During their most recent meeting held Monday, leaders and participants in the Fort Scott Circles Program gave an update on what has been accomplished over the past few months while also looking ahead to new changes.

The two-phase program meant to provide resources and knowledge to low-income individuals who would like to improve their way of life has been in existence only over a year, but has already helped a number of people in Fort Scott. Currently, the program has six phase two participants, referred to as circle leaders, and 13 allies who partner with those leaders as mentors throughout the second phase.

“I’m excited about the group of allies that we have,” volunteer coordinator Jan Hedges said, saying they are pleased with how the first month of phase two has gone in building relationships between the allies and leaders.

Currently, the program is taking a break from the first phase of the program, which includes at least 12 weeks of training for the participants. After graduating some of the leaders of that phase prior to Christmas, those coordinating the program decided to delay starting it again until the first week of April so facilitators can take a break and also recruit more participants.

Prior to that time, the program will also recruit a new coordinator as Hedges said she has decided to step down from that role of leadership because of other responsibilities. She will continue to help facilitate phase two.

“I do need to step back a little bit,” Hedges said.

In the next two months, the program will be looking for a coordinator as well as those who might like to help facilitate the weekly meetings. They will also begin recruiting new participants as they begin phase one again in April.

Those at the meeting also discussed the possibility of taking steps to be classified as a 501(C)(3) organization, which could benefit those who donate to the program as a non-profit organization.

“I think that is something that we do need to look at moving forward,” Hedges said.

Doing so would require an upfront federal fee as well as an annual payment to the state to renew it once the application is approved.

In honor of February as Black History Month and the history of Fort Scott National Historic Site, the fort hosted a luncheon Friday that featured a presentation and book-signing with author Dr. Ian Michael Spurgeon, who wrote a book on the First Kansas Colored Infantry.

The book—Soldiers in the Army of Freedom: The First Kansas Colored, The Civil War’s First African American Combat Unit—is believed to be the only book written on a black regiment from the Civil War, which Spurgeon said is likely because of the difficulty in getting information on the topic.

Spurgeon said his research on the regiment, which was mustered into the service at Fort Scott, began with a visit to the historic site in the fall of 2007 and then continued for seven years, including research such as looking at the soldiers’ pension applications for details on their lives since few had written accounts of their lives since only about five percent were literate.

“This is a story about men,” Spurgeon told his audience, saying he did not want his book to just be about the battles they fought, but their personal lives and how they became soldiers fighting for the Union.

Spurgeon said certain Civil War movies and other commonly accepted information claims that the 54^th Massachusetts Infantry was the first black regiment, formed in 1863, but the First Kansas Coloreds came together in August of 1862, before such regiments had been officially approved by the government.

Most of the soldiers were former slaves who had fled to Kansas, with Spurgeon giving account of individuals who escaped after one or numerous attempts, many without their own possessions or even their own surnames.

Because of their identity as well as their location in Kansas, considered the edge of the United States and bordered by Confederate states and Indian Territory, the First Kansas Colored Infantry has rarely been heard of despite the action they saw and high losses they faced.

“The First Kansas Colored is such an amazing history,” Spurgeon said. “The hope of my book…is to really carry on the legacy of the First Kansas Colored.”

Copies of Spurgeon’s book can be found at the historic site’s visitor center.

Submitted by Amber Toth, Feb. 8.

We began our weekend at Pittsburg with Friday night events.

In Novice House, Ethan Tatro was elected presiding officer. Rebekah Sweyko took first and Ethan Tatro took 4th. In House one, Sebastian Loyd was the presiding officer and took 5th. Garrett Tatro takes 4th. Seth Seth Cross took first. In House 2, Charlotte Hutchison took first. Darby Toth took third. Sara Al-Shawish took 5th. In Public Forum Debate, Joe Adams and Isabella Provence took first. Hunter Parker and Xavier Watkins took 6th. In Lincoln Douglas, Zach Humble took second.

On Saturday, we continued our success by taking first.

In international extemporaneous, Tayton Majors took 4th. Ethan Tatro took 6th and Joe Adams takes second. In domestic extemporaneous, Garrett Tatro took first. Rebekah Sweyko took second. Darby Toth took third. Sebastian Loyd took 4th. Autumn Warren-Rice took 5th. In Humorous Interpretation, Thomas Nighswonger took first. Hunter Parker took 5th. In Duo Interpretation, Charlotte Hutchison and Sebastian Loyd took first. Logan Hall and Dalton Womeldorff took second. Asia Farrington and Ashton Williams took 4th. In Informative Speaking, Rebekah Sweyko took third. Charlotte Hutchison took 4th. In impromptu speaking, Joe Adams took first, Seth Cross took second and Sara Al-Shawish took 5th. And in Poetry, Jake Province took first, Thomas Nighswonger took second and Seth Cross took 5th.

Whooo.  It was an amazing weekend. 24 medals!

We had our first middle school forensics tournament this weekend. The students did an amazing job competing for the first time against schools who have had middle school programs for a couple of years. I was very impressed with how hard they worked. Their professionalism was impeccable and we all had an amazing time.

Ashton Nave took 5th in poetry. Madi Toth took third in acting. Madi Toth and Levi Bin took second in acting. They had a great first weekend and they were a ton of fun!

A program that has been available in Fort Scott but not used often most recently has been extended five more years with the approval of the city commission last week and the goal to spread the word more to help improve the city’s appearance.

Through the Sidewalk, Curb and Gutter Program, the city of Fort Scott will reimburse 50 percent of the cost of improvements residents make to their sidewalks or curbs on their property, up to $2,000 for each project.

“I think it would be huge,” Fire Chief Paul Ballou said of the impact the project could have on the city. “Because there’s a lot of need out there…It would be a benefit to a lot of property owners.”

Those interested in doing renovations and receiving a reimbursement must submit an application with the city by June 1, with projects being approved on a first come first serve basis according to Ballou, as the funding, at $20,000 annually, is limited to covering 10 projects at the maximum reimbursement.

Ballou said he hopes they will get at least 10 applications a year as there are several areas around Fort Scott that are in need of improvements, adding he has received positive feedback concerning the program.

Applicants for the program must submit two bids for the project to the city and must receive approval prior to construction in order to be granted the reimbursement. That approval is based on the contractor’s adherence to city specifications and inspections by city employees. Driveway renovations are not a part of the program.

The Fort Scott National Historic Site gave members of the community an opportunity to learn about a portion of history Saturday that many of the participants admitted they had never heard of before.

The fort hosted a showing of a documentary, the first of three videos to be shown at the site this year in honor of its centennial celebration, highlighting the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple who lived in Virginia during the late 1950s.

The Loving Story told of how the young couple was arrested a short while after they got married in 1958. The couple was charged with a felony and was given a suspended sentence that banished them from the state of Virginia, even being arrested again when they returned to visit their families.

About five years later, the couple from a rural area of Virginia took their case to the justice system until it came before the United States Supreme Court in 1967. The justices unanimously decided that marriage is a fundamental right and should be the right of the individual and not infringed on by the state when it comes to race.

“I think it very impressive that two simple people…had the backbone to see this through,” park ranger Bill Fischer said.

After watching the documentary on the Loving v. Virginia case, which led to other states removing bans on interracial marriages, the participants at the fort took part in a discussion guided by University of Kansas professor Joo Ok Kim.

Some of the discussion points included how they personally connected with the story—including one college student who said he was born of an interracial marriage, why the case is so little known and how the case impacts current events and lives.

The next video at the fort will be shown Saturday, April 23, on the topic of the freedom riders during the civil rights movement.

The Young Professionals League began its 2016 year Friday with an opportunity for the members to get to know each other, hear about what events will be held throughout the year and set goals for themselves.

Recently elected YPL president Bailey Lyons said the group, which currently includes about 40 members, plans to participate in such community events as the career day at Fort Scott High School, the Beacon Soup Line and the Historic Preservation Association’s Home for the Holidays and Moonlight and Mistletoe tours. They will also consider participating in local parades.

“We wanted to make sure our events align with our mission,” Lyons said, saying for that reason they decided not to participate in other events.

That mission and vision of the YPL is to use the organization to be a catalyst for a better community through progressive partnerships and networking, which Lyons said is one of the foundations of the YPL.

The YPL leaders also decided to organize their monthly business meetings, held the first Friday of each month at noon at Papa Don’s, into quarters, with each quarter including a meeting focused on networking, leadership training and professional development and a week to hear from community leaders.

The young professionals will also hold social gatherings the third Friday of each month for the members to gather in a more informal setting. Members are also encouraged to keep track of their volunteer hours throughout the year, and at the end of the year a community service award will be presented to one of the members.

Those attending the first meeting also had a chance to set personal and professional goals, as well as list new things they might like to try this year, what they’re most looking forward to and how they want to better Fort Scott.

The annual YPL dues of $35 are due by April 1, for those wanting to join.

Areas of the new Riverfront Park have been given official titles after the Fort Scott City Commission approved of names for the road and walking trail running through the park during their meeting Tuesday evening.

Jerry Witt, chairman of the Riverfront Authority, said near the end of 2015, local law enforcement and emergency services requested that the road and trail be named so they can respond to the correct location of the park in the event of an emergency.

Since that time, Witt and others involved in the Marmaton Riverfront Project accepted suggestions for names from the community. Witt said they received between 25 and 30 names that the committee considered.

During the meeting, the commission approved of naming the half-mile, north walking trail Bell Town Trail, named after what that land had been known as in earlier years in honor of John Bell, an early Fort Scott resident, business owner and school board member for 13 years who died prior to 1920.

The south loop road will be named the River Loop Road to continue the theme of the river theme in the new park.

“That will always be significant to the people who donated to the park and donated the land, who knew it was a riverfront project,” Witt said of the naming of the road.

Mayor Cindy Bartelsmeyer said she liked the names and also appreciated Witt’s work on that project, which also includes seeking a grant to continue adding to the park.

Witt said they are considering building an event center near the Bell Town Trail area for concerts and a lookout pavilion that would be seen from the highway if the funding comes in. The committee will likely find out in March if they will receive that first grant, but in the meantime, Witt said they will continue developing the park.

Submitted by Amber Toth, Feb. 1.

This weekend, we started Friday night together at Frontenac.

[A] great opening Friday night. Isabella Provence and Joe Adams took first in public forum debate. Darby Toth and Sebastian Loyd took second. Hunter Parker and Xavier Watkins took third. Georgia Loyd and Breana Mooney took 4th. In Lincoln Douglas debate, Tristan Watkins took 5th. Ashton Williams took 6th. In House 1, Charlotte Hutchison was the poetry and took second. Tayton Majors took 5th. In House 2, Garrett Tatro was the poetry and took 3rd. Jake Province took 6th and Seth Cross took first. And in Novice house, Chloe Studyvin took 5th. Rebekah Sweyko took third and Ethan Tatro took first.

On Saturday we split up and went to two different locations. Half of the team went to  Neodesha.  We took third as a team.

Charlotte Hutchison and Sebastian Loyd took second in duo. Charlotte took first in informative. Sebastian took second in impromptu and second in extemporaneous. Joe Adams took third in informative, first in extemporaneous and first in impromptu. Georgia Loyd and Breana Mooney took 6th in duo. Darby Toth took 6th in oration, third in extemporaneous and 4th in impromptu. Sara Al-Shawish took 5th in impromptu. And Autumn Warren-Rice took 5th in extemporaneous.

The other half of the team went to Frontenac. We took second place by four points with all first and second year students…..and Garrett Tatro. Nice work kids!!!

Garrett Tatro took 1st in oration and domestic extemporaneous. Tayton Majors took second in international extemporaneous. Ethan Tatro took 6th in international extemporaneous. Rebekah Sweyko took 6th in domestic extemporaneous and third in informative. Seth Cross took 4th in impromptu. Tristan Watkins took third in poetry. Jake Province placed 4th in poetry and 5th in informative. Asia Farrington placed 4th in humorous interpretation. Isabella Provence took first in humorous interpretation.