It’s Fair time again! Stevens County’s annual Fair will begin in earnest Thursday, July 20, with the 4-H Fashion Revue at 7:30 p.m. at the Memorial Hall. Reigning over the fair will be the couple featured in the photo above. Doug and Rita Mills are lifetime Stevens County residents, and they’re proud to be the Stevens County Fair King and Queen this year. Their bio can be found in this week’s issue of The Hugoton Hermes. Congratulations Doug and Rita!

Friday evening, 15 Stevens County girls will compete for the crown beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Sorghum Queen contest in the Middle School Auditorium.

Saturday morning, get out to the Fairgrounds for the horse show at 8:30 a.m. The 4-H classes will go first, followed by open class entries. Timed events will be last. Later Saturday evening, head out to Dirtona for some action with the Monster Truck, Tuff Truck and UTV Challenge starting at 7:00 p.m. Read More →

USD 210’s Board of Education met Monday, July 10 at Central Office on Main Street. Board members Barry Hittle, Todd Gayer and Dettra Crawford were absent.

Paula Rowden was elected BOE President and Mike Persinger was elected BOE Vice President. Kim Korf was appointed as Board Clerk, Davonna Daharsh as Deputy Clerk and Arlet Estrada as District Treasurer.

The board approved board appointments required by statutes; graduation activities for 2018; 1116 hours for the 2017-2018 school year; and authorized Adrian Howie as representative for Title I, II, and III for 2017-2018 and as district purchasing agent. The board approved the renewal of food services/ special milk application and designated The Hugoton Hermes as district newspaper.

The board also established petty cash funds and adopted the resolution to rescind previous policy statements. USD 210 established a mileage reimbursement rate at $0.50 per mile and voted to destroy school records as per statute. The board acknowledged ADA and Section 504 policies and procedures and adopted the Home Rule resolution and the Generally Accepted Accounting Principal Waiver (GAAP).

The adoption of the resolution to establish activity funds was approved. the BOE meeting dates are as follows: August 14, 2017, September 11, 2017, October 9, 2017, November 13, 2017, December 11, 2017, January 8, 2018, February 12, 2018, March 19, 2018, April 9, 2018, May 14, 2018, June 11, 2018 and July 9, 2018.

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Attention, Stevens County beauties! The 2017 Sorghum Queen competition will be July 21, 2017 at the Hugoton Middle School auditorium. This is Pollyanna’s yearly fundraiser. They award three scholarships to graduating seniors every year. They also give a Patriotic award to any senior who is going into the military service. An admission fee will be charged to attend the contest.

Pictures of the group of contestants will be taken July 17, 2017 at Parsons Park at Main and Eighth Street at 7:30 p.m. Entry forms and sponsor fee checks payable to Pollyannas will be due that date. Forms can be picked up and returned to 1013 S. Polk anytime prior to the deadline, or brought to the park July 17 when the pictures are taken.

So come one and all, young ladies, to pick up your forms for the contest soon.

Stevens County’s interlocal agreement with the City of Hugoton, regarding the one percent tax increase, has been approved by the Kansas Attorney General’s office.
The one-cent sales tax increase will go into effect Saturday, July 1.
Stevens County’s effective tax rate will be 9.0 percent as of July 1, 2017. For the next two years, the County will receive 100% of the increase, with the hope of easing the property tax burden on local taxpayers. After the first two years, the City of Hugoton will receive a portion of the sales tax increase.

USD 210’s Board of Education met Monday, June 19 at Central Office’s new Main Street location. Board members Barry Hittle and Paula Rowden were absent.

Dawson Kerbow and Jacob Eckert, two members of the HHS boys’ State Champion track team came to the meeting, and Athletic Director C.J. Korf presented them with a certificate of recognition. The boys’ families also attended to see them honored.

Board members then reviewed district-wide assessment data, as presented by Superintendent Adrian Howie. Information from the state assessment, AIMSweb, MAP and even ACT tests was carefully evaluated by administrators. Mr. Howie acknowledged that “teaching to the test” is not the district’s goal – “teaching and learning” is the goal of Hugoton schools. All the tests’ data can provide a snapshot of each individual student and indicate whether help is needed.

HHS Principal Melody Witt discussed with the board the desire for the high school to move to a semester grading system instead of the former nine-week grading period. This policy is more aligned with the way colleges grade. The board will continue this discussion at the July meeting.

CJ Korf then presented two different Dual Activity policies for the board to review before July’s meeting. Board members agreed a formal policy could help settle disputes when they arise. Mr. Howie told the board building handbooks and changes for the coming year were available to look over.

Board members approved pursuit of early childhood grants to benefit the preschool program and Parents As Teachers. They then talked about the classified pay scale, and Mr. Howie reported he will ask for approval of the scale at July’s meeting. Teachers’ absences were also discussed, and the superintendent told the board the district had spent $15,000 under budget on substitutes.

Board members and Superintendent Howie then entered executive session for 30 minutes to discuss personnel changes. Upon exiting executive session, board members opted to terminate the employment of Sandra Ruiz and Mara Martinez. The board also approved personnel changes as recommended by Mr. Howie.

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Two members of the Hugoton High School FFA chapter, Megan Newlon and Austin Nordyke, were recognized last week. The students were honored for having some of the best career development programs in the state at the Eighty-ninth Kansas FFA Convention May 31 through June 2, 2017 on the Kansas State University campus.
Megan and Austin earned State FFA Proficiency Awards for outstandingaccomplishments they have made in developing programs that will prepare them for careers in agriculture. Their advisor is Les McNally.
Newlon received her award in Diversified Livestock Production, sponsored by McPherson County Feeders. Nordyke’s award is in Turf Grass Management, sponsored by Sod Shop, Inc.
The proficiency award program recognizes students for exceptional accomplishments and excellence in a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) program. This program allows students to set goals and gain real-world experience in a chosen area of the agriculture industry.
For her SAE, Newlon raises horses, cattle, swine and sheep. By raising a variety of animals, she has become knowledgable in many areas of animal care. She exercises the animals, measures out feed rations, and also doctors sick animals with the help of her local veterinarian. She uses her experiences to help teach others about the equine and livestock industries. After high school, Newlon plans to attend college and earn a degree in animal science or agribusiness. She is the daughter of Jeff and Vicky Newlon.
Nordyke operates a lawn care business for his community. Originally partnering with his older sister, he took over the business to continue the tradition of serving the community while also developing his skills in communication and managing a business. He has been able to grow the customer base to 65 customers, and has generated income that has helped pay for college. He currently attends Wichita State University and is pursuing a degree in engineering. Austin is the son of Paul and Shannon Nordyke.

The Hugoton track and field teams participated in the State Track and Field meet in Wichita this past weekend. The boys’ team captured the class 3A State Championship with 62 points. The top eight placers in each event are All-State athletes.

The boys started off the meet Friday morning with three final events as well as preliminaries for sprints and relays. Tony Kinser claimed first in the high jump with a leap of 6’8”, while the boys’ 3200 meter runners started the day off with third and fourth place finishes. Mitchell Hamlin struggled a bit in the long jump but he had a lot going on during his jumping.

“We got everyone else in the sprints and relays qualified for the second day, giving us a chance to make a run at the [State] title,” said Coach Nick Rodriguez.

The second day continued with everyone working hard at placing in their respective events. During the second day, HHS team members understood they needed to do the best possible in their events, and place if possible.

“Our relays performed well and we got out of them what I thought we would. Our open event athletes worked hard and got us the points we needed,” said coach Rodriguez.

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This weekend is a long one for most working folks – to many, Memorial Day weekend signals the beginning of summer, great sales, or just an extra day off. However, the holiday is meant to be a day of remembrance for the men and women who died while serving in the United States military. This year, please have fun during your long weekend, but take a moment of silence to remember the sacrifices brave men and women make every day while serving in the military.

Community members are invited to attend the
memorial service in Moscow at 9:00 a.m. with Pastor Sean Schraeder
from the Moscow Baptist Church. The service will take place in the Moscow Cemetery.
Hugoton residents may attend the 10:00 a.m. service at the Hugoton Cemetery
with Pastor Israel Franco of Hugoton’s Church of God.

Several area businesses will also be closed in recognition of the holiday. Citizens State Bank, First National Bank and The Hermes will be closed for the holiday, as will the Stevens County Courthouse. The City Offices and Post Offices in Hugoton, Moscow and Rolla will all be closed and plan to reopen Tuesday with regular hours. If you’ve got a honey-do list for the long weekend, you probably need to check off your list at Hi-Plains Lumber because they’ll be closed Monday, May 29.

Thrifty King announced they’ll be open for all your grocery needs, and Dollar General will also be open for all the outdoor essentials to get a great start to summer. Flatlanders plans to open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday, while the Store in Moscow will be open regular hours.

HHS graduate Katy Heger has certainly done this community proud with her incredible athletic skills throughout her high school career, helping the Lady Eagles earn two State titles in four years. She’s also represented Hugoton well in academics and attitude. Well – she’s done it again!

Katy Heger has recently joined an elite list, being named Miss Kansas Basketball for 2017. Fellow alumni of this prestigious list include three WNBA players. Katy is the daughter of Chris and Stephanie Heger of Hugoton. She has been involved with the HHS Lady Eagles’ basketball team since her freshman year. Katy recently signed to play basketball at Washburn University with the Ichabods.

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