A large crowd listened to Uniontown Junior/Senior High Band and Choir students perform the annual winter concert Friday evening.
The junior high choir is under the direction of music instructor Rhonda Allen.
The sixth-grade band, junior high band, and the high school choir are under the director of music instructor Neva Rowland.
Submitted by Christopher Petty
Southwind Extension District farmers and ranchers have learning opportunities available this winter.
Southwind Extension District Agent for Livestock Production and Forage Management, Christopher Petty, will be offering several programs of interest to farmers and ranchers in and around Bourbon, Allen and Neosho Counties during the upcoming winter months.
On February 13, beginning at 6 p.m. the Southwind and Wildcat Extension Districts will host a Winter Ranch Management Series meeting at the community building in Helper, Kan. Topics may include heifer selection, fall burning pastures for weed control, and bud box animal handling systems. Cost to attend will be $10 payable at the door.
On March 3, beginning at 3 p.m., the new K-State Research and Extension Sheep Specialist, Dr. Allison Crane, will be at the 4-H building in Fort Scott to meet with area sheep producers. She will discuss what Kansas State University offers by way of services to sheep producers. This program will be free to the public.
On April 4, the Southwind District will host a fescue meeting. We will discuss fescue endophytes, fertilization and other management considerations. This will be an evening program with the location to be determined and will feature Southeast Area Agronomist Doug Shoup, among others.
Additional tentatively scheduled programs include a January program featuring Kansas State University Poultry Specialist, Dr. Scott Beyer. Dr. Beyer will explain what it would look like to be a contract poultry grower, should a large poultry processing facility move into Kansas.
The longstanding coffee series meetings may also continue this winter. Come enjoy a free coffee, tea or pop, and learn about current ideas and happenings in the cattle industry. This brief, informal gathering is tentatively scheduled to take place this winter at the café located in the Southeast Kansas Stockyard in Gas, Kan.
These programs are in various stages of planning. To keep up to date with the most current details of these programs including the dates, times, locations and fees, check out the livestock link on the Southwind District website located at http://www.southwind.k-state.edu.
Mother to Mother Ministry, 728 Heylman, is hosting a public open house from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. December 19 and 20.
The open house is to showcase what Mother to Mother Ministry (MTMM) does in the community, Amanda Gilmore, assistant and community relations representative for the ministry, said.
“Stop in for some coffee, tea, and refreshments,” Gilmore said. “It’s a come and go meeting.”
Wilma Leach has been the director of the ministry since the 1990s and her comforting friendship has helped many mothers of children.
Gatherings of mothers of children and caregivers will begin January 9 and are scheduled for the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Topics of the meetings will be related to the family, said Gilmore.
Some of the services MTMM provides is parenting classes, friendship and support and “anything related to mothering and household management,” Gilmore said.
The ministry provides donated clothing for children.
All MTMM services are free.
New contact numbers for MTMM are 620-224-0809 and 620-215-0924.
The facility is located behind, and just north of Fort Scott Manor Nursing Home on Heylman.
MTMM is a United Way of Bourbon County agency and also has local supporters.
Fort Scott High School Select Ensemble entertained guests of Community Christian Church’s annual Christmas luncheon December 11.
The ensemble is under the direction of Meredith Reid, music instructor at FSHS, and is accompanied on piano by Pat Harry, a retired music teacher.
“Mrs. Harry is the former FSHS choir director who built up the choir to immense proportion,” Reid said.
Eighteen students from sophomore to seniors were selected for this group of 18 members
The performance at the church is leading up to the music department’s big fundraiser for the year this Sunday at 3 p.m. at the high school. Money raised goes to purchase music, outfits, travel, and clinicians, Reid said.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students k-12 grade, and there will be refreshments following.
The school auditorium will be decorated by Ellen Kendrick’s art students.
Reid’s dad, Dan Duling, will be performing also during the fundraiser Sunday afternoon. He is in a band called Stone Country that includes Shana Lynette Stone, Rick Duling, Jason Richison and Jeff Culver.
“My dad’s band is doing this for free,” Reid said.
Reid said the student singers love to perform and she sees going out to the public as a way to give back to the community.
In addition, “The kids love getting out of class and today they get to eat,” Reid said with a smile.
The church provided a lunch of soups, sandwiches, appetizers, desserts, and drinks to the students and members of their congregation and invited guests.
A Christmas luncheon is an annual event where the church staff provides food for the congregation.
Members of the staff are Pastor Dusty Drake, Children’s Minister Paul Martin, Youth Pastor Ian Johnson, Pastoral Care and Women’s Minister Marcy Reynolds, and church secretaries Jamie Beckham and Jennifer Addington.
Aaron and Lindsey Watts are Superman “nerds”.
That’s why they named their business Smallville Crossfit Fort Scott.
“Smallville is a small town in Kansas, where Superman grew up,” Lindsey said. Aaron was called Clark Kent/Superman while serving in the army, she said. Lindsey was from Fort Scott, Aaron lived in Fort Scott for a while when younger.
In December 2016, Aaron was honorably discharged from the army, following seven years of military service. He was stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C. and also Fort Campbell, Kentucky and served in Kuwait, Iraq, and Jordan.
“At Fort Campbell, we found Crossfit,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia in the seventh grade.
“Doctors told me all the activities you weren’t supposed to do,” she said. “I was taking 5 to 10 pills, two to three times a day. Nothing was helping.”
“I would sleep all the time.”
When Aaron and Lindsey got married eight years ago, they started “putting on weight,” she said. Aaron then started fitness training and together they started doing bodybuilding-type workouts.
“I found when I put stress on my body I felt better, less pain, less fatigue,” she said. “That intrigued Aaron. He learned about things to do in fitness. We’d go to the gym four to five times a week.”
Lindsey’s health improved.
That inspired Aaron to be a fitness coach in thinking about a job following his army career.
Lindsay always wanted to own a business, someday.
On June 1, 2017, they purchased the fitness business at 13 S. National Avenue. Lindsey is the business manager, Aaron writes the fitness programs and is the gym manager, with both husband and wife coaching the Crossfit members.
There are over 100 members currently.
CrossFit packages are $90 for unlimited contracts, $80 for student unlimited and a 10 class punch card for children for $80.
Two beginners classes will be offered in January. A beginner class is $50 for a one week class.
“We go over nine foundational movements and diagnose our athletes and find restrictions and teach them the movements they are capable of,” Lindsey said.
New hours for the business as of December 1: Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes start at 5 a.m. with the last class at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday have fewer classes offered. Saturday is open gym from 8 to 11 a.m. most Saturdays. Fit Kids is offered Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Aaron writes programming and training for the volleyball and baseball teams at Fort Scott Community College, as well.
For more information contact the Watts at 620-719-9602 or check them out on their Facebook page Smallville Crossfit.
This Saturday is the Fort Scott Community College band and choir concert starting at 7 pm in the Ellis Fine Arts Center.
There will be a broad variety of music ranging from such quaint sources as classic TV Christmas specials, like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” to the more profound and thought-provoking music of classical composers.
Bring your family and friends for an enjoyable and heartwarming hour of fun and beautiful music celebrating the Christmas season!
Opportunity of a Lifetime
Submitted by Debra Cummings, Fort Scott Community College Business Instructor
Rick and Shelly Mayhew provided fifteen FSCC students the opportunity of a lifetime, an all-expenses-paid trip to Omaha to meet Warren Buffett.
To learn more about Buffet go online to http://forbes.com/profile/warren-buffet
Rick, an alumnus of FSCC, through his connections with Western Insurance and Warren Buffet, received an invitation to bring students to Omaha, Neb. for a question and answer session with Warren Buffet.
The Mayhews announced in the spring of 2017 their willingness to fund another trip to Omaha. The first trip by FSCC students was in 2006.
Fifteen students made the trip. The Mayhews paid for the lodging, meals, and fuel. FSCC supplied the bus and driver.
Rick Mayhew recognized student’s needs and provided funds to obtain business attire for the session with Buffett.
Other colleges to join the session with Buffett were Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Illinois, London, Michigan, MIT, Notre Dame, NYU/Stern schools of Business. FSCC was the only community college there.
On Nov. 30, the students made the trip to Omaha by bus and met the Mayhews at Warren’s favorite Dairy Queen for lunch.
The FSCC students toured Borsheims Jewelry, drove past the Buffett residence and checked into the Downtown Hilton and Convention Center.
They met with Buffet’s daughter, Susie, and had the opportunity to ask questions about her father and the foundations she runs.
The Mayhews provided dinner and a few of the students took in some ice skating afterward. They also toured Nebraska Furniture Mart.
On Friday, Dec 1, the students attended a two-hour question and answer period with Buffet. Buffet noted the importance of FSCC being there.
Following lunch, there was a group photo with Buffett.
“I could not have asked for a better group of students,” Cummings said.
Students who did the trip were Leslie Damien, Dalton Deshazer, Alex Gilmore, Justin Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Jenna Kakas, Savannah Kratzberg, Kartis Leal, Malorie McCumons, Rebecca Stufflebeam, Franklin Torres, Shaun Tune, Jordan Underwood, Rachel Walker, and Johnna Walls.
“A special thank you to Kartis and Savannah for asking questions for our group,” Cummings said. “Thank you to Charles Howser, our driver, for making the trip with us. And, again, thank you to the Mayhews for making dreams come true.”
Fort Scott Community College also included a link to the Omaha-World Herald Newspaper, dated December 4, 2017, which included a section entitled “Warren Watch” and an article that spoke of Fort Scott:
Fort Scott ties
They’re not from Harvard, Yale or Stanford, but students from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas were in Omaha last week as part of the latest group of business students to meet Buffett, thanks in part to their town’s auto insurance connection with Berkshire.
Rick Mayhew of Fenton, Missouri, a member of the Berkshire fan club known as the Yellow Brk-ers, cited an account in Andy Kilpatrick’s “Of Permanent Value” book of the Buffett-Fort Scott connection. (Fort Scott students also made an Omaha trip in 2006.)
Insurance agent Oscar Rice started Western Insurance Cos. in 1910 in Fort Scott. Ray Duboc was CEO when Buffett invested in the business in the 1950s. Buffett later sold that investment and used the money to invest in Geico, now a big moneymaker for Berkshire.
“Western, in a major way, contributed to the financial success I had,” Buffett once said. “I owe a lot to Ray Duboc, the Western and Fort Scott, Kansas.”
Earning national awards is no easy feat. Add to that, repeatedly making the list and the pursuit is especially rewarding.
Just so happens that Mercy Fort Scott Home Health proudly announces it has been recognized once again on the prestigious list of the nation’s HomeCare Elite™. The list is compiled by OCS HomeCare and Decision Health and names the top 25 percent of home care agencies in the nation. This marks the fifth year Mercy Fort Scott Home Health has received the recognition.
Five domains of performance were analyzed to determine the elite awards – quality of care, quality of improvement and consistency, and experience (HHCAHPS), process measure implementation and financial performance.
The methodology behind the OCS HomeCare Elite™ is derived from publicly available data from Home Health Compare and the CMS Cost Reports to create the HomeCare Elite™ list of agencies.
The quality of care component indexes agency performance in each of the 10 publicly-reported Home Health Compare measures released in July 2017. The process measures implementation index based on agencies’ rates in the 13 process measures included in the July 2017 Home Health Compare release.
“The Mercy Home Health team continually goes over and beyond to exceed expectations, at many times taking on extras that might not always fit in the job role,” said Becky Davied, Mercy Home Health, and Hospice director. “This is a special group of people and I feel privileged to work with them.”
Mercy Home Health, based in Fort Scott, was established in November 1978 and today serves approximately 900 annually in the counties of Linn, Anderson, Allen, Bourbon, Crawford, southern Miami, northern Neosho and northern Cherokee. In July 2012, Mercy Home Health launched hospice services and currently employs nine full-time staff plus multiple volunteers.
For more information about Mercy Home Health services, call 620-223-8090.
Winners of the Christmas Parade entry contest:
1. Parkway Church of God Holiness
2. Mercy Hospital
3. Fort Scott High School Cheerleaders
The Decorated Golf Cart Category Winner is Phillips Lawn Care.
Submitted by Carla Nemecek, Southwind Extension District
K-State Research and Extension is conducting a series of Community Board Leadership workshops designed to provide basic training for members of community-based boards across the state on February 6, 13, 20, and 27, 2018.
“Informed and committed board members are the key to healthy, effective boards and committees in our Kansas communities. K-State Research and Extension’s Board Leadership Series will provide an opportunity for board members to learn the basics of being a good board member,” said Trudy Rice, extension community development specialist. “Whether you are a member of a church board, a township board, a United Way agency board, or a rural water board, this training is appropriate for you.”
The series will kick-off on February 6, with Conducting Effective Meetings. During this session, participants will learn about their roles and responsibilities as a board member, basics of parliamentary procedure, and strategies to make meetings more productive and effective.
On February 13, the topic will be Fundraising, Fund Management, Legalities and Ethics. This session will explore a board’s options for raising and managing money, understanding such things as articles of incorporation, bylaws, and policies.
The February 20, session will cover Understanding Fellow Board Members and Conflict Management. Participants will explore how personalities and generational differences affect the decision-making process, and learn how to manage conflict in a way that is productive, not destructive, to the board.
Strategic Planning will be the final topic on February 27. Participants will learn about establishing a common mission and vision for the board, and how to plan priorities for the future.
All sessions will be conducted from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Workshop participants will meet at host sites throughout the state to take part in web-based instruction and locally facilitated discussion. The Southwind Extension District will be hosting this valuable training at the Alliance Room in Chanute, Kan.
Pre-registration for the event is required by Wednesday, January 10. The $40 registration buys a seat and light lunch for all four sessions. Individuals may choose to attend on their own or boards may buy a seat and send a different board member to each session. Boards sending multiple members may negotiate a group rate. Registrations may be sent to Southwind Extension District or contact Carla Nemecek at 620-365-2242 for more information or to negotiate group rates. Registration includes snacks, lunch, four educational sessions, and Board Basics materials.
Just in time for the holiday season, Mercy Hospital Auxiliary will host a Holiday Bargain Sale on Friday, Dec. 8 from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. in the main lobby of Mercy Hospital Fort Scott.
The one-day fundraising event is a favorite with the public. Typically the Mercy Auxiliary brings the vendor to the hospital twice a year. The sale will feature over 1,000 items perfect for special occasions or stocking stuffers. These include trendy fashion accessories such as jewelry, scarves, seasonal items, gadgets, gifts and much more.
Many items are name brand, top quality products but priced up to 80 percent below retail.
The Mercy Hospital Auxiliary is a volunteer organization that raises money to benefit the hospital and provides scholarships for students.
Over the past 12 years, Mercy Auxiliary has donated nearly $850,000 to Mercy Hospital for equipment upgrades, program support, supplies and scholarships for nursing students. Proceeds from sales in the Mercy Market Place gift shop and other specialty sales support the Auxiliary. Collectively, auxiliary member’s volunteer the equivalent of almost seven full-time co-workers in hours of service each year to the hospital.
Mercy, named one of the top five large U.S. health systems in 2016 by Truven, an IBM company, serves millions annually. Mercy includes 45 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, more than 700 physician practices and outpatient facilities, 40,000 co-workers and more than 2,000 Mercy Clinic physicians in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Mercy also has outreach ministries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
