Amelia Earhart–Live!

The search for Amelia Earhart can finally be called off! The famed aviator will be talking about her thrilling flights in the Haysville Community Library at 6:30pm on Saturday January 28th. The event is free and open to the public, and will be held in conjunction with the library’s annual Ham n’ Beans Pot Luck supper. Scholar/performer Ann Birney of Ride into History will take the audience back to 1937, just before Earhart’s disappearance over the Pacific Ocean. Birney’s performance is being sponsored by the Haysville Community Library Friends.
Most people do not know that Earhart twice set out to fly around the world at the equator before she disappeared. The first time, heading west from California, she wrecked her twin-engine Lockheed Electra taking off from Hawaii. Birney, as Earhart, will take the audience to April 14, 1937. Earhart is waiting for her airplane, her silver “flying laboratory,” to be repaired so that she can try again. This time, she tells the audience, she will go east instead of west, hoping to reverse her luck with the reversal in direction.
Earhart came into the public eye when she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by air in 1928. The young social worker presumed that after the flight she would resume working with children at a Boston settlement house, but one book and innumerable speaking engagements later, she was instead planning more record-setting flights, and yet more speaking tours, books, and articles. Among her other records, she became the first woman and second person to solo across the Atlantic, the first person to solo over the Pacific, the first person to fly from Hawaii to California, and the fastest woman to fly non-stop across the U.S. And now, Earhart feels she has one last record-setting flight left in her . . . .
Ann Birney is a member of Ride into History, a historical performance touring troupe that has performed throughout the U.S., from the Smithsonian to Saipan. Made up of scholars who are also scriptwriters and performers, Ride into History is one of few “cross-over” groups whose members have been on both humanities council and
arts commission rosters. In addition to their performances, which include six other first person narratives, the troupe conducts adult workshops, school residencies, and summer camps, guiding other people in becoming “Historian/Researcher/Scriptwriter/Actor!”s.
Scholar/performer Ann Birney’s interpretation of Amelia Earhart is based on extensive research. She holds a doctorate in American Studies from the University of Kansas and, like Earhart, is a native Kansan. Birney has been doing her Chautauqua-style performances of Amelia Earhart since 1995. In March of 2000 she became the first person to do a historical performance for the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, whose education curator described her performance as “what living history should be—accurate, natural, evocative, and accessible.” Barbara Aliprantis of the American Center for the Theatre and Storytelling said of another of Birney’s performances, “Your telling of Amelia’s story was nothing less than brilliant. I was transported to another time and place.” Audiences of all ages have praised Ride into History’s performances for being both “entertaining and intelligent.” Dramatist Jean-Ellen Jantzen wrote, “Their energetic first-person narrative style, combined with authentic costuming and properties, makes this an enjoyable offering for virtually all . . . audiences.” David Downing of the NASA Kansas Space Grant Consortium wrote of Birney’s after-lunch performance for the National Conference of Space Grant Consortium Directors: “I think you understand that this was a tough audience. Many of us have been everywhere more than once and have seen everything more than once. This was a group, many of whom routinely carry on conversations when the NASA brass are presenting. You on the other hand had their undivided attention. . . .”
Two of the historic figures Ride into History interprets, Amelia Earhart and Calamity Jane, are integral to the myth of American individualism. According to the scholar/performers, one of the most fascinating things is discovering the point at which an ordinary, lively, independent girl becomes the woman who makes a choice which leads her to become an American symbol, a mythic figure. They ask, “What do these people have in common with each of us?”

HAYSVILLE OFFICERS RUN THE STREETS

Haysville, Kan.- It is expected that 1,150 officers from over 97 agencies will carry the “Flame of Hope” throughout 52 counties in Kansas as they travel to the annual Special Olympics Summer Games held in Wichita. The Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) is a series of statewide runs which will travel approximately 1,276 miles throughout the state. Law Enforcement Officers, along with Dustin Gunter, member of Royal Valley Panthers Special Olympics in Hoyt, Most Inspirational Athlete of 2015, will light the cauldron to officially open the Summer Games in front of over 3,000 athletes, coaches and fans of Special Olympics Kansas on June 3rd.

Locally, the Haysville leg of the Torch Run will be held Wednesday, June 1st. The run will start at 1:00 pm and end approximately 2:00 p.m. Additional information on the local route can be obtained from Justin Jacks at 316.529.5912. Run route by the Haysville Police Department will be:
 1300 hours Start Haysville West Middle School parking lot (1956 W Grand Ave)
 Travel east on Grand Ave and past South Seneca St
 1400 hours End Haysville Activity Center, 7150 S Broadway (in parking lot)

The public is encouraged to step outside their business or home and encourage the officers as they run. Celebrating their 35th anniversary, the Law Enforcement Torch Run began in Wichita, Kansas in 1981 with six runners and has grown to an international program involving thousands of Law Enforcement personnel, raising millions of dollars annually to benefit Special Olympics programs in the United States and abroad.

The Torch Run is the largest grassroots fundraiser and public awareness vehicle for Special Olympics Kansas. Officers volunteer hundreds of hours each year and in 2015 raised $543,582.96 in support of Special Olympics Kansas programs. This remarkable feat was accomplished by holding events and fundraising through the torch run, special event fundraisers (i.e. Polar Plunge, Truck Convoy), sponsorships and donations.

For more information on the local run contact Justin Jacks, jjacks@haysville-ks.com or 316.528.2912 Gary Steed, Executive Director of the Kansas Commission of Peace Officers’ Standard and Training, is the Honorary Chair of the LETR. Kalmar Industries and Amerigroup Foundation are Guardians of the Flame Sponsors. You can support the Torch Run by making a secure donation online at www.kansastorchrun.org or contact Luke Schulte at 620-408-4450.

See Beyond the Labels

See Beyond the Labels
Haysville Special Education Fundraising Art Show
209 S. Hays across from Haysville Library
Thursday April 28 and Friday April 29 4PM to 8PM and Saturday April 30 10AM to 5PM

Our Mission: To supplement special education classes; to enable individuals to reach their goals and to demonstrate that students can achieve BEYOND THEIR LABELS.
Every student is unique and special. Our goal is to have their voices and talents expressed. Their teachers are also special, and frequently contribute money out of their own pocket. One of a kind art, jewelry painting, etc is for sale. ALL MONEY RAISED GOES TO USD 261 SPECIAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.
This 3 day EXTRVAGANZA includes art work from students, staff, families and friends of the Haysville School District. Silent auction will include a once in life time plane ride for 4 in a Cessna 172! Auction baskets from businesses. Come see for yourself how each student is more than a label.
Entertainment daily, and VFW will provide FREE HOT DOGS on SATURDAY.

For More Information, Contact: Shirley McCutchen 316-990-7770

Activity Center Groundbreaking To Be A Community Affair

2016_HAC groundbreaking
There is a community groundbreaking ceremony for the new Haysville Activity Center scheduled for Monday, March 28th. It will begin at 5:15 p.m. on the build site located next to the Dewey Gunzelman Memorial Swimming Pool at Sarah Lane and Clinton Avenue. The community is welcome and encouraged to participate.
Haysville Recreation Director Georgie Carter announced the scheduled groundbreaking at the March 14th City Council meeting, where she advised Council to “bring their shovels.” Although said in jest, Mayor Bruce Armstrong thought the idea had merit. “The Activity Center is meant to be used by everyone in town,” says Mayor Armstrong. “So I think it would be great if the whole community brought their shovels out to help us break ground.”
During the same meeting, the Council approved a bid from Accel Construction for construction cost totaling $3,331,400 and a sports package from Aalco Manufacturing for $44,980, bringing the total cost of the project to $3,376,380. The project is being funded by the voter approved 1% sales tax, and will not increase the mill levy. Accel Construction estimates it will take 340 days to build the new Haysville Activity Center.

Benefit For Julie Dombo

The Butler Community College Hospitality and Culinary Students are hosting a chili cook- off and a silent auction. All proceeds will go to help Mrs. Dombo with her inordinate amount of financial need for on-going therapy, home configurations and prosthetics. The chili feed and silent auction will be held on December 11th from 4 p.m to 8:30 p.m. at the Campus High School, during the Derby vs. Campus basketball games.

On August 11, 2015 Julie Dombo, a retired Middle School Counselor in the Haysville School District, was shopping at the AT&T store in Derby, Ks, when a man entered and attempted to rob the store. During the robbery, Mrs. Dombo was shot. Due to complications it was necessary to amputate portions of each of her four limbs. Mrs. Dombo and her husband John have lived in Derby for many years. Mr. Dombo is a 27 year veteran of the Hospitality Industry and a current Adjunct Professor for the Hospitality and Culinary Arts Program and Butler Community College. Julie and her family are, remarkably, in great spirits considering the enormity of this tragedy.

Facebook event page here.