By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

As a widow moving to town from the farm back in the 1980s, Hazel Dick knew the only way to feel at home in a new community was to get out and meet people.

Now, the 97-year-old woman is a fixture in downtown Hays.

"Downtown is my domain," she said matter-of-factly.

After moving from her home near Lyons in 1988, Hazel became fast friends with people downtown by getting involved in a hurry.

She started a tradition of baking cookies to give away to people downtown four times a year and even donated the Scotch pine tree to Union Pacific Park that stands 22 feet tall today.

More than 20 years later, she still spends her time cruising the streets for a walk on nice days or spending time in the public library.

The petite woman with a walking stick is such a recognizable figure she can't often go her entire route without stopping to chat with people.

"Hey, Hazel, how are you today?" someone called to Hazel on one of her walks through the neighborhood on a warm afternoon earlier this fall.

Moving to town after more than 40 years of living in the country was a little adjustment.

Dick and her husband, Orle, were married in 1940 and built a home on a farm near Lyons, where they raised five children.

She remained on the farm for a few years after Orle died in 1986.

She started looking for a new place to call home when she became unable to drive anymore after she was diagnosed with macular degeneration, an eye disorder that makes it difficult to see fine details.

She checked out some of the cities where her children lived.

Daughter Ann Staab lives in Ellis, and Dick liked what she found in nearby Hays.

Hazel wanted to be able to get around on foot, and she found a townhouse near the downtown area, where one of the rooms is reserved for her rug loom.

"It was close to downtown, close to the library and close to church," Hazel said of her choice of homes.

"And I have great neighbors," she added.

Dick and Staab took a class on rug weaving at Barton County Community College in Great Bend, and she soon added that craft to her list of artistic endeavors. She also paints with acrylics and water colors and has several of her pictures hanging in her home.

Friends and acquaintances give Hazel material for her rugs, and she buys some from Goodwill.

Old bed sheets and denim are popular materials, which Hazel cuts into strips she wraps into balls and stores in a box until she's ready to use them.

"Most of the rags I tear rather than cut," Hazel said of her rug material.

She will make a rug for sale if someone asks, but most of them she gives away to family and friends.

"It's great," Dick said. "A good hobby to keep me busy and good for my hands."

Walking and working the rug loom help Hazel keep in shape physically.

Dick also exercises daily, even when she can't get outside to walk.

She knows that's a must because her mother lived to be almost 102 years old.

There's no place she would rather be keeping busy than in Hays.

"It's just perfect," she said. "It couldn't be any better."