After a season of fighting with Mother Nature to get events on the track — including the cancellation of two key events after a massive storm destroyed buildings and pushed the grandstands off of their foundations — the Rolling Plains Motorspeedway roared back to life for the 13th Fall Nationals.
A total of 257 race teams from 14 states including California, Wyoming, Texas and Arkansas and drivers from Canada were on hand for the two days of racing that started Friday.
But as if to say “not so fast,” Mother Nature once again intervened as the night’s events were cut short by rain.
Racing resumed early Saturday and ran for almost 12 hours, bringing disappointment for last year’s winner and national IMCA points leader in the Stock and Modified classes, Jordan Grabouski of Beatrice, Neb.
Before the feature events, Grabouski was feeling good about his chances.
“We qualified good,” he said. “I think we worked really hard in the offseason last winter on our new modified program. The thing has been crazy good.”
But Grabouski knows things can change quickly in a race car.
“Everything’s clicking, but it can go in the other way in a big hurry,” he said. “You never know when your luck is going to run out.”
For him, that luck seemed to run out Saturday.
After leading the entire qualifier in the number 30 stock car and starting from the second position during the feature, Grabouski looked to be in position to win.
He quickly moved into first after the green flag dropped, but would get pushed back to third by lap 10 and would hit the wall, bringing out a caution and ending his night in the stock car.
After the restart, Mike Nichols, Harlan, Iowa, driving the 163 would move into the top spot after starting from ninth and hold it for the win and the $3,000 cash prize.
“Every time I have been out on this racetrack this weekend, it seems like I have had a bad draw, but the thing about RPM Speedway here and everybody putting in the good work on the race track is you know you are going to be on a good racetrack eventually,” Nichols said. “With all of the rain, I know we had a little bit of character.”
He said this was his best win yet at the Fall Nationals after winning in previous years.
With a second chance for a win, Grabousiki would not find luck in the number 30 modified either, starting from and finishing in the fifth spot.
Only 15 out of the 24 racers in the modified feature would finish the race, but track points leader Daniel Gottschalk, Ellis, would move from the seventh position to take the checkered early Sunday morning.
“I went up and followed him for a while, but I couldn’t make it work with momentum,” he said. “It was pretty rough down there and hard to hit a consistent line.”
But a caution with three to go provided him the opportunity to move into the lead.
“I guessed it timed out good, got a good restart and got underneath him and made it work,” he said. “I don’t know what to say, I didn’t figure I had a chance halfway through.”
He called the win and the $5,000 prize the “highlight of his career.”
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services is selling purple lightbulbs at several Hays businesses in conjunction with the national Purple Light Nights campaign, which began in Covington, Wash.
“The idea behind it is to help bring awareness to the number of people who experience domestic violence,” said Jennifer Hecker, Options executive director.
“It’s to send a message out in the month of October that we will not tolerate, we don’t want domestic violence in our community and we’re here to support those who are suffering in silence right now,” she said. “We’re celebrating those who’ve come out the other side of domestic violence and to let people who are now experiencing it know there is a place to go and a community of people here to support you.”
Homeowners are encouraged to replace their regular porch lightbulbs with a purple lightbulb this month. Businesses can show their support by placing purple string lights in their store windows.
Purple lightbulbs supporting Options are available for $2 at Breathe Coffee House, Simply Charmed, Be Made and H2o Float Cryo Massage.
A new awareness event this month is a poetry reading co-hosted by Options and Sigma Tau Delta, Fort Hays State University’s international English Honor Society chapter.
The free event is part of a regional conference in Hays. It will held 7 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18 at Breathe Coffee House, 703B Main.
People can come and read a piece of literature or poetry that they’ve written or just listen.
“The pieces don’t have to be about domestic violence but what we find a lot of times with poetry specifically is that the medium truly lends itself to people who have been oppressed and have been traumatized,” said Shaelin Sweet, community advocate and an English major. “It’s a very good outlet for that creativity and that hurt, but also for that strength and that power to flow.”
The nonprofit agency serves 18 counties in northwest Kansas and provides free confidential services.
“We don’t force people to report to law enforcement. All of our services are survivor-driven. Their participation is voluntary,” Hecker explained.
Help is also available to family and friends of abuse victims who often don’t know what to say or not to say to their loved one.
“We’re here to help people navigate through this very difficult time and to make sure victims have full wrap-around support to help them move into the healing phase.”
Anthony Fox, owner; his fiancé Becky Meagher, and Melissa Meagher, owner, took over the SouthWind CrossFit, 229 W. 10th St, Hays, in August.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
New owners have taken the helm of SouthWind CrossFit and are bringing new offerings to the fitness club.
Melissa Meagher, 33, and Anthony Fox, 28, took over the business, 229 W. 10th, in August.
Both Fox and Melissa have a backgrounds in fitness and athletics, and Melissa and Fox were both coaches at the SouthWind before they purchased the business.
Fox has a bachelor’s degree in health and human performance and a master’s degree in movement and sports studies. He also has a certification to train college athletes. He was also formerly a trainer at the Center for Health Improvement.
Fox said he spends a lot of time watching people’s movement and trying to help them improve their technique.
“I think that keeps people safe,” he said. “I want to push people to get stronger, but I also know where to ride that line of what is going to push you to get better without you getting hurt.”
Melissa is a level 2 CrossFit coach. She was a Division I volleyball player at Central Connecticut State University and also an assistant high school volleyball coach at TMP.
Melissa said after her college sports career was over, she was dealing with a lot injuries. She joined SouthWind as what she characterized as “broken.” The gym worked with her at the level she was at and helped her rebuild her strength.
She said she is now in the best shape of her life, even better than when she was playing college sports.
“[The gym members] get to ask me questions about how did you do that. I can talk to them about how recovery is really important — how to take care of your body while you are trying to get your body back to shape,” Melissa said.
She added it helps people to be able to see others have been in their shoes and have been able to get back in shape.
In addition, her high school coaching experience, Melissa said, helps her connect with her athletes and work with large groups.
“That is really important in this gym too,” she said. “You get to know every single person in class. I can look at every single person, and I know all of their names. I know all of their injuries. I know what goals they are going for. Nobody gets neglected in this gym.”
The new owners have varied the classes offered at the gym. In addition to the 60-minute CrossFit classes, they now offer 45-minute Get Fit classes, 30-minute Quick Fit classes, an endurance course on Saturdays, open gyms, CrossFit Kids and an Athletic Development Program for high school athletes who want to work on strength and conditioning in the offseason.
Get Fit classes are for people just learning CrossFit or people who want the CrossFit class but are not involved in competitive sports.
“They want to get the good workouts in and learn more in technique and learn more in movement,” Melissa said.
Quick Fit classes are for those who don’t have very much time. They don’t use barbells, but they use all of the other equipment.
The gym is continuing its Legends course, which is geared to people who are 50 years and older. It is 60 minutes three days a week.
CrossFit Kids is aimed at getting kids involved while their parents are working out, Fox said.
“We are very about family,” he said. “As they see their parents doing something that is healthy and good for them, we are hoping they will follow in their footsteps as well.”
CrossFit is defined as using constantly varied functional movements at high intensity, Fox said. This includes a lot of squatting and lunging, and pushing and pulling.
These movements apply to daily activities. Getting out of chair is similar to a squat. Lifting groceries is similar to a dead lift, Fox said.
Especially in the Legends class, the coaches are working on improving strength for daily life activities. Some of the gym members said they were unable to kneel at church, and their goal was to be able to do that again.
Melissa and her sister Becky’s mom joined the gym. She has had two total knee replacements. If she was sitting in a chair and holding a grand-baby, she had to have someone there with her, because she couldn’t get out of the chair with one her grand-babies in her arms. Through the CrossFit class, she was able to build enough strength so she could do that.
“You don’t have to have the goal be awesome or to be a competitor,” she said. “You can just have a goal as simple as I want to be able to get our of a chair on my own. We will work with you.”
CrossFit is more focused on functionality and not how your body looks, and everyone’s workouts are individualized, the duo said.
Gym membership costs vary depending on what type of classes you want to take. Endurance courses are $19 per month, Kids CrossFit is $29 per month, the Legends class is $49 per month, Quick Fits are $69, Get Fits are $89, CrossFit is $99 and full access is $119.
Ellis County has organized a group of 17 community members who want to make sure everyone in the county is counted in the 2020 census.
The response rate for the state of Kansas in 2010 was 73 percent. Ellis County was about 82 percent. The census would like to see a count rate above 90 percent.
Complete Count Committees are nonpartisan groups set up by states to make sure everyone in their state is counted on April 1, 2020. Hays Mayor Henry Schwaller is on both the state Complete Count Committee and the Ellis County Complete Count Committee.
Some of the people on the Ellis County Complete Count Committee, include HaysMed’s Edward Herrman, Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty, Ellis County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes, USD 489 Superintendent Ron Wilson, and Ellis County Commissioner Dustin Roths.
Other organizations represented include Grow Hays, United Way of Ellis County, First Call for Help, City of Ellis, City of Victoria, Ellis County Ministerial Alliance, Hays Public Library and the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We wanted to create a body to cover every single pocket of people in Ellis County,” Schwaller said, “particularly those who have been hard to count.”
Schwaller said the census is an economic and social issue.
Although the census is used to establish representation in both Topeka and Congress, census numbers are also used to determine funding for a slew of federal program.
Schwaller gave the example of the Northwest Business Corridor project. The city and county are currently seeking federal grant funds for road improvements on 230th Avenue north of Interstate 70. If the county’s population is not counted correctly, that funding could be in jeopardy.
Funding for transportation, hospitals and education facilities are also determined by census numbers.
“(For) every individual in Ellis County who is not counted, we will lose over $2,000 per non-counted person per year for the next 10 years,” Schwaller said. “That could really hamper our efforts to, again, build roads, assist Fort Hays in getting proper financial aid for students and help the medical center.
“The federal funding is key to keeping the community alive.”
Accurate population counts are also important in recruiting new businesses.
“As we talk about recruiting new businesses, either retail or tech firms, they look at whether a community is growing or not and whether we have the population to support them,” Schwaller said.
The census has determined certain populations are hard to count. These can include older residents, who might not have access to technology, college students and children ages birth to 5.
Students who are living in Hays as of April 1 need to count themselves in the census as Hays resident, Schwaller said. FHSU will have its own Complete Count Subcommittee to target the student population.
The committee can look at data on the census site, not only who was counted in 2010, but what areas may be being underreported in 2020.
“In the past, the census counts in Ellis County have been questioned,” Schwaller said. “In the 2000 census, we were a little short after having some growth in the ’90s. That really hurt the community — the City of Hays and Ellis County — because it meant we couldn’t unlock some federal programs to help us with our airport, maintain major streets in the city and get funding for programs. We just didn’t qualify.
“Their participation not only benefits the community as a whole, but it benefits them because they are counted and they are shown as living here. They’ll have better roads, better access to better services.”
Between now and the end of 2019, the committee will develop a plan to get the word out about the census. In late January, the committee will begin to promote that message, including notification that local residents will receive information on how to log on to the census website and complete their census surveys. This is the first year you will be able to complete the census online.
Schwaller said the committee hopes to have personnel at the Hays Public Library and Forsyth Library who can help residents log on to the site census website.
He emphasized the census website is encrypted and secure, and none of your personal information will be released to businesses or other government agencies. When the census data is released, it is released as aggregate data, which omits details such as your name.
Other states provide funding to promote the census — Kansas does not. The Kansas Health Initiative is providing funding to the Kansas League of Cities to promote the census. Ellis County’s committee plans to apply for a grant through that program, Schwaller said.
The former Villa Budget Inn at Vine and Eighth streets is being renovated into 39 one-bedroom and eight studio apartments.Workers work on the future studio apartments at the former Villa Budget Inn.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
A Hays developer is hoping to breathe new life into an old motel by renovating it into apartments.
Mark Ottley is renovating the Villa Budget Inn on the corner of Eight and Vine streets into studio and one-bedroom apartments.
The project began in April, and Ottley hopes to have the first phase of the project open after the first of the year. He said he hopes to have all three phases of the complex open by this spring.
The studio apartments will be about 400 square feet with one bedrooms in the 700 square-foot range. Eight of the 39 units will be studios with the rest will be one-bedrooms.
Mark Ottley, developer, hopes to replace the pool in the apartment complex’s courtyard, making it one of the only complexes in the city with a pool.
The eight studios will be in the two-story section of the former motel that faces Seventh Street.
Kitchen additions are being built onto the sections of the hotel that face-east/west.
The motel’s former office will be torn down. The complex will eventually have its own laundry facility on site, and Ottley said he hopes to replace the pool in the motel’s courtyard. The apartments will have small patios that will open onto the courtyard, which will include new grass and seating areas.
The apartments will have two entrances/exits, one of which will open onto the courtyard.
The complex will also have off-street parking.
The one-bedroom apartments at the renovated Villa motel will be about 700 square feet.
Ottley has yet to determine the rents for the apartments, but said he believes there is a demand for this type of housing in Hays.
He owns other rental properties in town, and said he sees the greatest demand for one- and two-bedroom units.
He said he decided to take on the project after observing it from the property across the street. He owns and renovated the former service station also at the corner of Eight and Vine streets. His son now runs Happy Auto Sales at that location, 801 Vine.
He said he hopes the renovation of the hotel will further improve the image of the Eighth Street corridor. The Cenex station behind the motel on Vine Street was also recently renovated. Ottley said he hoped the renovations of all three businesses will project a better image for people entering the city from the south on U.S. 183.
Ottley was not sure when the hotel was built or when it closed for operation, but it has been vacant for some time.
Errol Wuertz, Landmark Realty; Donnette Noble, FHSU; Grady Dixon, FHSU; Tom Lippert, FHSU; Chad Meitner, TMP; Aubree Broyles, Nex-Tech; Melissa Dixon, Hays CVB; and Ruth Deines, Friends of Hays Public Library participate in a Civic Dinner on Tuesday night at Gella’s. Not pictured are Mike Morley, Midwest Energy, and Cristina Janney, Hays Post/Eagle Radio.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
Housing was among the top concerns a group of Hays residents raised during an informal conversation group known as Civic Dinners.
About 80 cities across the country will participating in the Civic Dinners program in the month of October. Hays conducted its first set of group discussions on Tuesday night at Gella’s. Another Civic Dinner will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, also at Gella’s. You can register at www.civicdinners.com/tlc-hays. Please bring money to purchase your dinner.
The discussion centered around several basic questions with each person in attendance given a few minutes to answer. Those participating Tuesday included, Melissa Dixon, Hays CVB, host; Mike Morley, Midwest Energy; Errol Wuertz, Landmark Realty; Donnette Noble, FHSU; Grady Dixon, FHSU; Tom Lippert, FHSU; Chad Meitner, TMP; Aubree Broyles, Nex-Tech; Ruth Deines, Friends of Hays Public Library; and Cristina Janney, Hays Post/Eagle Radio.
Meitner said he had sticker shock when he and his family were searching for housing.
Broyles also said she had friends who were struggling with the real estate market in Hays.
Wuertz, a longtime Hays resident and real estate agent, said he had a family that has been looking for a home for four months, and they have not been able to find anything they want to buy.
As he talks to developers, Wuertz said, they tell him it is hard to build in Hays. In a larger community, a developer might build a whole development, but in Hays the same developer might only be able to build and sell one house at a time. Developers can build a lower prices if they can purchase materials in bulk and build more houses at once.
Grady Dixon said he would like to see more work done to renovate and beautify existing homes in the city.
“If you see a single house on a block renovated,” he said, “it can change the character of the whole block.”
Wuertz noted Manhattan has a rental inspection program, but no such program exists in Hays.
The group also discussed how the lack of housing affects the ability for employers in Hays to recruit and retain employees. Wuertz said the First Care Clinic board is trying to recruit a dentist but is having difficulty getting someone to come to Hays.
Morley said Hays has a brain drain. Hays’ senior population is increasing as retirees move into town from more rural areas to be closer to services such as HaysMed. More babies are also being born in Hays. However, Hays is seeing a domestic migration out of the community of young to middle-age adults.
To keep Hays vibrant, Morley said Hays needs to stop that migration.
The group discussed a couple of quality of life issues that were essential to stop the exodus. One of those issues is schools. Several group members said they were disappointed two school bond issues have failed in the last three years.
Morley said he moved his family to Hays over places like Wichita and Dallas because of the quality of the schools.
“We pay $40,000 to $50,000 per year to FHSU to use their football field,” he said. “The first bond issue had a new turf field. We could have paid for that two times over in what we are paying FHSU. How many ankles and knees have been destroyed on that field. Hays and TMP could share a field if only people would look to the future.
“We could have paid 1.5 percent when interest rates were low, but now we can pay 4 percent. We end up paying more for less.”
Other quality of life issues the group discussed were the need for more shopping, diversity in dining options, a new senior center, a local architecture firm and a homeless shelter.
Melissa Dixon expressed frustration the community dissolved its beautification committee. She said the north and south entrances to the city don’t tell the whole story of Hays. People often don’t get to see downtown or the other things to do in Hays because of that. They never make it off the Interstate, she said.
As the CVB director, she is constantly fighting the perception there is nothing to do in Hays.
Deines, a transplant from Lawrence, said she struggles to learn about news and events in Hays.
The theme for the night was “What makes your city lovable?” so the group also talked about aspects of Hays they love or bring them joy.
Noble, who moved to Hays three months ago to work at FHSU, said she appreciates her three-minute commute. When she lived outside of Chicago, she spent 20 minutes on a train every work day.
“I think people have been engaging me, and there are some very joyful people here,” she said. “For a city so small in a town that is supposedly in the middle of nowhere, there is an art community. A week ago, I want to Rockalooa, and loved that. I love the diversity here.”
Grady Dixon also said he appreciated the city’s design and the ease of getting around.
“The city is functional in its design,” he said. “We are a small city, but there are other cities our size or smaller that have traffic.”
Several of the group members, including Meitner, said they appreciated how giving and involved people are in the community.
Lippert said he loves Hays, but residents need to continue to address quality of life issues.
“We need to have foresight to be good stewards of our future,” he said.
Several members of the group expressed frustration to the reaction to the Vine Street roundabouts and the bike path path project before that, both of which they said they supported.
Other aspects of Hays the group thought made it a great place to live were the dog park, Hays Public Library, a vibrant downtown, the Downtown Hays Market and the community’s diversity.
In addition to an eight-person adult group, seven children participated in their own discussion group.
This group include Brianna Griffith, ninth grade, Hays High School; Tyra Loffredi, ninth grade, Hays High School; Gilda Torres-Allen, ninth grade, Hays High School; Tayshaun Birch, 11th grade, Hays High School; Sage Talkington, seventh grade, homeschooled; Brooks Dixon, third grade, Lincoln Elementary; and Delia Dixon, sixth grade, Hays Middle School.
Their group was facilitated by Jane Talkington, assistant professor of management at FHSU.
According to Talkington, the youth said what they love about Hays is the different personalities of the people of Hays, its rich history, their curly hair that got curlier and wilder in the wind, people are nice, people are good, the high school teachers are great (special shout out to Ms. Codi Fenwick, debate teacher), the famous people from Hays area (like Dennis Hopper) and the fabulous and kid-friendly public library downtown.
They saw infrastructure of public facilities, such as the leaky high school building as a community challenge.
The students said they wanted a bookstore, skating rink, ice hockey rink, more stable weather and equality. They also wanted the culture of Hays to value the individual and eliminate discrimination based on weight or color of skin.
A local nonprofit is working to create an anti-vaping club for students.
The Smoky Hill Foundation for Chemical Dependence is working with Hays Middle School to form the first chapter of Resist in northwest Kansas. Representatives of the foundation gave a presentation at the middle school recently on the dangers of vaping.
At a recent Hays USD 489 Board of Education meeting, Principal Tom Albers said students who wish to be in Resist must take an hourlong online course on vaping and its dangers.
The goals of Resist are to fight big tobacco, empower and educate teens, influence Kansas policy on vaping, reduce tobacco use, and prevent chronic disease linked to tobacco and vaping.
The foundation received a grant to work on developing the local Resist chapter. It is working closely with the Hays Recreation Commission. The advisers hope to have a vape-free dance, take students to Topeka or Washington on anti-vaping advocacy trips and perhaps offer a club scholarship.
The goal is to expand the club to all of Ellis County.
Alisha Dinges and Jobeth Haselhorst of the foundation gave a condensed version of the student presentation to USD 489 school board members on Monday night.
Albers said the staff found a ripped up JUUL bracelet in the bleachers after the foundation’s presentation to students. He said he hopes that meant the talk had an effect on someone.
Dinges said big tobacco companies are targeting kids by creating vaping devices that are easily concealed. The JUUL vape devices look similar to flash drives and can be easily slipped into pockets. Other vape devices are made to look like inhalers and yet another device is connected to the strings of a sweatshirt hoody.
Vape juice can contain harmful substances, including tin, lead and nickel. Although some vape juices claim to be nicotine-free, these are routinely found to have up to 3 percent nicotine.
A full report on the effects of inhaled vape juice is not supposed to be released by the FDA until 2022, but the deaths have been attributed to vaping and the foundation representatives emphasized vaping is addictive and can be dangerous to youth.
Despite the increasing health concerns being raised surrounding vaping, vaping has been on the rise among youth.
One in three high school students reports they have tried vaping, and one in 10 reports they vape regularly.
Students report in surveys they vape because their friends or family vape, the vape juice is available in fruity flavors or they think vaping is less harmful than smoking.
Students are finding easy access to vape juice and devices. Some are being supplied by older peers or siblings, some by parents who think vaping is safe, some kids buy online, via social media, or from retailers who don’t check ID.
School board member Luke Oborny said at the meeting. “Thank you for making people aware of this. It’s sad they are targeting our children. I appreciate what you are doing.”
Patty Stull recently sold her Coldwell Banker franchise to independent real estate agent Robert Readle. Stull will continue listing and selling real estate as she’s done the past 36 years.
Readle buys Stull’s Coldwell Banker corporation, which will now have two Hays locations
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Coldwell Banker now has two locations in Hays.
Patty Stull has been owner/broker of Coldwell Banker Executive Realty in downtown Hays for nearly 36 years.
Stull sold her Coldwell Corp. on Sept. 24 to independent real estate agent Robert Readle. New Coldwell Banker signage — outdoors and indoors — will soon be installed at Readle’s office on the corner of 22nd and Vine streets.
Stull, 72, is not retiring. She will still list and sell real estate from her office at 1001 Main.
“For a long time, I’ve known I don’t have a successor,” Stull said. Her three daughters are grown and working their own jobs, with no interest in taking over their mom’s business.
She wanted to find someone to become the new owner who “has passion and great care for the clients, has good ethics, is reliable and accountable.”
Robert Readle Real Estate will become a second Coldwell Banker location at 22nd and Vine.
Stull says she found all that in her 38-year-old competitor, Robert Readle, when she approached him with her idea of selling her franchise to him.
Stull will mentor Readle, who appreciates the opportunities and support Coldwell Banker offers. It’s the largest franchise real estate company in the country.
“Being independent for so long (since 2014), we’ve really had to learn the nuts and bolts of the business. It’ll be pretty liberating to have that kind of backing behind us,” Readle said, “and we’re really looking forward to what it’s going to do for all of our agents.”
Readle considers Stull “a titan, one of the best in town. I really admire the work that she does.”
He reinforced their shared values and passion for the industry.
Coldwell Banker signage will soon go up on Robert Readle’s building at 22nd and Vine.
“A good Realtor loves working with people and helping them achieve their goals,” agreed Readle, who also has a background in finance.
“Of course, there’s a business side. You have to run an office, maintain files, follow regulations. When Patty and I are doing that at the same time, it’s kind of redundant. Now that we’re working together, she gets to put that on my desk now,” he said with a smile.
“My location at 1001 Main is intact and I’m not going anywhere,” Stull promises. “It was very hard to let go … but I’ve been smiling every day.”
Stull’s office in downtown Hays
The partnership creates the largest real estate company in Hays with 20 agents.
The company was started in 1967 by broker/owner/builder Robert Finch who bought the Coldwell Banker franchise in 1982. Stull purchased it in 1984.
Students raise their hands to answer a question asked by Chase Wagner, ag salesman for Carrico Implement, during Ag Day at Pa’s Pumpkin Patch on Thursday. Wagner discussed the parts of a tractor and farm safety.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
Students fed alpacas, climbed into the cab of a tractor and ate popcorn all in the name of learning about agriculture during the 23rd annual Ellis County Farm Bureau Kids Ag Day at Pa’s Pumpkin Patch.
“Our goal for the day is to have kids have an on-farm experience,” said Audrey Werth, board member for the Ellis County Farm Bureau. “A lot of kids don’t get to be around animals or to be around crops and learn about that on a day-to-day basis. We enjoy having kids out her so they can learn about what farmers do, learn what’s in their food, and learn where other ag products come from.”
On Thursday, Hays USD 489 fifth-graders visited the pumpkin patch. Fourth-graders will visit Oct. 4.
The stations the students explored included beef, pumpkins, soil, soybeans, wheat, sunflowers, water conservation, water cycle, farm equipment, alpacas, corn and leaves.
Alpacas
Students feed an alpaca hay.
Maggie Moeder, alpaca farm hand, talked to the students about care of the alpacas that live at the pumpkin patch as well as how their fleece is used.
Alpacas are known to spit. Generally they spit at other alpacas to let them know they are encroaching on their food. They make a high screeching sound as an alarm, Moeder said. In their native Peru, alpacas face many predators, but they don’t have many defenses.
An alpaca eats hay at Pa’s Pumpkin Patch during Ag Day.
Unlike other herd animals, alpacas don’t have hooves. They have soft pads on the bottoms of their feet similar to a dog’s paws.
Alpacas live to be about 20 years old. Alpacas are typically not slaughtered for their meat domestically, but it is served in high-end restaurants in South America.
Alpacas are shorn once a year. They are renowned for their fleece, which can be very warm. It is also hypoallergenic, whereas some people have allergies to wool. Moeder showed the students several examples of products made with alpaca fleece, including rugs, socks, scarves and earmuffs.
Farm safety
Chase Wagner, ag salesman with Carrico Implement, talked to the children about the importance of farm safety and explained several parts of a tractor.
Students in the cab of a John Deer tractor.
He said you need to make eye contact with a implement operator so you know that the operator has seen you. If you are directly in front of the tractor, you can’t be seen.
“If you are around this machine, and he has not made eye-contact with you, he does not know you are there. … These are big machines, and there is a lot gong on in that cab,” Wagner said.
He also warned the children to avoid the area between the tires and body of the tractor, which can be pinch point if the tractor is in operation.
Corn
Stacy Campbell of the Cottonwood Extension District, discusses corn with a group of fifth graders at the Farm Bureau Ag Day Thursday at Pa’s Pumpkin Patch.
The students were surprised to learn about products that contain corn, including biodegradable packing peanuts, dog treats and Jolly Ranchers candy. The students dunked the packing peanuts in water and watched them dissolve.
“It feels weird,” one student said as he dunked the packing peanut in water.
The pellets the students fed to the alpacas earlier in the day also contain corn. Corn is an inexpensive source of sugar for animals, so it is often used in animal feed.
Stacy Campbell of the Cottonwood Extension District talked about growing corn, and each student received a clear pouch to wear around their necks that contained a kernel of corn and water beads Campbell said the moisture from the beads in combination with the students’ body heat should cause the corn to germinate.
“Farmers are needed, and their products are needed,” Campbell said. “They try to grow the corn as cheaply as they can, so they can make money.
“If they try to grow it as cheaply as they can, they don’t get carried away and put a bunch of pesticides out there. They put a very minimal amount of pesticides, just what the crops need. They only put the right amount of fertilizer on.”
The students also received bags of popcorn.
Holly Dickman, City of Hays water conversation specialist, talks about the water cycle with students during Ag Day on Thursday. The students had to pass a spoon holding ice while also answering question about the water cycle.Molly McMurtrie, pumpkin patch volunteer, talks to students about pumpkins at the Farm Bureau Ag Day.Students learn about the products made using alpaca fleece from Maggie Moeder during Ag Day.
Jaici Simon, reading and language arts teacher at Hays Middle School, was honored as Hays Post’s September Teacher of the Month.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
Jaici Simon, reading and language arts teacher at Hays Middle School, might only be in her second year as a teacher, but she has a passion for her students and her profession.
Simon was nominated for the Hays Post September Teacher of the Month by student Taylor Freed, who said, “I would like to nominate Mrs. Simon because she teaches in a way that makes the subject easy to understand. I also feel she is patient and easy to talk to if I have questions.”
Simon is a Hays native. She attended Kennedy Middle School, Hays High School, and earned her teaching and English degrees from Fort Hays State University.
Simon’s mother encouraged her to enter the teaching profession.
“She reminded me when I was in college, I did really love to read and I love to learn and that is the way I explored the world and learned about the world,” Simon said.
She said she was also encouraged by the examples of some amazing teachers in USD 489.
One of those teachers was reading teacher Misti Norris, who still works at HMS.
“She has always been a positive and uplifting person,” Simon said. “She has a huge passion for English and for reading, especially. She tries to help find kids their kind of book and encourage them to read.”
At HHS, Diane Mason influenced Simon.
“She challenged me to think beyond the words on the page,” Simon said. “She always challenges her kids to analyze beyond just what is present and look beyond characters’ decisions. She is incredibly positive as well.”
Kathy Wagoner was Simon’s mentor as a student teacher, and she said Wagoner prepared her for her career as a teacher.
“She taught me to write properly and for English comp exams and what I should expect when I went to college. She was a very positive figure in my life — she still is to this day,” Simon said. “She is a role model to me, and I hope I can be as half as good an English teacher as she is.”
Just like millions of other kids, Simon loved J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series when she was a middle school student. She envisioned herself as Hermione Granger on adventures with Harry and Ron Weasley at the infamous Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
“She grows a lot throughout the series,” Simon said of the Granger character. “She is also not afraid to be who she is, and I think that is very admirable.”
She said she was also inspired by the “Diary of Anne Frank,” which she read in the seventh grade.
“I have always been fascinated about learning more about history,” Simon said, “and how literature and history are very interwoven with one another.”
Often, history is told through history books, but the “Diary of Anne Frank” is told through the eyes of a teenage girl.
“It makes that experience more real,” she said, “especially when reading it when you are her age. You imagine walking beside this person who went through so much and experienced a lot of trials and tribulations. … It made me think a lot about how blessed I was to have the childhood that I did have.”
Simon said her No. 1 goal as a teacher is for her students to feel her classroom is a safe place.
“I want them to feel no matter where they are in life, no matter who they are, they can come here and feel safe and cared for,” she said.
She also wants her students to find a love of reading and writing, even if it is not their favorite subject.
“I want them to learn more about the world,” Simon said. “I want them to be able to ask tough questions and not be nervous or scared because it is important for us to grow as humans to ask those tough questions—for us to be able to learn in an environment that is safe and comforting—and to reach beyond our comfort zones to learn more about who we are.”
Other adults might be intimated by the pre-teen crowd — not Simon. Her favorite aspect of teaching is the kids.
“It is a time of learning who you are and what you like and who you are going to be for the rest of your life,” she said. “I love the kids. I think they are at a great age. They are trying to figure things out. I like that about this age.”
Simon also coaches cheerleading at HMS. She has been a dancer since she was 6 at Jackie Creamer’s Vision Dance Company and was a member of the dance team at HHS.
“I think kids need an outlet outside of school,” she said, “because kids come to school and they work so hard and they try and they are successful, but it takes a lot of brain power and it takes a lot of dedication. I think in a coaching capacity, coaches are able to connect with kids on a different level— being able to exercise, being able to do a physical activity where they are out of their seats. …”
“I think it creates a special bond between the kids and the coach.”
As a young teacher, Simon said she hopes to continue to grow.
“I never want to become a teacher who becomes stagnant or who doesn’t have a goal in mind each school year,” she said. “I know there will always be some area in which I need to grow.”
Simon said she was shocked she was nominated for Teacher of the Month, because there are so many great teachers in Hays.
“And to have a student nominate me was incredibly special and makes me feel like I am right where I am supposed to be,” she said. “I am with the right age. I am in the right school district. I’m where I need to be.”
Submit your nomination for Hays Post’s Teacher of the Month honor!
Hays Post and Eagle Radio are seeking nominations for Teacher of the Month for 2019-20.
Through April, Hays Post will solicit nominations from through the area from parents, students and colleagues. Nominate your favorite educator by sending the following information to [email protected]. Nominations will be kept through the entire school year, so you only need to nominate your favorite teacher once in a school year. If you nominated a teacher in a past year and he or she did not win the Teacher of the Month honor, you can nominate them again this school year.
• Your name and telephone number (will not be published).
• Teacher’s name
• Teacher’s school
• Tell us why you are nominating this teacher
After suffering significant damage during an August storm and canceling two events, major repairs have been made at Rolling Plains Motor Speedway — just in time to host the 12th annual Fall Nationals.
The event is set to kick off Thursday, Oct. 4, and will run through Saturday.
“We’ve got the pit concession building rebuilt and the scale house and Midwest Energy has been working out there getting ready to put up new lights and poles in the infield and behind the grandstand,” said Glenn Unrein, RPM president. “We’ve got the grandstands into position so we can use them at the Fall Nationals and everything is moving forward.”
During an Ellis County Commission meeting on Sept. 3, Jill Pfannenstiel, Ellis County Fair Board president, informed the commission that, with the extent of the damage, a special insurance adjuster was needed in order to process the claim as they organized a cleanup effort for the fairgrounds on which RPM sits.
“We have a lot of damage out there that is going to take a lot of time to repair,” Pfannenstiel said.
But with insurance only covering the damage and not the loss of revenue from canceled events, Unrein said repairs could not wait and began work at the speedway before the claim was settled.
“We’re still waiting it out,” he said. “We don’t know exactly how much they are going to cover and which areas.”
The scale house and winners circle were destroyed in the storm, along with several 80-foot light poles. The grandstand was also moved around a foot.
All three needed to be repaired before events could resume.
With repair costs coming from out of pocket, Unrein remains optimistic insurance will cover the expense.
“We have faith in them and believe they are going to cover the majority of it,” he said.
Either way, Hays will soon hear the rumbling of racing coming from the track.
The Fall Nationals is the richest event on the post-season IMCA schedule, according to RPM, which expects over 200 race teams to participate.
“Pre-entries are already flowing in from drivers from the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, North Dakota, Iowa, Wyoming and Canada,” according to an RPM press release for the event. “National, regional, state and local champions, and rookies will be trackside.”
“The Briney Motorsports IMCA Modifieds race for $5,000 to win and a minimum of $400 to start their main event,” they said. “Also on the card for that weekend are the Advantage Glass Plus IMCA Stock Cars racing for $3,000 to win and $250 to start, Walt’s Repair & Machine IMCA Northern SportMods for $2,000 and $175 to start, Golden Plains Trucking IMCA Hobby Stocks for $1,500 and $175 to start, and the Simpson Farm Enterprises IMCA Sport Compacts for $400 and $50 to start. Radke Implement Crazy Cruisers will run for $200 to win.”
On the first day of the event, all classes will have the opportunity to get on the track during an open practice.
Gates are set to open on Friday and Saturday at 3 p.m.
Races will begin at 5 p.m.
Tickets for general admission run $15 each on Friday and Saturday. Children 12 and under enter free with an adult.
Adult pit passes are $25 on Thursday and $30 on Friday and Saturday and passes for children 12 and under are $10.
During the events, pits will open at noon each day, which gives fans an opportunity to get an up-close and personal look at the cars and teams.
Merchandise will also be available throughout the event.
Unrein said he hopes the drivers and crowd come to see the repair efforts made at the track.
“Everybody come out and see the rebuilt facilities, and it should be a great time at Fall Nationals,” he said.
The historic George Phillips Hardware building, 719 Main St. Hays, is up for sheriff’s sale in the Chuck Comeau foreclosure case.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
The former Strand Theatre, 1102 Main St.
Twelve tracks of land owned by Chuck Comeau’s DFC Holdings and the Liberty Group, all in downtown Hays, are going up for sheriff’s sale.
Bank of Hays, Sunflower Bank and Golden Belt Bank were granted foreclosures on multiple properties owned by Comeau and his holding companies last year.
In its bankruptcy, Comeau’s companies were listed as owing more than $8.9 million in secured debt to three local banks, including $952,000 to Astra Bank, $7.5 million to Bank of Hays and $420,000 to Sunflower Bank.
1100 Main St.
Seven Comeau properties already sold at sheriff’s sale in August.
The sheriff’s sale will be 10 a.m. Oct. 18 at the Ellis County Courthouse.
On the auction block will be 803 Fort St.; 811 Fort St.; 1008 Main St., occupied by Bluetique; 1011 Main St., occupied by Simply Charmed; 106 W. 11th St., occupied by Bella Luna; 1100 Main St., occupied by the Paisley Pear; 1102 Main St., former Strand Theater; 1108 Main St.; 1013 Main St., occupied by Regeena’s; 121 E. 11th St.; 1012 Main St., occupied by Something Blue; and 719 Main St., historic Phillips Hardware store.
1008 Main St.
The Hays Post attempted to contact several of the business owners affected by the sale.
Norman Keller, owner, of Regeena’s did not wish to speak about the sale specifically, but said he and his wife hope to keep their business in its current location.
Shaun Musil, owner of the Paisley Pear, also did not want to talk specifically about the sale, but said there are many positive things happening in downtown Hays and a lot of energy and he hopes that continues.
The Hays city commission Thursday night unanimously approved the purchase of 19 properties for right of way acquisition within the North Vine Street Corridor Project.
Plans are to build two-lane traffic roundabouts on Vine Street at 32nd/33rd, 37th, and 41st Streets, plus a teardrop roundabout at the eastbound Interstate 70 exit ramp.
During an executive session at the end of the Sept. 12 city commission meeting, John Braun, city project manager, presented details of proposed offers to acquire right of way, easements, and the costs associated with the project.
“These are 19 properties — various small tracts — between 32nd Street and 41st and Mopar,” Braun said Wednesday afternoon. “Those will remain confidential until the project is bid out.”
Cost of the property purchases is $390,020 to be funded out of Capital Projects.
“To reiterate what the city’s project manager said, we took no action (after the executive session) and so now we’re doing that in open session,” Mayor Henry Schwaller said Thursday night.
“This will help us complete the project on north Vine Street.”
Braun has said he expects the right-of-way acquisitions to be “all wrapped up with utility clearances out of the way” in November.
By the end of this year, the entire completed plan is scheduled to be submitted to the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) for an anticipated April 2020 KDOT bid letting, allowing for construction to begin in June or July 2020.
The remainder of the project cost will be paid through a two percent increase in the Transient Guest Tax (TGT). It went into effect Oct. 1, 2018, and is projected to raise $6.2 million over 20 years.
Vice-Mayor Shaun Musil was absent from the meeting.
