Three-hundred cyclists rode across Ellis County Saturday to visit several Volga German Chapels and experience the culture. This is the fourth-annual Tour of Chapels, including stops at St. Catherine Church in Catharine, The Basilica on the Plains in Victoria, Holy Cross Church in Pfeifer and St. Francis Church in Munjor. Cyclists chose from a 15-mile casual ride to a 100-mile ride across the county that began at Hays Municipal Park. The ride concluded in the Municipal Park with meals and refreshments as The Joe Dolezal Polka Band performed.
Source: Hays Post

Stray animals are commonly found in rural parts of Seward County, but with kennels already full of animals found in Liberal, the city’s animal shelter has adopted a policy of not accepting animals from rural areas of the county. The issue was brought to light at the June 13 town hall meeting hosted by the Seward County Commission, and the commission addressed the problem at its June 20 regular meeting. After the town hall meeting, Administrator April Warden researched what other Kansas counties were doing with their local animal shelters, and she got an array of responses. “We had anywhere from $9,000, $7,500, $4,500 the counties are contributing. They have a memorandum of understanding within the cities, and most of them said it’s usually the sheriff’s office,” she said. Warden said sheriff’s office officials would get called out for stray animals in the county, and they would bring those animals to the shelter.
Source: Liberal First

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is turning over a new chapter in the Imagination Library legacy — celebrating 200 million books gifted globally since inception in 1995. The early childhood book-gifting program mails a high-quality, free book each month to children from birth to age five. The Dane G. Hansen Foundation, which sponsors the program, and local partner, Ellis County Imagination Library, are excited to celebrate with every child and family enrolled locally. In July, 921 children who live in Ellis County were enrolled in the Imagination Library, which has been available in the county since 2012. To celebrate this global 200 million book milestone, seven enchanting Dolly bookmarks will be randomly hidden inside Imagination Library books gifted during International Literacy Month (September) to children currently enrolled in the program. (Children must be enrolled by July 31 to receive Imagination Library books in September).
Source: Hays Daily News