DasHaus (Feb/March2015)

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DasHaus FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015

Welcome, home Spressers’ abode is family friendly.

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At home6

CONTENTS

Room to enjoy company fits Spressers.

Taking steps to health....4 Get out and get moving for a healthier lifestyle this year.

Picture this.........10

Kayla Berry offers unique ways to dress up your favorite pictures.

Das Haus is published and distributed by The Hays Daily News, 507 Main, Hays, KS 67601. Find it online at www.HDNews.net/DasHaus.

Copyright Š 2015 Harris Enterprises. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Das Haus is a registered trademark of The Hays Daily News.

Printed by Northwestern Printers, 114 W. Ninth, Hays, KS 67601, northwesternprinters.com.

Publisher, Patrick Lowry, plowry@dailynews.net Advertising Director, Mary Karst, maryk_ads@dailynews.net Designer, Nick Schwien, nschwien@dailynews.net Account Executives: Joleen Fisher, Ashley Bergman, Eric Rathke Creative Services: Juno Ogle, Mallory Anderson

Green Guy.........12 Sean Linden keeps name of business to remind him of familiar place.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT Linda Beech is a family and consumer science agent with K-State Research and Extension in Ellis County.

Taking steps

to health I

ncreasing physical activity is a frequent recommendation to improve health and prevent chronic illness. But increasing activity need not be difficult. In the springtime, it can be fun.

This time of year brings the annual favorite — Walk Kansas from Kansas State University Research and Extension. The statewide Walk Kansas fitness challenge will run March 15 through May 9. Now is the time to form six-person teams in order to meet local registration deadlines in early March.

The low-cost fitness program, celebrating its 14th anniversary this year, attracted 16,500 participants across the state last year. However, the program reaches far beyond Kansas borders with team members in many states and countries around the world. Walk Kansas has also become a popular worksite wellness program with many employers across the state encouraging — or sponsoring — employees to participate.

Walk Kansas encourages teams of six friends, family members, co-workers and church-mates to compile 423 miles in eight weeks — equal to the distance across the state. If that seems too easy, teams can select from other more ambitious challenges — to walk across the state and back (846 miles) or around the perimeter of Kansas. That’s 1,200 miles.

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Although introduced in 2002 to encourage walking, Walk Kansas has expanded to also count 15-minute intervals of any moderate physical activity as 1 mile toward a Walk Kansas goal. Team members can enjoy such activities as biking, swimming, weight training or other individual and team sports to count toward their Walk Kansas miles.

The team approach helps make this fitness program flexible and fun.

A little friendly peer pressure from teammates might be all it takes to encourage some of us to get moving. Being able to exercise alone or with others, on your own schedule and using your favorite activities also is a plus.

An additional feature of the Walk Kansas program is an emphasis on good nutrition along with exercise.

Most Americans could be healthier simply by eating more fruits and vegetables. To encourage participants to include a diet rich in these healthful foods, daily cups of fruits and vegetables will be recorded along with minutes of exercise. The goal for each individual is to consume 4 to 5 cups of fruits and vegetables every day.

There is no minimum or maximum age level, and one of the program’s most enthusiastic supporters is Marge Neely, 94, from Neosho County. Marge recruits Walk Kansas teams in her community every year and says “We’ve got to keep moving — it makes everything easier.”

Most teams that enroll in Walk Kansas meet their goal. And, people who have participated in the program in recent years report additional benefits. They often say they look better, feel better, have more energy, improved sleep habits, lower blood pressure, lose weight and notice a difference in how their clothes feel.

The cost to participate is affordable. A small registration fee ($3 per person in Ellis County) covers program materials, weekly email newsletters, and extra activities. An

Courtesy photo optional T-shirt also can be purchased for an additional cost.

Team registration is requested in the first week of March. Registration packets are available at county Extension offices across northwest Kansas. Those in Ellis County should contact the Ellis County Extension 0ffice, 601 Main, Ste. A in Hays, (785) 628-9430. Team captains can pick up a registration packet in mid-

February to be returned with completed registration forms and fees.

More information about Walk Kansas is available on the Ellis County Extension website at www.ellis.ksu. edu or the statewide Walk Kansas website, www.walkkansas.org.

You can also follow Walk Kansas on Facebook at “K-State Research and Extension-Ellis County” and “Kansas State University Walk Kansas.”

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AT HOME

Tara and Greg Spresser design house to suit themselves — and their large family.

Welcom I

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t didn’t take Greg and Tara Spresser long to think of a theme for the new home they wanted to build after marrying in October 2011.

“We wanted it to be open and welcoming for family get-togethers,” Tara said.

Both are apparent from the moment you step in the front door of the modest-sized home amidst the group of new houses dotting the rolling hills of Hilltop Drive just outside of Hays.

From the 2-by-3 foot family photo to the huge round dining table, the cozy feeling of family infiltrates the home.

Even the kitchen is conducive to someone cooking a meal to be involved with the goings-on in the living and dining areas. The sink is just behind a tall rock-covered bar, facing the open living and dining rooms.

“There have been so many holidays already where I could be in the kitchen and still be part of the group,” Tara said, confirming her decision for the open look.

The entire home is practical, from the neutral colors on the wall to the urinals in two bathrooms.

“We wanted the ease of cleaning the bathrooms with so many guys,” Tara said of the five men in the family. “You wouldn’t believe how having a urinal makes it so much easier to keep everything cleaner.”

>>>>>>>>>

me,

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story by diane gasper-o’brien photos by jolie green

HOME

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“The whole house is designed around making it easy to clean,” Tara said. “That’s why the floors are a light wood rather than dark.”

When the Spressers married, their combined family doubled, including six teenagers and young adults in their 20s, including four guys.

With all but one of those children still living in the Hays area, the Spressers wanted plenty of space to accommodate large family gatherings.

“We even made the bedrooms a little smaller than some new houses,” Tara said, “so it allows for more square footage in our livable space.”

While Tara likes to describe her decorating as “simple,” that didn’t mean the plans for their new home didn’t take some time — and a lot of thought — before they hired Homes

by Cornerstone in Hays to build their home.

“Sitting in our duplex in town, I would get out graph paper and sit for hours, figuring out how I wanted things,” she said. “I would get out the tape measure and measure the rooms in the duplex and decide what I wanted in a bigger space.”

“If I wasn’t in dental hygiene, I would want to be in design,” said Tara, a dental hygienist at Cedar Lodge Dental Group.

It helps that Tara is a crafty doit-yourselfer, even more so than her husband.

She made the tall headboards for several of the bedrooms and barn doors for a bathroom, and got Greg to help her install a lot more wood in the home.

“Tara’s gotten me out of my element a little bit,” said Greg, who grew up working at his father’s gas station in the small northwest Kansas town of Dresden. “I hadn’t really been around construction.”

He is now.

The couple installed tongue-andgroove wood on the wall just inside the front door and on the high-pitched living room ceiling, as well as the basement walls, adding to the rustic, cozy feeling.

The 6-foot round dining table made of cement easily seats eight. And even more can be squeezed in.

“That kind of goes along with the theme of family,” Tara said of the shape of the table. “We can all be part of the conversation. We’ve had as many as 12 around it.”

The table also goes along with Tara’s philosophy of practical, and her draw to stone. The stone that covers the kitchen bar is the same as the siding outside.

“Greg’s dad nicknamed me Mrs. Flintstone,” Tara added with a laugh, “because of all the stone.”

There are plenty of little touches that add to the “come-on-in-and-makeyourself-at home” feeling. There is a pair of ice skates hanging on the headboard of the bed in the guest bedroom, an old sled perched by the fireplace in the living room and a table and chair set on the back porch in full view out the patio doors.

A favorite of the family, Tara says, is a large backyard shop, where Greg — owner of Spresser Auto Care, a paintless dent removal business — works on his customers’ vehicles.

But it’s also a place for a lot of fun.

Tall bar stools sit in front of a TV on the west wall, and a ping-pong table, card table and portable basketball goal share space with Greg’s tools and work bench.

There also is a bedroom and bathroom in the shop, originally planned for overflow for guests.

“The doghouse,” as that area has been dubbed, was a favorite of visitors on a Christmas public home tour in early December.

“People at the open house would say, ‘I wouldn’t mind being in trouble and going to the doghouse here,’ ” Greg said.

The basement is a sports fan’s dream.

A variety of beer lights line the wall behind a bar, giving the area a sports bar feel along with a pool table, a dart board and a card game table.

Another large family photo, along with two taxidermy deer shoulder mounts, guns from Greg’s two grandfathers and inspirational sayings hang on walls above the comfy section of the room with a couch sectional and an easy chair.

Kansas City Chiefs and University of Kansas memorabilia is spread throughout the basement, from a rug commemorating KU’s 2008 national championship team to beer mugs, banners and pictures on the wall.

There even is a strip of KU duct tape on the floor, marking the throw line for

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the dart game.

But one wall is reserved exclusively for family photos, along with a framed jersey from Greg’s high school days at Jennings.

“It’s all a mixture of garage sale things and stuff I’ve made,” Tara said.

“And,” she added, “family things.”

Tara said she thoroughly enjoyed the December home tours event, a fundraiser for Thomas More PrepMarian Junior-Senior High School, especially talking with people about the floor plan or the decor.

“A lot of people would say, ‘It looks like you have a lot of fun here,’ ” Tara said.

That was the Spressers’ idea when they built it.

“Sometimes we’ll catch ourselves looking around and …” Tara said, stopping in mid-sentence. “We’re just really thankful. We love our home.”

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Berry Berry Quite Contrary Kayla Berry is a stay-at-home mom who enjoys creating, decorating and re-purposing old furniture and decor.

Picture this M the cost.

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aking your own picture frames is easier and cheaper than you might think. These picture frames shown all were made for approximately $1. By using items you already have on hand to make them, it cuts down on

What you need

• Wood board — Any scrap piece of wood you have lying around, or try places such as the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store in The Mall.

>>>>>>>>>

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• Primer — You will need to prime your board if it is laminated or has been painted, or else your paint will peel off the board.

• Paint — A tip: I like to go to hardware stores and buy the “messed up” paint. At some places, you can get a cup of paint for 50 cents. These are perfect for small projects such as picture frames because you don’t need much paint.

• Paintbrush — Any type will do.

• Twine — This is a cheap way to hold your pictures in place on your frame. Small clips or clothespins are another cheap alternative to hold pictures.

• Hot glue gun or wood glue — Both will work to attach your clips or twine.

• Sandpaper.

• Clear wax — This is optional. A wax simply is going to protect whatever you painted on your board.

• Burlap and stencils are optional.

Prime your board if needed. Then paint it and let dry. You can stencil a design on your board if want or try painting stripes or polka dots. Use your hot glue gun or wood glue to attach the twine or clips. If using wood glue, give it 24 hours to dry. Attaching a burlap bow, distressing your board with sand paper, etc., are ways to give your frame a more customized look. If you want it hung, simply attach sawtooth clips to the back.

But you just don’t have to attach pictures to your frames; you can use one as a recipe holder while cooking, to display kid’s art work, etc.

Visit my website at berryberryquitecontrary.wordpress.com for more ideas on making homemade picture frames.

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Homemade Crafts Despite move, Sean Linden keeps name he’s familiar with for business.

Green guy

By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN dobrien@dailynews.net green bungalow at the corner of 16th and Fort in Hays will always hold a special place in the heart of Sean Linden.

It was the first home he and his wife, Jamie, bought as a married couple. They came home to 201 W. 16th together after the birth of all three of their young children.

That’s why Linden is keeping the name of “The Green Bungalow” for his side business of handmade hardwood products, even though he recently moved his family to another town.

“We were sitting around one day trying to figure out what to call (the business) and thought ‘Green Bungalow’ sounded pretty good,” Linden said. “And it just stuck.”

The Lindens recently moved because the

A

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family had an opportunity to purchase a larger home in his hometown of Collyer. It has an outbuilding that can house his hobby-turned-business of making cutting boards and hand-carving wooden spoons.

“It was our first home; it’s where we started our family,” Linden said of the bungalow in Hays. “Keeping the same name is a way of keeping it with us.”

Plus, Linden has built up a following of clientele under that name.

An employee of Roy’s Custom Cabinets the past 10 years, Linden said he hated seeing the scrap wood just being thrown away.

So one day he took some home with him and used it to make a cutting board “as a gift.”

Then he started carving away on some of the smaller pieces and soon realized he had an abundance of wood from which to choose for his newfound hobby.

“This is the best of the best

wood,” he said of his variety of cherry, walnut, maple, birch and poplar.

It became more than just a hobby last spring and summer when he started setting up a table at the Downtown

Hays Market on 10th Street.

He also attended some craft fairs in the fall but said, “I really like the downtown market.”

>>>>>>>>>

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“It’s all handmade, homemade,” he said of the wares sold at the Downtown Hays Market. “And it’s a real comfortable atmosphere. People like to see what you’re making, and they strike up a conversation.”

And, he added, he gets a large amount of vegetables when he offers gardeners a spoon in exchange.

Most of his cutting boards also are made of scrap lumber, and he can use numerous kinds to make each one a unique board. The spoons, however, are the handiest items to work on because he can carve them just about anywhere while using just two different tools.

“I used to sit out on the porch (in Hays) and work on them,” he said.

No two spoons are alike.

“All one of a kind,” Linden said.

Some of the handles are not perfectly straight, and Linden leaves them that way, one of the tricks he has learned along the way.

“The blade follows where the wood would naturally break,” he said.

“So it holds the strength of the wood.”

“And this is by feel,” he added, rub-

bing the inside of the bowl of a spoon.

“I round it by using a hinge action” with the knife and his finger.

He soaks the spoons in water, then dries them with a hair dryer to make them smoother. There’s a lot of sanding in the process before he puts on the finishing touch — covering them with mineral oil.

Linden even experimented with making Christmas ornaments this winter and sold out quickly at holidaybased craft fairs.

1846D 250th Ave. • Hays, KS 67601 Phone 785-625-8622

He has slowed down some in the past few weeks because of the family moving process but has items on hand that can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thegreenbungalow2014. Or he can be reached by calling (785) 787-3749.

Linden is self-taught, with his only class being a show he watched on the Public Broadcasting System.

“It was a learning process,” Linden said. “Learn as I go along. It’s something I really enjoy.”

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