The Dare to Dream: Collective Impact event occurs from 9 am to 3 pm on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Fort Scott Community College’s Ellis Center, 2108 S. Horton. Check-in begins at 8 am.
Fort Scott Community College Bailey Hall.
Women business owners can be inspired and network with like-minded people during the event. Provided for attendees is a free lunch and child care.
“Our event kicks off with a dynamic pre-conference session on “The Entrepreneurial Mindset,” setting the stage for a day of inspiration and collaboration,” according to the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team Facebook page.
The event will allow women to converse with like-minded individuals during the networking event, forging connections that extend beyond the conference, according to Jody Love, President and Chief Executive Officer for HBCAT.
Jody Love. Submitted photo.
The main event features a keynote address and a variety of breakout sessions tailored to diverse interests, ensuring a customized and enriching experience, according to Love.
Mary Ricketts is the keynote speaker.
Turning Point CEO and founder, Mary Ricketts, began her leadership path in 1990 in the telecommunications industry, according to a press release from HBCAT. Her natural coaching and leadership abilities led her to increased leadership responsibilities in the telecommunications space, and eventually into insurance and financial wellness.
Partnering with John Maxwell’s team helped her sharpen her training and development abilities.
Turning Point Training and Development was founded in 2019 in response to requests from community partners that needed a professional and experienced resource to ensure organizational success.
“We understand the importance of accessibility, which is why we provide complimentary lunch and free childcare, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in this empowering journey,” she said.
The new pickleball court in Uniontown is located at Sherman and Second Street on the town square.
Pickleball has come to Uniontown, with equipment provided by community members and a court provided by a grant.
Pickleball resembles tennis in which players use paddles to hit a perforated plastic ball over a net, according to Oxford Languages Dictionary.
A grant provided the concrete court to play the sport on.
Recently, the court had been marked for pickleball play.
Last Thursday, pickleball equipment was made available in a storage container located under the community bulletin board at Uniontown’s City Hall on the east side of the town’s square.
Paddles and balls to play pickleball are inside the bin beneath the City of Uniontown Community Bulletin Board.
“There is no charge to use the equipment and we ask that you put it back, or the community loses it,” City Clerk Sally Johnson said. “Return it and take care, so everyone can use it.”
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A sign inside the bin containing the pickleball equipment.
“All the equipment has been donated,” Johnson said. “The bin, which houses the equipment was donated by Amber Kelley; the net, paddles and ball were donated by the Frank Johnson family; and the benches around the pickleball court was supplied by Skeet George.”
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Sally Johnson, Uniontown’s City Clerk.
“People are already using it,” Johnson said. “Equipment is available at City Hall, behind the community bulletin board.”
The City of Uniontown pursued a grant in 2022 to provide this sport to those in the community.
The project was funded by a grant from the Kansas Blue Cross/Blue Shield Pathways Grant, through Healthy Bourbon County Action Team Placemaking.
“We went through them to apply and qualify for the grant,” Johnson said. “HBCAT worked with the community to find out what the community wanted in 2022. We received and implemented the grant request and had to make an estimated budget, then advertised and put it out for bid. $18, 430 was the low bid. The BCBS grant provided $10,000 in grant money to help pay for that. The process took about two years.”
Grand Opening
A grand opening/ribbon cutting is scheduled during the Old Settler’s Picnic at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 1 at the pickleball court, located west of the new public restrooms in Uniontown.
The grand opening falls between two family activities that day at the town square, bingo is slated for 2 p.m. at the southeast shelter house, and then the Family Fun Night starts at 6 p.m. at the gazebo, Johnson said.
“They will incorporate the ribbon cutting in the family fun time,” she said. “The public is invited to all the events.”
The new Uniontown Pickleball Court is adjacent to the new public restrooms on the town’s square.
The 119th Annual Old Settlers Picnic is this weekend, starting on Friday evening with a street dance and continuing to the recognition of old settlers to the community on Monday afternoon.
The parade is on Monday, with the Marilyn Holt family as the grand marshalls.
The following information was provided by Sara Roufs, president of the Old Settler’s Picnic Committee.
Friday, August 30
To kick off the weekend, there will be a street dance on Friday evening with live music by No Bad Vibes.
Saturday, August 31
“The 5K Run/Walk will now be in Uniontown as well as the kid’s fishing derby so the town will be bustling and we are inviting the community to have a yard sale if they wish,” said Sara Roufs. “It would be a great chance to make some spending cash for Monday where there will be a variety of food and craft vendors available.
Sunday, September 1
There will be the traditional community church service in the park on Sunday at 10 a.m. starting with a coffee, milk and donuts social. This annual event is a collaboration of the First Missionary Baptist Church and Uniontown Methodist Church.
“Everyone really enjoyed bingo last year, so we will start that earlier on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Prizes have been donated by local businesses.”
Sally Johnson will be facilitating the bingo game and it will be at the southeast pavilion in the town’s square.
The grand opening of the new pickleball court will be at 5:30 p.m. at the new court on the south side of the town square park.
The new Uniontown Pickleball Court.
“Family Fun Night will begin at 6 p.m. at the park and will also include the kids’ games normally played on Monday. The youth rodeo also begins at 6 p.m. on Sunday.”
Monday, September 2
“The car show will be held at the southeast side of the square starting at 9 a.m. so be sure to check out the amazing vehicles and grab some breakfast before the parade begins.”
“New this year for the car show, Dale Jackson’s family will be judging and picking their top 20 favorite vehicles and top 5 favorite motorcycles and overall best of show. Spectators are invited to vote for their favorite as well. Trophies will be awarded by the family at 1:00.”
“Food and craft vendors will mainly be lined up on the north street this year to make room in the park for everyone to stay and enjoy the day.”
“Bring a lawn chair or lay a blanket out on the grass. We will have live music throughout the day performed by Holly Crays and cash prizes, raffle drawings and contests.”
Bring a lawnchair and stay awhile. 2022 Old Settler’s Picnic photo.
“We will have a baby parade at noon at the gazebo where they can introduce and show off their little ones. All babies that register for the baby parade will be entered to win a prize.”
“We will once again be having free kids carnival games in the northwest corner of the park starting at noon. The Old Settlers Committee has purchased prizes with donations from our generous sponsors to provide free fun for the kids to replace the bounce houses they were allowed to have in the past. Starting last year, the city council now requires that we purchase a special event policy to cover all the weekend events and our policy will not cover bounce houses. The carnival games are a great replacement and we are really excited to send the kids home with some fun prizes.”
Parade
“All kids are welcome to be in the children’s parade at 10:30. Ride a bike, wear a costume or just walk for fun. Line up at the fire station at 10:15.
The parade will start at 11 a.m.
The grand marshall of the 2024 parade is Marilyn Holt and her family. Community members are selected to be honored to lead the parade each year.
“Entries for the main parade will line up starting at 10 a.m. at the football field. We hope every club, organization, business, etc will participate. Our parade theme this year is “It’s a family tradition” and we will have a family float category so we hope to see some families join the parade. There will be cash prizes for the top floats.”
All area families, clubs, organizations, teams, churches and businesses are invited to be a part of the parade. First place prize for a float is $100, 2nd place is $75 and 3rd place is $50.
Kids Sign Up To Win a New Bike
“New this year too, all kids in attendance will be able to sign up (for free) at the Old Settlers tent to win a free bike! We will have multiple bikes to give away, which were paid for by raffle ticket sales this year. Mary Pillion has done an amazing job organizing and selling raffle tickets to make this happen.”
“As the treasurer, she keeps meticulous records and devotes a great amount of time to fundraising and contacting our sponsors. We have an entire circle of people volunteering time or making donations. There are far too many to mention individually but we want to thank everyone who has contributed to this and kept this community tradition going since 1905.”
Tiana McElroy, the Bourbon County Attorney submitted her resignation as county attorney to Governor Laura Kelly on July 31, 2024. The letter did not state her reason for resigning.
“Tiana is working part-time with the Bourbon County Attorney’s Office,” said Bourbon County Clerk Jennifer Hawkins. “I received her resignation letter on July 29th. The Bourbon County Republican Party has 21 days from the date they were notified by the Governor’s office to appoint an attorney to fulfill the remainder of Tiana’s term.”
An email to McElroy from fortscott.biz went unanswered about why she resigned before the election.
Bourbon County Republican Chairman Mark McCoy announced to the local Republicans that they will meet to interview candidates wishing to fill the position until the November 4, 2024 election, when a new county attorney is elected.
The meeting to select a county attorney is August 29 at 6 p.m. at Fort Scott Livestock Market, 2131 Maple Road, Fort Scott.
A majority of precinct people must be in attendance, or a proxy form may be signed with the name of the person seeking the county attorney position and the name of the precinct person representing that absent precinct person.
All interested Kansas licensed attorneys may email their information/resume to McCoy at [email protected]
Bourbon County Clerk Jennifer Hawkins. Submitted photo.
Jennifer Hawkins, the Bourbon County Clerk said there was a 22% turnout rate for the primary election on August 6.
Hawkins said her office follows clear guidelines that the State of Kansas provides for removing people who have died from the voter registration list.
This was in response to Michael Hoyt’s quote “He said this is a state-wide problem of the registered voters roll not being “cleaned up” when people die. He said there is no clear way to get deceased people off the roll,” in a prior story.
“The State of Kansas has clear guidelines, which are listed below, that list how we can remove a deceased individual’s name from the voter registration list,” said Hawkins. “The Clerk’s Office follows the guidelines and diligently checks obituaries and monitors the weekly reports sent out by the state of those who have passed away for Bourbon County residents. Individuals who pass away in a state other than Kansas, however; will not show up on the report issued by Kansas Department of Health and Environment.”
Here are the state guidelines:
“Except as otherwise provided by law, when a voter dies or is disqualified for voting, the registration of the voter shall be void, and the county election officer shall remove such voter’s name from the registration books and the party affiliation lists.
“Whenever
(1) an obituary notice appears in a newspaper having general circulation in the county reports the death of a registered voter, or
(2) a registered voter requests in writing that such voter’s name be removed from registration, or
(3) a court of competent jurisdiction orders removal of the name of a registered voter from registration lists, or
(4) the name of a registered voter appears on a list of deceased residents compiled by the secretary of health and environment as provided in K.S.A. 65-2422, and amendments thereto, or appears on a copy of a death certificate provided by the secretary of health and environment, or appears in information provided by the social security administration, the county election officer shall remove from the registration books and the party affiliation lists in such officer’s office the name of any person shown by such list or death certificate to be deceased.”
Hawkins provided the following 20 pages of official results of the August 6 election. with write-ins.
Mmm Flavor Shop owner Emelia Whiteaker is hosting the business’s first Tea Club Tea Party today, Wednesday, August 21st at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at Papa Don’s Pizza, 10 North Main in Fort Scott.
“This is the inaugural meeting of the Tea Club,” Whiteaker said. “I started selling herbs and spices in 2021 when a major health diagnosis was made in the family.”
“The Tea Club is a way to bring interested individuals together to learn, socialize, and experience what is out there beyond the box stores, supplement companies, and mass-produced products.”
Submitted graphic.
“This month’s Tea Club Tea Party theme is Iced Teas,” she said. “There will be four loose-leaf teas made as iced tea to sample for free. Everyone is invited to come try tea, ask questions, or just socialize with friends.”
“The health benefits of eating truly natural nutrients in herbs and spices are well documented,” she said. “I added a variety of loose-leaf teas for the same reason. Most of the teas we have offer a wide variety of health benefits along with a delicious taste.”
“This summer we added specialty kinds of rice that have an increase in nutrients due to where they are grown.”
“I have spent hours talking to our suppliers on the phone to make sure the products available are high quality and full of nutrients that the body recognizes and absorbs better. Our suppliers can tell me the exact farm and farmer that each item comes from.”
“I am always researching and taking continuing education courses on nutrition,” she said. “This allows me to continue to work to bring tasty, nutritious ingredients to our rural area.”
She said the business sells its products at vendor’s shows and direct ordering through them.
Robin Kendrick, owner of Varia, stands in front of the door at 112 E. 23, the space that is being opened up to expand her shop at 114 E. 23rd.
Varia Resale Clothing Shop, 114 E. 23rd, is expanding next door to 112 E. 23rd, the former Bob Williams Insurance office.
Varia is French for variety, she said.
“We are adding 800 feet to the shop,” owner Robin Kendrick said. “The total square footage will be 2,000 square feet when finished.”
New paint and carpet are being added to the new area, which will be the children’s department and vendors.
Work will be continued today in the new space adjacent to the original Varia shop at 112 E. 23rd.
She said the shop is closed today while the expansion is going on, but is anticipated to be open tomorrow.
The expansion started on August 17 with a completion date by the end of August and plans to remain open during most phases of the work.
The shop accepts name-brand clothing in excellent condition and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Varia was established in June 2021 and sells women’s, men’s, teens, and children’s clothing along with shoes, jewelry, and miscellaneous items.
She currently has four vendors who sell handmade jewelry, antiques, collectibles, art, handmade towels and ornaments.
Items are accepted by appointment only by calling her at 620.238.1703.
Kendrick pays cash for those items she selects and the items then are the sole property of the business.
“We pay upfront in cash at the appointment time,” she said. “Therefore we assume the risk of whether your items sell or not.”
“We don’t offer consignment, but store credit is an option for customers bringing in merchandise. Walk-ins may be accepted but will be paid in store credit. Donations are always accepted and appreciated.”
“You may bring up to 30 items,” she said. “If more than 15 items are accepted you will be paid $2 an item. $5 for jeans and heavy coats. If 15 items or less are accepted, you will be paid 50% of the item price.”
She also goes to Kansas City to buy inventory for the shop.
On the horizon for the shop is bin sales.
“They will be in containers lined up on tables with things that I have had for a while.”
Voters in a prior election vote at the Bourbon County Courthouse.
Michael Hoyt has been seeking signatures of Bourbon County residents who would like to see the county move to a five-commissioner board instead of the current three commissioners.
He has 500 signatures as of today and believes he will get the required total of 621 in a month, however, the county election officer has a date of August 21 for getting the signatures in, so they can be validated before the November general election.
Hoyt will be asking the three commissioners to sign a resolution that he is presenting at this evening’s commission meeting that will help the petition move forward to be put on the November 5 election, which would not require the signatures.
He said there are 14,900 people in Bourbon County according to the 2020 census, and there are 12,500 people registered to vote.
He said this is a state-wide problem of the registered voters roll not being “cleaned up” when people die. He said there is no clear way to get deceased people off the roll.
If the resolution is put on the ballot this November, it would save the cost of a $10,000 special election later, Hoyt said.
The need for five commissioners is to bring better government to the county, he said.
“We seem to be stalled with three commissioners,” he said. “Two commissioners talking outside of an open meeting is an open meetings violation. It’s an unfair disadvantage with only three commissioners.”
“Out of 105 counties, 35 have gone to five commissioners, 30 are moving towards this,” he said.
Michael Hoyt. Submitted photo.
The following is a press release Hoyt sent:
A bi-partisan Bourbon County citizens group, aptly named The Three-to-Five Committee, has published and received preliminary sufficiency, on a petition to place a question on the November 2024 general election ballot; “Shall the current number of Bourbon County Commissioner Districts set forth in KSA 19-203(a)(b)(c)(d)&(e), be increased to five (5) Commissioner Districts?”
As provided in the Kansas Statutes the Districts will be five districts “as compact and equal in population” as possible. The change will have no impact on the County budget. The additional Commissioners will allow better collaboration and focused representation on their respective districts. As the Commission is currently constructed, the group noted, “Even two Commissioners having conversations on any topic that may come before the Commission, is a violation of the Kansas Open Meeting Act (KOMA).” Allowing an opportunity for collaboration and discussions with two Commissioners will improve the decision-making process and should provide improved transparency and accountability; since it is apparent the Chairman is reluctant to have material meetings that do not include all the Commissioners. That is why there is a quorum call; as long as two Commissions are present all business may go forward.
Signatures have been collected by registered voters in Bourbon County over the last few weeks, and we have over 550 of the required 621 to place the question on the November ballot. This will prevent the need for a special election and the expense associated with such an election. Further discussion on a Resolution by the County Commission to remove the risk of the special election fees will be discussed at Monday, August 19, 2024, meeting; only two Commissioner signatures are required, the resolution has been written for them, and a copy has been provided to the County Counselor over a week ago for review. Not to mention the time required by the clerk’s office to verify all signers of the petition. THE PETITION DECIDES NOTHING other than to place the question on a ballot. The people will have a voice to vote FOR or AGAINST the ballot question in the November election.
To view the resolution that Hoyt is asking the commissioners to sign:
Shanna Stone and Dan Duling will be the featured musicians at this week’s Friday Night Free Concert at 1st and Main Street’s Heritage Park at 7 p.m.
Attendees are asked to bring lawn chairs as benches are limited.
In case of inclement weather, the performance will be moved to Common Ground Coffee Co. at 12 E. Wall.
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce is the sponsor and Ralph Carlson is the organizer of the event.
Shana Stone grew up in Southeast Kansas and has been a lifelong staple of the local music community, having performed with country music legends such as George Jones, T. G. Sheppard, Merle Haggard, and more.
Dan Duling, a member of the musically prolific Duling family, spent many years in education and has long been at the forefront of the Southeast Kansas country music scene.
The new neon sign on the clubhouse at Woodland Hills Golf Course welcomes visitors.
The City of Fort Scott staff are trying to make the Woodland Hills Golf Course used by the community more, in fact, to become an activity center in Fort Scott.
Woodland Hills Golf Course, 2414 S. Horton, Fort Scott.
The staff spoke at this week’s Chamber of Commerce Coffee hosted by the golf course.
“Steve and his clubhouse crew have implemented many upgrades for our customers this year,” said Mary Wyatt, FS City Planning, Housing and Development Director, and as such is the director of the golf course. “We have contracted with a new golf cart fleet vendor and replaced all of our old golf carts, installed new countertops, purchased a new TV for the clubhouse, and purchased new high-top tables and chairs. We are also in the process of contracting with a new point-of-sale hardware and software which has many new features such as a tee-time software, annual pass cards for members, and a new website that we will be implementing soon.”
“As the FS Director of the Golf Course, I help facilitate and assist with projects, but the on-site management and their crews are the ones that make the customer experience so excellent with their daily hard work and dedication,” she said.
New Name For The Clubhouse
“With all of the new upgrades this year, we thought it would be a great time to give the Woodland Hills Golf Course Clubhouse an official name,” she said.
A suggestion box was placed in the clubhouse requesting name suggestions, and the top 10 were selected and put into a survey online. The community voted on the suggestions, determined the winning name by majority vote, and purchased a sign with that name that was installed on the front entrance of the clubhouse.
The new sign on the clubhouse at Woodland Hills Golf Course.
“The new official name chosen by the community is The Clubhouse!” she said. “Key Industries, Inc. designed shirts with the official new name for staff, and Jeff Allen wired and mounted the new sign.”
Community Is Invited To Utilize
“We have worked hard this year to create a more inclusive environment that any man, woman, or child can enjoy for more than just a golfing experience,” she said. “We want to invite everyone to come watch their favorite sports games in the clubhouse, hold their volunteer group or committee meetings there, host a weekly card game with friends, or come enjoy a burger or chicken sandwich for lunch or dinner.”
Steve Carter, club manager, said there are currently golf leagues for men, women, children and families, with cart rental at $16 for 18 holes of golf and $10 for 9 holes of golf.
Grounds Keepers
Dustin Fowler, head greens keeper, and his staff: Tyler Cook, Jonathan Allen, Rick McDaniels, and Glenn Niemann have been working to maintain the fairway with weather conditions adding to the workload.
Fowler said the Fort Scott Public Works dredged a pond to make it larger and deeper for irrigation of the greens and Bermuda sod had been donated from Wolf Creek Golf Course, to replace sod that had been killed by drought/ winter kill. He said the plan is for the fairways to be reseeded next spring.
“Dustin and his grounds team have put in a lot of overtime this year working towards recovering our greens and fairways from the past few years of drought and from the flood we had earlier this year,” she said. “The drought has caused a lot of bare, brown spots, throughout the property that are not easily repaired, and the flooding all but destroyed the bottom nine holes of the golf course.”
“It’s taken a lot of focused intensive work to manually rake the gravel out of the greens and back onto the cart paths not just after the flood but every time we have a heavy rain, a lot of seed planting, aeration, sod installation, watering, and fertilizing to rehabilitate the grounds post-drought as well as the rebuilding the bottom nine holes after flooding and heavy rain.”
“Even with the drought and the flood working against our crews and all of the special projects they’ve been working on, they still work day in and day out to maintain the grounds for golfers to enjoy daily and for hosting golf tournaments, they also built a very unique and beautiful section of brick cart path.”
Future Projects
Mini Golf
FS City Manager BradMatkin said he met with a business owner recently and there is a grant opportunity for a Fort Scott-themed miniature golf course at the city-owned golf course.
“This is in the very early stages, so I don’t have a ton of answers right now,” Matkin said. “Once I have budgeting information, it still have to be approved by the commission.”
“The Youth Activity Team has granted money for this project, and we are working on another grant for additional monies,” Matkin said.
“Our vision is to have an 18-hole miniature golf course that will not only add value to our community but will bring people from the area into our town to play. Fort Scott needs more things for families to do and I feel this would be perfect for that type of activity. We want it to be a place where a family can go out play 18-holes of miniature golf then eat a burger or hot dog, at The Clubhouse, and enjoy each other’s company or meet new friends.”
” We are going to ask for businesses to purchase holes and will let them put their “logos”, “theme” or brand on the holes,” he said. “It would really be great to have a hole that represents the fort, the splash pad, or possibly other parts of our history.”
Other Future Projects
Also in the future “the grounds crew hope to concrete all of the cart paths to make a smoother driving experience for our customers as well as prevent the loss of the cart paths during heavy rains or flooding, and create new appealing features such as decorative wooden bridges and detailed landscaping.”
“We hope to purchase new patio furniture for people to enjoy socializing out back and make the environment more cozy and inviting,” she said. “We hope to be able to provide full kitchen capabilities with a wider range of menu options, golf simulators to give customers the capability of the golf experience year-round, mini golf, and a driving range have also been discussed as well as landscaping the grass circle in front of the clubhouse.”
The clubhouse left, and the golf course garage is on the right, in this photo of Woodland Hills Golf Course.
Danny Brown and the Bourbon County Revival will be performing this Friday evening in downtown Fort Scott at 1st and Main Street.
“One of our best,” said Ralph Carlson, organizer of the free concerts. “They are pretty eclectic and have a lot of variety. We are glad to have them.”
The concert starts at 7 p.m., and the audience is asked to bring lawn chairs. In case of inclement weather, the concert will be at Common Ground Coffee Co., 12 E. Wall.
The concert series is sponsored by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce and organized by Carlson.
