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Stutesman’s Action Realty has extended its reach in Fort Scott.
“We’ve grown the last two years,” said Amanda Bourassa, a broker for the real estate business, said. “We needed more space to continue to serve our clients.”
She loves the location of the new space.
“It’s downtown, in the center of everything and it has a view of the Fort (Scott National Historic Site),” she said.
“We wanted to show a permanent presence here in Fort Scott and Bourbon County,” she said. “To show we are committed to not only our clients who are buying and selling but also our community.”
The realty signed a 10-year lease with Pat and Stacy Wood for the space and began a remodel in June, she said.
“We all have our own homes and investment properties,” she said. “We believe this will help with serving our clients.”
The new office is located at 120 E. Wall and officially opened its doors on Sept. 3.
Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The 1,600 square-foot space has been completely remodeled by her husband, Tim, with Stutesman’s Action Realty paying for the reno.
There are now five agents working for the agency: Bourassa is the broker; agents are Stacy Wood, who joined in December 2018; Kaci Kurtz who joined in November 2018, along with Bailey Lyons and Scott Theis.
In addition to the realty business, the Bourassa’s finished out two additional offices in the new space, that are available for lease.
The business will host a Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Coffee and ribbon cutting at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12.
In addition, on Wednesday, October 2, the business will have a Celebration of Success Open House from 3-6 p.m.
“This is open to the public for people to see the reno and meet with agents if they want to do so,” Bourassa said.
For more information, the toll-free number is 833-286-8400 or www.actionsold.com.
Bourassa can be reached at 417-684-5681.
The original office of the realty is still located in Nevada, MO.
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Jeni Hartman is the new freshman English teacher at Fort Scott High School.
Her experience includes teaching kindergarten and substitute teaching for the last 10 years.
Hartman has a bachelors degree in elementary education;
licensed for K-9 with a certification for secondary English 6-12
She grew up in Olathe but spent most of her adult life in Ottawa.
She is married to “my best friend, Chris Hartman, and we have been together for almost 22 years.”
“My oldest (son), Logan, is 18 and he and his girlfriend are having our first grandbaby in February,” she said.
“My youngest, Caleb, is 14 and he is in 8th grade. He is on the football team, wrestling team and the track team.”
In her spare time she “loves reading and taking a nap (and) I really enjoy spending time with my family.”
To become a teacher, she took a “long road,” she said. “I started at Pitt State, missed my family, so I moved to Dallas and went to UNT, moved back here to get married and had my oldest, went back to Pitt State and drove from Overland Park three days a week! Now I am working on my Master’s Degree in Reading Specialist and will be licensed in that as well.”
A teacher inspired Hartman to teach.
“Mr. Barnes, my senior genetics teacher inspired me. He took us on a trip to St. Louis to see the students mapping the human genome.,” she said.
The best part of teaching for her is “Hanging out with young people, getting to do what I love most, reading and writing. They keep me young.”
What are the greatest challenges in teaching for you?
“When that tough student that you are starting to break through with makes a poor decision and you have to start all over with that student. But when you do get that breakthrough and they start trusting you, that is the best. For a student to know that ‘Yeah, Mrs. Hartman is cool. She gets me.’ And when the stuff they bring to school from home gets left at the door and they learn in my class, that is why I am a teacher.”
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They purchased the property at 1711-1715 S. National Avenue on December 31, 2018, and started a business, which they call Legweak, LLC.
“We wanted to use our family name somehow, so it is a play on our name. ARM STRONG …LEG WEAK,” Jeff said.
Each unit is a 12’x10’ office and shares a full kitchen, an ADA Compliant bathroom, and room for a shared receptionist down the road.
For more information:
A new shower, restroom and water container replenisher have been added to the USD 235 Fitness Center located at the Uniontown Junior/High School.
In May 2018 then Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer and Jake Steinfeld, Chairman of the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils, announced three Kansas schools that were selected to each receive a $100,000 DON’T QUIT! Fitness Center.
Uniontown was one of those schools.
The USD 235 fitness center opened in October 2018 and is not only for use by students during the day, but evening and weekend, patrons of USD235 may use the center.
A bathroom and shower room were added to the center from an unused storage area nearby.
In July of this year, work began on the additions to the fitness center, with help from a Healthy Bourbon County Action Team Grant, funded by Pathways to a Healthy Kansas (A Blue Cross/Blue Shield iniative).
The grant covered nearly two-thirds of the total cost of the additions- $12,500, with the total cost once completed-$17,000.
The center is for patrons of the school district only, which serves the western rural part of Bourbon County.
The doors leading from the fitness center to the school will be locked. To gain entrance to the center from the outside door, a key must be purchased from West Bourbon Elementary School Principal Vance Eden, for $10.
Eden said community members will need to come to the office of WBE to pay and get their card for the fitness center from him.
The fitness center will have the following hours for the 2019-20 school year: Monday – Friday: 5:00-7:00 AM and 5:30-9:30 PM. Saturday and Sunday: 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM.
For more information, click below:
Uniontown School District Receives $100,000 Grant For Fitness Center
Fort Scott High School has some teachers who wanted to bring to life for their students the stories of places/events where they live, where they have first-hand experience.
Brian Allen, an auto shop teachers-aide at Fort Scott High School, began a FSHS History Club several years ago to educate students about local history.
“It has grown in membership and students have shown a genuine interest in knowing about where they live,” said FSHS History Teacher Sara Jackman. “Last year, I approached the (USD234) administration about teaching a local history class and they were on board. After teaching a Bourbon County unit to junior high students at Uniontown for several years, I knew that it would be an elective I would enjoy teaching.”
“There is an interest from our students about the town and the county,” Jackman said. “They love to learn information about the places they see every day. The (FSHS)History Club’s membership numbers have been proof of that. Additionally….we are trying to build pride for our hometown and county and respect for all of those who have made our community a good place to live.”
“I teach two sections of the class with approximately 53 students enrolled,” Jackman said. “Mr. Allen helps me a great deal with content and guest speakers etc.”
A project at the end of the class will be for students to interview 80-90-year-olds in the community for future generations.
The purpose of the new Bourbon County History class is to educate students about the history of the place in which they live, “Where we came from as a community,” Allen said.
“Our hope is that it gives them civic pride knowing about the rich history of Bourbon County,” Jackman said.
The first class in Bourbon County history began at FSHS on the first day of school, August 22. It is an 18-week, one-semester course, that will be taught both semesters.
Curriculum for the course is from local authors and historical societies.
“Curriculum sources vary widely,” Jackman said. “The textbook purchased for students is the Historic Reflections of Bourbon County Kansas by Fred Campbell, Jr. and Don Miller. We also use many other locally written books, resources from the Kansas State Historical Society, the Bourbon County Historic Preservation Society, and lots of others.”
These books are also available to the public through the Fort Scott Public Library.
The class is going well, Jackman said.
“We have started off learning about the Native Americans who would have lived in the area and some of the explorers who came to Kansas,” Jackman said. “On August 30, Mr. Reed Harford (came) in to speak to the class about the expedition of Zebulon Pike and his time in Bourbon County.”
“I am so impressed with Mrs. Jackman,” Allen said of the teacher and the class curriculum that she constructed.
Brian Allen is also the president of the Bourbon County Historical Preservation Association.
To see a recent KOAM News story on the subject, click below:
Sunshine prevailed for the 114th Annual Old Settlers Picnic activities in Uniontown on Sept. 2, 2019.
Vendors lined the city’s park, along with organizations and onlookers trying to find a spot in the shade for the parade mid-morning.
This year’s grand marshalls are Alicia Jackson and Alan Shinn, both longtime educators in the Uniontown School District.
Jackson has taught English and Spanish at UHS for 44 years. She and her late husband, Dale, raised three daughters in Uniontown-Gretchen, Meaghan and Caitlin. Jackson is in the Kansas Teachers’ Hall of Fame and has been a runner-up for Kansas Teacher of the Year.
Shinn retired from teaching math in the district after 50 years, in May 2019. He and wife Becky have raised a son, Kevin and daughter, Melissa in Uniontown. Shinn has been recognized as Outstanding Young Educator by the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce, Outstanding Secondary Educators of America, Central MO. State University Dept. of Math Certificate of Merit, and Distinguished Alumnus of Allen Community College.
The theme of the parade was “Learning From The Best At UHS”.
New this year was the baby parade at 9 a.m. and the Dale Jackson Memorial Car Show.
Cash drawings, a picnic in the park, kids and not-kids games were played and recognition of “Old Settlers”, were some of the traditions that have been continued through the years.
Also as in years past, one could purchase smoked port dinners from the FFA, chicken dinners from the Methodists, pies from the Baptists, homemade ice cream from Marmaton Community Church, along with soft drinks from the cheerleaders.
Fresenius Medical Center, 2526 S. Main, Fort Scott.
Fresenius Medical Care of Fort Scott, the only dialysis clinic in the community, is closing September 30.
Shirley Irvin, a representative of Fresenius, did verify that the center will close on September 30. A formal statement from the company was not available at publishing time.
“I have talked to Fresenius,” Fort Scott City Manager Dave Martin, said. “They haven’t made money to the point of, they can’t stay open.”
“We are reaching out to see where we are able to help,” Martin said. “CHC (Community Health Center, who has a medical clinic in Fort Scott) and Via Christi ( who has an emergency department in Fort Scott) can’t provide the service, but they are helping me look at options.”
The closing will impact patients and their families that have been served at the center in Fort Scott.
Several family members were waiting on their loved ones at the center on Friday afternoon.
One young lady helped her father-in-law in a wheelchair into their car.
She stated that the family lives in Moran and now will have to drive to Chanute, Pittsburg or Nevada, MO for dialysis.
Another woman was waiting in the waiting room for her husband, whom she said just started dialysis last week.
She stated that her husband will, hopefully, be finished with his dialysis by the end of the month. His treatment was in response to an infection. They live in Missouri.
The following is a quote from a KOAM News segment on July 24, 2019:
“An executive order from President Trump gives the secretary of health and human services a number of deadlines to deal with kidney disease patients.
“In thirty days after July 10th, 2019, he is to pick payment models for kidney care providers to increase treatments for at-risk patients, home dialysis, and transplants.
“In ninety days to propose regulation to enhance procurement and utilization of organs; revise rules for procuring and using organs and to remove financial barriers to donation.
“And in 120 days to start an awareness initiative.
“Then in 180 days to expedite kidney matching and reduce the organ discard rate.”
Click below the recent KOAM News story on the subject:
https://www.koamnewsnow.com/news/home-dialysis-encouraged-in-trump-executive-order/1099450079
See President Trump’s executive order on advancing kidney health:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-advancing-american-kidney-health/
An excerpt from Trump’s order:
“Kidney disease was the ninth-leading cause of death in the United States in 2017. Approximately 37 million Americans have chronic kidney disease and more than 726,000 have ESRD. More than 100,000 Americans begin dialysis each year to treat ESRD. Twenty percent die within a year; fifty percent die within 5 years. Currently, nearly 100,000 Americans are on the waiting list to receive a kidney transplant.”
Bo Graham, 36, is the new Fort Scott High School Student Success Center Teacher.
“I became an educator because I had coaches and teachers that made a huge impact on my life,” he said. “I hope to do the same for the students and athletes I come in contact with! Bob Campbell was the main person who inspired me to teach. But I also had many others who played a role in that.”
Graham has been in education for 15 years, having graduated from Pittsburg State University with a masters of arts degree in education.
“The best part of teaching for me has been having students or athletes come back seven, eight or nine years later letting me know the impact I had on them. It makes every second worth it,” he said.
For Graham one of the challenges in education is technology.
“The greatest challenge I see in education is probably technology, and that being good and bad,” he said. “The technology you use to run school changes yearly. And with the use of computers, tablets, and cell phones good and not-so-good things can happen.”
Fort Scott is Graham’s hometown.
He has been married to Jamie for six years and has a 3-year-old daughter named Blakely.
In his spare time, Graham likes spending time with family, golfing, and watching Duke basketball.
Carol Oakleaf and Lori Lovelace are gearing up for the grand opening Sept. 7 of the Fort Scott Washateria, 501 S. National Avenue.
From Sept. 7 to 14, Lovelace said free washing and drying will be offered at the laundry mat with the signing up for a loyalty card.
“It’s free promotion of the business,” Lovelace said. “You have to provide your own detergent and drying sheets or buy them from us.”
The promotional first week of business will be to help customers get used to the highly technical washing and drying machines, Carol Oakleaf said.
Lovelace is the manager, Oakleaf is the owner and they have hired D.J. White as the manager-in-training, and Christina Walker as a part-time employee.
“It will be all hands on deck that week,” Lovelace said.
The hours will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. On Sunday mornings no assistant will be available, Oakleaf said.
In addition to the laundry mat, the business is offering a variety of other clothes cleaning services, which will begin at a later date, once the first week is over, she said.
Services such as pick up and delivery of laundry for both residential and commercial, alterations, starch and press, and wash-dry-fold of clothing.
Community Clothes Closet
The Community Clothes Closet had an organizational meeting on Aug. 15, with about ten people attending, Oakleaf said.
Lovelace will be the director and Oakleaf the president of the philanthropic group that will sort, stack and distribute donated clothing to those in need.
Another meeting will put into place others needed on the board: secretary, treasurer and five directors, plus members.
“They will plan how to operate and chart the course for the clothes closet,” Lovelace said.
“A lot of people on the Beacon board were at the meeting,” Lovelace said. The Beacon is another helping agency that recently stopped accepting clothes donations.
The closet is “expensive and time-consuming,” Lovelace said. “We already have a set up (to launder and store the clothing). We are going to work with as many service organizations as we can,” to get it up and running.
Lovelace said they are already accepting clothing donations, even though the Community Clothes Closet building is not complete yet.
“We won’t be distributing until at least Oct. 1,” she said. “My sheds need to be finished.”
Contact Lovelace at 620.215.1314 for more information.
She is passionate about sharing music with people of all ages and has 18 years of experience equipping individuals, choirs and ensembles with the skills needed for music excellence, she said.
Elliott received her BME from Baker University in 2019, specializing in vocal music with percussion as her secondary instrument.
Elliott and her blended family are originally from Lawrence but are “excited to be a part of the Fort Scott community”, she said.
Her partner in life is Brad Kirk, who works as a master welder and maintenance technician. Her son, Oliver, will attend Eugene Ware Elementary as a 5th-Grader and her daughter, Madeline, will be an 8th-grader at the middle school.
In her spare time, Elliott enjoys reading, hanging out with family and friends, kayaking, watching movies, adding stamps to her passport, and attending live music and comedy shows.
As a music educator, Elliott looks forward to sharing with her students the world of music and giving them the tools for deeper understanding and discovery, and will work to create a positive inclusive classroom environment and rely on differentiated instruction that nurtures and enriches all students in their music-making.
Rosie’s Cabin and Wedding-Event Venue had its’ open house on August 24.
The property is comprised of a small cabin that can sleep five and a lodge that can accommodate a wedding or other large group gathering.
In the past, the cabin has been used for the bridal party to get dressed in and then walk to the lodge.
There are two ponds on the property and a deck that extends from the large porch to one of the ponds. Many couples have exchanged their vows on the deck.
The cabin can be rented separately from the lodge, for $150 per night, two-night minimum. The large lodge can be rented for $200 for four hours or $800 for eight hours for an event.
Both can be rented for an entire weekend for a wedding rehearsal dinner, wedding, wedding reception and following the wedding, the bride and groom can stay in the cabin. The cost of renting the whole venue from Friday morning to Sunday noon for a wedding is $3,250.
The property is located west of Uniontown in western Bourbon County at 563 Maple Road.
Contact Kelsey Blythe at 620-644-2874 or [email protected] for weddings, events or accommodations.
