Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services is selling purple light bulbs to light up the night for domestic violence during the month of October.
Residents in the Hays and the Options service area are encouraged to buy the light bulbs, hang them in their store windows and use them in their home outdoor light fixtures.
The program seeks to do three things: support survivors of domestic violence, give hope to people who are still living with abuse and remember victims who lost their lives to domestic violence.
“We want to shine a light on domestic violence,” said Jennifer Hecker, executive director of Options. “It is a very shadowy topic. People don’t want to talk about it. We want to bring it out of the shadows and really shine a light on the devastating impact domestic violence has on our communities and our families.”
Bulbs can be purchased for $2 each at Options, 2716 Plaza, Fantasy Graphics and Hays Academy of Hair Design. Options will have a booth every weekend in the month of September at Big Creek Crossing to sell the bulbs and raise awareness about domestic violence.
“Imagine you are someone who is still living with domestic violence or someone who has survived domestic violence,” Hecker said, “and you drive down the street and you see the entire neighborhood, the entire town, the entire downtown lit up with purple lights. And the message that would send to let them know that in our community we are not going to tolerate domestic violence. We are going to take a stand, and we are going to support the people who are trying to escape and hold perpetrators accountable.”
Domestic violence costs employers hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, can cause lifelong health issues for survivors and the trauma affects brain development among children who witness domestic violence, Hecker said.
Sometimes it is difficult for people in a small community to admit that they might know someone who is an abuser. However, woman who live in rural communities are 22 percent more likely to be victims of domestic violence than their urban peers.
“Because people know each other, they don’t want to believe that something like that can be happening in their town,” Hecker said, “or that their friend or neighbor or some who they trust and respect in the community can be perpetrating these crimes.”
Options has seen a 174 percent increase in domestic violence services in the last year, because in part of a greater awareness of services and the signs of domestic violence, Hecker said.
Options provides personal, medical, court, law enforcement, youth/child and parent/child advocacy, as well as crisis intervention, a safe shelter, counseling, support groups, community education and a 24-hour Helpline.
Nationally, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Purple is the color for domestic violence awareness. From 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 5, Options will host its second-annual Purple Light Night in Massey Park. The free event will serve as a family activity night as well as an attempt to bring awareness to the issue of domestic violence.
Grand Rental Station, Be Made, Taco Shop, Popped, Breathe Coffee House and McDonald’s have all agreed to be sponsors for the event. The Press will be providing cinnamon rolls and chili for the first 75 people, Trinity Lutheran will provide a game and the Hays Area Children’s Center will have a ball pit for the kids. Scentsy representative Amanda Long will be present, and a portion of her proceeds will go to Options. There also will be face painting and children’s tattoos, as well as a game for adults.
A tree in Massey Park will be strung with purple lights, and the event will include a tree-lighting ceremony.
The chief of police, sheriff and mayor will all speak at the event. Organizations or individuals who would like to help sponsor the event should contact Ashley Hecker at Options at (785) 625-4202.
Options’ 24-hour hotline is (800) 794-4624. No appointment is needed to seek Options’ services.
March to Main was formerly known as Core2Campus. Gella’s Dinner and Lb. Brewing Co. provided boxed dinners for the first 500 students from Fort Hays State University, NCK Tech and Hays Academy of Hair Design. Major sponsors also included Hays Academy of Hair Design, G&L Tire and Automotive, Main Street Gym and Fitness and Taco Shop. The event will also featured live music from the band Purair.
Sponsors provided $3,000 in prizes, including a $200 cash grand prize. Each of the top prizes were awarded to those who found hidden bricks downtown. The grand prize gold brick was found by Sierra Eichman. The NCK brick was found by Ivy and Roger Agnew. The FHSU brick was found by Bryant Karlin and Jacob Alexander. The Academy of Hair Design brick was found by Cierra Cheyanne.
Sara Bloom, executive director of DHDC, said she was pleased with the turn out and thankful for the good weather. Bloom estimated more than 500 students participated.
“Tonight is just to welcome the students to Hays. We are excited they have chosen Hays as their secondary education home. We want to make sure that they are recognized for coming to Hays, and we make them feel part of the community right off the bat.
“We know retention at these universities is important, and the more the community is involved, the more students we’ll keep.”
The event allows retailers to reach out to students and show them what they have to offer.
“The universities play a huge part in our community, and the retailers realize that,” Bloom said. “When the students come into their businesses, they want to welcome them, thank them and encourage them to come back with their families and friends and really just get connected.”
Leland Olive of Couture For Men and Women said the event allows his business to show the students what the store has to offer.
“One reason we do this is a lot of freshman don’t have cars,” he said. “They can walk downtown and shop for clothing, go out to eat and experience the arts.”
Olive said he thought the event is good for retailers.
“A lot of students have not been here yet, and now they know they can bring their parents downtown shopping,” he said.
Hays First United Methodist Church packed up and headed downtown to offer students water and snacks Thursday night.
“Fort Hays State University has a continuing tradition in Hays. Throughout the year, anytime we have the opportunity to meet kids, especially new ones, we want to do that,” Mike Rose, senior pastor, said.
The students said they appreciated the chance to eat, win prizes and check out downtown.
“It is super cool,” said Leha Tebow, a Hays Academy of Hair Design student. “There are a lot of shops, and everything you need here. … It is great that they put this on so we can get acquainted with everything.”
Allison Keith, FHSU sophomore, said she hadn’t been downtown much in her first year and wanted to see what it had to offer.
Friend Sarah Baird, also a FHSU sophomore, said the prizes were definitely a draw.
“Cash is always good,” she said. “I think the event is good. I don’t have to sit at home.”
Bob Dole visiting the Kansas Wheat Commission booth at the Kansas State Fair. Photo courtesy of Robert and Elizabeth Dole Archive and Special Collections, University of Kansas.
A crowd quickly begins to assemble in the Pride of Kansas building at the 2015 Kansas State Fair. To the right is the state’s largest pumpkin grown that year; to the left are the best grain samples produced by Kansas farmers. But in the middle, under a sign playfully labeled “Old-timers” sits Bob Dole with his friend and colleague Nancy Landon Kassebaum.
The crowd is focused in a single file line, young and old, gathered to meet these Kansas legends. Men and women approach one-by-one to greet Senator Dole and regale him with memories of meeting him on a class trip to D.C., thanking him for his service in the armed forces and for his statesmanship in Congress, asking him if he may remember a long-lost mutual friend, or even if he might have some insight into the next presidential election. As the people filter out, you hear exclamations like, “He’s still as sharp as a tack,” or “Remember this. We’ll never see another politician like him again.”
Photo courtesy of Robert and Elizabeth Dole Archive and Special Collections, University of Kansas.
Senator Dole’s placement amongst the best agricultural products in the state was a strategic and logical choice. He has been a friend to Kansas agriculture during his time on the national political scene, and he remains as revered in the hallowed halls of the Capitol as he is on the wind-blown plains of Kansas.
The wheat farmers of Kansas have a particular fondness of Senator Dole. He fought for common-sense agricultural policy, including the landmark 1985 Farm Bill.
The 1980s was a decade of uncertainty for the American farmer. Inflation, climbing interest rates and pushback from a nation that did not understand the need for increased federal farm aid were looming over family farms. Senator Dole, with input from bi-partisan colleagues, negotiated the landmark bill that cut costs while keeping the much-needed farm subsidies intact.
In addition, Senator Dole has been a champion for foreign market development and international food and nutrition programs throughout his entire career. The Bread and Butter Corps was a program introduced to the Food for Peace Act by then Representative Dole in 1966. This program ensured that volunteers would train farmers in developing countries, while still exporting America’s surplus grain to nations in dire need.
The Food for Peace program remains an essential market, both for American farmers and its recipients around the world. In 2015 more than a third of all American exported commodities were provided through the Food for Peace Program.
Photo courtesy of Robert and Elizabeth Dole Archive and Special Collections, University of Kansas.
In addition, Senator Dole has tirelessly worked toward a food-secure future for children, both at home and abroad. He helped to reform the food stamp program, create the Women and Infant Children (WIC) nutrition program, develop the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act and expand the National School Lunch Program.
Even in his retirement, Senator Dole has worked toward ending global hunger. He continued his legacy of bi-partisanship in 2002 with his friend and fellow retired U.S. senator, George McGovern. Together, they created the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Program (FFE), an innovative model of food aid that combines food commodities, technical assistance and cash to provide for hungry children at schools around the world. This program has increased enrollment at program schools by 14 percent overall, with a specific 17 percent bump for female students. While feeding the future is an important goal for developing countries, the program has also benefited farmers at home. More than 4.4 million bushels of U.S. wheat were exported for the FFE program in 2015 alone.
Growing up in the Heartland instilled hard work, innovation, determination and eternal optimism in Senator Bob Dole. He used these attributes to give back to his native home and to improve America’s most basic industry, agriculture.
As Senator Dole once said in his autobiography, Unlimited Partners, “If you don’t eat, you don’t need to worry about the farmer. Otherwise, his problems are at least in part your problems, too.”
The Kansas Association of Wheat Growers couldn’t be prouder to call Senator Dole a friend and a colleague. We support H.R. 3332, the Bob Dole Congressional Gold Medal Act, and its Senate counterpart, S. 1616. Please support this legislation to properly recognize a great Kansan and great American.
Superintendent John Thissen met with a small group of teachers and parents at O’Loughlin Elementary School Wednesday night to talk about the proposed $78.5 million bond issues that will go to voters Nov. 7.
This is one of about 40 meetings with the public Thissen has planned in coming months. Thissen began his talk by explaining the details of proposed bond. Details on the bond’s scope can be found on the district’s website at https://www.usd489.com/.
He said his goal is informational and to get to people out to vote no matter which side of the bond they are on.
Erin Hernandez, parent and a district part-time staff member, asked Thissen why a previous $94 million bond that went to a vote in June 2016 did not pass.
Research the district did after the previous bond’s failure indicated voters did not support the amount of the bond, voters had trust issues with the board and parents did not vote in the election.
“If we could get 10,000 to 15,000 people to vote, that would be fantastic,” Thissen said. “We would know what the community thinks. If only 2,000 to 3,000 people vote, we only know what a select group wants.”
The district is trying to facilitate voter registration by making voter registration forms available in the offices of all its buildings. The deadline to register to vote in the November election is Oct. 17, and advance voting is scheduled to begin Oct. 18.
Two new elementary schools would be built if the bond issues passes, and O’Loughlin Elementary School would be renovated to accommodate the Westside program, Early Childhood Center and the Learning Center.
Hernandez, who has children at O’Loughlin, asked if the families whose children would be displaced by the closing of Lincoln and repurposing of O’Loughlin would have the first pick of which new school they wished their children to attend.
Thissen said this was likely.
A significant goal of the bond is to right-size classrooms. Roosevelt’s classrooms are about 800 square feet compared to about 640 square feet at Wilson. Thissen said the extra room would allow for new techniques for teaching, including large- and small-group teaching and small-group MTSS instruction.
The bond will include new furniture, which Thissen said will make a great deal of difference in the flexibility the teachers would have in staging their classrooms for different teaching methods.
Assistant superintendent Shanna Dinkel said teachers even at the high school listed right-sized classrooms as their top priority even over HVAC systems.
“They know what teaching needs to look like to prepare students for 21st Century learning,” she said. “The teachers feel so confined, especially at that high school. It was one of their top priorities to prepare students in the classroom for what they know they need.”
Hernandez also asked what would happen if the bond did not pass.
Thissen said the need would still remain, and the district would have to try for another bond. It likely be a lower amount or a shorter repayment period. The proposed bond would be paid back over 30 years. Renovations and additions at Hays Middle School and Hays High School would likely be eliminated if another bond vote was required.
The 30-year bond has advantages over several smaller bonds. A new law enacted this year limits the amount of bond debt that can be issued by school districts across the state. This means USD 489 might have to wait in line behind other districts on bond projects. The district is currently exempt because it has not passed a bond issue in 25 years.
Interest rates are currently favorable and may not be at a later date, and the district would be able to realize all its needs now instead of postponing projects, Thissen said.
Another attendee asked what the timeline for the bond would be once it passes.
The architects would need at least six months to develop detailed plans for the new buildings and renovations. A new elementary school could be built within about a year after the plans are completed. The entire project is estimated to take two and half to three years with projects being completed throughout that time.
Teachers and principals already have been working on details of what they think will be the most efficient uses of their new space.
“We have one time in 40 years to make changes,” Thissen said. “We need to focus. We need to make this as right as possible.”
The district plans a community-wide bond Q&A at 7 p.m. Sept. 12 in the Lincoln Elementary School gymnasium.
After nearly two decades, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office investigators have made an arrest in the homicide of Rebecca Bartee after a tipster contacted law enforcement through a local news reporter. Rebecca Bartee was 41 when she was found dead in her apartment in the 6500 block of S. Dayton St. on June 7, 1999. Bartee, formerly of Hays, was a Deputy District Attorney at the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office when she was killed.
Bartee, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office
As a result of the tip, new evidence led to the identification of a suspect in the case, which allowed investigators to get an arrest warrant based on probable cause. Yesterday afternoon, investigators arrested 70-year-old Robert Williams, who was still living in the same apartment building where Bartee was killed.
According to the cold-case file, “Bartee was known as a tenacious young District Attorney in Hays, Kansas. When the time came for a fresh start, Rebecca moved to Colorado, where her duties in Arapahoe County included doggedly pursuing deadbeat parents who refused to pay their court-ordered child support. As passionate as she was about her work, Rebecca also dedicated herself to the care of her severely handicapped teenage daughter.”
Anyone with information about this case or other cold cases should contact law enforcement with information, as oftentimes, new leads may be the only way to solve these crimes. We, along with the victim’s family, are thankful someone came forward with new information, even after 18 years.
Williams has been booked into the Arapahoe County Detention Facility on the charge of first degree murder. This charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The arrest affidavit in this case has been sealed.
A local trucker and his family are offering their services to deliver donations to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Texas.
Dalton Fischer, 24, of Hays, has offered to drive a load of supplies to the San Antonio Food Bank in his truck over the Labor Day holiday. He will leave on Saturday. The drive is also being organized by Golden Plains Trucking of Hays and Gemini Concrete Pumping of Hays.
Fischer and his family have been in touch with the food bank, which said it could take supplies to be distributed to shelters throughout the area.
Items that are needed include non-perishable food, bottled water, pet food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, batteries and flashlights, baby items such as diapers, formula, and baby food, bedding, and new never-worn clothing.
Donations will be taken at Golden Plains Trucking, 375 E. 41st (north of IHOP on the corner of 41st and General Hays Road), Hays, now through Friday. Drop-off times will be:
Tuesday until 5 p.m.
Wednesday 8 a.m.-9 p.m.
Thursday 8 a.m.-9 p.m.
Friday 8 a.m. until trailer is full
Fischer encouraged donors to pack their items in boxes, because this will make it easier for the donations to be stacked.
Fischer’s trailer is 36 feet long, 8 feet tall and 7.5 feet wide — and Fischer hopes to fill it with donations. If more donations are received than will fit in the trailer, the group will seek a larger trailer.
The Ellis High School graduate said he knew his truck was going to be idle over the long weekend and wanted to help. He also helped haul hay to Ashland after the wildfires.
Fischer had planned to pay for the fuel for the trip out of his own pocket. However, he said he would accept donations for fuel. Anything in excess of the cost of the trip will be donated to the food bank.
FHSU
The Center for Civic Leadership at Fort Hays State University is organizing a fundraising drive this week and next for monetary donations for hurricane relief efforts.
Jars will be set out around campus for donations. The center will also man a booth on campus that will hand out blue ribbons in support of Hurricane Harvey victims and give out information on how people in Hays can help relief efforts.
Carla Parra-Martinez, and Anneka Sundell, both student Tigers in Service are already planning an Alternative Break project to the hurricane-affected area in January.
Details will not be available until after the floodwaters recede and closer to Christmas break.
Applications are taken online at Tiger Link for the annual service trip. There is usually a cost to students, depending on where they plan to go and on what project they will be working. Parra-Martinez said, in the past, it has been around $50 to $100. Donations are being sought to hep fund the effort.
The number of students who are selected to go on the project depends on the budget and how many people are needed for a particular project.
Parra-Martinez said she plans to go on the Alternative Break project this winter.
“I always want to help out, especially stuff like this that is really big. It breaks me to see it. I personally have never been through something like this,” she said. “I may not be able to hep money-wise and supply-wise, but I think it is important to help.”
Two TMP freshmen help Randy Brull plant a fall crop of turnips.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
The Thomas More Prep-Marian Garden Club picked beans, onions, tomatoes and carrots Wednesday during its first harvest.
Spanish teacher Melissa Pinkney brought the idea of creating a garden on the TMP grounds to administrators last year. A group of students, along with math teacher Randy Brull, planted crops last spring.
“I really like gardening,” Pinkney said. “I think it is important for kids to know where their food comes from.”
Brull, Pinkney and some of their family members helped keep the garden going during the summer. A few weeks ago, Brull harvested potatoes that went to the St. Joseph Catholic Church food pantry. Students this fall will be able to have first pick of the vegetables and the rest will go to the food pantry.
On Wednesday, the students also planted a fall crop of turnips, which should be ready to harvest in October.
Randy Brull’s granddaughter, Maggie, an eighth-grader at TMP, is among the club members.
“He has a garden at his house, and he has been showing me,” she said. “He always tries to get me to pick vegetables. I decided I might as well be productive and help with the school garden.”
Gabe Rupp, freshman, also has helped with a garden at home. He said he likes to cook, especially with fresh peppers and onions.
“I felt as a freshman, I should be involved,” he said. “I thought of Garden Club as a possible club.”
Brull remembers when he was young he thought spinach was something dark green and slimy that came from a can.
“I hope when they can get some of this home and on the table, they will realize how good tasting that vegetables can be,” he said.
Brull said some of the lessons that can be taught in the garden are not about plants.
“The biggest thing is that I hope they would learn from this is that a lot of good things don’t happen all at once,” Brull said. “A lot of good things happen a little bit at a time. Plan ahead, get things started. Sometimes weeks and months and years go by and you come back and you have something good. It can be very satisfying. It works in the garden, and it works in studying too.”
The “Heroes in Action” themed community kickoff was hosted by United Way of Ellis County on Saturday at Frontier Park. Children ages 1 and up dressed up in their favorite costumes and were able to color their own superhero capes for a chance to win prizes.
United Way of Ellis County Executive Director Sherry Dryden said the goal of the event was to give youth a chance to meet with real-world heroes, as first responders from the sheriff’s office, police, fire, EMS and highway patrol were on hand.
“We want to give youth opportunity to interact with first responders in a non-crisis setting, and this event gives them the opportunity to do that and have a relationship with the first responders,” Dryden said. “The other purpose for this is so that the community members are able to see what services our partner agencies have.”
The partner agencies of the United Way of Ellis County are: Employment Connections – DSNWK, Court Appointed Special Advocates, First Call For Help, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Catholic Charities, Girl Scouts, Hays Area Children’s Center, Options: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, United Cerebral Palsy, Cancer Council of Ellis County, Western Kansas Association on Concerns of the Disabled, Parents and Children Together (PACT), and the American Red Cross.
United Way has set a 2017 campaign goal of $450,000 during its annual fundraising effort.
“We had our partner agencies here so they could give out brochures and they can also give information about their services,” said Dryden.
The highlight of the event for the children was the superhero costume judging where two winners from each of the four age groups were chosen as winners for “best colored cape and mask” and “best superhero costume.”
“It was exciting. I was glad we were able to have this event and the weather was perfect,” Dryden said. “This is something we hope we can continue now every year and we are hoping to have it at a different park every year so that way we can fully expose great communities we have here in Ellis County.”
Cleanup on South Ninth in WaKeeney. Photo courtesy Heather Barney.
TOPEKA —Gov. Sam Brownback signed a State of Disaster Emergency declaration on Friday for severe thunderstorms, straight line winds, hail, torrential rainfall, and flooding. The declaration covers the period beginning Aug. 3 and continuing, according to a media release from the Kansas Adjutant General’s Department.
Based upon damage reports and local disaster declarations received by the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, initial counties included on the declaration are Barber, Douglas, Franklin, Greenwood, Johnson, Miami, Seward, and Trego.
A tornado hit WaKeeney the afternoon of Thu., Aug. 10, bringing devastating hail and high wind.
Additional counties may be added to the governor’s declaration once damage assessments have been completed. The Kansas Division of Emergency Management is in the process of gathering damage assessment information from county emergency managers to better determine if the governor can request federal disaster assistance.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness-Hays will display a group art project during the Fall Art Walk tonight that couples meditation with art.
The art piece was created during a NAMI educational meeting in August and will be on display at Jackie Creamer’s The Dance Studio, 717 Main St. The art walk runs from 6:30 to 9:30 tonight.
Gene Rice, doctor of philosophy, and Amy Schmierbach, professor of art, joined during the spring semester at Fort Hays State University to teach a three-credit hour art and meditation course. The two professors brought some of the techniques they used in that class to the NAMI group.
Rice presented two types of meditation practice to the group.The first was a basic breathing meditation.Then Schmierbach asked the group to draw their breath by creating marks that coincided with the length of their breath.These marks were mostly straight lines of varying length.
The second meditation Rice presented was a body scan meditation.With this meditation, the group was asked to focus on different parts of their bodies. Rice said this starts with hair and skin and moves inward to muscle and bones then to internal organs and finally blood vessels and blood.
When Schmierbach led the body scan drawing, she asked NAMI participants to create marks and textures that represent these areas of the body.
Rice said art and meditation have many overlaps. Both help people explore their inner world and experience their inner senses and feelings. He said meditation hinges on non-judgment. He encouraged his students to acknowledge their thoughts and create the art without judging it.
“We can come home to ourselves,” he said. “We can become more aware of what is happening in our mind.”
Ann Leiker of NAMI-Hays said meditation can be beneficial for people who suffer from mental illness.
“Being in the present and having mindfulness is very important to good mental health. Not living in the past or living in the future is a huge part of being mentally healthy,” she said.
In Rice’s and Schmierbach’s class, the professors presented other meditation practices, such as eating and walking meditation.
“We ask students to research and practice techniques that they have experienced personal growth,”Schmierbach said. “The final project is a culmination of this personal research where students develop their own series of drawings.”
The professors hope to offer another three-credit hour class in spring 2018.
Both Rice and Schmierbach said meditation can be an enriching and stress-reducing practice for anyone.
Rice said research at Harvard has indicated meditation and mindfulness practice can reduce stress.
Schmierbach said, “In our fast-paced world, many people are focused on the future.We are increasingly stressed and anxious due to world events and/or struggles in our lives. We want to be successful in the future, and we work hard toward our goals.However, most of us do not appreciate the present moment and the wonders that are always right in front of us.Drawing and Meditation can help keep us be present and, in return, allow us to experience the happiness and love in our lives.”
For more information on NAMI-Hays, call the resource line at 785-269-6859. NAMI has monthly meetings on the first Monday of the month unless there is a holiday. In September, the NAMI meeting will be on the second Monday because of Labor Day. Support group meetings are 6 to 7 p.m. and the education meeting is from 7:15 to 8:15 p.m. at the Resource Center for Life Experience, 2900 Hall St. Use the east door. You can also connect with NAMI-Hays on Facebook.
After 42 years of painting in solitude without recognition, Michael Hartung of Lindsborg is finally making his public art debut.
Hartung, 72, has three simultaneous exhibits showing now — one in Lindsborg, one at the Salian Art Center in Salina and one at the Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art in Rarick Hall at Fort Hays State University in Hays.
“Gas Stations, Laundromats, and the Spaces in Between,” opens Friday during the Fall Art Walk. Hartung will be on hand to speak and answer questions about his art between 6 and 9 p.m.
Hartung was raised in Fredonia. He narrowly escaped taking shop class in high school.
“I hated the shop teacher, but he hated me too,” Hartung said.
He had a stint in drafting class, but he loved to draw freehand, which drove his drafting teacher crazy. Finally during his senior year, he landed in an art class taught by a recent graduate of Bethany College who had been inspired by the work of Birger Sandzen.
“It prepped me for college and a bigger environment,” he said.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in art education at Emporia State University before being drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War. He knew he did not want to teach art because the people he saw teaching were not doing art except for an occasional faculty exhibit. He returned to school briefly, but decided he would rather paint than deal with the politics of grad school.
Hartung moved to Lindsborg and went to work for Arrow Printing, in Salina. He spent long hours laying negatives for Arrow, a job that was eliminated by computers shortly after his retirement.
“It paid,” he said of his job. “I had enough money for any record or book I ever wanted. That is all I wanted.”
All of Hartung’s spare time was spent painting. He had an upstairs studio in Lindsborg where he painted anything and everything his mind could conjure.
Boxes of LPs and CDs are stacked near to the ceiling in his studio. Besides his paints, a mattress on the floor is about the only other item in his home of 40 years.
“All I wanted I had. I never asked for nor did I desire for notoriety,” he said. “I had a semi-drawn out goal of what I wanted. I kept my nose down and had a full-time job to support it.”
Hartung painted anything that came to his mind.
“Basically I painted everything I wanted to paint. That is sort of what I did,” he said. “Everything was open. There were no limits. I was not painting for an audience. I painted some real clunkers too. It has been interesting. I’m glad I did it.”
Hartung did not like art history class. Everything was identified by a date and an “ism.” Hartung never dated any of his work. He stacked it in a storage room, and many of his painting had not been seen by anyone, including Hartung in decades.
He and some friends went through the art for the exhibits in his unheated storage area during the polar vortex that hit Kansas.
“When they came out to shoot and archive the paintings, I was at a low point,” he said. “My health was not doing well. I thought it might be a fool’s errand, but it was really fun.”
The exhibit at the Moss-Thorns gallery is a juxtaposition between light-hearted and dark and compelling images, Michael Jilg, local artist and guest curator of the exhibit noted.
A piece of a man sitting on a dunk tank is hung next to an image titled “Sarcoma,” which depicts a man dying of cancer.
Another painting depicts a woman crouching in a car that is filling with carbon dioxide from a garden hose. Yet there is another painting that depicts a dream-like image of dandelions at sunrise.
Jilg met Hartung some time ago, but did not know all the work he was doing in his second-floor studio. Not many people did, he said, adding Hartung was known in Lindsborg, but not among the art world.
“He was upstairs in his studio, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, painting his life away,” Jilg said.
Jilg encouraged art lovers to come out and visit with Hartung Friday who he described as being, talkative and friendly with an almost David Letterman- type personality.
Hartung said he never struggled to find things to paint. Rather he had often had to submit his ideas to a process of elimination before he started a painting.
“So many of them just come to me. I guess I am just lucky,” he said.
His mother is a reoccurring theme in his paintings. She raised Hartung and his siblings for a time by herself after Hartung’s father left.
One of the paintings at the Moss-Thorns exhibit depicts his mother, who has fallen asleep in a chair after a long day of work, while Hartung and his siblings are in the bathroom getting ready for bed.
Hartung said he remembers those times in his youth as good times, but he also was very aware they were difficult for his mother. Through the shows, he has been able to meet some people who knew his mother, which he said he appreciated.
All of Hartung’s pieces are on Masonite. He said he chose Masonite because he hated stretching canvas. His pieces mirror the size of the Masonite sheets and are nailed to the gallery walls just as they were nailed to Hatung’s studio walls when they were painted.
Hartung has also been influenced by music, including early rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly. A painting titled “When the Levee Breaks” is a part of the Moss-Thorns exhibit. The painting is based on a song of the same name by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe. He heard the song one night on NPR and fell in love with the musical artists.
“That painting was from that little radio experience,” he said. “It was all oral. It was something oral and not visual.”
Hartung recently has been in poor health, which was the impetus for his friends to mount the three exhibits. Hartung said he would like to see the paintings stay in Lindsborg where they were created. He hoped a Lindsborg Arts Council could be formed, similar to the council here in Hays, and the paintings could be gifted to that organization.
As far as the exhibit that opens Friday, Hartung said he hopes that he can affect the viewers in some way.
“I hope they are entertained,” he said of exhibit visitors. “I hope they enjoy themselves. I think that is all you can ask. Some might make you think.
“Some people identify with certain people in the paintings. ‘Night Swim’ has a gal wearing a ‘5os-style bathing suit. Someone told me he remembered going out at night at a local swimming hole. That he remembered that and that painting conjured that up, makes me really tickled. I figure and kind of wanted to portray that era of bathing suit. That this brings back something in someone else’s life, that is great.”
Hartung’s Moss-Thorns exhibit will be on display through Sept. 15, www.fhsu.edu/art-and-design/moss-thorns, 785-628-4247. The gallery is open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.
If you would like to see the other two shows, information is below:
Salina Art Center, 242 S. Santa Fe, Salina, through Oct. 29, www.salinaartcenter.org, 785-827-1431
Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, 401 N. First, Lindsborg, through Oct. 22, www.sandzen.org, 785-227-2220
PHILLIPSBURG — Question: What do the below well-known Phillips County names have in common?
Merklein Troyer Blackburn Robinson Parker Boyd Jennings Elliott Kemper Morgan
Answer: These local families have all lost loved ones in the fight against Nazism.
Less than two weeks ago Nazi protesters descended upon Charlottesville, Va. They participated in torchlight marches straight out of 1938 Berlin, shouted Nazi slogans, and predicted, on camera, that nearby anti-Nazi protesters would be hurt or killed.
Their predictions turned out to be true when one of the Nazis got behind the wheel of a Dodge Charger and plowed almost a block through a mass of human bodies. The Nazi then put his vehicle into reverse and drove over the broken bodies of the injured as he attempted his getaway.
In 2017 it seems more than a little breathtaking that we are having a debate regarding whether or not Nazism should be a part of our political discourse, and whether or not Nazis have “very fine people” within their ranks.
Our president spoke those words last week — that there were very fine people who were marching with the Nazis at Charlottesville.
This comment by the president, as well as other comments, resulted in a firestorm of criticism from hundreds of Republican and Democratic lawmakers across the nation, as well as scores of conservative, liberal, and centrist media outlets. So many business leaders resigned from the president’s White House advisory boards because of the comments regarding Nazis that the president had to shut down several of the councils altogether.
The highest ranking members of the U.S. Armed Forces — the Joint Chiefs of Staff — also weighed in and issued rebukes of the controversial statements concerning Nazis.
U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, a native son of Plainville, spoke out with moral clarity very early in the discussion while others were either still silent or were equivocating.
“White supremacy, bigotry and racism have absolutely no place in our society, and no one — especially the president of the United States — should ever tolerate it. We must all come together as a country and denounce this hatred to the fullest extent,” Moran said.
Moran knows of what he speaks — his father, Raymond Edwin Moran, was an active participant in the fight against Nazism, seeing action against it in North Africa and Italy during World War II.
Out here in the heartland, discussions about Nazism can seem a little abstract, as can, sadly, the loss of life 1,200 miles away in Charlottesville, Va.
What is not abstract is the fact that around two dozen local Phillips County men have given their lives in opposition to Nazism.
It has been my honor for the past several years to have been working closely with Dean Buchner of Phillipsburg, identifying and putting together biographical profiles of all of those from Phillips County whom were killed in the service of their country during World War II.
Dean is now in his 90s, and is a combat veteran of the war himself. It is not uncommon to see him walking the sidewalks of Phillipsburg, heading up town for coffee.
Dean hasn’t allowed me to tell his own story, feeling that it will distract from the stories of the sacrifice of the others we are hard at work on — some of whom he personally knew as a teen and who went off to war and never came home.
Dean was in the thick of the fight against Nazism as an enlisted soldier in a WWII tank destroyer unit. By thick of it, I mean slugging it out in tank battles against Nazi Panzers as close as 75 yards away.
Anyone of a certain age who doesn’t know someone who fought in World War II has to have been living in a cave. I myself had two fairly close relatives involved.
The first was Jim Claggett, my mother’s second cousin. He was older than her and would carry her piggyback across rain-swollen gullies when, as children, they walked to the Jaybird Country Schoolhouse southeast of Kirwin.
Later on, with the war raging all over the world, Jim was in the 11th grade attending Kirwin High School when he dropped out, enlisted at age 17 and went off to fight Nazis. He returned several years later, and resumed his schooling. I sometimes wonder what the Kirwin schoolboys, probably not even shaving yet, thought about sitting next to this grizzled veteran of the war against Hitler.
John Ross
Then there was my uncle, John H. Ross, my grandfather’s half-brother. Born in Oklahoma in 1918, his father died 11 years later after which John came of age as a dust bowl Okie during the hardscrabble years of the Great Depression, boxing and hobo-ing on freight trains as he moved around the country struggling to earn money to survive the hard times.
For a period John called Phillips County home, living with his older brother, Lyle T. Ross, my grandfather, on the family farm along the banks of Bow Creek. When the war started John went out and enlisted so he could fight Nazis, and soon became a pilot. His own story was unheralded within the Ross family. What little that made its way to the light of day during family gatherings was that John flew P-38 Lightnings and had once been shot down over the English Channel. Declared Missing In Action, he spent 24 hours in the frigid waters of the North Sea before being fished out by a British rescue boat, the captain of which took the sweater off his own back and gave it to John to help warm him up.
Uncle John died in 2013 at the age of 95. Upon his death, I found out he was highly decorated, earning 11 medals flying 96 missions with the 8th Air Force against Nazi Germany, and that he had been shot down by the Nazis not once, but three times. I also discovered he was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and that the book “Eyes of the Eighth: A Story of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, 1942-1945” credits his photo-recon missions as being integral to the Allied victory over the Nazis during the Battle of the Bulge.
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In the course of my work with Dean Buchner, we believe we have identified most of Phillips County’s World War II dead. There were a lot of them. Since this article today is about Nazis and the evils of Nazism, for purposes of it, I am narrowing our list down to those who lost their lives in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of War fighting Nazis. A number of other Phillips County residents were killed in the Pacific Theater, but that story will have to wait for another time.
Among those who died in the fight against Nazism were Paul Merklein and Eldon Blackburn. Very familiar names, given that family members who we know today in 2017 were named after them and live and work among us.
There was also Edsel Stuckman who fought Nazism. Edsel was a medic, and had a single-minded purpose of getting to and aiding his buddies who were wounded in battle — so said an article published when he was killed.
Edsel was the only child of Hugh and Alta Stuckman of Kirwin. His death was a lonely one with no American seeing it happen. He was found afterwards and it was surmised a sniper got him. Nineteen years later his elderly parents made a pilgrimage to the distant European graveyard he now rests in to visit him one last time before their own deaths.
Lorain Westenhaver of Phillips County chose to fight Nazis by volunteering for the 502nd PIR, 101st Airborne Division (of ‘Band of Brothers’ fame). He was killed three days after Christmas during the Battle of the Bulge. Phillips County’s George C. Dawes, a tank crewman, was killed during that same battle a few weeks later.
John Boyd and James Elliott died in battle in the Mediterranean Theater fighting Nazism.
Merle Robinson was killed in Italy in 1945, around the same time Ray Troyer, a tanker, also was. Their deaths followed that of Francis L. Kemper, who served in a medical unit and was killed in Italy in 1943.
Lawrence Jennings died of wounds fighting Nazism in the German Fatherland just 10 days before the end of the war. Eldon Blackburn was killed in Germany two weeks earlier.
Floyd Parker lost his life in North Africa. Karl Scanlon, Ray Starr and Wayne Matthies died in France. All from Phillips County, all perished fighting Nazism.
Walter Merklein was killed in Italy in May 1944, 10 weeks before his cousin, Paul Merklein, lost his life in France.
Phillips County’s John Van Der Hyde has a grave marker in Belgium near to where he fell. Lawrence Morgan died with the eight other members of his bomber crew while flying over Belgium. He has markers both there and in Fairview Cemetery in Phillipsburg and was the brother of the founders of Phillips County’s Morgan Foundation Charitable Trust.
The battle against Nazism was waged fiercely back in the 1930s and 1940s. A number of Phillips County men, with many, many years of their lives yet ahead of them, died in order to halt it. Now, in 2017, over seven decades later, the cause against which they sacrificed their lives is rearing its ugly head once again.
Rearing its ugly head not in Europe, but right here on the streets of America.
Kirby Ross, [email protected], is editor of the Phillips County Review. Republished with permission.
Hays USD 489 will continue its work toward smaller class sizes in the coming year.
Superintendent John Thissen said the school district has made positive progress in achieving its goals during the last year as he reviewed the district’s goals and objectives at a school board meeting Monday night.
Included in these objectives was a goal to reduce class size to 18 students per classroom.
Class sizes are currently averaging from 20.7 students in the fifth grade to 22.5 students for first grade.
The district’s proposed bond issue that will go to voters on Nov. 7 could help with the student/teacher ratio issue. The bond would build two new elementary schools and remodel space at Roosevelt Elementary School.
Each school would be able to accommodate four sections of each grade. Thissen said the district is anticipating stable enrollment over the next few years, so the additional space could be used to create additional sections and reduce class sizes.
The district would need additional funds to pay for new teachers to staff those new sections, which is something the district hopes to work on through the budgeting process over the next several years.
At the high school level, the district once considered eliminating block scheduling in order to address class size, but has been able to achieve its goals while maintaining block scheduling. The district plans to cross that objective off its list.
If state funding stays stable or increases, the district also would like to add counselors who were eliminated due to state funding cuts.
In terms of increasing the quality of education, the district still has set a goal to increase its preschool program to all-day. Thissen said a plan to accomplish this goal is in the works and could be a reality within the next three to four years.
In addition, Thissen said he would like see the amount of in-service time increased. Hays has the least amount of time dedicated to in-service — four days — of any district in which he has worked.
Under capital outlay, the district set goals to address a new bond issue, LED lighting updates and secure entrances at schools.
The bond vote has been set for Nov. 7, and it will address secure entrances at all schools if it passes.
A project to replace all the lighting at Hays High School with LEDs was completed this year. Thissen said he hopes to have a report soon that will show how much savings the district is reaping from the more energy-efficient bulbs.
Under finances, the district was able to successfully lower school fees for all students, which was one of its goals.
The workbook/material fees for all students for this school year was reduced from $135 to $90, thanks to an increase in state funding. The district also eliminated the kindergarten fee when the state funded all-day kindergarten for the first time this school year.
The district also has decreased its worker’s compensation insurance premiums through the work of a district safety committee. The district has been able to reduce the premiums by more than $100,000 since the committee’s formation in 2014.
The district is continuing to work toward improving safety and lowering rates. The district is very close to a one insurance rating. If its rating falls below a one, the district should see another significant decrease in rates.
Thissen said the district still needs to work to decrease schools’ reliance on home and school organizations for the capital purchases.
“I have great concern that we end up having curriculum being purchased by home and school,” Thissen said. “Curriculum should be purchased by the school not by home and school … by PTO. That needs to be changed.”
The district successfully increased its contingency fund from $300,000 to more than $600,000. However, Thissen said the district should have more money in reserve. The district would need at least $2 million in reserve to cover one month’s worth of expenses.
One of the district’s ongoing goals is to increase transparency and communication with the public.
Thissen has started being a guest of KAYS radio at 7:45 a.m. on the mornings after board meetings. The district has organized town hall meetings, communication groups for special-ed and met with legislators. The district also is working to improve its website.
Thissen said the district is trying to build trust not only with the public but throughout its whole system.
“You have to have trust all the way through it,” he said. “You have to have the building administrators trust the administrators. You have to have the teachers trust the building administrators. Those are the pieces we are trying to work with and have the best communication in that process.”
