Ashlea Taylor, 29, is a new special education teacher at Winfield Scott Elementary School.
Taylor has taught pre-school children at Head Start 0-5 from September 2016-April 2019.
Her hometown is Phoenix, Arizona and she graduated from Pittsburg State University.
In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and spending time with friends and family, she said.
Is there someone who inspired you to teach?
“I have two aunts who are educators and I have always loved kids. Several family members have seen me with children and suggested it is where I belong.”
What is the best part of teaching for you?
“Learning each child’s individual way of learning and watching them experience breakthroughs in moments of doubt. “
DeLynn Abati holding the cake she used to announce that she would be returning to school and selling cakes to pay for it. Submitted photos.
This is part of a series that highlights young entrepreneurs, under 30 years of age, in Bourbon County. If you would like to nominate a young entrepreneur, submit to [email protected] the name and email/phone number of the person, along with why you are nominating them and your name.
Delynn Abati, 26, first dabbed in cake creating, that has become her livelihood, when she became engaged.
“When my husband and I got engaged, my parents sat us down and gave us a choice: they would give us a set amount of money to pay for our wedding OR we could pay for the wedding ourselves and they would give us a bigger gift on our wedding day,” Abati said.
Tony and Delynn Abati on their wedding day, cutting the cake she made herself for the wedding. Submitted photos.
“We decided we’d give the second option a try,” she said. “As I planned our wedding, I saved money wherever I could, somehow we managed to do that without sacrificing anything we really wanted.”
“I decided I’d use that year to learn how to make my own wedding cake,” she said. “It wasn’t a perfect cake. There are some birthday cakes that I do now that look better than our wedding cake looked, but it was cool to be able to say I did it myself.”
She was married in 2018.
Once the wedding was over, she never stopped making cakes.
Out of that challenge by her parents, came For Goodness Cakes, offering custom cakes, cupcakes, cake truffles, cake pops, and French Macarons.
Delynn Drake holds a cupcake, one of several items she creates. Submitted photo.
“I started selling cakes originally, as a way to gain funds to go back to school,” Abati said. “The more cakes I did, however, the more I just wanted to do cakes… So I made a business of it.”
Submitted photos.
The business was technically formed on January 1, 2019.
“I did cakes informally for about six months before I started calling it a business,” Abati said. “I wanted to make sure I had a good chance of at least breaking even before I threw everything I had into this business.”
Abati works from home at her bakery business.
“I work out of my home for now,” she said. “I do not have any plans of moving my operation any time soon but that option is also always in the back of my mind.”
She loves creating and working from home.
“I have always loved creating so it’s great to be able to use my hands to create new things every day,” Abati said. “The part that I love about owning my own business is that I get to create my own hours. I am a night owl so most days of the week you’ll find me baking in my kitchen or making cake videos in my living room at 2 a.m. People think I’m crazy but I come alive at about 8 p.m. every evening. It’s great to be able to do something I love, at such a peaceful time of day.”
Abati is the only paid employee of her home business.
“It’s just me right now.,” she said. “My husband, Tony Abati; mom, Amy Drake, and mother-in-law, Sandy Abati, are always willing to help and have jumped in several times to help me deliver, set up, or sometimes even finish decorating things. I’m lucky to have them! I couldn’t do it 100% on my own.”
Recently, Abati started offering new products and services.
“Thursday, August 15th, I released a lot of new changes to FGC,” she said. “The most exciting of which, in my opinion, is the fact that I am now offering French Macarons and I am introducing a cake cutting service. The rest of the changes are listed in a Facebook and Instagram post on my page @ForGoodnessCakesFS.”
Abati’s contact info:
Call or text: 6207041315 (texts preferred for orders)
Jennifer Tourtillott, 39, will teach kindergarten at Winfield Scott Elementary School this year.
This is her sixth year teaching kindergarten, after receiving her bachelor of science degree in elementary education from Pittsburg State University.
“I taught at a school called St. Andrews, in my hometown of Roswell NM,” she said.
Her family includes two brothers, two sisters and her parents, who are retired educators, living in Texas.
She is married to Jason and they have two children.
“Jason is a teacher in Uniontown, for 14 years,” she said. ” Our son is Mason and he is going into 3rd grade. Our daughter is Madison and she’s going into kindergarten.”
In her spare time, she creates custom wood furniture with her husband, called Tourtillott Creations
The best part of teaching for her is:
“Giving the children a fun and loving atmosphere. (Where)They feel safe and enjoy learning,” she said.
The following is part of a series from National Public Radio and Sarah Jane Tribble for Kaiser Health News on the closing of Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott, December 2018, taken from Facebook.
Nationwide, more than 100 rural hospitals have closed since 2010. The loss of these hospitals has forced a change in the way emergency care is provided, including a greater reliance on air ambulances.
Next Steps co-coordinators Sue Emmons and David Goodyear will start weekly gatherings next week.
A local initiative to move fathers out of dependence to become self-supporting is restarting August 19.
Next Steps is a local program of Connections to Success that the Kansas government provides to work with men in transition from dependence.
New co-coordinators David Goodyear and Sue Emmons are starting a new term with the program, replacing Jean Tucker, who had to step down for health reasons.
“It’s a 14-week structured curriculum,” Goodyear said. “It has a three-day intensive ‘get to know you’, team building and skills assessment.”
“We are targeting men, but we are not exclusive,” Goodyear said. They work with women wanting to become self-sustaining as well.
Next Steps meets Mondays from 5-7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Fort Scott.
First United Methodist Church at 2nd Street and National Avenue, is the venue for Next Steps.
“The program is a collaboration of churches,” Goodyear said.
It is comprised of facilitators, who lead the discussion on a chosen topic, such as budgeting tools, conflict resolution, how to present yourself to an employer, how to do a resume, etc.
“We focus on personal, developmental, relational, vocational and spiritual,” Goodyear said.
Other people in the program are dedicated to helping with transporting participants to the meetings, and childcare during the meetings.
Then there are mentors-people who walk beside another person.
As a mentor, he has worked to develop relationships to help participants with decision making on such subjects as managing money or family conflicts, he said.
Many are battling isolation, lack of value and lacking a sense of belonging, Goodyear said.
“There is dignity in providing for themselves…We’ve had pretty good success,” he said.
Participants must learn such attributes as the mutual respect of showing up on time and not disrupting in group settings, Goodyear said.
Ages of participants in the past have varied from people in their 20s to those in their 60s.
For Emmons, she had been aware of the program and had referred people in prior jobs and was asked to join Next Steps as a facilitator/mentor about six months ago.
For Goodyear, the most practical way to show someone the Gospel of Jesus Christ is building relationships. He has been in the role of both facilitator and mentor as well for about five years.
To him, 1 John 3:18, is the inspiration: “Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
For more information: contact Goodyear through Fort Scott Church of the Nazarene at 620-223-0131 or Emmons at 620-224-8096.
Krista Postai, President and CEO of Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, asked fortscott.biz to dispell some confusion.
“There has been some confusion in Ft. Scott about immunizations (at CHC/SEK),” she said. “In the past, we understood that Mercy (Hospital) usually required a well-child visit or a physical (exam) before administering immunizations.”
” While it’s a great idea to get your child’s immunizations as part of their regular check-up, that’s not always possible so it’s CHC/SEK’s policy to provide shots on a walk-in basis at all of our clinics anytime we are open.”
No appointment is necessary for the immunizations.
Shots can be administered at the center no matter if the primary care physician is affiliated with CHC/SEK.
“We also do immunizations for anyone regardless of who their primary care provider is, so you don’t have to be one of our patients to get you or your child vaccinated,” she said. ” We do ask that you bring your child’s immunization record.”
The facility is located at 403 Woodland Hills Blvd., at the site of the former Mercy Hospital.
In an effort to help make government more efficient in the county, a new Bourbon County Unified Services Committee was formed August 7, 2019.
“I have heard about it (unifying government) for three years,” Greg Motley, who was selected to be the vice-chairman of the group, said. “We have to look for ways to be more efficient.”
“We had one meeting to organize ourselves,” he said. “The purpose is ‘how can we make government more efficient: city, county, school districts, community college’.”
Fort Scott Community College
The unifying committee was launched by Bourbon County Economic Development Corporation, BEDCO.
They are in the first stage, which is researching the possibilities, Motley said.
“That will take a while,” he said.
“We have to plan for a reduced population,” Motley said. “The cost of government is going to increase. We have to think about ways…to do it (government) more effectively.”
Motley said Wyandotte County has unified in northeast Kansas and other sparsely populated counties are considering combining to unify resources.
So the group will study the issue to see if it can be done, and done well, he said.
Motley knows that if the public is not for the unification of government, it will not happen.
“People could say ‘even if it saves money on taxes, we don’t want it’ and that’s ok,” Motley said.
USD 234 Board of Education Building.Uniontown High School.The Bourbon County Courthouse
Bourbon County Unified Services Committee is comprised of Mark McCoy, chairman; Motley, vice chairman; Nancy Maze, secretary/treasurer; Greg Fess, Clayton Whitson, Larry Shead, David Foster, Larry Martin and Larry Jurgensen.
Greg Motley
Motley can be reached at 620-768-2329 or cell 620-215-6411 or [email protected]
Fort Scott Washateria, a new state of the art laundry center, will open Sept. 7 instead of mid-August as originally planned, said manager Lori Lovelace.
But this Thursday on Aug. 15 at 6 p.m. she and her mother Carol Oakleaf, who is the owner of the business, will be having an organizational meeting for a Fort Scott Community Closet Association.
Volunteers are needed to be board members for the new philanthropic organization.
“We will collect clothing donations to distribute to those in need in the community,” Lovelace said.
“We’d like to get people who have worked at the Beacon,” she said. The Beacon is a helping agency who recently quit handling clothing distributions.
“We will need people to set the hours to be open, the qualifications for receiving donations and other needed decisions,” Lovelace said.
She and her mother will be on the board, but others are needed.
Their church, Hammond United Methodist, is a sponsor of the clothing distribution association.
Lovelace and Oakleaf have worked to attain a 501 (c)3 and a Federal Tax ID for the association, she said.
“The broader the organizational experience, the better it will be,” Lovelace said.
Volunteers are also needed to help with the distribution of clothes to those in need.
“We will launder donated clothing, and clothing will be sorted and stored in the grey shed, just north of the laundry facility,” Lovelace said.
Washateria Grand Opening Sept. 7
The laundry center’s opening has been pushed into September because of the death of an employee of Laundry Solutions, that sold them all the machines, Lovelace said.
That business has been Speed Queen Distributor of the Year three times in the last six years, she said.
Some of the larger capacity machines will take bedding comforters and dog beds, Lovelace said.
They will have a “soft opening” of the laundry mat around Labor Day.
She will put a sign in the window to indicate the preliminary opening.
Two people have been hired and the hours of operation of the laundry mat will be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.
Home delivery service will be provided as well, if needed.
For more information: [email protected] or call Lovelace at 620-215-1314.
Devin Tally, 30, is the new City of Fort Scott Staff Accountant.
He graduated from Fort Scott High School in 2007 and received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Pittsburg State University. In May 2019 he completed my Master of Business Administration through Northwest Missouri State University.
Previously, Tally has worked at Wise Tax and Accounting for almost four years.
He started working for the city on June 24, 2019.
Tally’s duties include payroll, accounts receivable, assisting with the budget, bank reconciliation, sales tax, and additional duties as needed. His office is located at city hall, 123 S. Main.
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce is initiating a partnership program that aims to cultivate an entrepreneurial environment in the community.
What is an entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is an individual who, rather than working as an employee, founds and runs a small business, assuming all the risks and rewards of the venture, according to investopedia.com.
“The big-picture vision for this initiative is to move Bourbon County forward as a great place to start and grow a small business and where existing businesses have access to all the resources they need to grow and achieve their potential,” Bill Michaud said.
Michaud is the chairman of the Chamber’s Business Resource and Development Committee.
Bill Michaud is the chairman of the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Business Resource and Development Committee. Submitted photo.
He and Chamber Executive Director Lindsay Madison are the primary workers to bring this initiative to Fort Scott, Michaud said.
“Lindsay Madison did the work to complete the application which resulted in us being selected,” he said. ” She and I have been the primary ones immersed in the details.”
Lindsay Madison is the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director. Submitted photo.
“The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce representing Bourbon County has been selected by Network Kansas as a partner in the E-Community Program, a partnership program that aims to cultivate an entrepreneurial environment in partner communities throughout the state,” Michaud said. The Chamber was notified in June 2019.
“Bourbon County was awarded this partnership opportunity through a competitive application process in which 14 Kansas communities were vying for selection and only five new e-community partners were selected,” he said.
“The revolving loan fund and other E-Community resources can be the catalyst to build onto the many great improvements which have occurred in our community in recent years, “Michaud said. “This program is a resource that could help fund additional rehabilitation of downtown buildings which are currently very difficult to finance.”
E-Community loan funds can be used for building acquisition, renovations, inventory, expansion, relocation, equipment and other purposes.
One of the barriers to starting or growing a business is access to funding.
“The largest component of the E-Community Partnership is providing a locally controlled loan fund used to enable new business and existing businesses to overcome that barrier,” Michaud said. “There also additional resources available through Network Kansas to help businesses of all sizes including a variety of programs through StartupKS.”
The E-Community program also provides funding for several approved educational and personal development programs.
“These programs are geared toward teaching and developing potential and existing entrepreneurs,” he said.
Click below for a link to that inventory of programs:
The E-Community program was created through a Kansas Center for Entrepreneurship Tax Credit Program, according to the Fort Scott Chamber website.
Application Details
Applicants may include startup businesses and existing business purchases and/or expansions.
The minimum loan request is $5,000 with a $45,000 maximum amount available per applicant business, subject to availability. The terms for loans issued in the fiscal year 2019-20 will be 5 percent rate over a 10-year maximum term.
Applicants will be asked if the entrepreneur or business has a tax liability in arrears with the Kansas Department of Revenue or the IRS, or been involved in bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings.
Applicants will be asked to provide relevant details such as length of time in business, business name or entity changes, number of jobs to be created or retained, etc.
All business plans will be submitted with the application and should include key elements such as:
Executive Summary
Business Description
Products or Services
Short- and Long-Term Goals
Project Financing
Management
Ownership
Marketing Strategy
Description of Major & Prospective Customers
Description of Market & Competition
Financial Projections
Contact the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Pittsburg State University for assistance in developing a business plan, 620-235-4920.
How the application will be judged
The Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Financial Review Board will use the following rubric to score all applications in the Bourbon County E-Community Program.
Criteria
Strength (1-4)
Weight (% of total)
Weighted Score
Financial Soundness
25
Owner/Operator Experience
20
Business Plan
25
Owner/3rd Party Funding
25
Community Commitment
5
TOTAL
100
SCALE
4 = Exceeds expectations 3 = Meets expectations
2= Partially meets expectations 1 = Does not meet expectations
Application Checklist
Be sure to include the following with your completed application:
$50 Non-refundable Application Fee
Business Plan including Financial Projections (1-year projection of profit & loss by month and 3 years of annual projections)
Financial Statements (if an existing business)
Income statement and balance sheet from within the past 90 days
Income statements, balance sheets, and complete business tax returns for the two (2) prior year-ends
A current list of business obligations
Applicant Resume
Personal Financial Statement from within the past 90 days
Three Letters of Reference
Other documents relevant to the project
Proposed purchase agreement
The existing or proposed franchise agreement
Existing or proposed lease agreement
Real estate contract
Contractor bids
Appraisals and environmental reports
Partnership agreement
Articles of incorporation & bylaws
History Of Initiative
The initiative was established as a part of the Kansas Economic Growth Act of 2004 to stimulate entrepreneurship and small business growth as a priority for economic and community development in the State of Kansas.
Click here to learn more about Network Kansas and E-Communities.
Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce is located at 231 E. Wall St., Fort Scott, KS 66701 and can be reached at 620-223-3566 or email [email protected].
“Do thy diligence to come before winter.” 2 Timothy 4:21a
The voice on the other end of the line said, “You need to come quickly. Fred is dying.” Suddenly, I felt weak. I needed to sit down.
I never knew my father. Fred Hambrick was like a father to me. He was my “father” in the faith. He was my “Paul” and I was his “Timothy.” For many years, Fred was my pastor. When I gave my life to Christ, Fred baptized me. When I surrendered to the ministry, Fred mentored me. When I went to seminary, Fred tutored me. He has been a big part of my life. The thought of his dying before I could say “goodbye” was heartbreaking. I had to hurry.
The five-hour drive to Norman, Oklahoma only took four. When I arrived at the hospital, I was greeted in the hallway by Fred’s wife, Lola. My mind could not fully comprehend what she was saying – something about a severe stroke and it being only a matter of time.
I hurried into his room. He looked frail and weak on the hospital bed. “Fred,” I spoke loudly, “It’s me James.” He opened his eyes. His arms tried to lift as if he wanted to embrace me. I grabbed his hands and leaned in so he could hear me, “I love you.” The stroke had robbed him of his voice, but he mouthed, “I love you too.” I said, “I’ve told all your jokes and preached all your sermons. I need you to write me some more.” He seemed to want to laugh at my attempt at humor. I swear there was a smile on his face, but that was impossible. The stroke had taken his smile.
I talked to Fred for a bit. Eventually, I settled into waiting with his family. That night, Dr. A. Fred Hambrick was escorted by angels into the presence of Jesus Christ. Until the Lord comes back or calls me home, I will miss him.
Just before he died, the Apostle Paul wrote from a Roman prison to his “son” in the faith, Timothy. Toward the end of the letter we know as 2 Timothy, Paul tells the young preacher to hurry to see him. He says, “Come before winter.” If Timothy doesn’t get there by winter, it will be too late – Paul will be executed.
Have you ever had a friend, or a loved one die and you think, “It can’t be possible? I just saw him.” But you will never see him on this earth again. You think, “I was going to go see him this week. Or I was going to have supper with him next week. Or I was going to call him tomorrow.” Or that you were going to do this – or say that. But now it is too late.
Time is passing. The calendar is turning. There are only so many days in our lives. There are things in this life that will never be done unless they are done “before winter.” The winter will come, and the spring will pass. Flowers will bloom and then they will die. There are opportunities that we have on this summer day, but by November those opportunities will be gone forever.
The point is: Don’t wait too late. Reach out to that loved one. As you are reading this, there is someone on your mind. I didn’t put them there. God did. Call that person. If possible, go see that person. Tell them you love them. Don’t put it off. Tomorrow may be too late.
Come before winter.
James Collins is senior pastor at Fort Scott’s First Southern Baptist Church. He can be reached at (620) 223-2986, or through the website thepointis.net.
Peerless Products, 2403 S. Main, is the largest employer in Fort Scott with 420 workers.
And they need more assembly lines to grow their business, according to Dave Elliott, Peerless Products Culture and Morale Manager.
Founded in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1952, they manufacturer high-performance aluminum architectural and commercial windows for new construction, replacement and historical construction, according to their website.http://www.peerlessproducts.com/Corporate/About-Peerless
“We need to have the capacity to run more products through, to continue to grow,” Elliott said.
“We purchased the old American Standard warehouse in Nevada (MO) on I-49, we will use that as a staging warehouse,” Elliott said. “That frees up space in the Fort Scott facility for another assembly line.”
The employees the company is looking for?
“Somebody that has a good work ethic and a willingness to learn and grow,” Elliott said. In addition, applicants must have a valid driver’s license, and a high school diploma or GED.
The starting-out wage at the plant is $11 per hour, and “they usually work more than 40 hours a week.”
Day shift is from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
“The hours on Friday depends on how much of the product is complete,” Elliott said.
Peerless offers a benefits package that offers health insurance, life insurance, a 401K and an “astounding profit-sharing program,” Elliot said.
Peerless also offers “employee care” activities such as chair massage a couple of times a year and currently are giving employees 20 lb. meat bundles. This processed beef and pork comes from what the company purchases at county fairs of 4-H animals.
Today, Aug. 9, Elliot and Karen Contreras will be at the Ellis Fine Art Center on the campus of Fort Scott Community College for a job fair.
Ellis Fine Arts Center
From 2-6 p.m. interested applicants are asked to bring their resume and come for a visit with the two Peerless Products representatives.
