Members of the Young Professionals League invested their time and efforts into downtown Fort Scott Tuesday evening by washing windows and sweeping the sidewalks in order to make the vacant storefronts more presentable.

YPL executive board member Jessica Schenkel said she had recently come across records of the YPL doing a similar downtown event in 2008, and decided that would be a good way for the young professionals to get more involved in the community.

“We’re trying to do some more events to get the YPL out into the public eye,” Schenkel said, saying they want to encourage other young professionals to get involved in the organization as well as make sure the rest of the community knows they exist.

The YPL also helps with other community events throughout the year, such as through the high school job fair and a soup kitchen to raise money for the Beacon, this year switching to an enchilada meal for that same goal. On Saturday, a team of YPL members participated in the kickball tournament to help raise money for a new 3D mammogram machine for Mercy Hospital.

The organization’s members also gather for monthly social events as well as hold a meeting the first Friday of each month. This Sunday, members and their families and prospective members are invited to the Fort Wise Pumpkin Patch at 2 p.m. at a discount price.

Throughout the year, YPL members are encouraged to turn in hours of community service they complete in order to keep a record of some of the impact the members have on the city.

During their homecoming event Friday evening, Fort Scott High School crowned the 2016 homecoming king and queen while the football team protected their field against the Coffeyville Golden Tornadoes.

Taylor Engstrom was named the homecoming king while Lauren Hurd was crowned the queen. Other king candidates included Noah Daly, Wyatt DeHaven, Grant Goldston and Mayson Lane. Queen candidates were Alex King, Taylor Krokroskia, Makayla Robertson and Karlee Stanley.

The Fort Scott Tigers then held on for a 35-20 victory over the Golden Tornadoes, scoring 16 points in the third quarter after trailing Coffeyville by one at halftime. A Tigers’ defense that had three interceptions and four sacks held the Tornadoes to just over 200 yards of offense while their own surpassed 400 yards.

The Tigers continue their season with a district game on the road against the Louisburg Wildcats Friday.

During a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday evening, Mercy Hospital offered demonstrations and information to visitors about the new HydroWorx 300 recently added to the hospital’s equipment available to patients and other members of the community.

“Aquatic therapy has been our goal and our target for a lot of years,” said Kirk Sharp of the hospital’s fitness center. “And it’s here.”

Tina Rockhold of public relations at Mercy said it took a long while to reach this point of purchasing the equipment, one of the only ones available in the state outside of those used by professional sports organizations. But with the funds raised in the community, the leadership of board members and the work from the hospital team, the goal became a reality.

Efforts to raise funds for the treadmill began with a golf tournament in June and continued with matching funds and other donation from the community.

The water treadmill provides aquatic therapy for those recovering from injuries as well as those suffering from arthritis and other ailments. It can also serve as an ideal way to exercise because of the added level of resistance in the water.

The treadmill, which cost about $140,000, includes features such as adjustable water depth, heated water, jet-propelled currents, deep-tissue massage hose and underwater video camera. The facilities include a changing room, shower and lockers.

While available first of all to patients and those needing the therapy, the treadmill can also be reserved for $1 a minute by Health for Life members and $1.50 each minute for non-members. Sharp said starting with just five minutes can provide and vigorous workout.

“What an awesome piece of equipment we have,” said Lindsay Madison, executive director of the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce.

For a second year in a row, the Fort Scott High School debate team took first place in the Pittsburg tournament over the weekend, not debating the final round since their only opponents were their fellow team mates.

“All five teams will share a co-championship,” coach Amber Toth explained. “These guys dropped one round to another team the entire weekend.”

Just as in a previous tournament, the Fort Scott students determined the winners based on earlier rounds and coin tosses so they would not have to debate against each other. The five teams and their results include:

• Breana Mooney and Hunter Parker, undefeated but losing two rounds to coin tosses
• Tayton Majors and Sara Al-Shawish, losing one round in the tournament and one coin toss
• Darby Toth and Rebekah Sweyko, undefeated but losing one coin toss
• Seth Cross and Zach Humble, undefeated but lost to own team based on speaker points
• Isabella Provence and Joe Adams, undefeated and winning all coin tosses
• Logan Hall and Darrick Green also competed and came away with a couple wins

The novice division teams also met with success:

• Levi Bin and Mark Adams placed third with a 4-1 record
• Alyssa Elliott and Conner Parker placed 5^th with a 4-1 record
• Madi Toth and Addisyn Guilfoyle finished with a 3-2 record
• Jordan Willard and Aztreia Milton finished with a 3-2 record
• Emma Faith Humble and Caleb Hopkins finished with a 3-2 record
• Addie Smith and Jonie Antonio finished with a 2-3 record
• Connor Mason and Carlee Studyvin finished with a 2-3 record

A range of church denominations and others of the community took part in the annual Life Chain Sunday afternoon in order to show their support for the pro-life movement and their opposition to abortion.

“You need to be mindful, this is not a protest,” organizer Joe Barr said to the participants, encouraging them not to argue with drivers or others who might disagree with their stance on the issue. “We’re out there to stand for the unborn.”

Participants stood along Highway 69 through Fort Scott, holding signs about every 25-30 feet from National Avenue to 25^th Street at Walmart. While not as many were involved in the event as the previous year, a significant number of people came to stand in the Life Chain for an hour.

Barr said in that one hour, an average of about 120 unborn children are aborted, while millions are aborted each year. Before the group formed the chain, Trevor Jacobs prayed that individuals considering abortion would instead consider the “alternative of love and life.”

The Fort Scott chapter of Kansans for Life and other members of the community organize the Life Chain in Fort Scott for the first Sunday in October each year. Barr said they are now looking for organizers to help plan for the 2017 event.

Ninety-three individuals took an oath in order to become United States citizens Friday morning during the annual United States District Court for the District of Kansas naturalization ceremony, hosted at the Fort Scott National Historic Site.

“Thank you for letting us share this special day with you,” Holly Baker, chief of interpretation and resource management at the fort, said to those becoming citizens and their families in attendance.

City Manager Dave Martin said the city of Fort Scott is both humbled and proud that the District Court of Kansas would again select the fort as the location for the special ceremony.

“You’re making a memory,” Martin said.

United States Magistrate Judge Teresa James said she considers it a tremendous honor to be able to participate in such ceremonies, saying it is one of her favorite aspects of her job. While she swears individuals in as citizens on a monthly basis in courthouses, James said she enjoys doing it yearly at the national historic site.

“There’s something very special about being here on these grounds,” James said.

The 93 individuals took an oath promising to renounce previous allegiance to any country and to now support and defend the constitution of the United States. Speaker Larry Nuss emphasized such rights as freedom of speech and others that the new citizens now have under that constitution.

Countries represented included Israel, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Germany, Bhutan, Columbia, Honduras, Mexico, the Peoples Republic of China, India, Ethiopia, Canada, Burma and a variety of others. The new citizens hold numerous positions in the United States such as with school districts, medical facilities, food services and as mechanics, managers, technicians, accountants as well as those who are retired and others who are college and high school students.