representative for the VIP Student Ambassadors for Homecoming king, Hutchinson and other nominees went through an extensive process including an application and interview with the royalty selection committee to even reach the finalist list.

It was one more item added to Hutchison’s growing list of things to get done during the first semester of his senior year. But he said he thought it was worth the effort.

“I think we need to take advantage of all that FHSU has to offer,” Hutchison said. “The resources and opportunities have really turned my entire educational experience around.”

Hutchison said he is excited about building the CEO for the future.

“Hayden has not made himself the focus of CEO,” Snow wrote in a letter nominating Hutchison for Outstanding CEO Chapter Leader Award which will be announced at the global conference. “Rather, he is working to build an entrepreneurial organization on the FSHU campus that will prosper and impact this community long after his departure.”

Nonetheless, Hutchison is dead-set on making CEO’s first year at Fort Hays State a memorable one, too. He has been busy helping organize fundraising events for the FHSU chapter.

Fort Hays State’s CEO has already had a nationally acclaimed speaker in Matt Moody, founder of SalinaPost.com and HaysPost.com and current president of Bellwethr. At the CEO’s last meeting, Hutchison urged fellow members to take in two upcoming presentations.

Daymond John from Shark Tank, a reality show where budding entrepreneurs introduce their ideas, is part of the FHSU Presidential Series this year. He will talk at FHSU on Nov. 7, and he is giving CEO members an hour-long question-and-answer session beforehand. The next day, Peter Werth, founder and CEO of ChemWerth Inc., will speak at the Entrepreneur Direct speaker series at the Robbins Center. Werth is an FHSU graduate for whom the Peter Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics is named.

“It’s going to be busy this year, but I’m looking forward to everything,” Hutchison said. “All these opportunities at Fort Hays State have definitely laid some bricks for my career in the long run. I know it’s not the pinnacle, but it’s definitely another building block, one more step moving forward.”

Submitted

LA CROSSE — FFA members at La Crosse Middle/High School hosted the annual Day on the Farm event for La Crosse Elementary students on Oct. 1 at the Rush County Fairgrounds.

The event increased agricultural literacy and safety and was planned and executed by the FFA Chapter in partnership with the Rush County Farm Bureau. Students experienced many facets of agriculture with presentations that ranged from plant and soils to electrical safety and food science.

“It is important that our students gain a well-rounded education and being exposed to and understanding why agriculture is important is crucial for student future career options,” said Bill Keeley, La Crosse Elementary School principal and USD 395 superintendent. “Our students had a wonderful day, and everyone left with a greater appreciation for the many aspects of agriculture.”

Students in agricultural education classes led lessons on food science, plant and soil science and electrical circuits. Business and industry representatives presented on technology in agronomy and farming, indoor swine operations, livestock evaluation, the dairy industry, electrical safety, streams and the importance of streams and watersheds to the natural resources in the Rush County area.

“I loved getting my hands dirty by playing in the soil, learning about water streams, and I loved learning about electricity,” said kindergartner Dylan Schlegel.

The La Crosse FFA Chapter would like to thank the following business and industry partners for contributing to the success of the day: Southwest Dairy Farmers, John Georg, Rush County Conservation District, Wet Walnut Creek Watershed, Great Plains Precision Ag, LLC, and the Kansas State Research and Extension Walnut Creek District.

Agriculture programs prepare students for high-demand careers in cutting-edge industries like biotechnology, renewable energies, engineering and food production. They also teach students how to be leaders and prepare them to take on the challenges of the next generation.

The La Crosse Middle/High School Ag program has 55 students and 35 FFA members. The program offers a wide array of classes from welding to plant and animal science to agricultural research. The La Crosse Middle/High School FFA Chapter works in tandem with the ag program to develop premiere leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. The La Crosse Middle/High School agriculture teacher is Chelsey Smith.

 

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays Area Chamber of Commerce officially cut the ribbon on a new playground at Wilson Elementary School on Friday.

However, the Wilson students have already had the chance to break in the equipment during recesses over the past week and a half.

The school children gathered on the playground for the ribbon cutting and cheered when they saw the chamber’s giant scissors. Sadly, because the new equipment was still wet from rain Friday morning, the children weren’t allowed to play on the equipment Friday for safety reasons.

The new playground, including installation, cost $78,000. The Dane G. Hansen Foundation contributed $5,000 for the project, the Home and School organization contributed about half of the funds — $38,000, and Wilson’s After School program contributed the other half. The district paid for the surfacing and concrete work out of its capital outlay budget.

Wilson’s Home and School organization has been raising money for years toward the goal of this new playground.

Andrea Dinkel, Wilson Home and School president, said, “I just want to say thank you to all of you for doing fundraising like Mrs. [Anita] Scheve said, and I want to thank the parents for helping us out and the community for opening up your wallets and helping us with fundraising and buying stuff from our kiddoes. That means a lot.”

Wilson Principal Anita Scheve also said she was thankful for the community for their support.

She said school’s old playground was past its warranty and had areas where the plastic was brittle and cracking. It was becoming a safety hazard for the children, she said.

The new playground has an accompanying physical education curriculum.

“We are excited to have a new playground,” Scheve said.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Whether you want to cruise around the city with your doors off or take on the challenge of off-roading over 13,000 feet above sea level, the local 785 Jeep Club may have something for you.

Kyle Keezer is the president and founder of the club. He was the president of Kansas City Jeep Club, and when he took a job in Hays, he decided to create a new Jeep chapter in Hays. The group, which started in 2017, has about 40 active members.

The group participates in many different events. They do parades, will appear for business openings, off-road, do cross-country trips, and go to Jeep-sponsored events. They also participate in the Adopt-A-Highway program.

“We are a group trying to educate people about Jeeps, and we work with the community,” he said. “We try to be a family oriented community club, but our interest is Jeeps.”

Keezer particularly enjoys off-roading. Sometimes the group goes out into trees or other times into sand. They have visited Tuttle Creek Reservoir near Manhattan, Kansas; Oklahoma; Missouri, private land in Kansas; and mountainous areas of Colorado.

Keezer’s 15-year-old son goes on Jeep trips with his dad when he can.

“In the beginning, he was one of those kids that didn’t want to do this. He was, ‘Dad, how long before we get to go home? I’m tired. There is no Internet out here.’ But now that he is getting a little older, he is getting to enjoy it more. He likes to go with me when I go to Colorado and go out on adventures. He likes getting up into the mountains.

“There are views up there that you don’t get to see from the road. You have to take back roads to take to get to them. The mine trails are pretty amazing. You can see for miles and miles.”

Last year, he and a group of Jeepers got up to 13,800 feet above sea level. The year before he got up to 13,900 feet. To give you perspective, Pikes Peak’s altitude is 14,114 feet.

“It is a really good way to get out and see the world,” he said, “and not be sitting behind car and driving. It is actually going out and doing something with the vehicle.”

Many modifications are available for Jeeps, some of which help vehicles like Keezer’s off-road to those amazing heights. Keezer said the joke in Jeep circles is that Jeep stands for Just Empty Every Pocket. Keezer drives a 2013 two-door JK. He has lifted his jeep and installed larger tires. It has gearing, lockers, a suspension kit and modified exhaust system. He has installed CB and ham radios, as well as a camera to catch the action when he and his Jeep buddies are off-roading.

Keezer has dreams of going higher into the mountains, and plans more modifications to his Jeep this year to get there, including adding bigger tires and a stronger spare-tire carrier to balance the rear weight.

Most of the work Keezer did himself, but some work he had to have done in shops. He served in the Army for six years and gained wrenching experience working on helicopters.

Off-roading can be dangerous. Keezer has never been in any serious crashes, but he has broken a fair amount of equipment.

“Accidents happen,” he said. “It’s an extreme sport. There are hazards in it.”

The club tries to educate members on how to operate their Jeeps safely on and off road.

The club sponsors a wrench-a-thon, during which the group teaches owners about the parts on their Jeeps and the maximum tolerances on their vehicles. It also conducts a safety course during which owners learn how to winch, go up hills, find lines in rocks and get unstuck from the mud.

Keezer has been fascinated with vehicles his whole life. He raced in the National Mustang Racing Association. He still has a Mustang, which is supercharged. When his local track closed and he couldn’t race his Mustang anymore, he started off-roading, first in a truck and then he bought his Jeep.

“It is kind of like a Harley or anything else,” he said. “It is just one of those things that you find an interest in, and it is pretty easy to get hooked to that kind of lifestyle … to going out in the country and being out in the woods and being off-roading and the camaraderie of going to an event and seeing other Jeeps.”

You don’t have to break the bank to be in the club. Plenty of members just have stock Jeeps. He said it is still fun to go out with the club and enjoy dirt trails for the first time.

“We are not out to tear up stuff and break stuff. We are out to have fun and an adventure,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had fun taking someone who has never been before and taking them off road and seeing that smile on their face.

“They know so much more about their Jeep. They got to experience what it is like. They get to take advantage of what they bought and they have their money involved in. And the next thing you usually hear is, ‘What do I need to do more? Because I want to be able to go over stuff.'”

The club is always looking for new members. Keezer said he has met all sorts of people from all over the country and from as far away as Israel through his Jeep hobby.

The 785 Jeep Club meets from 1 to 3 p.m. on the last Saturday of the month. You must own a Jeep to join. The membership fee is $30 per year, which gets you a T-shirt, stickers and access to members-only events. Find out more at 785jeepclub.com.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Although screenwriter Scotty Mullen said he felt out of place growing up in Hays, he credited the community with his early development as a writer.

Mullen shared some of his experiences making it in Hollywood during a talk at the Hays Arts Center Sunday night. He thanked his parents, who attended his talk, but said raising him must have been like ground hogs raising a peacock.

Mullen wrote “Sharknado 5 and 6,” and serves as casting director for The Asylum film studio.

Mullen was back in Hays this weekend for his 25th high school reunion.

“We have so many hidden resources in this town, or maybe not hidden, but I think people don’t take advantage of and know about,” he said. “We have a college. We have the Arts Center here, and really, really good teachers who care. You don’t get that in other places.”

Mullen said he was first inspired to write in the second grade when his teacher, Mrs. White, assigned the students to write stories. Every Friday the kids got to get up and read one of their stories to the class.

“I was just blown away,” he said. “I was probably the most excited kid in the class because I thought that was amazing. I thought it was so crazy that I could take things I only see in my head, I could write them down and I could tell them and other people could see it. That was just like magic to me.”

His first story was a parody of Superman called “Super Pooper.” He named the characters after his friends.

“The itch never left me,” he said of writing.

In his high school days, Mullen wrote thousands of pages. He said it was like laying down fertilizer for what he would do later.

“Writing professionally is much like being an athlete and training everyday,” he said. “And the biggest thing to train your brain is to write even when it is not fun, even when you get up and the muse is not there.”

Mullen has created a routine for himself.

“I have found my rhythm. I can write five pages of a script in an hour and a half, but if I write 10 pages, it takes me all day long,” he said.

Mullen entered the Hollywood realm working as publicist when he was in college at Georgia State. The college had a TV station. They told him if he was willing to put the time and effort in to do interviews, they would put them on the air.

Mullen remembered sitting on the couch at the TV station and the phone rang. It was a publicist that later would become Mullen’s boss.

“She said, ‘Do you want to come out here? We have this girl. You probably don’t know her. She’s Goldie Hawn’s daughter, Kate Hudson. It is her first movie. Why don’t you guys come out here, bring a camera and you can ask her any questions you want,'” Mullen said.

He starting interviewing stars when they came through Atlanta for press junkets. The interviews became so popular he was being flown to New York, Miami and Los Angeles to do publicity. He was so spoiled doing this work that he stretched his senior year at Georgia State to two and half years.

Mullen’s boss at the publicity firm finally told him he needed to go to LA and go write because he was never going to go anywhere if he stayed in Atlanta. She threatened to fire him. When he finally left for LA, he did so in such a hurry he didn’t apply for graduation. It wasn’t until 2013 that he reapplied to college and finally received the degree he completed in 2005.

Mullen worked in publicity as a publicity model and as an actor, but didn’t write for five years. He was flying back and forth to New York and had a lavish expense account but said he eventually realized he was not happy with that lifestyle.

“If you drink too much gravy, you get sick,” he said. “I was getting unhappy. I was, ‘Why am I not happy? I am good at this job. I am meeting some good people. I could do this for the rest of my life.’ I was getting very unhappy, and I was getting depressed.”

Mullen ran into a woman he went to middle school with who was now a life coach in LA. She gave him her card.

“I had that card for a year. I was walking down the street to my apartment one day, and it was like God grabbed me and jerked me and was like, ‘Stop!'” he said. “I remember walking and physically stopping. You want to go to Buenos Aires, but you are almost at Anchorage, Alaska. You are going completely the wrong way. You have got to stop and turn around. I had all of the momentum, but it was in the wrong direction.”

Mullen called the life coach and started seeing her on a weekly basis.

“I had shoved those dreams so far back that I didn’t know,” he said. “She had to dig it out.”

His life coach asked him who he would like to work with, and he said Jackie Collins. Three years later he would work with her when he cast her in “Sharknado 3.”

“You have to be very, very specific in what you want,” he said. “If you are too broad, nobody knows what to give you. I still work on that today.”

He said he was almost ashamed to admit it, but he told his life coach that he wanted to be a writer.

“It just seemed so impossible. It seemed very irresponsible. It seemed ‘How in the world are you going to do that?’ There is a lot of competition,” he said. “I realized I wanted to be a writer, but I had never really given it 115 percent of everything.”

He started writing a half hour each day while still working as a publicist. That slowly increased. Then he was having so much fun he would go to bed earlier so he could get up earlier and write.

He took some workshops and an online class from ScreenwritingU.com. The point of this course was to get a professional writing assignment. Most TV shows and movies are not that writer’s original idea. They are hired to write screenplays by someone else who has an idea and the money to produce it.

His adviser for the class urged him to write a screenplay called “Double D Island.” He based the script on his work with models during his publicity days. He said it was raunchy, but it showed his writing style and humor.

He took the idea to a pitch fest, which is like a combination of speed dating and a job interview. Asylum was impressed and picked him to do his first screenplay for “The Co-ed and the Zombie Stoner.” When he finally landed the gig, they  gave him only two weeks to write the screenplay.

After that, Mullen said he learned to not be afraid of failing.

“You’ve just got to do it,” he said. “There is something that I have on my wall, ‘Don’t worry if this is going to be good enough. Just ask yourself, ‘Am I up to the challenge?’ Am I up to the challenge of writing the script in two weeks?”

Mullen said working with Asylum was like meeting his tribe.

The work on the zombie movie led to work on jokes for “Sharknado 3,” which was also made by Asylum.

Mullen’s employer was not happy that he was moonlighting as a writer and trying to also work his full-time job as a publicist, so they fired him. Asylum knew Mullen’s background, so they sought his help in casting “Sharknado 3.”

He helped Asylum land stars such as Ann Coulter, Jackie Collins and Mark Cuban for the movie.

When a spot opened up for a full-time casting director for Asylum, Mullen was tapped for the job. He went on to write and cast “Sharknado 5 and 6.” He continues to work with Asylum both casting and writing.

On the “Sharknado” movies, he also worked with Bret Michaels, Olivia Newton-John, Fabio, who played the Pope, Charo, Margaret Cho and Tony Hawk.

“I was part of the club and they respected me,” he said. “What I realized about all of these people was how nice they were and also how hard they worked. All of these people, they work really hard, and I had that in common with them. That felt very, very good.”

Mullen has also written “Zoombies,” “Sinbad and the War of the Furies,” “The Fast and the Fierce,” “King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table,” which is now showing on Showtime, and “Nazi Overlord,”  which is in post production.

He said when his high school reunion was nearing, he realized how grateful he was to be from Hays. He said Hays has a charm with a lot of creative energy and rural rawness.

“I had this gratitude for this town I always thought I wanted to get away from,” he said. “I thought, ‘Thank God, I was born here. Thank God I was raised here.'”

And he continues to dream bigger and bigger.

Mullen, who as a youth dreamed of being a romance writer, is vying for an assignment to write a Hallmark movie. He said he is excited about the possibility of a new challenge.

 

By CRISTINA JANNEY 
Hays Post

The Hays USD 489 school district announced Tuesday it has reached an impasse with teachers over contract negotiations.

Superintendent John Thissen said the district will make a request through the Kansas Department of Labor to bring in a mediator to try to resolve the contract dispute.

Kim Schneweis, co-chair of the teachers negotiating committee, said the sticking point is over pay.

All other employees in the district received a 4.6 percent pay increase, but when the teachers looked at the pay schedule that was offered to them, the raise did not equal 4.6 percent, she said. Schneweis said the average increase per teacher was about 3.2 percent. The difference in the district proposal and the teachers’ request is $465 per person.

“We are not asking for more than anybody else,” she said. “We don’t feel that we are more deserving. We see how hard everybody else works, but we do feel we are as deserving.”

When the Kansas Legislature passed the increase in school funding, they noted it should go to classrooms, Schneweis said.

“That is us,” she said. “Teachers are in the classroom.”

She said it was her understanding the 4.6 percent increase for the teachers was budgeted, so the negotiating committee did not understand why the board would not approve the 4.6 percent. She said the board did not respond when asked where the difference in the budgeted raise and the offer was going to go.

Schneweis said the teachers worked with the district on several issues in the contract already this year, including a payroll procedural issue, removing a clause in the contract that prohibited Wednesday night meetings, as well as revising the coaches and sponsors pay schedule.

She noted the teachers worked with the district through several years in which they received no pay increase. They went through a major health insurance change last year and have weathered changes to retiree and severance benefits.

“We had board members saying these saving will come back to you in salary,” she said. “We never imagined they would give us a lesser increase than everyone else, because that has not been the practice in our district. It has always been to give a comparable raise to all employee groups.”

Schneweis said the board decided they no longer wanted to negotiate. She said the teachers had hoped to resolve the contract issue locally.

Thissen said he did not think he could elaborate on the negotiations at this time.

Teachers continue to work under their 2017/18 contract until the new contract is approved.

The district also reached an impasse with teachers in 2016.

See related story: Hays USD 489 declares impasse in teacher union negotiations

 

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The USD 489 school board discussed the possibility of lowering student fees at its meeting Monday night.

Two years ago the board lowered the workbook fee from $135 to $90.

The board said it would like to see information about how much lowering the fee further would cost.

The board also discussed the possibility of lowering the technology fee at Hays High School, which is $50.

The board voted to replace computers this year, and the hope is there would be enough savings from fewer repairs that fee could be lowered.

Superintendent John Thissen said he would also bring information to the board about the driver’s education fund. That program is self-supported. If that fund is seeing a surplus, that fee also could be reevaluated.

No decision on the fees would likely be made until this spring when the district has a better idea of what its budget will look like for the coming year.

“With any fee, it is easy to add it in, but it is tough to take it out,” board member Lance Bickle said.

Transportation purchases

The board approved $291,790 in vehicle purchases Monday night.

The purchases included a gas-powered bus, an activity bus, a car and a Suburban.

The bid for the gas bus was $87,669. District staff requested a bid that was about $400 over the low bid, because it had the engine the district wanted.

Board member Greg Schwartz said he favored the purchase of a diesel bus over a gas engine. He said he thought the diesel engines were more efficient and durable. However, the transportation director said he was recommending the gas bus because other districts have had very costly repairs of emissions systems on the diesel buses. Schwartz voted against the purchase.

The bid for the activity bus was $143,975, which was the low bid. Both bids were from Kansas Truck.

The board also approved purchase of an Impala for $21,194 and a Suburban for $38,952. The total for the purchases was about $12,000 less than budgeted.

Enrollment

The district is up 33 students as of its official count day on Sept. 20, according to a report given to the board Monday night.

Assistant Superintendent Shanna Dinkel said smaller classes have graduated and larger classes are moving up.

Total enrollment was 3,190 students on count day.

 

 

By CRISTINA JANNEY

Hays Post

The Hays USD 489 school board voted Monday to formally accept grant funds that will allow it to renovate the Oak Park Medical Complex for use by Early Childhood Connections.

The $1.473 million federal grant can only be used for the ECC Oak Park project.

The ECC would move out of the former Washington Elementary School building on Main Street and the former Munjor school. The district has had persistent maintenance problems with the 92-year-old Washington building.

The building has plumbing and heating/cooling issues and has sewer back-up in the classrooms. The two-story building does not allow for students to be housed on the second floor due to delays in evacuating students in the case of an emergency. The building has no elevator and is not ADA compliant.

The new building would allow all of the birth through age 5-year-old students to be located in one building, eliminating the need for parents to drive their students to Munjor. The renovations will also include a new HVAC system and include a structurally designed tornado shelter.

Munjor would go back to the Catholic dioceses per contract. The board would have to decide what to do with Washington building.

Board member Greg Schwartz, who voted last week against moving forward with the building purchase, again expressed concerns with the project. He said he was concerned this would take a building off of the tax rolls.

Board member Mike Walker said Washington or the land that it was on could be sold, and that land could go back onto the tax rolls.

Schwartz noted the Washington land was in the flood plain. He also said the district had discussed in bond planning that if a new elementary school was built, one of the vacated buildings could be used for ECC.

Superintendent John Thissen said it was a matter of weighing pros and cons.

The former medical complex would come off the tax rolls, but the taxpayers would not have to see an increase in their taxes to pay for the newly acquired building or the renovations.

Schwartz was also concerned the renovations might cost more than the amount allotted in the grant.

Thissen said the scope of the renovations would be limited to what could be paid for through the grant.

The board voted to accept the grant on a vote of 5-2 with Schwartz and Lance Bickle voting against.

The next step in the building project is connected to the $2 million that would be needed in the form of a lease agreement to buy the building. The money to pay for that lease agreement will come out of the capital outlay fund — $250,000 per year for 10 years.

Because the lease agreement would be more than $100,000, there will be a 30-day window in which voters can file a protest petition. If more than 5 percent of voters would sign a petition, the question would go for a district-wide public vote.

The district is on a time crunch because the grant money must be used by the end of June. The board must publish a notice that will begin the protest period as soon as possible because it can’t start work on the project until that protest period has passed.

If a successful protest petition is mounted, the district would not be able to move forward with the project because the public vote would delay the project enough that the district could not complete the renovations by the June 30 deadline.

The district hopes to have all the information for the legal publications ready by Wednesday, and the legal notice published by the end of the week.

By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

Two Ellis County men took their love of motorcycles on a more than 3,500 mile journey during the month of September as part of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America’s 2018 Cannonball.

Brothers Marty and Pat Patterson left for Portland, Maine, on Labor Day and spent the next three weeks riding their 1926 Harley-Davidson JD across the United States, from Maine to Oregon. Marty talked to the Hays Post about the brothers’ adventure and their love of bikes.

Their love of motorcycles started as little kids when their dad bought them dirt bikes. A few years later their dad bought a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and they said they have been riding motorcycles ever since.

Marty’s first hands-on experience with the Cannonball motorcycle event was in 2016 when he worked as part of a support crew for two days from Wichita to Dodge City. His brother Pat also served on a support crew that same year, and they decided after that they wanted to take part in the event, which happens every two years.

After deciding they wanted to take part in the 2018 event, they had to find a motorcycle that fit the rules for that year’s event.

The Pattersons found a 1926 Harley-Davidson JD in Wichita. They purchased the bike from the original owner’s son who was 84.

Patterson said the bike was a, “barn find” and was in rough shape, so they began the process of completely rebuilding the bike.

While the bike was originally painted green, they decided to have it painted orange and black to pay tribute to the Ellis school district because they both attended high school in Ellis. It took them two years to rebuild and learn how to ride the antique motorcycle.

This year’s coast-to-coast ride began in Portland, Maine, and ended in Portland, Oregon.

The brothers took turns riding the motorcycle the 3,574 mile-long route through the northern United States. They had their share of issues.

“On a 1926 motorcycle, they weren’t designed to run 300 miles a day,” Patterson said. “We were pushing these motorcycles to their extreme.”

Along the way they lost a battery cover, clutch rod and pieces of the gas tank and dealt with electrical issues throughout the race.

“It’s just a tough deal to keep an old, old motorcycle running through all those conditions and for 17 days in-a-row,” Patterson said.

But the biggest mechanical hurdle came in the Badlands of South Dakota when they scorched a cylinder and were forced to completely rebuild the engine in South Dakota.

“(We) tore it all the way done and rebuilt it all right there in Sturgis, South Dakota, and then were back up and running the next day,” Patterson said. “It took us about 22 hours.”

The Pattersons didn’t have a support team, like some of the other racers, it was just the two of them working to keep the bike on the road. Although they did get help along the way from a friend’s mechanic, Chris Coos.

“He’s just 20 years old. I think he’s forgotten more about these old motorcycles than I know,” said Patterson. “Chris was a big help.”

Patterson said the older motorcycles force you to go much slower and you can enjoy everything along the route.

“It makes you stop and you slow down and see what’s all around you,” Patterson said. “Coming across the United States was just absolutely wonderful at 40 miles per hour because you stop and pay attention to all the things that are around.”

Along the way they rode through the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, the Black Hills of South Dakota, and Patterson said the highlight of the trip for him was getting to ride through Glacier National Park in Montana.

“It was a beautiful ride through there,” Patterson said. “My motorcycle ran good that day. I lost a transmission bolt, but I used an earplug to stop up the hole and put more fluid in it and make it on in that night.”

Patterson said the Cannonball event also attracts large crowds along the way.

“There was 2,000 and 3,000 people at these Harley dealerships where we came in at night to see these 100-year-old motorcycles come in, and it was a lot of fun just to talk to everybody,” Patterson said.

With the mechanical issue, because they took turns riding the bike and the fact that they were among the youngest competitors of the race, the Pattersons finished 83rd, but he said it was more about the two of them spending time together.

“We decided to do it as a brother deal and to spend a month with your brother in our 50s was pretty neat,” Patterson said.

The AMCA will announce the rules and route for the 2020 race early next year, and Patterson said he plans to take part in the event again.

“Unless they get a motorcycle I can’t afford or rebuild, I might back out, but as for now, I am planning on riding in the 2020 (event),” Patterson said.

After taking part in this year’s race, Patterson said his advice to people who are thinking about starting off on an adventure is to, “quit talking about it and go do something!”

“If you can get it done, do it,” Patterson said.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Democrat Alan LaPolice said he his focusing his campaign for Congress on the four former pillars of the Republican Party — fair trade, fiscal responsibility, family values and defense.

LaPolice, who is a farmer, educator and veteran, made a campaign stop in Hays Thursday night at the Ellis County Democratic headquarters.

He has run previously for office as a Republican, but said he is unhappy with the direction the party is going. LaPolice is from Clyde and faces Republican incumbent Roger Marshall, Great Bend, in the Nov. 6 general election for the First Congressional District.

LaPolice expressed frustration at the Congress’ failure to pass a Farm Bill. The former Farm Bill expired on Oct. 1.

“We are in right now what could arguably be defined as the biggest ag crisis in three decades,” he said. “My district is an ag-producing district. Everyone wants to know about these tariffs and this trade war, about the collapse of the Farm Bill and how farmers are going to be able to survive.”

The Senate and House have both passed versions of the Farm Bill, but the legislation is hung up on cuts to nutrition programs and lack of conservation measures in the House version.

“Is it a family value to starve women and children in the nutrition program?” LaPolice asked. “Is it family values to take away the lunch program from school kids or homeless veterans? Is that a family values?”

He said Congress should pass the Senate Bill and “stop playing with farmers’ lives.”

LaPolice was also critical of the Republican tax cut as being fiscally irresponsible.

“In a boom economy, we have $1.2 trillion in new deficit, new debt,” he said. “In the past two years, they have laid on almost $2 trillion in new debt.”

He compared the national plan to the Brownback tax plan, which was eventually reversed by the Kansas Legislature after significant revenue shortfalls

“I applaud the Republicans’ efforts to cut taxes,” he said, “because Americans need some incentive to consuming. You can consume more if you have more money in your pockets. I agree with my Republican colleagues 100 percent.”

However, he said stipulations should have been placed on the tax breaks that required corporations to reinvest at least a portion of their savings in their employees, their benefits and/or their educations.

He also has heard much concern from voters about health care. Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott announced this week it will close by the end of the year.

Of about 80 Critical Care Hospitals in the state, 60 of those are in the First District.

“When you see communities that have this one urgent care, critical care center, people are scared that if their hospital closes, that community dies,” he said.

LaPolice said Congress needs to address the rising cost of health care by allowing Medicaid and Medicare to negotiate service and prescription prices. This would be similar to what the government already does for the Department of Defense under Tricare.

The issue of immigration has touched LaPolice’s family personally. Had the current immigration policy been in place during the 1980s, his family would not exist today. His mother-in-law brought his wife to the U.S. when she was 2 shortly after civil war broke out in El Salvador. The family sought and was granted asylum.

“To not address the human rights crisis like the one we faced on the border, like the one with Syrian refuges, like the one from any of these nations that we have intervened in and sometimes destabilized — to not address that is inhumane,” he said. …

“When you see Ronald Reagan talk about immigration, he is a kind president. He is a real president. Today to see the Republicans talk about immigration as if all these people crossing the border are MS-13, they’re impostors, they’re gang members, they’re terrorists … The incumbent calls them terrorists. That is not very Christian. That is not what I consider family values to look at a woman with a 2-year-old daughter and say, ‘Oh yeah, you’re terrorists.'”

In addition to reforms to the system for those seeking asylum, LaPolice said immigration reform needs to take into account the need for immigrant workers in agriculture.

“We have produce rotting in the field right now because we don’t have the workers,” he said, “and the reason we don’t is because politicians use immigration as a political football. They use it against their opponents, and both sides do it.”

Finally on defense, LaPolice who served as an infantry gunner during the First Gulf War, said it is time to pull troops from Afghanistan.

“Seventeen years in the Middle East and no resolution and no way out,” he said. “I fought over there, but when I fought, we had an objective. When we achieved it, we left. Now Republicans want to stay there forever. That is not defense.”

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

That chill in the air is a reminder winter weather is right around the corner.

It is time to start thinking about winterizing your gardens.

Pam Herl, Hays Herb Club leader, spoke recently to the Hays Public Library club about getting your garden ready for colder weather.

“It is difficult for us to think about winterizing our gardens right now, but we have a small window because Kansas has been known for severe snow storms in October,” Herl said. “We have a small window to get our gardens ready for next spring, and a small window in the spring for planting.”

You can save time in the spring by preparing beds now.

To prepare a new bed, you can rototill the area and add compost in the fall. To kill weeds, lay layers of old carpet or cardboard over the ground, and then cover with mulch. Herl said she has had friends who have laid down old braided cotton rugs as ground cover, and cut holes in the rugs to place plants in the spring.

Mulch is essential for existing beds as well. It will reduce weed growth and help keep in moisture. For winter mulch, use leaves or straw. Avoid using pine or evergreen needles because they are too acidic and can harm your plants.

Once your annuals stop blooming, it is time to pull them from the garden.

After the first hard freeze, you can cut your perennials and biannuals down to the ground.

However, Herl said she prefers to leave her perennials in place.

“As that snow blows in, I want something to hold that snow in place. I don’t want it blowing across my yard and ending up in my driveway where my husband has to scoop it off,” she said.

Snow serves as a mulch, as well. It insulates and provides moisture.

Shrubs and rose bushes can be pruned to about half after a hard freeze when the leaves have died back.

“Don’t prune (shrubs) in the fall,” she said. “You know Kansas. One day we will have snow, and the next day it will be 90 degrees. Once that it gets that warm, it breaks that plant out of its dormancy and it is going to get warm, tender growth. Young, tender growth will freeze, and you don’t want that to happen.”

Marjorie Mueller, Herb Club member, offered her tip for pruning roses. She uses tongs to grab onto to clipped rose stems, so she doesn’t scratch herself on the thorns.

A hard freeze is a period of at least four consecutive hours of air temperatures that are below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Many plants can survive a brief frost, but very few can survive a hard freeze, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.

According to the National Weather Service, Hays’ average first hard freeze date is Oct. 10.

The NWS outlook has temperatures staying at 46 degrees or above through Monday.

Before a hard freeze is a good time to give shrubs and bushes a good soaking with water. This will help preserve them if the winter turns dry.

“We do not think about watering our shrubs and our trees in the winter time,” Herl said. “We had a very dry winter last winter. We had some very cold weather, and we had some winds. That dried these shrubs out. There were a lot of people complaining that they lost a lot of shrubs or they lost part of the shrub.”

Young trees should be have their trunks wrapped. Tree warp is available from most stores that carry garden supplies.

Mulching young trees will also help protect them during the winter. Place a round tomato cage around the tree after the hard freeze. Place plastic inside the wire and fill the area with dead leaves. This method can also be used on small shrubs or rose bushes. Shrubs and bushes can also be protected with burlap.

If you mulch in this manner before the hard freeze has killed back live growth, you can get rot.

Now is the time to plant bulbs for spring, such as tulips. However, you should dig up bulbs that are not winter hardy, such as dahlias, cannas and gladiolus. Store in a cool, dark place.

If you are going to bring a potted plant inside for the winter, replant it. Get a bigger pot and fill it with wet potting soil. Herl suggested using plastic pots, because they will be lighter and easier to move.

Herl said if you are concerned about bugs on the plant, you can cover the soil with plastic and rinse the leaves with a solution of Ivory dish soap in a quart of water.

Plants moving from outdoors to indoors need to be acclimated to the indoor climate. Herl suggested bringing the plant indoors for a couple of hours per day, gradually increasing the time indoors until you have the plant is indoors all day.

The same should be done in reverse in the spring.

“If we took you and stuck you out there, what would you do?” Herl said.

Tropicals and tender perennials can be brought in, but annuals will not do well.

If you still have herbs in your garden, they can be preserved in several ways. They can be frozen green and then stored in plastic bags in the freezer.

They can be dried. Remove the leaves from the stems. Lay flat over layers of paper towels and newspaper until the leaves are crisp. Then seal in colored containers or store in a dark place to avoid the herbs being broken down by the light.

Herbs can also be frozen in broth or water. Ice cub trays are great for this purpose.

There are also a variety of recipes available for making herb-infused oils or vinegars.

The HPL Herb Club meets at 5 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month in the Schmidt Gallery. See the HPL calendar for a list of topics and dates. The next study, “Herbs of Harry Potter,” on Tuesday , Oct. 16 will have activities geared toward children and Harry Potter fans of all ages. The event is free and open to the public.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays USD 489 school board voted Tuesday night to proceed with the purchase of the Oak Park Medical Complex at 2501 E. 13th St.

The 26,000-square-foot complex will be renovated using a $1.473 million federal grant for use by the Early Childhood Connections program.

The board authorized the purchase for no more than $2 million. HaysMed owns more than half of the interest in the building and has told the district it would discount the price, but an agreement has not been made on how much of a discount that will be, Superintendent John Thissen said Wednesday.

The district would like to pay for the purchase through a lease agreement over 10 years at $250,000 per year.

Thissen said he did not think the project would hamper other projects already budgeted with capital outlay funds or future maintenance projects within the district.

He said the district could use carry over in the capital outlay budget. The district will also be paying off a lease agreement within the next six years for additions to the middle school. This also will free up money that could be directed toward the project.

The ECC would move out of the former Washington Elementary School building on Main Street and the former Munjor school. Munjor would go back to the Catholic dioceses per contract. The board would have to decide what to do with Washington building, Thissen said.

The Washington building has had significant problems with the plumbing and sewer systems. The district spent about $15,000 to patch sewer leaks in the building last year. Students also had to be dismissed early one day because of sewer issues.

Washington is not ADA compliant. It has two floors and no elevator. Children can’t be housed on the second floor per a state statute. The concern is that small children would not be able to evacuate easily down stairs in case of an emergency.

“We have great concerns that facility is just not a healthy facility, and we can do better,” he said.

The district is also in need for more space to accommodate a growing Headstart program. The federal government is going to start requiring all-day classes for Headstart. The district has no more room in the former Washington building. Without this new building, the district would have to cut slots or move classes to the Munjor building, which would mean more parents would have to drive their students to that location.

The Washington building currently houses 122 students, and the Munjor infant and toddler program has 22 children.

ECC includes Parents as Teachers, Headstart, the 4-year-old At-Risk Program and Early Childhood Special Education. These programs serve all students in Hays, even those who go on to private school or who are homeschooled.

The district only learned it received the federal grant two weeks ago, but it is on a time crunch to use the money. Any project using the funds must be completed by June.

Although the district has been meeting in executive sessions for months about the purchase, several board members were concerned about the timing of the purchase and uncertainties that remain.

Board members Greg Schwartz and Lance Bickle voted against the purchase, and Luke Oborny abstained, making the vote 6-2-1.

Bickle said he would have liked to have seen an appraisal on the land before the board approved the purchase. He also was concerned about earmarking $250,000 for 10 years from the capital outlay fund for the purchase.

“I think we have enough buildings already, and we need to take care of those. I think we need to use that money in other areas,” he said in an interview Wednesday.

Because the lease agreement would be more than $100,000, there will be a 30-day window in which voters can file a protest petition. If more than 5 percent of voters sign that petition, the question would go for a district-wide public vote.

However, Thissen noted because of the tight time frame to use the grant dollars, a successful protest petition would mean the district would not be able to complete the project in the time stipulated by the grant and would have to forfeit the money.

USD 489 has had two failed bond issues in the last three years. Thissen said this is a way to address a building need without raising taxes.

“It really will make for better programming for the Early Childhood program,” Thissen said.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas launched a $5 million capital campaign during its annual Fall Fest on Tuesday.

This is the first capital campaign in the organization’s 50-year history.

Jerry L. Michaud, DSNWK president and CEO, said the money will be used to make much-needed repairs and upgrades to its facilities. The organization has locations in Hays, Norton, Atwood, Hill City, Hoxie, Russell and Stockton. It serves 18 counties in Kansas.

“With a capital campaign, generally it is usually to build a building or a one thing,” he said. “In our case, we are spread over the 18 counties and the focus is to bring back and focus on some of those things that have been long-delayed — repairing roofs, fixing things that are broken, the kinds of things that are most generally people just build into their budgets. Those have been pushed off because of long-standing lags in support for the services that we do.

“We are fixing the stuff we should have fixed years ago.”

Some of the funds will also be directed at technology to comply with legal and government mandates and streamline employee communications and document access. A portion of the money will be set aside for an endowment to serve as another source of revenue for DSNWK. Michaud said this additional money will be used to support the recruitment and retention of the employees.

“Our world is about people serving people, but you have to be able to earn a living wage,” he said.

About $1 million has already been raised toward DSNWK’s goal. Michaud thanked major contributors, including the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, the Robert and Pat Schmidt Foundation, the Beach family, Bart Betzen, and Rick and Gail Kuehl.

“To create a stronger future for DSNWK, your help is needed,” Michaud told the crowd. “To grow endowed funds that will provide a stable future funding source, your help is needed. To address current needs, such as repairing aging buildings, updating technology that is outdated and other needs.”

Steve Keil, director of development for DSNWK, said intellectual and developmental disabilities do not discriminate. Anyone you know is capable of having a child with a disability. About one in six children ages 3 to 17 have a developmental disability.

Not so long ago, he said, people with developmental disabilities were hidden away or institutionalized. People did not think people who had developmental disabilities could develop intelligence, work, own their own home or business, or be active community members, he said.

“Fifty-plus years ago, that all changed through a grassroots movement of compassionate parents and volunteers. A new future with hope and opportunity began and became a reality,” Keil said. “Today people with disabilities have jobs, passions, personal growth, experience greater acceptance and dignity than ever before. Parents are realized, families thrive, families are supported.”

Keil said the community’s support is needed. DSNWK supports more than 500 people in northwest Kansas, yet 3,700 people remain on the statewide waiting list for services for people with developmental disabilities. Nonprofits like DSNWK can change the game for families caring for loved ones with disabilities, he said.

Betzen, president of the DSNWK board, had a brother, Andy, who received services from DSNWK for 28 years.

He said modern adults are living longer and so are DSNWK’s clients. As a result, the need for resources is growing to care for DSNWK clients as they age.

“We believe it is necessary to evolve with the changes in the needs for the people we serve in western Kansas,” he said.

Amy Schmierbach’s 11-year-old son, Lucas, has been diagnosed with autism and recently started receiving services through DSNWK.

“This summer was the first time he qualified for a personal assistant, and it changed our lives,” Schmierbach said. “It was the first time in probably seven years, I felt like I was able to breathe that someone was working with my son that I trusted. He made such tremendous gains this summer, it was really quite amazing.”

Schmierbach, a FHSU art professor, has received grant money for a Collaborative Art Project. DSNWK clients have been weaving. She had looms set up at the Fall Fest event Tuesday. A “Drawing to Music Workshop” will be 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at DSNWK Employment Connections. Call 785-625-2018 and ask for Crystal to RSVP.

Upcoming workshops will also include collage and weaving.

Jim Blume, former president and CEO of DSNWK, also took to the podium and said seeing everyone in the crowd was like a family reunion.

Blume said the parents of DSNWK clients going back years sacrificed for their children. They loved them and worried about them moving away from home and coming home from state hospitals.

“The second way that you saw love was through the staff,” he said. “Each day the staff would take care of you, worry about you and helped in every way because they loved you.”

Blume acknowledged the DSNWK staff does not get paid what they deserve — some after as much as 30 years of service. He said it was a love for their clients that kept them with DSNWK.

“I am honored to be part of [the capital campaign], because I love each one of you,” he said to the crowd of clients, parents, guardians and staff. “I pray for you. I don’t get to see you very often, but you will always be close to me in my heart.”

Donations can be made online at www.dsnwk.org or make checks payable to DSNWK and mail them to Capital Campaign, PO Box 310, Hays, KS 67601.