Discussion points during the United Way of Ellis County’s first town hall meeting.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Turnout for Tuesday’s night’s first of three town hall meetings hosted by the United Way of Ellis County (UWEC) was very small, but UWEC Executive Director Sherry Dryden was not disappointed.
“It only takes one person to get started,” she said. “We want to hear from the community instead of guessing what the United Way needs to be doing in Ellis County, what the needs are to be addressed, our community impact.”
The town hall meetings are a first for UWEC.
“We’ve always been listening to United Way worldwide and our local partner agencies. We’re hoping to hear from everyone, all ages, all walks of life, how to help this United Way grow in the best interest of Ellis County,” Dryden explained.
Tuesday’s participants talked about the three core areas on which United Way focuses–education, health and financial stability–and offered personal opinions on what specific needs exist for each in the community. After tossing out and discussing six to eight needs in each category, the group came to a consensus on the top three in each category. Then came a “SWOT” analysis, identifying the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the agreed upon top needs.
This first group’s concerns included cooperation between local businesses and students in preparation for employer expectations of new employees.They said more well-paying jobs are needed in the community as well as quality affordable housing to recruit and retain employees. The group talked about the importance of young people remaining in Ellis County to live, work and raise families. They pointed out the distance residents must travel for healthcare and noted telemedicine is helping fill the gaps.
“We’re not necessarily going to fix these problems,” Dryden stressed, “but we need to figure out how to work through the problems and continue to grow. We need to identify the problems and then focus on getting a group together to help work through the problems.”
The exercise has already been conducted with the UWEC’s 15 partner agencies, according to Dryden. Two other town hall meetings will be held this week, Thu., June 8, 8:30-10 a.m.; and Sat., June 10, 9-11 a.m. Dryden hopes the Thursday morning meeting will draw a number of business people.
All meetings will be held in the Hays Hadley Center, 205 E. 7th St. in the first floor conference room. Directional signs will be posted.
Later this month, the United Way will conduct an online community needs assessment survey as a result of the town hall meeting outcomes.
“We want to be able to address it by the time we do our 2018 campaign kickoff which will be at the end of August,” Dryden said. “This will help strengthen not only the United Way of Ellis County but also our 15 partner agencies, and open the door for other entities to have more of a collaboration overall.”
As a kid growing up in southwest Kansas, Troy Herrman loved being involved in extracurricular activities. He particularly loved athletics. So when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee his junior year of high school during the triple-jump track event, Herrman was determined to recover just in time to play summer basketball.
“I was a young kid with a lot of focus in sports, and I thought sports were everything to me,” said Herrman.
After six months of therapy, Herrman was released to play in a basketball tournament in Minneola the following weekend. Just five days after getting released to play sports again, Herrman tore the same ACL doing a simple side-step on the basketball court.
“I remember asking God why this happened to me,” Herrman said. “I came to realize that (physical therapy) is my calling and it gave me a career and it has worked out pretty good for me so far.”
After high school, Herrman attended Fort Hays State University and graduated with a B.S. in biology in 1997. He then attended Kansas University Medical School in Kansas City, graduating with an M.S. in physical therapy in 1999.
Herrman’s first job out of college was doing physical therapy in St. Francis at the hospital and nursing home for three years.
“It was a great community — just a little further from home than we wanted to be,” said Herrman.
Herrman then moved to Scott City for five years where he also did therapy at the hospital and nursing home.
In 2007, a position opened up at the Center for Health Improvement at Hays Medical Center and Herrman made his way back to his former college town.
“At that time, I felt like I was going to be where I was going to be in Scott City and I just felt the need to try and grow and expand as far as what I had done over the years, so I took a position there in 2007,” he said.
After just two years as a staff P.T., Herrman was promoted to the manager for outpatient rehab at Hays Medical Center.
After two more years at Hays Med, Herrman joined Dr. Joey Koerner at Koerner Chiropractic in December 2011. Herrman worked with Dr. Koerner for six years before Herrman again got the itch to grow and expand.
“I am just one of those guys that always feels like I need to grow and I need to challenge myself, and I was to the point where I didn’t feel like I was doing that too much there anymore and so we left on really good terms,” Herrman said. “I was ready to just take a huge leap of faith and try it on my own and see how it goes.”
In April, Herrman opened the doors to Herrman Physical Therapy & Wellness on 2707 Broadway in Hays. Herrman immediately noticed the benefits of opening up a private practice.
“One thing that is neat about moving to a more private practice is you get to see patients earlier now because we have ‘direct access,’ which means someone can come in off the street and see me for a shoulder issue without needing a doctor’s referral, imagery or anything like that,” he said. “You can start with me if you want. I do an assessment and consultation (both of which are free of charge) and if it’s something I can help you with, I will tell you. If there’s something that needs a doctor, we can set that up as well.”
In addition to being a physical therapist and helping people recover from injuries and surgeries, Herrman hopes to use his new facility to create opportunities to teach people how to have better health overall and focus more on things like muscle strength, flexibility, muscle tension and movement.
“My immediate goal was to get the physical therapy side up and running first. As soon as that’s all said and done, then my next phase is to start creating the wellness side,” Herrman said. “My focus is more on the people that want a place to go get a little bit of activity. I want to do a lot of things for the seniors that focus on balance to help prevent some of their falls and injuries. The longer that I’m in the profession, the more that I see it’s just about people being active.”
Herrman Physical Therapy & Wellness is located at 2707 Broadway and will have its grand opening at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Sen. Jerry Moran speaks to residents at Hays Medical Center Saturday during a town hall.
With the backdrop of Hays Medical Center Sen. Jerry Moran Saturday updated a group of local residents on efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Moran said he did not support the Affordable Care Act because of the limitations it puts on small business owners.
For those who say they support the act, he said Congress needs to find a middle ground to help all people.
“We need to figure out how to help you in your circumstance and not do damage to other people in their circumstance,” Moran said.
He said he would not have voted for the House’s version of a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, and he was glad the Senate is coming at a fix from a different approach.
He said he was not sure if any plan will be able to garner 51 votes in the Senate, although he hoped a solution could be found.
Although some would like to make health care a political issue, for many more it is a deeply personal issue, he said.
“I have had too many conversations with people we know on church on Sunday and with our kids’ teachers in which tears start streaming down their cheeks worried about what is going to happen particularly concerning pre-existing conditions and what this means in their family circumstance if changes are made,” Moran said.
Moran said he hoped committee hearings would be scheduled and experts brought in, but that is not what is happening.
He said he would like Republicans and Democrats to be able to offer amendments and figure out where the votes are.
However, Democrats have pledged no votes to change anything to do with the Affordable Care Act.
Moran said he wished to pay attention to how any changes would affect premiums, deductibles and coverage for pre-existing conditions for individuals.
However, he also thought it was important to take into consideration providers and rural hospitals.
“There is not a hospital that is in better financial condition today than when the Affordable Care Act passed,” he said.
This has a lot to do with increases in bad debt.
Moran also said he was concerned about the continued funding for Medicaid and the support of services for disabled persons who utilize that funding.
Moran said he really thought Congress should be dealing with the cost of health care and not the insurance system and questions of who pays.
“We are all fussing around with the system that pays instead of what do you do about the high cost of prescription drugs and what do you do about prescription drug companies who alter their formularies so they can get a longer patten and avoid brining generics to market,” Moran said….
“What do we do about the bureaucracy in health care? Could all the forms we get, whether it is Blue Cross Blue Shield or Medicaid, couldn’t they all be the same and uniform? Can’t we do something about the number of test we do not for medical purposes but legal liability purposes?”
Grayson Decker, 4, plays with slim with his dad, Thomas, during a Doodle Bug class at the Hays Recreation Commission Wednesday.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
There is still plenty of time to sign up for summer activities through the Hays Recreation Commission.
The commission’s current slate of classes runs through August. Classes are available for ages 9 months through senior citizens and cover a wide range of activities and interests.
Gail Wickham, program director for youth and seniors, taught a Doodle Bug class on Wednesday morning. The art class was for children ages 2 to 5.
The children dove into slim, blobbed paint with small balloons, molded clay and made fanciful neon sand art.
These activities are not only fun, but they help build fine motor skills in small children.
Picking up a small item like a bead, will help the children build the skills they need to grasp things such as pencils or scissors as they get older.
Grayson, 4, has been coming to art classes at the HRC sine he was 1-1/2. His father, Thomas Decker, said Grayson loves to experience things that involve new textures, such as the slime activity.
“He likes to touch things that are weird, strange and gooey,” Decker said.
He said his son also likes to bring home examples of his art.
For older children, Wickham said Hays Rec programs offer youth a way to stay active during the summer months and build social skills.
“Our School’s Out program encourages social interaction. They get to interact with different kids from different schools. It keeps them active,” Wickham said, “and it keeps them away from electronics.”
The programs for school-age children will be starting in earnest next week, Wickham said.
Sign up days are Wednesdays and can be done online at www.haysrec.org or in person at the HRC, 1105 Canterbury Drive.
Class space is limited, but there are wait lists for classes that are full. Some classes have already started to fill up.
If a class is full, the HRC may inquire if the teacher can handle a few extra kids or administration may consider adding another session.
You must pay in advance for all classes, including wait classes. If you or your child do not get into a wait list class, a refund will be issued.
“We will try to accommodate as many as we can.” Wickham said, “and we will try to take people off of wait list.”
Popular HRC courses come back year after year. New this year for youth is an arial yoga course.
Participants use a hammock to do yoga stretching positions.
Wickham, who is teaching the class, said youth and adults both can build confidence in arial yoga.
“Tweens have to learn to trust the hammock,” she said. “It builds self confidence. Once they have accomplished it, they don’t have to be afraid. If they can trust the hammock, sometimes they can trust more people.”
The HRC opened a new fitness center in April, which freed up more art and programming space in the main HRC building. For more information on the new fitness center, click here.
“The additional space has been a blessing,” Wickham said.
Plans are underway to move the 40 & 8 Boxcar from its home at the former American Legion site to Veterans Park.
Plans are underway to move the 40 & 8 Boxcar from its present site at the former American Legion property.
The Boxcar was not a part of the recent sale of the American Legion property.
Members of the 40 & 8 are interested in moving the Boxcar to a new home at Veterans Park, Jeff Boyle, parks director told the city commission at a work session Thursday night.
The group is seeking preliminary approval for the move so that it can seek grant funding and donations to cover the cost of the move and the construction of a protective structure for the Boxcar.
The structure would be three-sided with a roof and be located directly north of the tank.
One tree would likely have to be removed to allow for the new structure.
Prior to the Boxcar being moved, the 40 & 8 group would bring back the item to city commission with complete moving and funding plans.
The name 40 & 8 came from the use of the Boxcar to carry troops and horses to the French front. One of the boxcars could hold 40 soldiers or eight horses.
Forty-nine of these boxcars were given to the United States.
A 3-year-old white bison named Ghostbuster joined the heard at Frontier Park in Hays Thursday morning.
The white bison is from Ginther Farms, which raises bison across western Kansas and eastern Colorado for the restaurant industry.
The bison had no name prior to its arrival to Hays, but Brent Ginther of Ginther Farms indicated city crews said they may name the bison Ghostbuster.
Ghostbuster, which weighs about 650 pounds, carries a recessive gene that causes her coat to be light blonde or white instead of the dark brown of most bison.
Ginther said a white bison occurs once in about every 600,000 births. Because Ghostbuster carries the recessive gene, it is likely she will have a white offspring.
“It was pretty exciting the day she was born.” Ginther said. “I have been even more excited to see her grow up.”
Ghostbuster will be ready to breed in July and should have her calf here in Hays.
Ginther Farms has provided other members of the Hays bison herd, and usually purchases the city’s calves.
“I thought it would be good for the City of Hays to have a white buffalo for people to view,” Ginther said.
Ginther said he had a good working relationship with the city, and Ghostbuster can remain with her new herd as long as the arrangement is good for the bison and the city.
The rest of the members of the Hays bison herd were a bit shy of the newcomers when she was first released into the bison enclosure about 10 a.m. Thursday. The current bison herd ran in circles around the pen.
However, they soon warmed to Ghostbuster and could be seen feeding together in the pasture.
Dave Schmidt, delivery driver for Pizza Hut is retiring after more than 22 years and almost 65,000 deliveries.
Dave Schmidt is finally hanging up his Pizza Hut uniform today after more than 22 years as a delivery driver.
Dave, 67, has kept a journal of the number of deliveries he has made and miles he has logged during his career.
As of Monday at his surprise retirement party, he said he was bout 300 deliveries away from 65,000 career deliveries in Hays.
He has logged more than 200,000 miles on 11 different vehicles. He said he bought inexpensive vehicles and drove them until they broke down. The stop-and-go driving was very hard on transmissions.
He has been on every street and in every corner of the city, and, chances are, he probably has delivered a pizza to you.
Dave started delivering pizzas as a temporary way to earn a little extra money. His son had to have knee surgery, and he needed some extra cash to pay off the bill.
The bill was paid off and then another bill came up and another, so he kept delivering pizzas.
He worked full-time at Enerys during the day and then delivered pizzas at night.
Kevin Pfeifer, Dave’s former manager, said Dave was the best driver he ever had and he quickly assigned him as a trainer.
“He was fast, and he was good,” he said.
Pfeifer added, “He never stood still. When he wasn’t delivering pizzas, he was cleaning. He was a hardworking, dependable guy.”
Allisa Bohrer, Dave’s current manager, also had praise for him.
“He is super dependable and reliable,” she said. “He never gets lost.”
The pizza industry tends to have a high turn-over rate. Not many employees can mark more than two decades. Bohrer said the driver with the next longest tenure at her store has been there five years.
His supervisors said Dave’s customers never had complaints, and Dave said he enjoyed meeting all the people in Hays.
He has had many repeat customers over the years and is now delivering pizzas to adults whose families he delivered pizzas when they were children. Some customers even ask for Dave by name.
The bills are coming a little less fast and furious, so Dave has decided to end his delivery career. He has two acres in the country and plans to plant a big garden and work on various projects.
Bohrer said Dave will be missed.
“That is why we wanted to do this [party] for him,” she said. “He deserves some recognition.”
The shiny, riveted curves of the machine shuddered and rattled and then the four 1,200 horse power engines roared to life.
A lucky few veterans and other passengers had the opportunity to fly aboard the Sentimental Journey B-17 Bomber over the skies of Hays Tuesday.
The Commemorative Air Force is a non-profit organization that is the guardian of the restored B-17.
The B-17 was the work horse of the bomber fleet during World War II, dropping more than 640,000 tons of bombs during WWII.
Boeing, Vega and Douglas produced 12,731 B-17 aircraft in five years during the war. The Sentimental Journey is one of only 10 B-17G’s still flying today.
The Sentimental Journey did not serve in combat. It rolled off the Douglas line in Long Beach, Florida, in November 1944, and by the time the military took possession, the war was over.
The plane was headed for the scrap heap but ended up being sent to Pacific to do mapping missions. The plane also was used for atmospheric nuclear weapons testing drone control. The plane finally did a stint in firefighting before in became a part of the Commemorative Air Force fleet.
It took five years to restore the aircraft to its World War II fighting strength.
Charles Vsetecka, 94, leaned on his cane in the shade of the B-17’s massive wing, as he waited for his turn to ride in the B-17.
Vsetecka, of Victoria, was a radar operator in a B-24 in the Pacific Theater during the war.
His mission was to detect enemy ships and relay them to the pilot, who would radio the positions to the headquarters.
Vsetecka recalled engaging the enemy and loosing comrades in arms.
He thought he might lose his own life when a typhoon hit Okinawa. A friend reinforced their tent with boards, and it was one of a handful that were not blown away in the storm.
Vsetecka said the B-17 flight was different than his days in the B-24. He spent most his time starring at the radar screen and not peering out at blue sky and green fields.
Each of the B-17 bombers carried a crew of 10. Most of the crew were 17 to 19. A pilot might be as old as 22. Most of the men were small to enable easier mobility in the tight spaces of the B-17, usually about 5’2” to 5’4” and 120 to 140 pounds.
The smallest crew member was usually the ball torrent gunner.
Each crew member was expected to fly 25 missions in a tour, but some crew members flew 100s of bombing runs.
The B-17 could carry 8,000 pounds of bombs on short-range missions (400 miles or less) or 4,500 pounds for long-range missions (800 miles).
The bombers flew in box or diamond formations in groups of up to 250 to 300 planes per mission.
The plane’s max range was 3,259 miles with a service ceiling of 36,400 feet, which made for a long, cold ride for the crew.
Temperatures were measured as much as 40 below zero during B-17 missions. The crew members wore fleece-lined flight suits to stay warm. They also had oxygen tanks on board in the time before pressurized cabins.
The “Flying Fortress” was so called for its heavy armaments, which were needed in the time before fighter escorts.
The B-17 was equipped with 13 .50 M2 Browning Machine Guns.
The Sentimental Journey will be available for public flights at the Hays Regional Airport on Saturday and Sunday.
Cost is $425 per person for radio room/gunner seats (six total); $850 for bombardier seats (two total) – highly coveted in the nose of the airplane enclosed in see-through plexiglass.
Passengers must be able to climb into aircraft.
Radio room/waist gunner seats require climbing a three-step ladder; bombardier/navigator seats require climbing a six-step ladder.
Earplugs are provided or bring your own.
For more information on the Sentimental Journey or the Commemorative Air Force click here.
Customers order at the reopened Professor’s Classic Sandwich Shop & More.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
The Jensen family has brought back the famous Professor’s barbecue sauce along with all the other sandwiches that made the restaurant a Hays staple.
Professor’s first opened in 1976 and has had multiple owners.
Amy and Mike Jensen have owned Professor’s since 2003, but handed it off to another operator to spend more time with their family.
The Professor’s Steakhouse and Saloon, under that previous owner, closed about three years ago.
Jensen had tried to sell Professor’s for several years as they were focusing on their farm, honey and mushroom growing business.
Mike has long grown mushrooms in the family’s basement for their own use. These include morels and a variety of oyster mushrooms.
The family decided they would expand the mushroom operation to the Professor’s basement and use Professor’s as retail location for both their mushrooms and raw honey.
The Jensens are the only licensed mushroom growers in the state of Kansas.
The family decided they needed to do more with the restaurant than just a honey and mushroom outlet, so they decided to offer sandwiches again at Professor’s Classic Sandwich Shop & More, 521 E. 11th.
Professor’s Sandwich Shop & More is open from 11 a.m. to 4 pm. Mondays through Saturdays and also sells raw honey and mushrooms.
You can still order the some of the same traditional sandwiches, like the Panacea, which is billed as curing all ills, or the Regulator or Motivator.
Of course you can order Professor’s famed barbecue sauce on the side of any sandwich for 40 cents. The Jensens hope to eventually bottle the sauce for sale.
Salads are also on the menu, all between $6-$9.
Amy said the restaurant is committed to using as much locally sourced, fresh ingredients in their food as possible. She hopes to incorporate some foods from the Hays Market this summer in the menu items.
“We don’t serve any fried foods and we use clean label meats and cheeses,” Mike said.
They do not serve soft drinks. Instead you can order a house-made honey lemonade with a hint of lavender. The drink is made with Jensens’ own honey.
The restaurant serves a mushroom soup, which is made with Jensen farm mushrooms, and the Jensens also serve their own mushrooms on their salads.
Honey cookies that are baked by Amy’s mom are served with each meal.
The restaurant is defiantly a family affair. Amy and Mike’s daughter, Elissa also works at the restaurant and their son, Ethan, plans to attend NCK Tech culinary school in the fall.
The family got started in the bee business because Mike wanted pollinators for a garden. He struck gold when a local farmer offered up a barn full of beekeeping equipment for free.
Professor’s has maintained most of its original sandwich menu, including the Panacea, Motivator and Regulator.
“It changed our whole lives and how we look at everything,” Mike said.
Even though the Jensens are honey producers, they still see their honey as a finite resource and monitor its use at the restaurant.
The prevalence of chemicals in our environment, the use of herbicides and urbanization have all taken a toll on bee populations, Mike said.
Mike became interested in mushrooms at a young age. He started hunting mushrooms at about age 7 or 8.
Mike championed mushrooms for their health benefits, saying they are a good, complete sure of protein, good for your cholesterol and have anti-inflammatory properties.
“It is something the body can break down,” he said.
Although Mike has only been selling his mushrooms on a small scale, he is reaching out to regional markets and chefs to expand.
He said he hoped to eventually to have a truck leaving Professor’s once a week to distribute mushrooms across the state.
The Jensens sell their fresh mushrooms for $5 per quarter pound and dried mushrooms for $5 per ounce.
Honey sells for $10 per pound.
The sandwich shop is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
The venue is also available for rental for private parties.
Children at Wilson Elementary School assume the prone position in a hallway during a tornado drill.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
Principal Anita Scheve pointed to a plastic skylight in one of the halls at Wilson Elementary School.
Just underneath these skylights is where her students have to shelter in the case of a tornado.
She said she worries about this space. Could something get sucked up through the skylights if a tornado hit? Could debris come through the openings?
Although the children here and all other district facilities drill for tornadoes at least three times a year, Scheve said the facilities at Wilson are not adequate to protect her students.
“I want us to be prepared and be able to stay safe in a F3 or F4 tornado, and we don’t have the facilities to do that,” she said.
In a paper offered by NOAA, Roger Edwards of the Storm Prediction Center, Norman, Okla., notes hallways can be unsafe if exposed to windows.
“For example, the idea of a relatively safe hallway becomes invalid if the hall is lined with plate glass, or if it has windows to the outdoors. Hallways can turn into wind tunnels filled with flying glass and other dangerous objects,” he wrote.
The Vision Team that is working to build a new bond issue for the district has placed a priority on creating storm shelters for all the district’s schools. Options considered by the team at its last meeting included a new multi-use storm shelter for Wilson.
Although a major tornado has never hit the city of Hays, Ellis County had 60 tornadoes between 1950 and 2015.
Four schools in the district do not have storm shelters, and in case of a tornado, would have to shelter in hallways. These include Wilson, O’Loughlin, Westside and the Learning Center.
Vicki Gile, principal at O’Loughlin Elementary School, also expressed concern about her students. O’Loughlin students and staff would also have to shelter in hallways in the case of a tornado.
“If a tornado happened, I just don’t know what the outcome would be,” she said. “Quite frankly, with the kids in the hallway, I am not sure what we might see.”
The district has considered closing O’Loughlin as an elementary school, renovating it and using it as a space for the Westside program, Early Childhood Connections and the Learning Center. If that occurs, the district plans to add a storm shelter to that building.
Hays High and Hays Middle schools are the only schools in district that have rated storm shelters. Hays High’s library has a reinforced concrete ceiling and walls, which is rated to withstand winds of about 160 mph.
Classrooms at the middle school double as high wind shelters. Those were added about six years ago, according Superintendent John Thissen.
Federal Emergency Management Agency designates a high wind shelter as a space that can withstand between 150 and 250 mph.
On new community and residential construction, FEMA suggests specifications that withstand 250 mph winds and a 15-pound, 2-by-4-inch board missile traveling horizontally at 100 mph — the equivalent of an EF5 tornado.
Students and staff at Lincoln, Roosevelt and Early Childhood Connections can go into basements.
Although this may theoretically provide better protection, these locations can cause complications. All of the basements have to be accessed by stairs.
FEMA standards require that community shelters be handicap accessible and meet all standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which the district’s basement shelters do not.
Students who have mobility issues or are in wheelchairs are not placed at Lincoln because the building is not handicap accessible, Lincoln Principal Elaine Rohleder said.
Rohleder said if a child was on crutches, he or she would probably have to be carried down the stairs in the case of an emergency.
There is only one entrance from the interior of the school to the school’s cafeteria in the basement. That means all 260 students plus staff have to go through that one choke point to get to safety.
The students drill regularly to increase the speed of descent down the stairs. The children move in three lines, and the older children are taught to assist the younger children as they move to the basement, Rohleder said.
Schools are constantly working to improve their drill times. Lincoln can be evacuated to the basement within three to four and a half minutes.
However, Edwards, in his recommendations to school administrators, suggested four minutes could be too long.
Tornadoes can develop quickly. Despite advanced technology, warning of an imminent tornado may be short.
“If it takes more than 2 or 3 minutes to move all upper-floor people down, things get really risky!” he wrote.
The Vision Team and the district is still working to decide which rooms in each building will be built to storm shelter standards. However, Thissen said all storm shelters that are being built at schools at this time are multi-use.
They can be classrooms, gyms, auditoriums or cafeterias. These are facilities that would be used on a daily basis even when there are no storms.
Thissen also noted shelters at schools could be opened to the community in off-school hours if a tornado emergency arose.
During his tenure at the Herrington school district, that district built storm shelters at its schools. The district ordered key lock boxes that allowed school officials, law enforcement or fire personnel to open shelters at the schools when tornado warnings were issued.
During his time there, the schools were used several times as shelters after hours, and Thissen personally responded in some of these events.
He said the number of people who used the shelter were not large, but these were people who might have not had another place to go.
“I think that it is key to have the shelters open whenever there is a threat for the public,” he said.
Hays residents don’t have to look too far from Hays to see what kind of destruction a tornado can do to a school, including communities such as Chapman, Greensburg, Hoisington and Moore, Okla., Thissen said.
“Our community is sold on having insurance for cars and insurance for health and life insurance,” Thissen said. “I strongly believe that we need to have insurance for the safety of our children during the school day and the safety of our community in the off hours.”
The Hays bison herd will have a special guest arriving next week – and visitors won’t have any trouble picking her out from the crowd.
Ginther Farms, located in Rexford, Kansas, will be delivering a female white bison to live with the Hays herd at Frontier Park. The bison is expected to be delivered at 10 a.m. on June 1, weather permitting.
The white bison is on loan to the City of Hays at least through the summer.
“The unique and rare white bison from Ginther Farms will be a great addition to our herd this year,” said Jeff Boyle, director of the Hays Parks Department. “Visitors from across the nation stop at Hays to see the bison herd. The bison are an attraction that the Hays community is very proud of.”
The Frontier Park bison herd began in 1952 with a bull named “Wild Bill” and a cow named “Calamity Jane.” The herd lives on approximately 9.5 acres of land and has been maintained by the Parks Department since 1977. The bison eat native grass in the pen area during much of the growing season, but are supplemented with brome grass and alfalfa throughout much of the year as well. In addition, the animals receive protein blocks and protein cubes throughout most of the year.
The current Hays herd consists of one bull and four cows. Bison calves from the herd are sold each year to the highest bidder, with revenue from the sale of the calves going into the city’s general fund.
A common mistake most people make is referring to the animals as “buffalo,” a term early settlers used due to the similarity of the bison found in North America to the Cape buffalo of Africa or the water buffalo of South Asia.
Frontier Park is located on US-183 Alternate, four miles south of I-70 and directly across from Historic Fort Hays. For more information about the bison herd, contact the Hays Parks Department at (785) 628-7375.
Representatives of DHDC, FHSU, the city of Hays and Commercial Builders broke ground on the downtown pavilion and restroom project May 24.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Construction will soon begin following Wednesday’s groundbreaking for the downtown Hays pavilion and restroom project.
The site for the restroom, on the west end of Union Pacific Park, has already been prepared, according to Sara Bloom, executive director of the Downtown Hays Development Corporation (DHDC).
“Installation is expected at the end of June, once the water and sewer lines have been placed and the restroom will be open for use year-round,” Bloom told the crowd.
Just to the east of Union Pacific Park, a 40 by 80 foot open air pavilion will be built.
“The roof design will pay tribute to our former railroad depot,” Bloom explained. “The red roof will tie in to the bricks on downtown streets and it will also be available year-round for different community events.”
The pavilion will be built just east of the Union Pacific Park plaza, 10th and Main.
The $200,000 project will be gifted to the city of Hays by DHDC. Major funding was provided by the Robert and Pat Schmidt Foundation and the Dane G. Hansen Foundation. In-kind donations come from the city of Hays which will provide some labor, and pay for the water and sewer lines using guest tax monies from the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). Commercial Builders is the general contractor for the project.
Sandy Jacobs, Hays city commissioner
A downtown pavilion has been envisioned by DHDC since 2012. “It started with the words ‘gathering place’,” said Sandy Jacobs, former DHDC executive director and now a Hays city commissioner. A partnership between Fort Hays State University and DHDC finally brought it to reality.
“In August 2015, Kris Munsch and the Department of Applied Technology threw a lot of scattered ideas at a classroom of bright energetic students in construction management,” Bloom recalled. “They took those ideas and created a comprehensive plan for the pavilion. Fort Hays students not only helped design the structure, they will also be instrumental in the building of it. Without the involvement of FHSU, this project may be still just be a vision instead of a reality.”
Dr. Greg Farley, dean of FHSU Werth College of Science
“This is really a celebration of everything we do well in this community,” added Dr. Greg Farley, dean of the FHSU Werth College of Science.
Once construction is complete, the pavilion will be an extension of the city’s Union Pacific Park plaza at 10th and Main. One major hurdle to the project was acquiring a lease of the property from Union Pacific.
“We always said no to DHDC because it just didn’t work in the city’s plans and what we wanted to do,” said Mayor Shaun Musil, “but this group never gave up. When they make stuff like this better for Hays, it’s not just for downtown, it’s for our entire community.
Hays Mayor Shaun Musil and DHDC Exec. Dir. Sara Bloom
“What I really love about this project between DHDC and FHSU is that everybody involved. I’m hoping that the Fort Hays students that are involved in this may want to make Hays home to them forever,” Musil added .
Bloom said she expects the community to use the pavilion often for events such as family reunions, weddings, theatrical and musical performances, class picnics and other occasions.
“The construction of this new structure demonstrates the dedication of DHDC and the city of Hays to promote and facilitate the community and economic development of the downtown area as a desirable place to live, work, invest and visit,” Bloom said.
Supporters may purchase commemorative bricks, cornerstones and benches for the downtown pavilion.
Commemorative bricks, cornerstones and benches are available for purchase at DHDC.
A former teammate of Adam Pfannenstiel hugs his father Michael Pfannenstiel after giving him a plaque to commemorate Adam’s life and love of baseball during the Hays Rec Commission kick off Wednesday. Adam was killed in an ATV accident in 2016.
UPDATE:
Winners have been tabulated from last night’s Hays Recreation Commission Opening Day Celebration. Here are the results:
MLB Jr. Home Run Derby — Morgan “Big Stick” Berry
MLB Pitch Hit & Run Competition:
14 and under — Reagan Smith — 581 points
12 and under — Ashton Putz — 533 points
10 and under — Trace Jacobs — 600 points (overall winner)
8 and under — Brogan Albers — 421 points
In addition the competitions, the winner of the four Royals tickets was Carson Liles. Winner of our #hrcopeningday promotion was Monica Watson.
You can stop in to the rec and claim your prizes.
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By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays Recreation Commission honored Adam Pfannenstiel, a 15-year-old athlete that was killed last summer in an ATV accident, by beginning the Adam Pfannenstiel Inspirational Teammate of the Year Award Wednesday night.
This is a new award set to be given out annually to an HRC athlete who exemplifies what it means to be a great teammate as Adam was.
The Hays Recreation Commission, gave the award, to his family in honor of Adam at its annual kicked off to summer season Wednesday night at Bickle Sports Complex.
Keith Smith, youth sports director, said Pfannenstiel was “a good kid all around” and an “awesome teammate” who truly loved baseball.
Members of Adam’s K-18 team, the Roughnecks, gave Adam’s family a plaque to commemorate the award and took turns hugging and greeting his mother, father and grandmother.
The Mike Schippers Inspirational Coach of the Year Award was given to Travis Taggart, far right, and Brad Schumacher, middle in yellow, at the Hays Recreation kick off Wednesday night.
“He loved baseball,” his father, Michael Pfannenstiel, said after the ceremony. “It was very much his game. He was never the best at it, but he gave it all his heart.”
The Mike Schippers Inspirational Coach of the Year Award was given to Travis Taggart and Brad Schumacher. They continue the tradition of outstanding coaches who have a great understanding what the rec mission is here at Hays Rec, Smith said.
One of Mike Schippers’ daughters spoke about her father and she and members of her family were at the event to present the awards. This is the 25th year the award has been given.
She said her father was an avid baseball player and fan, and she has used the advice he gave her in coaching her softball team to grow throughout her life.
The coaches are nominated from the previous season’s teams.
Smith said of Schumacher in a prepared statement, “Brad not only lights up adults with his sense of humor, but he also has a special way to make kids feel comfortable. Numerous kids have been greeted by him with his signature line ‘What’s up buddy.’ As a coach, Brad strives to make every kid discover a love for the game. From rotating players to positive encouragement, the kids Brad coaches always want to come back for more.”
Of Taggart Smith said, “Travis in his many years of coaching through Hays Rec, has shown a calm demeanor and obvious care for each of the kids on his teams. His ethical coaching style allows every kid to feel as if they are an essential part of the team, whether or not they win or lose. I have overheard parents’ conversations with one another (as well as other coaches) say how their children are enjoying the game, sometimes for the first time, and are excited for the next year.”
In addition to the awards, the annual event included an MLB Pitch, Hit and Run Competition, MLB Jr. Home Run Derby, inflatables and Knockerball.
The Boy Scouts presented the colors this year, and the National Anthem was delivered by the McGuire Trio of Gabe, Hannah, and Eliana.
The sponsors of the event included Grand Rental Station, TK’s Smokehaus, Kennemer Orthodontics and Phase II, which provided the T-shirts.
