By RUTH FIRESTONE
Hays music lover

Mark your calendars now for the Hays Symphony’s season opener with new director Brian Buckstead at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, in Fort Hays State University’s Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center.

Three masterpieces are guaranteed to conjure rainbows, flowing rivers, colorful fandangos and/or any scenes and dreams you see with your eyes closed.

Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” (from the opera of the same name) is chock full of wonderful melodies that Rossini designed to evoke images of storms, peaceful herds of cattle, and fast-moving soldiers.

He intended this, his last opera, to be acclaimed as his greatest operatic achievement, but only the overture has ever gained popularity. Only the last few minutes are popular in the Unites States, and for reasons Rossini could never have foreseen: bound by our own culture, we react with visions of old cartoons, advertisements and, of course, the Lone Ranger.

Smetana’s “The Moldau” (in Czech “Vltava,” the river that flows through Prague) is one part of “Ma Vlast” (“My Homeland”), a six-part set of symphonic poems picturing various parts of what was then Bohemia, a state of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now the Czech Republic.

The piece draws musical pictures of the river’s ebb and flow as well as iconic scenes along its length and is Smetana’s most popular instrumental composition. His comic opera, “The Bartered Bride,” is probably his best-known work.

“The Three Cornered Hat,” Suites 1 and 2, by Manuel de Falla, concludes the concert with a number of colorful Spanish dances that tell the story of a miller, his wife, and a lecherous magistrate who wears a three-cornered hat. The music itself began life as accompaniment to a two-part pantomime but then was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballet Russe. The orchestral suites are based on the ballet.

All Hays Symphony performances are free to the public, but audience members must have a ticket.

Tickets can be reserved online at www.hayssymphony.org or may be picked up at the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Downtown Hays Offices starting Monday, Sept. 16. Tickets can also be picked up in the Beach/Schmidt lobby after 7 p.m. on the evening of the concert.

Please check the Hays Symphony Facebook page for additional concert details, such as pre-concert talks and post-concert receptions.

This concert is sponsored by AutoWorld. The post-concert reception is sponsored by Werth Wealth Management.

Information will be available at the concert to join the Hays Symphony Guild.

Ruth Firestone is a supporter of music and theater in Hays.

Hays-area garage sales

Scroll to the bottom for a map of garage sale locations. Hays Post offers FREE garage sale listings weekly. Having a garage sale next weekend? Click HERE to submit your information.

211 West 38th, Hays
Saturday, 7:30am to 1:00pm

Multi family:Fisher-Price doll house, girls bike, coach purses, luggage shoes (81/2), jewelry, antiques and collectibles, holiday decorations, household items Power rider exerciser games and toys.

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3112 & 3114 El Dorado Ln., Hays
Fri., Sept. 13, 8 am-6 pm & Sat., Sept. 14, 8 am-3 pm

Assorted fishing gear; water skis; queen bed frame and headboard; PlayStation 2 and games; children’s, junior and adult clothing; lots of children’s and young teen books; bedding; double/queen bed frame; seasonal decorations; snare drum; alto saxophone; lots of misc.

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1313 W 42nd St, Hays
Friday Sept. 13th, 2:00pm to 7:00 pm and Saturday, Sept. 14th, 8:00 am to 11am

Decor items, Holiday decorations, Craft items, Little Tykes, Kitchen items, Shoes, Lots of name brand clothing for all ages, and Many more items.

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The 2019 Out of the Darkness Hays area walk is set to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Municipal Park in Hays to support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

The organization has a goal of reducing the annual suicide rate by 20 percent before 2025.

“Kansans are dying by suicide at increasing rates,” said Kyle Carlin in a recent letter to the Post about the event. “Suicide is now the eighth leading cause of death in Kansas, up from 10^th, and is the second leading cause of death for individuals aged 15-24 and those aged 25-44. Luckily, suicide is preventable.”

The full letter can be found here.

On-site registration will begin at 1 p.m., with the walk scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

To register prior before noon Friday, or for more information about the walk and its mission, click here.

The event is free and open to the public.

The third annual Thunder on the Plains car, truck and cycle show is set to kick off Friday with a cruise night starting a 6 p.m. at Ace Hardware, 3300 Vine.

From the store, participants will be able to join a police escort to the Municipal Park, where the Good Sam Club Band will perform from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday.

Johnny’s Diner food truck will also be at the park.

The car show will begin with registration from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday in Frontier Park East, and the award presentation will begin at 3 p.m.

G & C concessions, the Local Food Truck, Bribiesca Concessions, and the Cancer Council of Ellis County will provide attendees food options through the day.

Several craft vendors will also be available during the event.

More about the event and registration forms can be found at thunderontheplainsks.com Click HERE for the Facebook event.

Nearly $100K seized after Ellis County stop

WICHITA (AP) — Federal prosecutors have filed four cases seeking to keep more than $358,000 in suspected drug money recovered by Kansas officers in separate traffic stops on Interstate 70 in August and September.

The U.S. Attorney’s office filed the four cases involving traffic stops in Ellis, Ellsworth, Shawnee and Wabaunsee counties.

In the most recent case filed Wednesday, a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper reportedly found $98,600 during a stop in Ellis County. The money was wrapped in rubber bands inside vacuum-sealed plastic bags hidden in a quarter panel.

Federal prosecutors filed four similar cases in June in Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Ellsworth and Chase counties.

The eight cases filed since June total about $884,000 in suspected drug money seized by law enforcement officers on interstate highways in Kansas.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

RUSSELL — At approximately 10:40 a.m. Thursday, Russell Fire and EMS were dispatched to 815 N. Main in Russell in response to reports of a structure fire.

“When crews arrived on scene, heavy smoke was coming from Northwest of the main entrance to The Mecca Plaza,” said Fire Chief Dylan Riedel. “Fire crews made entry into the structure and determined that the fire was burning in the underground tunnels that run below the sidewalk, in front of the businesses on Main Street.”

At 10:50 a.m., firefighters entered the basement with fire extinguishers and found heavy smoke in the tunnel.

By 10:56 a.m., a hose line was called in as the fire was reported as mostly out. It was reported as completely out by 11:10 a.m.

The cause of the fire is undetermined, Riedel said, noting the fire did not spread to any other area of the building outside the basement. Damage is estimated at $500. No injuries were reported.

“The City of Russell Fire Department would like to thank The Russell Police Department, Russell Grant Fire Department, Russell County EMS, Russell Electric Department, and Kansas Gas Service for their quick response,” Riedel said.

Did you know with any 8th Street Liquor purchase you can get your game day cups for tailgating?

Fort Hays State takes on Missouri Western on Sept. 12 and then Missouri Southern on Sept. 28 and we want to see photos of your 8th Street Liquor Cups out supporting your Tigers.

Take your best tailgate photo at the game or in the comfort of your home with your 8th street cup and upload here for your chance to win this Coors Ultimate Tailgate Grill!

Entries will be accepted through Sept. 29. Then we’ll let the community vote on their favorite tailgate photo Sept. 30 to Oct. 6!

Click HERE to enter your photo for a chance to win.

ELLIS — The Ellis Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament will be rescheduled to a later date, according to chamber representative Glen Keller.

The four-person scramble was scheduled for Friday at the Ellis Country Club.

 

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Girl Scouts will be taking over Big Creek Crossing the night of Saturday, Sept. 28, for its “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” night at the mall.

The event will include a visit from the Cosmosphere and the FHSU Maker’s Van. Girls of all ages and levels will be able to earn credit toward badges.

Girls will enjoy snacks, games, crafts, a movie and be able to lip synch with a live D.J. The night will be capped off with popcorn and a slumber party.

Check in for the event will be 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., and the event goes to 7 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 29. Breakfast is provided.

You don’t have to be from Hays to participate, but you do have to be a registered Girl Scout. You can still register as a Girl Scout to attend the event. That can be done at www.girlscouts.org. The cost to register as a Girl Scout is $25. Scholarships are available and can be requested during registration.

If you are a registered Girl Scout, you can register on Ultracamp. Click here for a link and instructions on using the site. Deadline to register is Monday, Sept. 16.

Cost for the mall event is $25 for girls and $5 for adults. Daisy (kindergarten and first graders) and Brownies (second and third graders) are required to be accompanied by an adult chaperone at the event or attend with a troop that has an appropriate number of adult chaperones. Parent or guardian chaperones don’t have to be registered Girl Scout volunteers, but they need to registered for the event.

The mall will be open regular hours until 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, during the event.

If you have questions about this event or Scouts, you can call  1-888-686-6468 or visit the Hays office at 2707 Vine, Ste. 8 (behind Cervs). The Hays office is open from noon to 6 p.m. Mondays, noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays. You can also contact Monica Legleiter [email protected]g or through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GirlScoutMonica.

The event is sponsored by Girl Scout Service Unit 74, which includes Ellis, Trego, Ness, Russell and Gove counties.

PLAINVILLE — Following the homicide reported Tuesday in rural Rooks County, the Plainville Police Department announced this week it would be increasing patrols in residential areas of the community.

“As members of this community as well as being sworn to protect our citizens, we will do our best to make sure everyone here remains safe and protected,” the department said in a social media release.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at (800) KS-CRIME or the Rooks County Sheriff’s Office at (785) 425-6312.

The KBIs’ investigation of the crime is ongoing.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Hays Middle School is out of room, Principal Tom Albers told the Hays school board during a tour Monday night.

HMS enrollment is at 686 students, the largest being the sixth-grade class of 248.

The gradually increasing enrollment has meant an already cramped lunch room is faced with even bigger challenges, the school is out of classroom space, has teachers on carts and class sizes are getting even larger.

“Every sixth-grade class is big,” Albers said. “We are talking 24 to 30 kids and some even bigger. We’re tight.”

Albers said he would love to have more electives for the students, but if the district added staff, he said more teachers are need for core courses to reduce class sizes. HMS is offering half-year English classes for seventh- and eight-graders, and they would like to make those full-year classes.

However, if HMS added staff, there is the question of where they would put the teachers. On carts, move in trailers? The options are limited.

The last renovations to the HMS were finished in 2014, which included HMS’ tornado shelter.

“People ask, ‘You put these new buildings in. How can you be short? How can you not have room?’ ” Albers said. “One of the reasons is our need for special education.”

Special education is taking up three rooms at HMS now, when at one time it took up just one. More paras and aides are required, the number of students in the program has increased and newer teaching methods require more space. One of the rooms that is being used as a special-ed classroom used to be the teachers’ lounge.

Albers is in his second year in his position at the middle school. He said several times during the tour he knew there were space issues at HMS, but until he actually saw it, he didn’t really understand how much HMS was doing in its existing spaces.

One of these areas is the cafeteria, which was not designed to handle as many students as it does today.

The cafeteria gets very noisy because of the number of students crammed into such a small space. HMS serves lunch from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Students have 20-minute lunch periods, but really don’t have that long to eat once they get through the line, are seated, and must clean up and line up.

“It’s definitely complicated. It is like ant farm — kids everywhere,” said Shauna Zweifel, HMS assistant principal.

Albers said, “It does work, but it doesn’t work well.”

HMS is also serving 150 to 200 students breakfast.

One plan school officials have considered is expanding the lunchroom into an old boiler room adjacent to the existing cafeteria. It is currently being used for storage.

Although the gym is nice and is in good repair, it also has to hold a lot of kids.

With two physical education classes and a weights class going on in the upper deck simultaneously, there can be 110 students in the gym per class period.

Albers described three different teachers using intercoms and bullhorns to direct students all at they same time.

“You had this going on. You had this going on. You had that going on. I was like this is crazy. It was crazy that we would put this many kids in the gym at one time, but it is the only option we have,” Albers said.

The HMS track is in disrepair. Albers pointed out a large crack in the asphalt that has been repaired with a tar patch and is a tripping hazard. HMS can’t host meets at the school because of the condition of the track. HMS had 177 kids out last year for track.

The school has changed its drop-off procedures with the installation of a new secure entrance at the front of the school. During school hours, visitors buzz into the school and enter through the office. Students are required to enter in the morning through the west doors and check in through the gym.

Albers said the west door drop-off gives the school better control of the students’ movement through in the morning.

The school is working on plans to improve traffic control in the parking lot during drop off. Within the next month, the school plans to convert the parking lot to one-way traffic. Facilities also plans to paint a white area in the parking lot that will be a designated student drop-off zone.

HMS is still working with insurance to complete repairs to the west side of the school that was damaged during a wind and hail storm in August.