Area historical military forts are an important part of Kansas history, and a local filmmaker hopes his new documentary will shine a light on the lesser-known, but equally important Fort Harker in Ellsworth County.
“It’s a documentary on Kansas history, specifically a frontier military post called Fort Harker,” said filmmaker and owner of Post Rock Studios of Kansas Steve Stults. “A lot of people have heard of Fort Hays, Fort Larned, Fort Dodge, Fort Riley and Leavenworth, but very rarely do people ever talk about, or have even heard of, Fort Harker.”
It was an important military post during the American expansion west, he said and like Fort Hays provided escorts along the Santa Fe Trail.
“It turned out to be a very important supply depot,” Stults said serving as a way station for convoys between Fort Riley and Fort Larned and a supply depot for forts west of the Mississippi River, especially in Kansas.
“It was a major supply hub for the area,” he said. “It was an incredibly important military post.”
As such an important center for military activity in the post-civil war area, the fort had many notable military figures.
“Custer was there, Wild Bill Hickok was there and a lot of other big generals,” Stults said. Philip Sheridan also spent some time at the post.
The fort shares a similar history to Fort Hays, starting as Fort Ellsworth, a flood forced the fort to relocate to higher ground and was renamed in honor of General Charles Garrison Harker, who died in the American Civil War.
“The documentary starts at the very beginning,” Stults said, taking viewers from before Fort Ellsworth was even built and showing the American expansion west.
The film also shows the Native American side of the conflict, as they were pushed west and began to fight back.
“It encompasses everything,” Stults said.
The film was commissioned by the Ellsworth County Historical Society, which oversees three of the remaining four buildings left from the 83 that comprised the fort in what is now the town of Kanopolis.
Greg Heller, Fort Harker historian, wrote the script.
“It took two years,” Stults said, from conception to final product, with many script edits and filming that took Stults and volunteers to historical reenactments at other forts.
Those forts all have connections to Fort Harker, he said.
He hopes his film can raise Fort Harker into the upper echelon of historical forts that are much better known by the public.
“If you like Kansas history, then this is a documentary for you,” he said. “It not just Fort Harker, but it’s central Kansas and all of Kansas and into Colorado as well.”
A presentation of “Fort Harker: Gateway Post to the Frontier” is set for Sunday, Oct. 13, at 3 p.m. at Messiah Lutheran Church, 2000 Main.
Another presentation will be hosted at the Ellsworth Jr./Sr. High school performing arts center on Oct. 20.
The film is currently available on DVD online here or can be purchased at the Ellsworth County Historical Society.
The Fort Hays State University volleyball team is taking T-shirt preorders for the annual Dig Pink event, set for Tuesday, Oct. 22, when the Tigers take on Washburn University at 6 p.m.
Shirts are $10 each, with sizes XXL or larger available for $12.
All money raised from T-shirt sales will be donated to the DIG PINK scholarship, an annual scholarship supporting a Fort Hays State University student affected by cancer.
For questions, contact coach Jen Thompson at 785-628-4393 or [email protected]. Orders must be received by Oct. 15.
ES&S sales representative Angie Frison explains voting equipment during a February demonstration in Hays.
BY JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT Hays Post
When Ellis County voters head to the polls in November, they will be casting their ballots on brand-new election equipment.
In April, the Ellis County Commission approved the purchase of new voting equipment from Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Neb.
Voters will see significant change with the new equipment, with the return of paper ballots. Everything was done electronically through the previous touchscreen machines.
Ellis County Clerk and Election Officer Donna Maskus said voters will still have to present their ID to the poll worker and sign the electronic poll pad but, once that voter is identified, they will get a paper ballot specific to them.
“Then that voter can sit down at a table that will have privacy sleeves,” Maskus said. “There will be more opportunities for voters to sit down and vote.”
Maskus
Once the voter has finished voting, they will then feed their ballot into a ballot scanner.
“It can be upside down, it can be backside, it can be front side, it’s going to tabulate it,” Maskus said. “The voter will be able to see that the count is increased by one so that ballot has gone through and tabulated.”
The new machines allow the county to comply with Kansas law requiring every county to complete an election audit. Maskus said a three-member board will verify votes in competitive race selected by the Secretary of State.
Maskus said Trego, Barton and Sedgwick counties all have similar equipment and have had good experiences.
“There election equipment is certified, and it has to be approved by the secretary of state’s office through testing before we even look at that equipment,” Maskus said. “We’re real pleased. We’re real excited.”
For those voters who have ADA requirements, Maskus said a machine is available. That machine also produces a paper ballot that is run through the ballot scanner.
With the Nov. 5 Election Day now less than a month away, the deadline to get registered is quickly approaching — Tuesday, Oct. 15.
“The only time that you need to re-register is if you move or change your name,” Maskus said.
If you are not sure if you are registered, you can check at voteks.org.
The website, administered by the Secretary of State’s Office, allows voters to find their registration information, polling place, past voter history and a sample ballot.
Advanced voting in Ellis County begins on Monday, Oct. 21, at the Ellis County Administrative Center at 718 Main.
“We start at 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, up until the day before the election, on Nov. 4 at noon,” Maskus said.
She also reminded voters to bring a valid ID to the polls.
“Before you vote at any time, you have to show that voter ID,” Maskus said. “Most people just use their driver’s license.”
Voters can also request an advance ballot through the county election office up until Tuesday, Oct. 29. Those ballots can be returned to any polling site on Election Day, the administrative center or through the mail.
Ballots returned through the mail must be postmarked by Election Day.
A list of candidates, poll site locations and general election information for the upcoming election can also be found on the County Election website at ellisco.net.
The election office can also be reached at (785) 628-9410.
Quarterback Jeff Miller looks for an open receiver during his playing days at FHSU in the mid- to late-1980s.By DIANE GASPER O’BRIEN FHSU University Relations and Marketing
Madi Miller enjoys visiting with her older brother, Jordan, about their lives as student-athletes at Fort Hays State University.
Their stories differ from those of their dad, Jeff, who played quarterback for the Tiger football team in the early 1980s.
Watching his children compete at the collegiate level now is different than what Jeff remembers from several decades ago.
Jordan completed his baseball career as a Tiger five years ago, and Madi began suiting up for the FHSU volleyball team this fall.
The Miller siblings don’t get to hear too much about their dad’s athletic career, although he still holds some FHSU passing records.
“Dad’s pretty humble about everything,” Madi said with a smile, “but I hear from other people how good he was.”
Jody Wise, middle, the winningest coach in FHSU volleyball history, talks to her team during a 1986 match.After battling all types of weather to watch Jordan compete on the college level, Jeff welcomes following an indoor sport these days. He usually searches for a place to sit alone in the bleachers in Gross Memorial Coliseum for Tiger volleyball games.
He finds himself glancing around at the spacious arena that seems much the same as when he attended Fort Hays State from 1983-88. Completed in 1973, GMC still is known as one of the best basketball and volleyball arenas in the MIAA conference.
But the atmosphere and the competition are different than they were 30-plus years ago. Most of these student-athletes have been playing competitively since they were in elementary school.
Jeff says that sports for women have indeed come a long way in 35 years, from back in the day when FHSU coaches of non-revenue sports were responsible for driving the team vans in sometimes treacherous weather on long trips in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
One of those van drivers was Jody Wise, the winningest volleyball coach in FHSU history with 546 victories. Even while road trips could be challenging back then, Wise maintains that the female athletes were always “treated pretty fairly at Fort Hays State.”
“Fort Hays State had such nice facilities, even back then,” said Wise, who coached at FHSU from 1978-95. “With the four Cunningham Hall gyms down the hallway from the main arena, there was always enough room to practice.”
Wise, now retired and living in California, graduated from high school in Nebraska in 1970 and went on to play three sports at the University of Nebraska-Kearney – without a single athletic scholarship dollar.
That was two years before Title IX, in the Education Amendments Act of 1972. Title IX was established to provide everyone equal access to any program or activity that receives federal financial assistance, including sports.
According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, one in 27 girls played high school sports prior to Title IX. Today, that number is two in five.
FHSU defensive specialist Madi Miller passes the ball to a teammate in a match earlier this season.
The addition of more women’s sports to the Olympics, better media coverage and the explosion of youth travel teams all have contributed to the rise of female participation in athletics.
Today, recruiting is different for all sports, both male and female. Thirty years ago, coaches put in a lot of windshield time, as well as relying on word of mouth, to recruit quality players.
Now, they can gather a lot of the players’ data electronically and communicate with them that way, too.
However, some players are still recruited in more traditional ways.
Madi contacted the FHSU volleyball coach when she graduated from Neosho Community College in 2018. Even though the Tigers’ roster was full, Madi still chose Fort Hays State to continue her education, partly because of the great reputation of the radiology program and partly because of family.
One of her grandmothers lives in Hays, the other in Victoria. Her mom, Nancy – also an FHSU grad – grew up in Hays in a family of 14 children. And a lot of Madi’s aunts, uncles and cousins live in Hays or within driving distance.
“We grew up in the Kansas City area and didn’t get to enjoy my family being around,” Madi said. “I thought, why not come out here to experience that and get a great education at the same time.”
To top it off, Madi honed her volleyball skills for a year, got acclimated to college at FHSU and made the team this season. A defensive specialist, she is in the regular rotation for the Tigers.
“I say that I’m a purebred Tiger, so I had to come to Fort Hays State,” she said, “and now I get to continue my volleyball career, too. And having so many family members around, we always have so much support at the games.”
While Madi’s parents get to enjoy a couple more years of watching their daughter compete in a college sport, they are particularly pleased with the quality of education that Fort Hays State offers.
“What it really boils down to is the education,” Jeff said. “Sure, it was nice to be able to play football past high school. But the academics were great here for me, too, and I had a lot of good, positive instructors at Fort Hays State. It provided me with the tools for a really good career.”
FHSU volleyball player Madi Miller, left, always has time for her dad, former Tiger football player Jeff Miller, after a match.
“It was a really good fit all the way around,” added Jeff, who grew up in nearby Victoria and, like his children, followed his dad to Fort Hays State. Marvin Miller was an assistant coach for the Tiger baseball team in the 1970s.
Jeff retired from Spring Hill High School this past summer after 31 years in the education field as a teacher, coach and administrator. Now, he has nothing holding him back from following the Tiger volleyball team.
The Millers still make their home in Spring Hill. They make the four-hour trip to Hays for most of the Tigers’ home matches, and they are able to attend a lot of their road games, too.
“It’s really handy,” Jeff said, “because a lot of the team’s opponents are closer to us here than we are to Hays. So we get to see a lot of the Tigers’ matches, both home and away.”
“But,” he added, “we always like coming back to Hays to watch. For me, there’s nothing that compares to Gross Coliseum.”
The Hays USD 489 BOE debate will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15, in Beach Schmidt Performing Arts Center on the FHSU campus.
The Hays City Commission debate will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, at Beach Schmidt.
Students from the Student Government Association, American Democracy Project, the Department of Political Science and Tiger Media Network will team up with the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce and the Docking Institute of Public Affairs to host the debates.
“We are really excited for the opportunity to host this event on campus to get students excited about local politics, and to give our community members a forum to learn more about the candidates running for these offices,” said Kaytee Wisley, legislative affairs director of SGA and organizer of the event.
The two debates will be livestreamed on Tiger Media Network’s cable stations – Eagle Communications Channel 17 and Nex-Tech Channel 102. There also will be a link for online viewing available at tigermedianet.com.
There are four positions open on the Hays USD 489 board for the Nov. 5 general election.
There are nine candidates who have entered the mix for a position on the board: Paul Adams, Jessica Ann Berg Moffitt, Cole Engel, Alex Herman, Lori Ann Hertel, Luke Oborny, Craig Pallister, Allen Park and Tammy Wellbrock.
Adams and Oborny currently serve on the board and are seeking re-election.
Three positions on the Hays City Commission will be open, with five candidates interested in filling the spots. They include Michael Berges, Ron Mellick, Mason Ruder, Ryan Rymer and Henry Schwaller.
Mellick and Schwaller currently serve on the city commission. The top two candidates will serve for four years, while the third-place vote-getter will serve for two years.
“The Hays Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to advocate for our community’s advancement,” Sarah Wasinger, president/CEO of the Chamber, said. “Providing a platform for our electorate to become engaged and informed on issues impacting the Hays City Commission and local school boards is crucial for the future of Ellis County. The Hays Chamber is honored to partner with Tiger Media Network, the Docking Institute, Student Government Association, FHSU Department of Political Science and the American Democracy Project to bring this forum to our community.”
Candidates at both debates will answer questions from the moderators. Audience members also will have a chance to ask questions. Questions also can be posed through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
The events are free and open to the general public.
For more information about the debates, contact Wisley at 785-628-5311 or email [email protected].
The Eagle Radio Auction is right around the corner.
The popular event, which can be heard live on KAYS 94.3 FM/1400 AM and KKQY 101.9 FM, is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 17, and Friday, Oct. 18, beginning at 8 a.m. each day.
For details or to take a look at the items on the block, click HERE.
First Care Clinic announced this week that Susan Pfannenstiel, APRN, has joined its medical staff. Pfannenstiel graduated from Fort Hays State University with a master’s in nursing and is a board-certified family nurse practitioner with American Nurses Credentialing Center.
“Susie has 18 years of experience and provides outstanding patient care,” said Dr. Christine Fisher, First Care Clinic medical director.
Pfannenstiel is currently accepting new patients. She is a primary care provider and welcomes patients of all ages.
“We are very excited to welcome Susie to our staff. We look forward to her contributions as we provide patient centered healthcare and improve the health of our patients” said Bryan Brady, CEO.
First Care Clinic welcomes all patients and accepts most major insurances including KanCare. A sliding fee scale discount is available to those who qualify based on income and family size. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call First Care Clinic at (785) 621-4990.
“A lot of people have heard of Fort Hays, Fort Larned, Fort Dodge, Fort Riley and Leavenworth, but very rarely do people ever talk about, or have even heard of, Fort Harker.”
Photo courtesy Post Rock Studios of Kansas
