By GAYLE WEBER

gweber@dailynews.net

Drawing from her experience while living in Germany, Gwyn Schmidtberger is trying to bring a little slice of that life back to Hays.

The Hays native is hosting Lanternfest on Friday night in celebration of Germany's St. Martin's Day.

"The kids have such a great time building these lanterns," Schmidtberger said.

Traditionally in Germany, building the lanterns in honor of the saint known for his generosity of spirit is a two- or three-week project in schools, but Schmidtberger said children will get only a small amount of time Friday night to make their lanterns before parading them through her backyard.

"I just thought this would be a cool tradition to start here," Schmidtberger said.

Lanternfest begins at 6 p.m. Friday at Schmidtberger's home, 216 W. Seventh. There is a $3 entry for each family participating. Children will be able to see a small skit about St. Martin, learn a song about the saint and participate in activities such as bobbing for apples and making caramel apples.

Schmidtberger said she's looking forward to getting involved in the community after moving to Hays and opening Cottonwood Star, a day care in her home, in August.

"I want to find a way to do more community activities through my day care," she said.