<a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/state-farm-weather-window">For a full look at the weather forecast, click here.</a>

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 </figure><a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/state-farm-weather-window">For a full look at the weather forecast, click here.</a>

Three-day weather outlook

The Hays Arts Council is excited to be back with more fun this summer. "Sizzlin' Summer 2024" classes for young people are being offered in the visual and performing arts, including classes such as painting, acting and theatre, guitar lessons, and lots of other mixed-media arts and craft workshops and classes.

Get your special kiddos registered for some of the fun and exciting things planned for this summer.

The Midwest Energy Community Fund provided grant support benefiting the 2024 "Sizzlin' Summer" youth program.

Learn more at <a href="https://haysartscouncil.org/summer-classes">haysartscouncil.org/summer-classes</a>.

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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1715196095129.png" alt="Photo courtesy of the Hays Arts Council" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy of the Hays Arts Council</figcaption>
 </figure>Hays Arts CouncilThe Hays Arts Council is excited to be back with more fun this summer. "Sizzlin' Summer 2024" classes for young people are being offered in the visual and performing arts, including classes such as painting, acting and theatre, guitar lessons, and lots of other mixed-media arts and craft workshops and classes.Get your special kiddos registered for some of the fun and exciting things planned for this summer.The Midwest Energy Community Fund provided grant support benefiting the 2024 "Sizzlin' Summer" youth program.Learn more at <a href="https://haysartscouncil.org/summer-classes">haysartscouncil.org/summer-classes</a>.<figure>
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Hays Arts Council announces youth summer art classes

Why did the baby strawberry cry? Because his parents were in a jam

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Why did the baby strawberry cry? Because his parents were in a jamJoin fans of KZ Country on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 05/08/24

The Lovegrass Music Festival Association (LMFA) is thrilled to announce that it has once again received a generous grant of over $2,000 from the Russell County Area Community Foundation (RCACF), an affiliate of the Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation (GNWKCF). 

The RCACF has a strong mission to invest in meaningful ways that directly irmpact the local community, and LMFA is honored to be among such recipients.

This year, the contribution will be utilized towards the purchase of a much-needed festival tent. In partnership with the Switchgrass Arts Cooperative, this tent will host events such as youth arts and crafts, as well as festival workshops including yoga and felted patch-making.

The LMFA is so excited to be able to offer such fun and unique events to our annual festival, which would simply not be possible without such kind philanthropy.

The LMFA began as a simple idea between friends who frequent Wilson State Park. Each year the festival has grown in stature and reputation, boasting a lineup including some of the nation's most sought-after roots musical acts.

This year, the festival runs from August 8th-10th and is held at the Lovegrass campground in beautiful Wilson, KS. Thanks to support from generous donors, such as the RCACF, music lovers flock to rural Kansas each August to enjoy the festival for free-will donations, which would cost them hundreds of dollars to attend elsewhere.

As the festival has grown and flourished, attendees and bluegrass musicians from widening geographic areas have made the pilgrimage to scenic Russell County, Kansas, to enjoy music, community, and a reprieve from urban life.

You can find more information about the festival at <a href="http://www.lovegrassmusicfestival.com">www.lovegrassmusicfestival.com</a> and on Facebook, and more about RCACF and all the wonderful work they do for local communities, visit <a href="https://rcacf.org/about-us/">https://rcacf.org/about-us/ </a>

SubmittedThe Lovegrass Music Festival Association (LMFA) is thrilled to announce that it has once again received a generous grant of over $2,000 from the Russell County Area Community Foundation (RCACF), an affiliate of the Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation (GNWKCF). The RCACF has a strong mission to invest in meaningful ways that directly irmpact the local community, and LMFA is honored to be among such recipients.This year, the contribution will be utilized towards the purchase of a much-needed festival tent. In partnership with the Switchgrass Arts Cooperative, this tent will host events such as youth arts and crafts, as well as festival workshops including yoga and felted patch-making.The LMFA is so excited to be able to offer such fun and unique events to our annual festival, which would simply not be possible without such kind philanthropy.The LMFA began as a simple idea between friends who frequent Wilson State Park. Each year the festival has grown in stature and reputation, boasting a lineup including some of the nation's most sought-after roots musical acts.This year, the festival runs from August 8th-10th and is held at the Lovegrass campground in beautiful Wilson, KS. Thanks to support from generous donors, such as the RCACF, music lovers flock to rural Kansas each August to enjoy the festival for free-will donations, which would cost them hundreds of dollars to attend elsewhere.As the festival has grown and flourished, attendees and bluegrass musicians from widening geographic areas have made the pilgrimage to scenic Russell County, Kansas, to enjoy music, community, and a reprieve from urban life.You can find more information about the festival at <a href="http://www.lovegrassmusicfestival.com">www.lovegrassmusicfestival.com</a> and on Facebook, and more about RCACF and all the wonderful work they do for local communities, visit <a href="https://rcacf.org/about-us/">https://rcacf.org/about-us/ </a>

Lovegrass Music Festival receives grant

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 </figure><a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/state-farm-weather-window">For a full look at the weather forecast, click here.</a>

On this episode of Forward Ever: Leading in Challenging Times, host Gary Shorman speaks with&nbsp;HaysMed President, CEO Eddie Herrman.

<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o8KYn5O7ROo?si=I9ZAyP0OjLukO9P5" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>On this episode of Forward Ever: Leading in Challenging Times, host Gary Shorman speaks with&nbsp;HaysMed President, CEO Eddie Herrman.

🎤Forward Ever: HaysMed President, CEO Eddie Herrman

Prairie Garden Club plant giveaway set for May 9

Stay Strong, Stay Healthy begins May 14

What is a cow’s favorite water sport? Ca-moo-ing!&nbsp;

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What is a cow’s favorite water sport? Ca-moo-ing!&nbsp;Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 05/07/24

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 </figure><a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/state-farm-weather-window">For a full look at the weather forecast, click here.</a>

2024 FAMOUS FIGURES award-winning performances –

1st&nbsp;Place – Jaden Brull as Hedy Lamarr (Holy Family)

2nd&nbsp;Place – Byron Burns as Moe Howard (O’Loughlin)

3rd&nbsp;Place (tie) – Katie Hines as Betsy Ross (Washington)

3rd&nbsp;Place (tie) – Ava Ryan as Clara Barton (Roosevelt)

4th&nbsp;Place – Olivia Eck as Mamie Till (St. Mary’s)

5th&nbsp;Place – Elliott Howden as Napoleon Bonaparte (Wilson)

Click the link below to watch the 2024 Famous Figures finals.

<a href="https://youtube.com/live/Hac5BpFIq4c?feature=share" target="_blank">2024 Famous Figures hosted by Hays Arts Council</a>

2024 Hays Arts Council FAMOUS FIGURES finalists by school

The Hays Arts Council Famous Figures is a living history and performance project open to fifth-grade students in Ellis County public and private schools.

It involves a short performance as a favorite person (living or deceased) from the present through the distant past.

The project promotes the use of research skills, awareness and appreciation of the qualities of a positive role model, thinking and writing in a creative manner, and developing acting and public speaking skills.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1683314104970.jpeg" alt="File photo" />
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 </figure>Hays Arts Council2024 FAMOUS FIGURES award-winning performances –1st&nbsp;Place – Jaden Brull as Hedy Lamarr (Holy Family)2nd&nbsp;Place – Byron Burns as Moe Howard (O’Loughlin)3rd&nbsp;Place (tie) – Katie Hines as Betsy Ross (Washington)3rd&nbsp;Place (tie) – Ava Ryan as Clara Barton (Roosevelt)4th&nbsp;Place – Olivia Eck as Mamie Till (St. Mary’s)5th&nbsp;Place – Elliott Howden as Napoleon Bonaparte (Wilson)Click the link below to watch the 2024 Famous Figures finals.<a href="https://youtube.com/live/Hac5BpFIq4c?feature=share" target="_blank">2024 Famous Figures hosted by Hays Arts Council</a>2024 Hays Arts Council FAMOUS FIGURES finalists by school<h2>HOLY FAMILY ELEMENTARY</h2>Jaden Brull as Hedy LamarrSperry Mall as Dorothy KamenshekKelsey Robben as Eliza HamiltonNora Stoecklein as Anne Frank<h2>WILSON ELEMENTARY</h2>Lily Atkinson as Betty WhitePresley Connally as Anne FrankCollins Harris as Jackie StilesElliott Howden as Napoleon BonaparteMason Huwa as Robert RipleyHarper Nichol as Paige Bueckers<h2>ROOSEVELT ELEMENTARY</h2>Kate Pope as John WayneMiley Vanek as Dolly PartonGentry Jenkins as Jennie FinchAva Ryan as Clara Barton<h2>LINCOLN ELEMENTARY</h2>Mila Womack as Ruth Bader GinsburgGeorgia Olson as Deborah SampsonCoyle Detherage as Nick OffermanBrian Sheeley as King Henry the 8th<h2>O’LOUGHLIN ELEMENTARY</h2>Byron Burns as Moe HowardAlaina Yarmer as Aly RaismanAliyah Kinderknecht as Anne FrankBlair Paul as Billie Jean KingKash Wendland as Babe RuthLiam Wise as Roberto Clemente<h2>VICTORIA ELEMENTARY</h2>Knox Potter as Michael JordanDax Leikam as Musashi MiyamotoSage Schwien as Davy Crockett<h2>ST. MARY’S GRADE SCHOOL</h2>Olivia Eck as Mamie TillBreckyn Honas as Elizabeth Blackwell<h2>WASHINGTON GRADE SCHOOL</h2>Katie Hines as Betsy RossPhoebe Davis as Queen Elizabeth IThe Hays Arts Council Famous Figures is a living history and performance project open to fifth-grade students in Ellis County public and private schools.It involves a short performance as a favorite person (living or deceased) from the present through the distant past.The project promotes the use of research skills, awareness and appreciation of the qualities of a positive role model, thinking and writing in a creative manner, and developing acting and public speaking skills.

Hays Arts Council's Famous Figures winners announced; watch recording

Why was there thunder and lightning in the lab? The scientists were brainstorming

Why was there thunder and lightning in the lab? The scientists were brainstormingJoin fans of KZ Country on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 05/06/24

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 </figure><a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/state-farm-weather-window">For a full look at the weather forecast, click here.</a>

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🎥 Green & Growing Drip Irrigation

What do lawyers wear to court? Lawsuits!

What do lawyers wear to court? Lawsuits!Join fans of KZ Country on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 05/03/24

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 </figure><a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/state-farm-weather-window">For a full look at the weather forecast, click here.</a>

How does thread get to school? On a spool bus.

How does thread get to school? On a spool bus.Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 05/02/24

By BECKY KISER Hays Post

Most of the "old-time" sights and sounds were new to the third-graders who participated in Wednesday's Pioneer Days at the Ellis County Historical Society grounds, Seventh and Main in Hays.

"They're finding out what it was like in the 'olden days' on the prairie with no electricity," said Amanda Rupp, Ellis County Historical Society executive director.

"What did you do for fun at recess when there were no basketball courts? How did dinner get prepared?

"Maybe this will inspire the kids to think out of the box and how to make something work when something else won't," Rupp said.

The modern-day children learned that instead of playing video games, pioneer children played marbles and ran three-legged races and egg-spoon races for their entertainment.

Some of the youngsters come from a rural background and immediately recognized the stalk of ripe wheat passed around at the homemade bread and butter demonstration by Donna Maskus, volunteer and society board member.

Many of the 170 students from&nbsp;Holy Family, Wilson, and Lincoln elementary schools, along with Washington Grade School in Ellis, had seen horses before but not up close and personal.

They learned that horses were the primary source of transportation for their forebearers on the prairie.&nbsp;

Members of the Fort Hays State University Rodeo Club also brought their lariats to show off their calf-roping skills, which each child got to try.

Nine stations were set up for the children to learn about life in the past from about 20 volunteers.&nbsp;

The information shared was geared toward the third-grade curriculum.

"It's within their realm of understanding," Rupp said. "They're so inquisitive and filled with questions."

The third-graders found it hard to imagine their entire family living in a one-room house, which they discovered in the Volga Haus exhibit.

They found out at the laundry station there were no extensive wardrobes. Clothes were made by hand and washed with lye soap only occasionally.&nbsp;

Sing-alongs were popular entertainment, and the students sang historic songs, including the Kansas state song "Home on the Range."

There were no supermarkets to shop at. Frontier families raised and butchered their own beef and pork during the winter to take advantage of cold temperatures. There was no refrigeration, either.

The groups learned that corn was for more than just eating. During a tour of the Harness Shop, they also learned about the need for barbed wire fences.

Looking ahead to the next ten years of Pioneer Days, Rupp expects it to evolve to include things like using rotary dial phones, "something their grandparents may have done, not the first pioneers.

"They might hear their grandparents talking about it a little bit, how they made things work. It's good to remember how things were when they didn't have everything," Rupp said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714594801990.jpeg" alt="Laundry day outside the Volga Haus during Ellis County Historical Society Pioneer Days. Photos and video by Becky Kiser/Hays Post&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Laundry day outside the Volga Haus during Ellis County Historical Society Pioneer Days. Photos and video by Becky Kiser/Hays Post&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>By BECKY KISER Hays PostMost of the "old-time" sights and sounds were new to the third-graders who participated in Wednesday's Pioneer Days at the Ellis County Historical Society grounds, Seventh and Main in Hays."They're finding out what it was like in the 'olden days' on the prairie with no electricity," said Amanda Rupp, Ellis County Historical Society executive director."What did you do for fun at recess when there were no basketball courts? How did dinner get prepared?"Maybe this will inspire the kids to think out of the box and how to make something work when something else won't," Rupp said.The modern-day children learned that instead of playing video games, pioneer children played marbles and ran three-legged races and egg-spoon races for their entertainment.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714595231429.jpeg" alt="Volunteer and historical society board member Donna Maskus shows area third-graders a stalk of ripe wheat at the bread and butter demonstration booth. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Volunteer and historical society board member Donna Maskus shows area third-graders a stalk of ripe wheat at the bread and butter demonstration booth. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>Some of the youngsters come from a rural background and immediately recognized the stalk of ripe wheat passed around at the homemade bread and butter demonstration by Donna Maskus, volunteer and society board member.Many of the 170 students from&nbsp;Holy Family, Wilson, and Lincoln elementary schools, along with Washington Grade School in Ellis, had seen horses before but not up close and personal.They learned that horses were the primary source of transportation for their forebearers on the prairie.&nbsp;Members of the Fort Hays State University Rodeo Club also brought their lariats to show off their calf-roping skills, which each child got to try.<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8PkAD59_sJ0" title="ECHS Pioneer Days" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Nine stations were set up for the children to learn about life in the past from about 20 volunteers.&nbsp;The information shared was geared toward the third-grade curriculum."It's within their realm of understanding," Rupp said. "They're so inquisitive and filled with questions."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714595070583.jpeg" alt="One room Vola Hays at Ellis County Historical Society. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>One room Vola Hays at Ellis County Historical Society. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>The third-graders found it hard to imagine their entire family living in a one-room house, which they discovered in the Volga Haus exhibit.They found out at the laundry station there were no extensive wardrobes. Clothes were made by hand and washed with lye soap only occasionally.&nbsp;Sing-alongs were popular entertainment, and the students sang historic songs, including the Kansas state song "Home on the Range."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714595146042.jpeg" alt="Pioneer families raised and butchered their own meat. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Pioneer families raised and butchered their own meat. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>There were no supermarkets to shop at. Frontier families raised and butchered their own beef and pork during the winter to take advantage of cold temperatures. There was no refrigeration, either.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714597323670.jpeg" alt="Corn was, and is, for more than just eating. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Corn was, and is, for more than just eating. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1714597491926.jpeg" alt="Volunteer Brad Penka with the Barbed Wire Museum in La Crosse, shows how the "devil's rope" was twisted using a stone wheel. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Volunteer Brad Penka with the Barbed Wire Museum in La Crosse, shows how the "devil's rope" was twisted using a stone wheel. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>The groups learned that corn was for more than just eating. During a tour of the Harness Shop, they also learned about the need for barbed wire fences.Looking ahead to the next ten years of Pioneer Days, Rupp expects it to evolve to include things like using rotary dial phones, "something their grandparents may have done, not the first pioneers."They might hear their grandparents talking about it a little bit, how they made things work. It's good to remember how things were when they didn't have everything," Rupp said.

🎥 Pioneer Days returns to Ellis County Historical Society after 7 years

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 </figure><a href="https://hayspost.com/pages/state-farm-weather-window">For a full look at the weather forecast, click here.</a>

What do you call an Eskimo cow? An Eskimoo!

What do you call an Eskimo cow? An Eskimoo!Join fans of KZ Country on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 05/01/24

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STEVE GILLIAND Exploring Kansas Outdoors

Many a good fisherman has cut his or her “teeth” on bluegills, often catching them from a farm pond with nothing but a hook and a bit of worm under a bobber. Some of us can even remember catching them with a cane pole and an old cork fastened on some sort of heavy cord. They’re feisty fighters and provide just enough action to get and keep a youngster “hooked” on fishing. When spawning, they scoop out oval shaped beds in the pond bottom, and in defense of their spawning ground, the little rascals will chase about any bait or lure thrown into the water.

I recently stumbled across another role for bluegills besides helping kids learn to fish. Do you remember how coal miners of years ago carried caged canaries into the mine with them to detect toxic air? It seems the birds were able to detect toxins in the air well before the miners could, and by watching the birds’ reactions the miners would be warned in time to exit the mines before breathing the poisoned air. It seems that some time back the Army developed a system of using bluegill fish to detect toxins in drinking water, much like the canaries were able to do with air in the coal mines. The original process was named IAC 1090, or Intelligent Aquatic BioMonitoring System, and though it was developed by the Army for its own use, the system is currently used to monitor the drinking water at Fort Detrick, Maryland, plus several large cities including New York City, San Francisco and Washington DC, and since 911, even more large US cities have begun using bluegills to help protect their water supplies.

It seems bluegills are extremely sensitive to toxins in the water where they live, so the system works by employing bluegill fish at water treatment plants. Each fish is kept in an individual plastic case that is described as looking like a trunk made into an aquarium. Fish do a three week tour of duty and are then replaced. They are kept inside at the water treatment facility and water is piped through the case, where electronic sensors monitor each fish for what amounts to “fish coughs.” Much like we humans cough to expel something foreign from our respiratory system, bluegills do the same by flexing their gills to expel something foreign, say a grain of sand, from their breathing passage. The instruments pick up these “coughs” and other irregularities and send the information to computers that constantly compare it to the fish’s normal behavior. If the computers sense that enough of the fish are upset by something in the water, they automatically trigger water samples to be taken and notify workers.

Bluegills are best able to detect non-biological threats such as pesticides, mercury, cyanide, heavy metals, fuel spills and phosphates. By monitoring the fish, workers are not able to tell exactly what toxins they are reacting to, just that there is threat to the drinking water that needs immediate attention. One article I found said that the Army had tested bluegills against 27 different toxins, and the fish detected them all.

The system at Fort Detrick tests both the raw water coming into the plant and the fully treated water just before its leaves the treatment facility. One example of the bluegill’s effectiveness cited a situation when the computer monitoring the fish sensed that the bluegills sampling the raw water pumped from the river had become agitated. The incoming water was immediately shut off and samples taken, revealing that someone had evidently washed a pesticide truck upstream in the river. The incoming water was so poisoned that all the fish that initially sensed it died, but not before the threat had been

addressed and identified. In this case the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia also benefited from the bluegills, allowing it to shut off its incoming water also, which was being pumped from the same river just one hundred yards upstream.

A spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, had this to say about their system that uses the little fish to protect its drinking water. “We appreciate that there’s an irony to this, that the oldest technology in the world -life- is now being combined with high technology to keep the water supply of the region safe. We want to use what works, and if that means we have to become fish keepers, then we will.” So the next time you catch a mess of bluegills, look upon them with a whole new respect! 

Steve can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574696211722.png" alt="" />
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 </figure>STEVE GILLIAND Exploring Kansas OutdoorsMany a good fisherman has cut his or her “teeth” on bluegills, often catching them from a farm pond with nothing but a hook and a bit of worm under a bobber. Some of us can even remember catching them with a cane pole and an old cork fastened on some sort of heavy cord. They’re feisty fighters and provide just enough action to get and keep a youngster “hooked” on fishing. When spawning, they scoop out oval shaped beds in the pond bottom, and in defense of their spawning ground, the little rascals will chase about any bait or lure thrown into the water.I recently stumbled across another role for bluegills besides helping kids learn to fish. Do you remember how coal miners of years ago carried caged canaries into the mine with them to detect toxic air? It seems the birds were able to detect toxins in the air well before the miners could, and by watching the birds’ reactions the miners would be warned in time to exit the mines before breathing the poisoned air. It seems that some time back the Army developed a system of using bluegill fish to detect toxins in drinking water, much like the canaries were able to do with air in the coal mines. The original process was named IAC 1090, or Intelligent Aquatic BioMonitoring System, and though it was developed by the Army for its own use, the system is currently used to monitor the drinking water at Fort Detrick, Maryland, plus several large cities including New York City, San Francisco and Washington DC, and since 911, even more large US cities have begun using bluegills to help protect their water supplies.It seems bluegills are extremely sensitive to toxins in the water where they live, so the system works by employing bluegill fish at water treatment plants. Each fish is kept in an individual plastic case that is described as looking like a trunk made into an aquarium. Fish do a three week tour of duty and are then replaced. They are kept inside at the water treatment facility and water is piped through the case, where electronic sensors monitor each fish for what amounts to “fish coughs.” Much like we humans cough to expel something foreign from our respiratory system, bluegills do the same by flexing their gills to expel something foreign, say a grain of sand, from their breathing passage. The instruments pick up these “coughs” and other irregularities and send the information to computers that constantly compare it to the fish’s normal behavior. If the computers sense that enough of the fish are upset by something in the water, they automatically trigger water samples to be taken and notify workers.Bluegills are best able to detect non-biological threats such as pesticides, mercury, cyanide, heavy metals, fuel spills and phosphates. By monitoring the fish, workers are not able to tell exactly what toxins they are reacting to, just that there is threat to the drinking water that needs immediate attention. One article I found said that the Army had tested bluegills against 27 different toxins, and the fish detected them all.The system at Fort Detrick tests both the raw water coming into the plant and the fully treated water just before its leaves the treatment facility. One example of the bluegill’s effectiveness cited a situation when the computer monitoring the fish sensed that the bluegills sampling the raw water pumped from the river had become agitated. The incoming water was immediately shut off and samples taken, revealing that someone had evidently washed a pesticide truck upstream in the river. The incoming water was so poisoned that all the fish that initially sensed it died, but not before the threat had beenaddressed and identified. In this case the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia also benefited from the bluegills, allowing it to shut off its incoming water also, which was being pumped from the same river just one hundred yards upstream.A spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, had this to say about their system that uses the little fish to protect its drinking water. “We appreciate that there’s an irony to this, that the oldest technology in the world -life- is now being combined with high technology to keep the water supply of the region safe. We want to use what works, and if that means we have to become fish keepers, then we will.” So the next time you catch a mess of bluegills, look upon them with a whole new respect! Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.Steve can be contacted by email at stevenrgilliland@gmail.com.

GILLILAND: Bluegills; Canaries in the water

The month of May is filled with many events and activities in Hays, including local high school and college graduations and commencements.

Melissa Dixon, Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director, has some of the other highlights.

A up-to-the-minute calendar of events is available on the Hays CVB website at <a href="https://www.visithays.com/calendar.aspx">VisitHays.com</a>.

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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575300742886.png" alt="" />
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 </figure>By BECKY KISER Hays PostThe month of May is filled with many events and activities in Hays, including local high school and college graduations and commencements.Melissa Dixon, Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director, has some of the other highlights.<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m68cfniH-AQ" title="Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau May events calendar" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1714494795541.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>A up-to-the-minute calendar of events is available on the Hays CVB website at <a href="https://www.visithays.com/calendar.aspx">VisitHays.com</a>.

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