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All posts by Loretta George
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Bronson Micro Grocery Store Is Transitioning
Thaddeus and Kelly Perry’s business, Perry’s Country Store in Bronson, is changing focus.
“Our physical location in Bronson will no longer operate as it has. We are shifting the space to what it was originally designed for — production and distribution,” Kelly Perry said. “This is not a light decision, but for the first time in a long time, I 100% believe this is God opening and closing doors and bringing partnerships and networks full circle, and I’ve never felt peace like I have this last week and here is why.”
Monday through Friday we will be growing and expanding Perry’s Pork Rinds nationally.
“The physical storefront will still offer pork rinds, Perry’s Produce Boxes, bulk produce buying through online pre-orders, and our seasonal fruit like Colorado peaches, Florida strawberries, Oregon blueberries, Washington cherries, and the spring flower baskets and mums in the fall and similar offerings. That piece isn’t going away — it’s simply becoming more structured so it works long term and will likely occur on the second Saturday of each month. I’ll be inviting food trucks on those days, and others to set up in the parking lot and make it a monthly community event.”
“Monday through Friday we will be growing and expanding Perry’s Pork Rinds nationally.”
“Because of this shift, we’ll be liquidating all items not directly related to the pork rind business,” she said. “The red retro tables will stay; they have been an item that was here in the original fuel station. Food, small and large equipment, decor, and shelving. All of it will be for sale. I’m posting smaller items on my personal Facebook page now, and I’ll likely have my big list of large equipment posted online today on our new Facebook page that is dedicated to JUST the Perry’s Country Store https://www.facebook.
“I truly believe this transition is part of a bigger path we have prayed and worked so hard for since starting in 2017,” she said. “The goal hasn’t changed: support rural communities while building something sustainable for our family and future job growth.”
Her husband and co-owner, Thaddeus, is having a catfish fry this weekend, which will start the markdown pricing of food items in the store.
“Pre-orders are now open for the Sweet T’s Fried Catfish event this Saturday, February 21,” she said. “The pre-orders will close at noon on Feb 19! www.PerrysPorkRinds.com During this event, we will start our in-store markdowns of candy, canned goods, jar items, jams, frozen pies, meats, etc. ”
“All things Perry’s Pork Rinds will be posted on our normal Perry’s Pork Rind Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/
Granddads Groceries Coming
Discounted bulk groceries will soon be offered through Perry’s Country Store.
“About a year ago, I met with a company that distributes deeply discounted bulk groceries. At the time, logistics didn’t work out. I reached back out just on faith and asked if they would reconsider a community drop location here so both Bourbon and Allen County residents could benefit since the closing of the Marmaton Market in Moran and now our Micro Grocery Store in Bronson — and they said yes.”
Perry’s Country Store will be a new pick-up location for Grandad’s Groceries, a discounted bulk grocer that delivers to locations in our area.
“It allows continued food access locally without pulling focus, time, or capital away from growing Perry’s Pork Rinds. Here is a video link for what will be coming https://youtu.be/DnWRnA1ctrE and Perry’s parking lot will be the pick up location for Grandad’s Groceries. https://www.
New Auto Repair Business Opens in Fort Scott
Noah Terry and Dakota Rusk are the owners of a new car maintenance business.
G3 Auto Repair, is located at 1131 227th, Fort Scott, on the east side of town by the Fort Scott Middle School.
Terry and Rusk perform simple auto maintenance to major overhauls “and everything in-between,” said Terry.
“We also do tires, we can even balance them, and we offer detailing services.”
(620) 240- 9343
The business will have a grand opening on February 28, 2026. They are currenlty accepting job inquiries now, Terry said.
Dakota Rusk is the technician and has experience from working at Briggs Auto. Terry is the CEO, he said.
Why start an auto repair business?
“The reasons are twofold,” Terry said. “We want to first and foremost honor God with our work. We devote all things to Him, and our business is a part of that.”
“Secondly, we see this as an opportunity to serve our community; we want to offer a professional service to Fort Scott. We want to build up the place we call home, and providing excellent and honest service is one of many ways we can contribute to that mission.”
Terry said their goals are simple:
“Over communicate. Under promise.
and over deliver.”
To learn more: 620.240.9343 or
FSCC Names Gemini Pulido Head Coach of Women’s Soccer Program
Fort Scott Community College has announced the hiring of Gemini Pulido as head coach of its women’s soccer program, bringing a student-centered, development-focused approach to one of the college’s growing athletic offerings.
Pulido said her coaching philosophy extends well beyond performance on the field, with an emphasis on confidence, resilience, accountability and long-term success for student-athletes.
“Coaching should support the overall growth of the student-athlete, not just what happens during matches,” Pulido said. “My goal is to help players build confidence and discipline while preparing them for success in the classroom, in soccer and in life.”
In her first season, Pulido said her priorities include establishing a strong team culture, building trust, and creating alignment around how the program trains, competes and represents Fort Scott Community College.
“Success goes far beyond wins and losses,” Pulido said. “It looks like consistent effort, accountability, academic progress and athletes leaving the program prepared for the next level.”
Pulido’s approach to player development is intentional and individualized, focusing on technical and tactical growth alongside leadership development, communication skills and personal responsibility. She said meeting athletes where they are and providing structure and honest feedback are central to her coaching style.
Academics will remain a non-negotiable priority within the program, with clear expectations for class attendance, communication with instructors and academic accountability.
“Success in the classroom directly impacts opportunities on and off the field,” Pulido said.
Athletic Director Dave Wiemers said Pulido’s hiring reflects FSCC’s commitment to developing women’s athletic programs that emphasize both competitive excellence and student success.
“Gemini brings a thoughtful, intentional approach to coaching that aligns perfectly with our mission,” Wiemers said. “She understands the importance of building culture, setting clear standards and developing young women into confident leaders. We’re excited about the direction she will take our women’s soccer program.”
Community engagement will also play a key role in the program’s growth, with Pulido planning to build strong relationships across campus and throughout the Fort Scott community through involvement and service.
“The opportunity to build something meaningful is what excites me most,” Pulido said. “Shaping culture, mentoring young women and helping them grow as student-athletes and individuals is incredibly rewarding.”
Additional information regarding the women’s soccer program, including competition schedules and recruiting opportunities, will be announced at a later date.
Night to Remember Prom for Special Needs Individuals Is Feb. 27
Two nearby Missouri congregations are planning a special prom event for people with special needs. Food, dancing, prizes, and games will help make the night one to remember.
“Maybe you’ve heard of Tim Tebow’s ‘Night to Shine'”, Pastor Kevin Moyers asked. ” Rinehart Christian Church and Community Christian Church in Nevada are teaming up to have a ‘Night to Remember’ for special needs people in our area.
The event will be held at the Rinehart Christian Church, located northwest of Nevada, at 9443 S. 900 Road, Richards, MO on February 27 from 5 to 8 p.m. It is a casual dress event.
“The churches are really excited to offer this special evening,” according to Pastor Moyers, “We want to send a message that Jesus loves everybody. Oftentimes, this is a group of people that is overlooked by the world, but to be sure they are not overlooked by Jesus.”
“He loves everyone the same, and this will be a night that we emphasize that message. We’ll have fun, and there will be great food provided and games and dancing, all in a Christian atmosphere.”
“The theme for the evening will be ‘Enchanted Forest.’ There will be a walk-in at 5 p.m. and the event itself will be from 6-8 p.m, including a meal that will be served,” Moyers said.
“Cooper Black, from the Nevada area, has volunteered to be the disc jockey for the night. There will be a good amount of Christian music played, along with line-dancing music, and bingo will be an option too. Prizes will be given out to people all through the evening, and prizes for bingo winners.”
“Several Nevada businesses are making this special evening possible, along with the two churches. Food is being provided through the money donations, and also the prizes for the evening. We will have a special acknowledgement and thank you to those businesses after the event.”
“Pictures will be taken by Alisha Walker. A video will be put together of the event by Marli Walker. Be sure to watch for all of this on the church’s FACEBOOK pages after the event.”
“The churches have been planning this event for a few months, and have a team of volunteers that have taken a leadership role.” Moyers said.
Josh Smith is the Pastor at the Community Christian Church in Nevada.
Tri-Valley Developmental Services, Fort Scott, will have some participants in this event, special guests.
“People have been responding to the invitations given, and we’re expecting around 100 people to attend as special guests. These folks are from Nevada, El Dorado Springs, and Fort Scott.”
“If the public would like to come for the walk-in at 5 p.m. they are welcome to come and cheer on the special guests as they arrive.”
Human Resource Roundtable: Discuss Current/Relevant Topics In The Workplace on Feb. 11
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Memorial Hall Improvement Project Slated for Completion By Years End
Fort Scott’s Memorial Hall is over 100 years old, and the exterior requires improvement.
The City of Fort Scott received a Community Development Block Grant, administered by the Kansas Department of Commerce in July 2025, for an exterior improvement project on Memorial Hall, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
The competitive grant is in the amount of $582,000, with a local city match of $184,484, for a total estimated project cost of $766,484.
“The 15–18-month project period began when we received notification of the grant award in July of 2025, so barring any need for extensions along the way and taking all aspects of the process into consideration, we can anticipate that the Memorial Hall project could be completed around the end of 2026,” said Mary Wyatt, Fort Scott’s Planning, Housing, and Business Development Director.
The process
“The scope of this project includes: replacement of all windows throughout Memorial Hall, miscellaneous tuck pointing to seal up the exterior of the building, and replacement of a small area of roof that is leaking,” she said. “The scope of this project was developed to completely seal the exterior of Memorial Hall to protect against any future precipitation and moisture from entering the building and causing damage.”
“We are currently waiting for the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to give us their clearance,” she said. They are the last piece of the environmental review process of the CDBG grant.”
“Once we have that approval from SHPO to move forward, the completed environmental review will be presented for signature at a City Commission meeting.”
“After the environmental review is signed, we must publish a notice in the newspaper that will require a 15-day comment period.”
“Next, there will be an additional document that Mayor Salsbury will be requested to sign, and then all of the grant paperwork in its entirety can be submitted to the Kansas Department of Commerce for review.”
“Once our environmental review is approved by the Kansas Department of Commerce, we will then have the clearance to begin seeking bids for the construction aspect of this project.”
“State grants such as the CDGG program have very detailed steps and reporting processes, then we factor in this particular project being for a historic building, which adds that additional review step from SHPO, so all in all it can take some time.”
“We are so immensely grateful to the Kansas Department of Commerce for providing grant opportunities like CDBG that allow smaller communities such as Fort Scott to apply. Programs like these give our rural Kansas community the chance to take on a project of this magnitude that we would not otherwise have had the financial resources for without the assistance of these State grant programs.”
History of Memorial Hall
“Memorial Hall was constructed in 1925 and dedicated to ‘Those men and women who gave their lives serving our country in World War I’ and was rededicated in 2001 to ‘All of the men and women who have served, are now serving or will serve in the Armed Forces of the United States of America,'” she said.
“Memorial Hall has been utilized for such a wide range of activities and events over the past 100 years that it has stood proudly in our community. Currently and in recent years, Memorial Hall has been utilized for Old Fort Genealogical Society of Southeastern Kansas headquarters, Daughters of the American Revolution headquarters, American Legion Post 25 headquarters, community concerts, comedians, Good Ol Day events, weddings, birthdays, fundraiser events, Boy Scout events, and bingo which, is regularly hosted by the American Legion. We also hosted a 100-year celebration of Memorial Hall in September of 2025.”
“In past years and decades, Memorial Hall has been used for City Commission meetings and City Hall department headquarters, conventions, graduations, basketball games, roller skating activities, a circus event, and in the 1990’s it hosted a show called from Branson to Broadway. Andre the Giant even wrestled Mad Dog Harley Race inside those historic walls! When I was in middle school 30 years ago, I had fond memories of our choir and orchestra concerts being hosted in the beautiful auditorium with the phenomenal acoustics the space provides. This list, as vast as it is, does not fully cover all of the meaningful community gatherings and events that have occurred within this incredible community facility that Fort Scott is so very lucky to have.”
Mary Wyatt’s office is located at City Hall, 123 S. Main Street
Fort Scott, KS 66701
She can be reached at 620-418-5107 (Cell) or
620-223-0550 (Office)
Buck Run: A New Public Sauna Available The End of February
The Buck Run Community Center will begin offering a new service to our community.
And with the snow and frigid temps, this new service is perfectly timed.
A new sauna is being installed in the facility and will be used by the staff at first, to get to know the unit, and then it will be available to the public at the end of February.
Thirty-minute limits will be placed on users of the unit, said Katie Chipman, office manager of the center.
The infrared sauna is for one person at a time and is being installed in a small room near the front lobby.
Several people who work out in the fitness center have asked about the availability of a sauna, and “it’s something Lucas has wanted to do since he’s been the manager,” she said.
“It is funded through the Steele Foundation Trust that donates money to the Community Center each year,” said Lucas Kelley, manager of the center.
The sauna will include built-in Bluetooth speakers, an easy-to-use control panel, and chromotherapy options.
Chromotherapy is a method of treatment that uses the visible spectrum (colors) of electromagnetic radiation to cure diseases, according to
The infrared light in the sauna is designed to support healing and revitalization, according to info that Kelley provided.
“The Sauna will open later this month after we finish the final touches,” Kelley said.
It will be available during the center’s regular business hours:
Sunday – 1-5PM
Monday 5 AM – 9 PM
Tuesday 8 AM – 9 PM
Wednesday 5 AM – 9 PM Thursday 8 AM – 9 PM Friday 5 AM – 9 PM
Saturday 8 AM – 5 PM
Call 620-223-0386 for more information.
Human Resources Roundtable Luncheon On February 11
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GNAT Ready To Help Their Community Maintain Properties
The Good Neighbor Action Team (GNAT) helps the Fort Scott community in hands-on projects and is gearing up for this year’s projects.
They are planning for 2026, and are asking the community to let them know of potential projects.
They cannot do roofs, but can clear yard debris and help with light carpentry needs, with curb appeal as the goal.
If you have a larger project, they can assist with grant applications. Please send requests or ideas to Craig Campbell at 620.224.0167.
“We help people where they are overwhelmed, financially or physically,” said Campbell, a member of GNAT. “Our main mission focuses on helping people who are having trouble maintaining their properties. We do things like you would help a neighbor with.”
“We focus on the elderly and financially distressed, like single parents or veterans, or those with a physical disability, to do the work themselves,” he said.
“We do it whether someone has the ability to pay or not,” he said.
“We bring the people and the materials to get the job done.”
The group receives grants and donations to help with the materials, and recently received a Fort Scott Area Community Foundation Grant. “We have a person who helps with the grants, Jara Martin.”
“We have been successful in getting grants to help with roofs and heating/cooling. We coordinate house painting,” he said.
The GNAT examines the project for need and scopes it to determine how many volunteers are needed.
Then the team asks for volunteers to help with the projects through local organizations and churches.
Last year, the Fort Scott Community College softball women helped paint a house and got the job done in one afternoon, he said.
In recent years they have been building many wheelchair ramps.
“We were building a wheelchair ramp about once a week, but that has gotten slower,” he said.
“As soon as the weather is better, we will paint some houses. We do yard clean-up, life after a storm. Winter can knock branches down.”
Current GNAT members are Ed Allen, Campbell, Bailey Lyons, Lindsay Madison, Martin, Jake Province, C.J. Robison, Gayle Teter, and Don Tucker.
Bridge on Bourbon County road to be replaced
Post Date:01/29/2026 9:00 AM From the KDOT Facebook page
Starting the week of Feb. 2, a portion of 60th Street in western Bourbon County will be closed for a bridge replacement project, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
The project to replace the bridge 5.9 miles south of Uniontown and 1 mile west of K-3 will start Monday, Feb. 2, conditions permitting. This section of the gravel road will be closed throughout the project, which is expected to be completed by fall, conditions permitting.
The new bridge over the tributary of Hinton Creek will be 80 feet long and 24 feet wide. B&B Bridge Company LLC, of St. Paul, is the contractor for the $701,404.10 project.
Governor Laura Kelly and KDOT Secretary Calvin Reed announced $42.3 million in funding for this and 34 other bridge projects through the KDOT Off-System Bridge and the Kansas Local Bridge Improvement programs. The programs target improvements to city and county bridges not on the state highway system and in need of replacement and repair.
KDOT urges motorists to stay alert and follow posted signs in all work zones. Check KDOT’s updated traveler information website, www.Kandrive.gov, for more highway condition and construction details. For updates on construction projects in southeast Kansas, visit ksdot.gov/southeastnews.
Greg Motley: New Bourbon County Commissioner
Gregg Motley was sworn in as commissioner on January 12 during the regularly scheduled Bourbon County Commission meeting.
To learn more https://fortscott.biz/news/new-commissioners-sworn-in
The Bourbon County Commissioners are the chief elected officials of the county, according to the county’s website https://www.bourboncountyks.org/contact-us/. They set policy and procedures for the running of the courthouse and set the budgets for all taxing entities of the county.
Motley represents Bourbon County Commission District #4, which includes most of Southwest Fort Scott, which runs down 69 Highway to Grand Street, then west to about 150th Street, then north to the Marmaton River and back to Fort Scott, he said.
His education
“I have a B.A. in Accounting and Economics from Greenville University and a graduate degree in Bank Management from the University of Virginia. I am a Lee’s Summit High School graduate.
“My faith informed my decision to run.
” I am a strong believer in our civic responsibility to serve our community and this opportunity seemed to fit my experiences and skill sets.”
His priorities
“Aligned with my business experiences, my priorities are financial stability and responsibility, operational management and economic development. I am also interested in better coordination and cooperation with other government entities in Bourbon County.”
Regularly scheduled meetings are on Mondays at 5:30 p.m. at the commission meeting room in the north wing of the Bourbon County Courthouse at 210 S. National Avenue, Fort Scott.
There are five commission districts in Bourbon County.
Here is a map of the districts:
To contact your commissioner:
District 1 Commissioner Samuel Tran’s office phone: 620.215.5954
District 2, David Beerbower: 620.215.5821.
District 3, Joe Allen, none yet, as per the county clerk’s office.
District 4, Gregg Motley: 620.215.7125.
District 5, Mika Milburn-Kee: 620.215.5880.
