Ode To Hays

Hays Has It.

It's Happening in Hays.

Those were slogans for the city of Hays, Kansas, that I remember from my childhood.  We used to make fun of them a lot, but when I was really young, I did think that Hays had "it," whatever it was.  I think the first thing I remember about Hays is that once upon a time I actually couldn't distinguish it from Russell, Kansas.  Both were cities off of I-70, where my parents used to take us to shop or run errands, and I just knew they both were what I considered "big towns" but I couldn't tell them apart.  That must have been when I was 4 or so, because soon I realized many of the differences between the two.  Hays was much larger, had a college, a mall, a Wal-Mart - basically all the exciting things I grew to love throughout my childhood.

My earliest memories of Hays were of being impressed by the size of it.  I spent most of my time on our farm, and when I was lucky enough to "go to town," it was generally to Paradise or Natoma; population around 66 and 300 respectively.  Those were what I was used to.  So, going to Hays, a city of about 20,000, felt like I was going to New York City back then.  Of course, New York would have blown my mind.

I remember eventually going to Salina, Kansas and thinking "now this is a big city."  Then, I saw the population sign outside of Wichita, Kansas, which was something like 300,000 at the time and I was just floored.  Later, when we drive to Kansas City for the first time, I thought that city would never end.

But Hays was always my little big town.

Once, in sixth or seventh grade, my dad was going somewhere on a day trip and he was going to be driving through Hays on his way, and somehow I was able to convince him to drop me off downtown.  From there, I walked all over and ended up at my Grandma Irene's apartment where I waited for him to pick me up on his way back through.  I felt so mature and independent!  That was definitely the first time I got to explore a city alone, which has grown to be one of my favorite pastimes.  I remember going to GB Records, the ARC Thrift Store, and another record store on Vine Street, which I regrettably can't remember the name of*, where I purchased the Blondie album "Plastic Letters" on cassette tape.

After my graduation from Paradise Middle School in 1991, my family moved to Hays.  This was a very big change for us and one that I fully embraced.  I was so excited to be finally moving to the big city, although by this time I was 14 and was not as impressed by the bustling metropolis, referred to by my then-uncle Gene as "Hays Asparagus," as I once was.  I quickly discovered that Hays was still just essentially a small, hick town in the middle of nowhere.  It only took a few years of living there before I started to make fun of this place that I once held in such high esteem.  Although, looking back, there were moments where I really enjoyed living in Hays and enjoying all it had to offer, which was much, much more than my little hometown of Paradise could.  I didn't have to go to church!  I didn't have to go out for sports at school!  We had an orchestra! Most of the things I loved about Hays had to do with school, the college (which I spent entirely too much time at for a high schooler), and G.B. Records.  OK, fine, I loved the mall still too!

Once I graduated high school it really should have been time to move on, but I didn't.  I wasn't mature enough yet.  I still needed my parents, and I still needed the comfort of being somewhere I was familiar with, although I grew to loathe the place more and more each passing year.

There were still some great times, though.  There was a drag show in the basement of the Bijou.  Singe (my first band) shows at the Tupperware Building.  Driving out to the oil tanks west of town for a view of the whole city at night.  Drinking and walking around downtown.  People so drunk they puked in the washing machines at Sip N' Spin.  Parties at my cousin Andrea's apartments.  Line dancing at The Wild Rose.  The annual Yearbook Staff christmas parties.  My brother and I getting our own house together.  A poetry slam in the basement of Custer Hall.  The Homecoming Parade (where, my senior year in college, I was given the "Homecoming Pride" award for our yearbook float).  And of course, the brand new, state-of-the-art Tomanek Hall, where I first discovered a thing called "The Internet."

I think the thing I remember about Hays the most was driving around, often with friends, but even more often just by myself, in my car, with a CD playing through the disc-man hooked up through a cassette adapter.  For awhile, I delivered food from Taco Grande, for which I got to drive one of their "taco trolleys" but mostly it was my own car, and mostly that was my black Ford Probe.  I got to know all the streets, all the secret places, all the roads on the outskirts of town and beyond.  Sometimes, when I lived by myself in a trailer house at Meadow Acres, I couldn't sleep at night so I would just drive around until the sun came up.

I'm writing this in tribute to Hays as it has finally been added to Google's street view, and my brother and I were able to once again wander the streets of this little cow town, through an internet portal all the way from Los Angeles, CA, where I might not have ever moved to had I not spent 8 years in Hays.  It was while working at Days Inn there that I decided I wanted to get as far away as I possibly could, and to me that was LA.  

*My uncle Ronnie informs me that the record store was called Touch Feeling of Sound, and that he once worked there.  My other memory of this place is that the first time my mom took me there, the salesperson had shown us a copy of Billboard magazine and said it was "his bible" and we both laughed about that later.