The Post Podcast

USD 489 bond issue to impact more than education

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares potential impacts of the USD 489 bond issue proposal.
 
Transcript
James Bell 
As Hays residents consider another USD 489 bond issue Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams says school facilities are a key factor in recruiting people to the area. He talks to us about that and more on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Doug Williams 
Particularly in this day and age where we have lots of people moving around the country. You know, there's studies that say, in the next 10 years, 20 million people will migrate from urban areas to more rural areas. And these are people that can work remotely that have good jobs and have, they're skilled, and they're looking for alternatives other than the rat race in the city. So they're, they're looking at alternatives. And when they look out, across the country, one of the key things that this demographic looks for is schools, you know, when you talk to people, you know, talk to people all the time in urban areas, when they move to a different neighborhood, the first thing they look at, are the schools. Mm hmm. And that's what these people are looking for, as well. And we feel like Hayes has so much to offer. And we've got a great story to tell, until it comes to the physical condition of our schools. I think our quality of education is very good here. But the physical condition of our schools has been neglected for far too long. And so we have no choice but to do something about that. Because we're in a competitive world. And if you look at lots and lots of other communities, they have made the investments in their school systems, and we have not.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, exactly exactly what you're saying. And you know, I think about I saw some comments on when I was on social media. And it was folks basically, kind of lambasted saying that no peep, nobody would make that decision based on the schools, nobody's going to move to Hayes, because we have good schools. But I think to your point, people do make that decision if they're going to move and I think about myself, for example, if I were to leave this job, I would work probably online and could pick anywhere in the world. Anywhere, right? And the schools would be I've got a couple nine year olds and a little one about to get into the school district. That would be the one of the first things I would look at.
 
Doug Williams 
Sure, it's very important. And I think those people who don't think it is, could spend a few minutes talking to the human resources department at Hayes Medical Center, or Fort Hays State University who are trying to recruit health care providers, or college, college professors, or even our school system, trying to recruit or keep teachers, those teachers that do a really great job. How long are they going to stay here, when they have to work in the kind of conditions that some work in and they're really nasty, you know, some of our situations are, are not good at all. And you know that the thing I continue to harp on is, there's a cost of not passing a bond. And I argue that it's far higher than passing a bond. Yeah, you can, you can quantify what $140 million is, and it's X number of dollars for a homeowner per month, blah, blah, blah. It's more difficult to quantify the cost of those lost opportunities, those people that didn't come to our community, those businesses that maybe chose not to expand here, because we don't have the type of school system that can recruit people to our community for labor force and that kind of thing. So there's a high cost of not doing what we need to do, not to mention the fact that it gets more expensive every year.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, and this is something I've shared, we were talking a little bit about this right before we went on air too. And I've shared this story, one of the initial bond issue, guys that was helping spread the word on this one on room when the first bond issue went through seven, eight years ago now. But that's exactly what his point was. He was he was a conservative guy. And he said, Look, I don't like spending money, and I don't want to increase my taxes, not one penny, but every year we wait, it just is going to cost us more. And that's what we've seen. So the bond issue then was I think about 108 100 9 million, and now it's 143, I think is the lowest of the three points, I could have that wrong. But that's an increase in materials cost and the cost of labor and all that, etc. associated expenses.
 
Doug Williams 
What absolutely is, you know, I've lived here all my life. And I remember the bond issues that they attempted to pass in the 60s and 70s. And I believe there were four failed attempts before they passed the $5 million bond to build Hayes high to give you some idea of what cost to the bond that built Hayes high and I think 1978 is when they passed the bond was $5 million. But through the 60s and early 70s, they had a number of failed attempts. And if you go back and look at the plans of the original high school they were going to build It's incredible what it contained. But then we went through the inflationary 70s And that kind of thing. So what we ended up with at the time was was nice, but it cost a lot more in the end than what that initial bond issue cost would have been. Had they has to the first go around. And we're kind of in the same situation now, and certainly in an inflationary time, there's all indications that, you know, we're dealing with some inflation, for sure, and materials and that type of thing. And so, to wait, it's just going to cost more later. And I continue to say, schools are critical infrastructure, no different than roads, no different than a sewer, plant water lines, you've got to invest in those things, if you want to have a productive community, and it affects all aspects of the community, seniors, young families, singles, you know, our local economy will suffer, if we don't invest in our schools and our infrastructure.
 
James Bell 
You know, one of the big things that we spoke earlier with on the morning show here earlier this week, and with our USD 49, report, we talked about the space. And I think that's another key component of this is, you know, our schools right now are basically maxed out with the number of children we can get in them. And if we want to have any sort of growth, we're gonna have to put those kids somewhere.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
That's exactly right. If you look at them and that's, that's my real challenge, my frustration with some of the social media things is that people don't look at the numbers, they just kind of spout off. And don't, don't think this through or don't educate themselves, because I've heard him say, you know, hey, size, enrollment is dropping? Well, that's not true at all, if you look at the numbers, and if you look at the capacity that was designed for, were about 150 kids over what it was designed to hold. And we think we're going to have some growth, we want to have some growth, no, we're not going to be Denver, or, you know, a large urban area, but we want consistent steady growth in our community, we need to have it if we're going to be the type of community that we'd like to have. And so space is a huge issue. And we've got to deal with that somehow or another.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, you know, you can I know one of the big arguments that I hear pretty frequently against the bond issues has been, well, we didn't take care of it the way we should have. And I think there is some we've talked about that a little bit in the past, there's, there's some truth to that, but the space thing you can't get around it, there's no other way. And you know, I've seen it, and I always encourage people to go into the schools and check it out yourself. I've seen the lunch rooms, as they're shifting around at 1015. In the morning, I've seen, you know, teachers teaching out of closets. And that's just not a good, you know, again, a should go back to your point earlier, those educators I think, are gonna be really questioning the decision, do I want to stay in this district, and you know, you teach in a closet for two, three years in a row? I think anybody to have that kind of mindset.
 
Doug Williams 
Sure. And we live in a society where talented people have lots of choices. You know, we're in a tight labor market all across our country. And if somebody is a good teacher, they can go get a job anywhere, you know, they can, they can teach wherever they want. So if they don't have a decent, good conditions with which to teach, they're going to go someplace else. And they and the whole, you know, they didn't handle the funds appropriately before, you know, I don't know, maybe they did. Maybe they didn't, I suppose there are some arguments that they made poor choices in the past where they spent the capital outlay money and that kind of thing. But that's irrelevant. Today. I think we have a good school board, I think with this vision committee is committed a large group of committed smart people. I think our USD 489 staff is smart, committed people, we got to trust them. You know, at some point in time, we can't be sitting back playing armchair quarterback all the time and saying we should do this, you should do that. When you don't really understand the situation. You know, we've got to trust these people that they're telling us the right thing and that they have the community and the school district's best interests in mind. And we need to act.
 
James Bell 
Yeah. You know, I'm glad you mentioned that, because that's one of the things that I think in this particular conversation, I've seen that this seems to be going well, is that a lot more people are involved. And they're interested in like, there was a bond meeting a couple of days ago, there was a fairly substantial crowd. And I remember in the first bond issue, you know, again, 578 years ago, you go to those meetings, and there'd be nobody there literally nobody. So I'm curious, you know, what you're hearing from, like business leaders about that, you know, is the tide kind of turned a little bit? Are more people supporting this? Or is it still going to be an uphill battle?
 
Doug Williams 
I think it has turned to some extent, I think that the real challenge I have seen in the past is that I don't think anybody disagrees that we need a bond. I mean, I say nobody there there are those out there that disagree and are not going to vote for it under any circumstance. But I think it has turned I think people recognize that we do need a bond. And most of what I hear is positive. So I think we are headed in the right direction, at least I hope so. You know, you're always going to have a vocal minority are going to voice their opinions and that's great. That's what this country saw about. But I think by and large people recognize the need and We this time I hope is different and I hope we can get something done. It's critical to our future that we do.
 
James Bell 
Okay. Well, before we run out of time, there's one other thing we want to talk a little bit about today. And that's some construction going on out towards, well, gosh, I don't know the roads but out east of town.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Commerce Parkway.
 
James Bell 
There you go.
 
Doug Williams 
Heart of America has a development near Commerce Parkway, where Glassman climate control is that area behind Glassman climate control on Ninth Street out there. That is been out there for a long time, 20 years 20 plus years with some lots and things out there for commercial development. And we've had two lots sales in the last few months to local businesses who are going to do expansions out there. And we've got some interest in a third lot for a potential construction project for some factory microfactory project. And so some good activity out there good to see some local businesses, make investments and expand. And I think there'll be 2022, you'll see a lot of activity out there that be to the east of where Glassman Corporation is just off of commerce Parkway. So that's good news. Great to see.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I wonder he, when businesses make that move, you know, and that's I don't know, that's out of city limits, right. Is there a is there an impact to like tax revenues or anything like that to be concerned about? Or is this is an all kind of good thing? Because it really it's not like a big move. It's in an expansion, of course, is always a good thing.
 
Doug Williams 
Well, expansion is good. And let me correct. That is in the city limits. So okay, that is annexed into the city, they do have access to city services, water, sewer, that kind of thing. Fire protection. So that is why they made that decision where they're going is it isn't a city. Gotcha. So it's all positive from that standpoint, because both of these organizations operate in existing buildings that pay property taxes. They're building new buildings, which will add property tax revenue to the tax rolls. So it's all good. Plus, I'll expand and employ more people. So I don't see any downside to this one.
 
James Bell 
Okay, win, win, win. Love that. Are you gonna tell us the businesses. You can't tell us, can you?
 
Doug Williams 
I will soon, not right now.
 
James Bell 
You always have the best information is what you can't share.
 
Doug Williams 
Always.
 
James Bell 
Love it. Well, it's very good to hear that, you know, that's happening. And I love seeing expansion out there. Because, you know, to me, that's one of those areas, one of those regions that can really use that it's kind of underdeveloped, I think and you know, and I didn't realize that had been out there that, that for that long,
 
Doug Williams 
It has been that those lots were developed quite some time ago, and it's time there was some expansion out there. It's a good spot with, as I said earlier, it's in the city limits. It's got access to city utilities. Part of America also owns 32 acres directly to the east of where these are. So the game plan would be just continue going east and find some other organizations to either come in or expand out there and keep it going.

Cold weather can be harmful to outdoor animals

On this episode of the Post Podcast Ellis County Sheriff Scott Braun shares information about protecting animals during cold weather.
 
Transcript
James Bell
With winter weather well in place in the area, Ellis County Sheriff Scott Braun says it's time to think about those animals that are outside. He talks to us about that and more on this episode of the Post Podcast.
Scott Braun
We've got a lot of animals out there, this is about the time when we start getting a lot of phone calls from concerned citizens and, and a lot of times, it's justified. But I just want to touch on what's required by state statute doesn't mean that you can't go above and beyond, it just means that this is the minimum. So by state statute, they have to have shelter, they have to have water, and they have to have food. And so we get a lot of phone calls from, from concerned citizens about not having those things, and we do do those checks on a regular basis, if we receive them. Unfortunately, we cannot make them take them inside, if they meet all those requirements, and it's been pretty cold, I would encourage those people to take their dogs inside and animals to, to make sure they're safe. You know. But as far as an enforcement action, we can't take any unless they're not meeting one of those standards. So a lot of people are, are concerned with that. And when we leave, we kind of leave sometimes with a feeling that we didn't do anything, it's because we just can't, and I want to explain that to the people and and we do encourage you to call in if there are those concerns, and we'll definitely take a look at it for sure.
James Bell
So that's got to be difficult to not be able to, you know, take that action, because I'm sure you know, any of your deputies, you know, dog, cat, whatever is out there, and it's cold, and you just got to walk away, that's got to be rough.
Scott Braun
Yeah, it is, you know, and again, it's extremely cold in animals are really tough there, you know, but at the same time, you know, they get cold, like everything, like we do. And so if we can give them that safe environment, I would encourage people to do so. But I can't make them do that. Yeah, so I have a husky at home and stays outside most of the time. But when it was really cold, put him put the dog in the garage, got him out of the wind, even though they have a dog house. So that type of thing. And, and that dog loves the cold. So
James Bell
I was gonna say Huskies are like the one you don't have to worry about. They'll go play in the snow all day long.
Scott Braun
Oh, yeah, lays in the middle of the pile. So so I get that. But we were just concerned with the extreme cold and we have a place to put him so we put her inside and just getting up there in age. So it wasn't a big deal. So I encourage people to do that. So the other thing I'd like to talk about is talking about the cold. You know, we're traveling right now we're gonna have some extreme colds again on Friday, I believe it is coming in. Yeah, I'm hearing zeros. Yeah. So make sure your batteries are good to go. Make sure you have a blanket in there. Possibly a heat source if you can, make sure you have a cell phone charger. And also let people know I know, we're so used to being on the road and talking and those types of things. But let people know your plans, maybe the road you're going to take, if you're two couple hours later, something like that. contact law enforcement. And we'll run those roads to look for them. We'll put an ATL out to try to locate that vehicle, make sure they're safe. Sometimes things happen. And we want to make sure that no one freezes. So make sure you have gloves and hats and a heavy coat. Maybe throw some coveralls in there if you have them, those types of things and just be safe and try to stay with your vehicle if you can do not get out and walk unless you can see a farmstead or something close by if you're running those roads, but obviously cell phones work pretty well. But everything fails. So take some precautions.
James Bell
Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that. Because this is something I'm teaching my kids as they're growing up in this world of technology, and they've always got access to the internet, they've always got a cell phone in their hands. If that's not always the case, and those old school precautions that we used to think about 2030 years ago, are just as relevant even though most of the time unnecessary.
Scott Braun
Yeah, it doesn't hurt to put it in your trunk. It's there, you know, it's not like it's gonna cost you any more fuel to haul that around. Right? So I would encourage you to do so. And again, make sure people know the route you're going to take and in approximate time that you're going to be there that will help us and where they're coming from. So And last but not least, I know that we've heard a lot about this. The fires up north that started out west and worked away through Russell County. I want to recognize the Rural Fire Ellis County rural fire and those other agencies that came in to assist during the fires. I also want to definitely thank our dispatch center, all of the staff that was working the amount of call volume that they received and that was overwhelming. I tell you what, they are all true heroes for What they do, and they kept us safe.
Yeah, obviously, the best outcome is not having it happen at all, but unfortunately did and I'm with you. It is amazing how the community pulls together. Law enforcement, first responders, just in general how counties that were not affected by we're sending people by the groves to help help with those fires to get them out and protect farmsteads and homes. There were obviously some buildings damaged in that but I tell you what our rural fire people were trying to save homes for the for our farmers and there were homes lost and unfortunately, we lost the life too. And that's really sad. But in overall think it could have been a lot worse and I think everybody did an outstanding job and I just want to thank you.

Forward Ever: District 111 Representative Barbara Wasinger

On this episode of Forward Ever: Leading in Challenging Times host Gary Shorman speaks with District 111 Representative Barbara Wasinger. 

FHSU Athletics continue impressive year as the spring semester kicks off

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Fort Hays State University president Tisa Mason and athletic director Curtis Hammeke share information about university sports during the upcoming spring semester.

New VP hits the ground running at the Hays Chamber

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Ellis County Commission recap: Jan. 4, 2022

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TMP-M kicks off spring semester

On this episode of the Post Podcast Thomas More Prep-Marian principal, Chad Meitner stops by to talk about the start of the spring semester.
 
Transcript
James Bell  Thomas More Prep-Marian in Hays is set to kick off their spring semester this week principal Chad Meitner stops by to talk to us about that and more on this episode of the post podcast
Chad Meitner  Ready or not, it's time to get back into the swing of things. Our teachers are actually an in service training, as we speak, are working hard to prepare for the kids who come back tomorrow. So I doubt any students are listening this early. But if you are, I'm glad to hear you're already up and about Adam, you're getting ready for tomorrow.
James Bell  They're not up. I wouldn't be up if I was them anyway. No, no, no, no, but that's very cool. You know, and we talked, you know, as you were wrapping up the semester, bad or no back in I think late November, and things are going pretty well in the school year. Right. I mean, overall.
Chad Meitner  Yeah, yeah, we've talked a little bit about, you know, it's still the pandemic COVID issues, but yet, it's much more manageable. And I would say a light version of what we had in 2020 21. school year. So it's, it's yeah, things are rolling right along. And it's into that point where you don't have to think about all those things that can go wrong. You're just more focused on the routine things that are happening, like, you know, we're getting ready has school starts up tomorrow, we've, of course, the activities quickly follow. We'll have wrestling on Thursday, and in basketball starting on Friday, right away this week. And that's good, because you never want too much unstructured time for any of us, especially for our teenagers and our students who who do better when they're interacting with each other and doing activities.
James Bell  Oh, sure. And especially Yeah, you know, I feel like those the athletics, you know, all of the activities kind of keep you busy. But the athletics, especially for those athletes that are that they hit that downtime, they kind of like, Oh, what do I do with myself, you know, and it's, it's really easy to just like, let it slide. And then you got to fight your way back into conditioning.
Chad Meitner  Oh, if you've been in out for sports at the high school level, you know, that that Christmas time period where you're just all you do is kind of practice but then you're also celebrating, so you're eating a lot of rich foods and sleeping late. Yeah, coming back to get in the swing of things is a little bit of a shock. But once you get back into it, it's nice. And it's the fun time of the basketball season. I think it's when you start getting in the league games, and it's a little more exciting. So the kids will have home games to go to little kids to the big kids, they all come out and it's nice to get in the Fieldhouse and have some excitement to get together again.
James Bell  Yeah, absolutely. But it's not just athletics, you've got some, you know, the academic activities kicking up as well, right?
Chad Meitner  Oh, yeah, those those will kick in as well. We've got chess team, our chess team pretty much competes every Saturday, which that's a sacrifice in itself. If you think about it in high school and junior high, given up you're not every Saturday, but during the season, almost every Saturday to go compete. And of course, there's still a lot of online tournaments. It's kind of a holdover from COVID that I think people like because you're not having to travel as far. Sometimes we travel all the way to Lawrence or which Topher tournament, so there's still some in person tournaments, but they also still do a lot of virtual tournaments in our schools. So they have won this Saturday, scholars bowl that's kicking off as well. They've had some early season events, but the scholars bowl kick right and get right back into it. They have a tournament in Hutchison the JV does next Tuesday. So yeah, whether you're athletics or academics, it's time to get back and focus on that and get into that routine. Very
James Bell  cool. And you guys have some, some extra curricular kind of special events coming up that we want to talk about as well. A march for life, I believe is coming up. Oh, here in a couple of weeks, right.
Chad Meitner  Yeah, that's a that's a big deal. For us. It's an annual pilgrimage, I'd say because it's, it's yeah, it's an experience. It's like a field trip. But it's also kind of a spiritual growth activity for our kids, right to say, we're put on this earth to not just be about ourselves, but to be about our community and our fellow man. And so that's an opportunity for the kids to get on a bus together, go on a long bus ride, which you know, us older folks, maybe don't think a long bus ride sounds exciting, but for the kids to get out of Hayes to get out of Kansas, to go see a part of our country to do it as a community. And then to do it for a good cause to say, hey, we're out here to support life and all of its stages and all of its forms. And so they'll head off to DC they'll get on the bus on January 19. And they'll get back on the 23rd that Sunday and then jump right back into school. Very cool.
James Bell  And what are like a beautiful time of year to go to DC I mean, I know a few we're out you're out there in July August. Well, yeah, I mean, oh, hopefully but that he that humidity out there who?
Chad Meitner  Yeah, who gets you? Yeah, as long as you don't get like a big snowstorm coming in DC is a beautiful place even in January. Sometimes you get some mild, sunny days and it's beautiful and so the kids get to go out in March. See a lot of the sights that that you see on TV and that are really important to the history of our country. And so it's an educational, a religious, a community activity all in one. Awesome.
James Bell  And I think we also want to talk a little bit about this. The monarch, Fred Day is coming up later on in January, right?
Chad Meitner  Yeah, actually two days. So this is a big piece of news for anybody who's got a fifth, sixth, or even seventh and eighth grader, who is maybe in the running to attend Thomas Moore prep Marian. A lot of times if if they're not already attending Holy Family, they might be considering where they're going to go to high school or junior high. And so this is the day to come check us out to come meet the teachers to meet some of the other students. We run them through different activities, get them exposed to some of the sights and sounds of our school, and hang out with have lunch. And so it's just a great way there's it's no commitment, right? Like, if you come to monarch for a day, you're not signing up to attend. But it's a great way to come in and see what it's all about and decide, hey, this is what's best for for my child. That's why we exist is to help the family raise their children in the faith and in those academics. So yeah, the dates for the sixth and eighth graders, if you've got a grandchild, or a child who's in the sixth, seventh, or eighth grades this year, on January 14, we will host them, all you have to do to sign up is call the office at the school, six to 56577. And let us know their name and their age. And we will get them signed up. We'll pair him up with in a small group, and they will have a great time. Fifth graders, it's never too soon to start thinking about hey, what your future is. So fifth graders have a day special for them on January 21. Same format, eight to noon, we can get kids their transportation, we can help get them back to their school, their current school after lunch, so that the family doesn't have to take off work. Come pick them up and take them back. We can handle that with our buses and our Suburbans. Just again, let us know at the school at the office and we'll sign him up. Perfect.
James Bell  Yeah, get in there. Check it out. I mean, this and one of the cool things we always talk about here we are on the Catholic schools report is that sense of community that you mentioned, because you guys have just it's such a it's a tight knit group. And, you know, the faith pieces there. But it's also you know, it's just a it's a tremendous celebration of locals coming together and I just I love the admin atmosphere and the attitudes down there at both TMP and and holy family.
Chad Meitner  Yeah, we want to we want to strive to welcome everybody and like, right our faith is leads us to say we want to treat everybody with dignity, respect, and we would love to have folks come to our community. It's not a closed community by any means. If you don't know anything about TMP, Marian or haze, maybe you're just recently in the area. We would love to let you get to know us a little better, because we think we've got a lot to offer. Absolutely. It's an incredible educators standard as well. Oh, yeah. A fantastic staff and faculty. You know, we're pretty blessed because a lot of those folks, they're doing it not just as a job to get a paycheck. They are doing it because they believe in the mission. They they believe that God has called them to do what they're doing. And what what better person to have teaching your children than someone who's in it fothose reasons. 
James Bell  Absolutely. Well, sir, we've got to get over to news, weather and sports but any last thoughts before we go?
Chad Meitner  No, but just we're excited to get started. I hope everyone's had a great Christmas season and looking forward to hopefully some nice nose that give us moisture but that keep the roads clear and stay safe.

Forward Ever: Rep. Rahjes on wildfire relief efforts

On this episode of Forward Ever: Leading in Challenging Times, host Gary Shorman speaks with Kansas 110th District Representative Ken Rahjes about what is and is not happening with wildfire relief efforts.

Hays Fire Department wraps busy year; looks ahead to 2022

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Long time extension district agent retires

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Grow Hays hosts 2021 wrap up

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Annual Chamber Award Banquet nomination open now

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Holiday eating a staple of annual traditions

On this episode of the Post Podcast Fort Hays State University's Glen McNeil stops by to talk about holiday eating habits. 
 
Transcript
 
Glen McNeil 
In the McNeil house. Usually prime rib and then either ham, or sometimes a turkey that goes along with it. My wife likes really likes Turkey. But usually and that started with my mother years ago. I mean, I remember growing up that was Christmas dinner and so we've kind of my family side of the family has kind of stayed with that. So we generally have prime rib and either mashed potatoes, real mashed potatoes, not dried mashed potatoes, which are real mashed potatoes, but you know, yeah, it's not the same or twice baked. I love that really preferred twice-baked that takes a little more time and these days times important because family comes home our Christmas is gonna be this weekend. So our kids get to spend actual Christmas with all their in-laws. Last year we got him to share you know, it's kind of one of those trade-off things. They were all here for Thanksgiving. So you know we did that. So we have usually a primary oven then ham. Like I said mashed potatoes or twice-baked potatoes, or my wife makes this really list cheesy casserole, which I kind of liked that more so than anything else. But you know, you always have to remember that. I am the lessor in this when it comes to deciding what we have because the grandkids tell Grandma What they like now. And that's the main one there. We usually have like a seven-layer salad that Terry has made for years and it's lettuce and peas and salad dressing, Manny's based salad dressing and cheese and it's very good from that process. And of course, green bean casserole. You can't have a holiday without green bean casserole.
 
James Bell 
See, I'd fight you on that one. I can't stand this stuff. I can't I can't do it. It's one of those things. I can't even look at it. It makes me kind of cool.
 
Glen McNeil 
See, I love mushrooms.
 
James Bell 
And that's the trick, I think.
 
Glen McNeil 
Yeah, my favorite soup is mushroom soup. So has those in there. The green beans are okay, too. But we generate that and then we do freshly baked rolls. We've always done a fresh-baked bread that goes along with it. And then it kind of depends on you know what, what Terry's thinking about what she may want to do. A lot of times it's fresh broccoli seems to go well and my family likes fresh broccoli sometimes and broccoli cauliflower, carrot mix. You know, we we do that. The kids all get grape juice it also I'll get a glass of wine. Of course, you know how that part goes. And then leading up to that, of course, you know that you're doing all that preparation leading up to that we do like many families do is, is we sort of have our hors d'oeuvres, we don't really lunch, we middle the day, middle of the afternoon Christmas Day, so about 10 o'clock in the morning outcomes the what I was thinking about this morning, which is the summer sausage that sliced the cheddar cheese, the pepper, jack cheese, couple different varieties of cheese, crackers, you know all of those good things. And then of course, you feel guilty. So you also have you know, he also we also have some vegetable plates out and we make a taco dip, we kind of do all of the things around Christmas, based upon and Thanksgiving is pretty much the same way and so's Easter the foods that the family likes the kids like and the foods that my grandkids like It's like most people holiday season tends to congregate around the kitchen. You know and you and you visit while you're fixing meals and doing those types of things. So we try to be reasonable in what we do. And like we've talked about in here a lot moderation. Try to include some of those favorite holiday things that are a little bit high in saturated fat and cholesterol, balanced those out with some of those healthy alternatives. And then throughout the day, I try to work a little bit of all of that into my daily intake. But I think it's important that the holidays that we focus on the foods that bring us together and keep us together and the memories that are around that particular food. My mother's recipes, Terry's mom's recipes, recipes, Terry and I've built together for different things and so it just makes a friendly environment to build the food around. That's the holidays, I think. And we'll slip a little bit in there and we'll use that word moderation. You know, some of the secrets about holiday eating, and I'm sure like most people holiday eating has started for me last week, you know, you go somewhere, and there's snacks out and beverages out. And so it's Christmas. Yeah, and all the parties and all the events and those things and, and so you have to practice that, those little keys that we talked about that when you go somewhere, you know, you, you want to show your appreciation for Westerners. So you want to sample the things that are made. So you start with a small plate, okay, you know, if you had a choice of sizes, you know, different planets, pick the smallest one, and then fill the smallest one, one layer and take your time, support it with a beverage, you know, non-alcoholic beverage is good, you know from that. But if you do that with a small plate, there's less of a tendency to eat large amounts. Because you feel psychologicaly you feel more satisfied as whatever you put on your plate, that you've consumed them, and that plates empty, it's empty. And if you take a large plate, or if you graze, so to say, without a plate, you tend to consume more. And so that plate can help you in that process. Yeah, and what
 
James Bell 
You mean there is your you actually want to put the food on, not just stand there and kind of Munch because then you don't really, your brain doesn't know how much you had.
 
Glen McNeil 
Right? If you've, we've talked about this before, and I'm a watcher, right? I likey nobody will do that. But I also like to watch other people, you know, whether it's in the grocery store, or you go somewhere and, and there's an event and people are eating, you're snacking. And what you really notice is the people that don't use, in essence, a little bit of a crutch, like a plate, or something to put their food on, they eat considerably more, and they continue to eat constantly. It's not like they take a plate and they move away, but they stand there and it's a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and then they're back to this or back to that they're always in action around the food. So you can help yourself with your holiday eating by fixing a plate and then moving away from where the main component of the food is, you can always go back. But a lot of times that moving away helps you feel a little more satisfied, and you're less likely to eat lots of food, so a large amount of food. So you can go back and eat a greater variety throughout the day when you do those types of things. And, you know, we talk about this time of year that we have a responsibility as hosts to offer healthy choices. So
 
James Bell 
You don't feel that responsibility to my house. You're just gonna whatever junk I've got,
 
Glen McNeil 
All right, some of us some of the responsibility. So we generally make sure that we have a great variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and, and, you know, different varieties of crackers or chips to offer. And you know, like I said before, yeah, summer sausage is great, the cheeses are great, the dips are great. You know, if we have one dip that may be somewhat fatty and rich, we have another one that maybe a salsa bass dip or something like that. So there are always those alternatives that you can offer. I doubt if anybody else, or very few people really ever think of that. When they come to our house, they think oh, yeah, just lots of food. In that process, so I think the holidays in relationship to food are, are very important, and especially what it brings to us in terms of memory and family and friendship.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, and I think too, and maybe you want to speak a little bit to this for for folks that are so health-conscious, and I know some of these folks in my world, you know, they need a rogue cookie without counting it and tracking it and how much do I have to run to burn that off? It's okay during the holidays to maybe not be so conscious, cuz you can always pick it back up in a couple of weeks, you know, New Year new resolutions and, and burn all that off and get back in that prime shape. You know, without experience, throw caution to the wind.
 
Glen McNeil 
Okay, it's it's the time to notice the wind a little bit more so to say which, you know, we had plenty of that yesterday. That was a terrible. But the fact is, yeah, if you're very, very health conscious about what you do, this is not the time to be doing that. Yes, remain health-conscious. Okay, and maybe you do a little bit of the calculations in your head or something, but it's not something to bring up in a group. And it's not a reason not to eat things. You can also do it a lot of times as what we refer to as sample, you can take a small plate, you can put small amounts of things on them. And because typically you don't have to eat the whole cookie. Right? Now you want to be careful in doing that, that you don't take a plate of food and take tiny little bites of everything and throw it all the way in front of your host. That's not a good process, you know, but the fact is that you can take smaller portions you don't have to eat everything you take, you can sample. And this is a time to relax a little bit. And I think what you're saying is relax a little bit and enjoy it. Don't worry so much about, you know, it's got 132 calories versus 108, it's got six grams of added sugar versus three grams of added sugar and all those, this is not really the time to do that. And you're only doing it for a very short period of time. Okay, and you're not going to come back after two weeks of Christmas, and deny yourself all this and exercise extensively hard to burn off everything you consumed. You want to come back after that period of time, continue your exercise the way it was, right, and maybe you for a very short period of time, you watch what you eat very closely to balance yourself back, most people are going to gain one or two pounds over the holidays, it's not going to take very long to get rid of those one or two pounds, once those extra holiday foods are not there anymore. So enjoy the season, enjoy what's put in front of you. Even though you know when you come back at the first of the year or after the first of the year, you're going to really focus on your life plan again. But it's a time to enjoy what's out there. And we should we really need you to know from a health aspect from a food and nutrition aspect with the stresses that have been around in the last year and a half. This should be a time to really sit back and relax and enjoy the types of things that we have always enjoyed. And to me foods at the top of that. You know that it brings in so many memories and so many aspects of comfort. It's really important to take some time to do that.
 

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