Category Archives: Bourbon County

Friday Free Concert: Workman Bluegrass Band

Friday Concerts in the Park goers gather around the pavilion at First and Main streets.

This Friday’s Chamber of Commerce sponsored concert will feature the Workman Bluegrass band.

“The band has performed many times for us at the pavilion and is a  continuing favorite with their lively renditions of bluegrass, folk and traditional gospel music,” Ralph Carlson, the event organizer said. “The concert starts at 7 pm. come early and bring your lawn chairs as seating is limited. In the event of rain, the band has opted to go indoors at The Common Grounds Coffee shop 1/2 block south of the Heritage Park Pavilion.”

Southwind 4-H Members Win State Championships

Fifteen 4-H members had the opportunity to represent the Southwind Extension District at the annual Kansas 4-H Livestock Sweepstakes at Kansas State University. Their skills and knowledge were challenged by participating in Livestock & Meats Judging, Livestock Quiz Bowl and Livestock Skillathon contests. Those attending were (from left to right) Front Row: Kolby Seested, Gavin Fry, Haydon Schaaf, Brody Nemecek, Jillian Keller, Clay Brillhart, Danielle Nading, Sadie Marchiano, Carla Nemecek, Coach & Southwind District Director. Back Row: Brooklyn Pruitt, Dylan Hazelbaker, Aidan Yoho, Kristy Beene, Gwen Fry, Carly Dreher and Zach Snyder.  

SOUTHWIND 4-H MEMBERS WIN 3 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

4-H members from the Southwind Extension District excelled at the annual Kansas 4-H Livestock Sweepstakes event on August 18-19 in Kansas State University’s Weber Hall. Participants from the Southwind Extension District were Gavin Fry, Sadie Marchiano, Danielle Nading, Kolby Seested, Clay Brillhart, Jillian Keller, Brody Nemecek, Haydon Schaaf, Carly Dreher, Brooklyn Pruitt, Zach Snyder, Aidan Yoho, Kristyn Beene, Gwen Fry and Dylan Hazelbaker representing 4-H Clubs from Allen, Bourbon and Woodson Counties.

4-H members learned gained new knowledge and worked on livestock skills in order to be competitive in the Sweepstakes event which consisted of blending scores in four contests. Southwind Extension District completed the weekend by being named the 2018 Champion and 3rd Overall Kansas State 4-H Sweepstakes Teams. Top ten individual Sweepstakes winners for Southwind were Clay Brillhart 8th, Brody Nemecek 5th, Gavin Fry 4th and Haydon Schaaf was named High Individual Overall after excelling in all contests.

The Livestock Quiz Bowl started with a qualifying exam. The eight teams with the highest average scores advanced to the quiz bowl competition. Southwind #2 (Seested, Fry, Schaaf, Nemecek) was seated first after the test and was later named the Champion Quiz Bowl Team where they won the final match 265 points to 40 points. Southwind #1 (Nading, Keller, Brillhart, Marchiano) also scored well on the quiz and were seated as the #2 team.

The Livestock Judging contest consisted of nine judging classes and four sets of reasons with 227 contestants and 42 teams from across Kansas. Southwind #2 (Brillhart, Nemecek, Keller, Schaaf) was 1st in Sheep/Goats; 1st in Swine; 1st in Cattle and 1st in Reasons and named Champion Team Overall. Southwind #1 (Gavin Fry, Marchiano, Seested, Nading) was 4th in Sheep/Goats; 2nd in Swine; 2nd in Cattle; 2nd in Reasons and named Reserve High Team Overall. Individually, Clay Brillhart was High Individual in Swine, 4th in Sheep/Goats, 4th in Cattle, High Individual in Reasons and 2nd High Individual Overall; Kolby Seested was 5th in Swine, 10th in Sheep/Goats, 8th in Reasons, and 8th Individual Overall; Haydon Schaaf was 4th in Swine; Brody Nemecek was 3rd in Swine, 2nd in Sheep/Goats, 8th in Cattle, 5th in Reasons and 3rd High Individual; Danielle Nading was 2nd in Swine, 8th in Sheep/Goats, 3rd in Cattle, 3rd in Reasons, and 4th High Individual; Jillian Keller was 6th in Swine, 9th in Sheep/Goats, 6th in Cattle, 6th in Reasons, and 6th Individual Overall; Sadie Marchiano was 10th in Reasons.  As the State Champion Livestock Judging Team, Southwind District will represent Kansas 4-H at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO next January.

The Meats Judging contest was based on the identification of thirty retail cuts, six placings classes and three sets of reasons. Haydon Schaaf was named 2nd in Retail ID, 3rd in Placings and 2nd High Individual Overall; Gavin Fry was 9th in Retail ID, 10th in Placings and 8th Individual Overall; Sadie Marchiano was 3rd in Reasons; Aidan Yoho was 11th in Reasons; Clay Brillhart was 10th In ID; Southwind #2 (Schaaf, Fry, Brillhart, Nemecek) was 2nd in Reasons, 2nd in Retail ID and Reserve Champion Team Overall.  Southwind #1 (Keller, Marchiano, Nading, Seested) was 3rd in Reasons and 7th High Team Overall.

In the Livestock Skillathon, 4-H members rotated individually through stations that addressed six areas of animal science. Those included feedstuffs, breed identification, equipment identification, meat identification, and a written test. There was also a team component where members worked together on evaluating a performance Angus genetics scenario, understanding livestock biosecurity, and understanding issues in livestock reproduction. Individually, Brody Nemecek was 5th in the Practicum, 4th in the Exam, and 3rd Individual; Gavin Fry was 3rd in the Practicum, 1st in Exam, and 2nd High Individual Overall; Clay Brillhart was 10th Individual Overall, and Haydon Schaaf was 7th Individual Overall.

This group worked hard and studied a great deal of material to prepare for four state contests. Carla Nemecek, Southwind Extension District Director coaches all of these teams. To be named the Champion and Reserve Champion Livestock Judging Teams, Reserve Champion Meats Judging Team, Reserve Livestock Skillathon Team, Champion Livestock Quiz Bowl Team, and Overall Champion Sweepstakes Team at the state contests shows how hard these 4-H members pushed each other to “Make the Best Better.”

The Southwind District is proud of their accomplishments and looks forward to future growth and learning.

 

Submitted by Carla Nemecek

 

St. Martin’s Academy Starts Inaugural Year Sept. 4

Theotokos Hall is being built at St. Martin’s Academy, southwest of Fort Scott.

A new Catholic boys boarding school organization is transforming a brushy hillside just east of Lake Fort Scott into a campus.

Theotokos Hall is the first building being built at St. Martin’s Academy, on Indian Road, near Lake Fort Scott.

Completion of the hall is slated for late fall or early winter, Daniel Kerr, president of St. Martin’s Academy, said.

The original completion date was this month.

“School begins Sept. 4 and … we’ll spend the first eight- days on an outdoor expedition near Moab, Utah,”  he said.

“In the meantime, we’ll bunk at the former Levine Mansion in Fort Scott, a massive Victorian beauty built in 1884 and a more than suitable Plan B to start the year,” he said in information provided to FortScott.Biz.

There will be a faculty of 12, with four “house fathers” living on campus with the boys to provide residential supervision, Kerr said.

“Enrollment has exceeded our every expectation as we have maxed out our first year capacity of 20 students and now have a growing waiting list. God is good!” Kerr said.

Workmen are completing the shell of the building.

“We will have met personally with every student as part of the application process and can confidently say these are young men of exceptional character from wonderful families,” Kerr said.

“We’ll be welcoming students from Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and California.”

 

The inside of Theotokos Hall as of August 2018.

The Moab, Utah trip will be led by Residential Dean, Travis Dziad in conjunction with COR Expeditions.

The group will canoe, rock-climb, and hike for the first days of the school year.

” We think this will be a great way for our new students to form friendships (the best anecdote to home-sickness) while setting the proper tone for a year in which God’s creation, not pop culture, is our frame of reference,” Kerr said.

 

 

 

Fall Burning Demo Sept. 11

Christopher Petty, M.S. Extension Agent ,Livestock Production and Forage Management, K-State Research and Extension, Southwind Extension District, 210 S. National, Fort Scott, KS 66701, (620) 223-3720 Work, (620)224-6031 Cell, [email protected].

Join the Southwind and Wildcat Extension Districts, The Natural Resources Conservation District, and the Neosho County Conservation District for a Fall Burning Demonstration.

This event, free to the public, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on September 11th, with a rain date scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on September 18.

Dr. K.C. Olson with Kansas State University will discuss the advantages of fall burning for serecia lespedeza weed control.

Additional experts from NRCS, KSRE, or KDWPT will discuss burn safety, protocol and burn equipment. Following the discussions, we will burn several acres of expired CRP ground, with the intent of reducing weed pressure. This pasture is slated to eventually be placed back into livestock production.

Directions to the Duff farm: From Erie, Kansas take 59 south approximately 3 1/2 miles to 100th Rd, and then west approximately 8 ½ miles to farm site. From Thayer, Kansas take 169 north approximately 1 ½ miles to 100th Rd, then east approximately 2 ½ miles to the farm. Signs will be posted.

For more information contact Christopher Petty with the Southwind District Extension Office at (620) 223-3720 or by e-mail at [email protected].

 

Bourbon County Commission Agenda August 21

Agenda

Bourbon County Commission Room

2nd Floor, County Courthouse

210 S. National Avenue

Fort Scott, KS 66701

Tuesdays starting at 9:00

Date: August 21st, 2018

1st District-Lynne Oharah Minutes: Approved: _______________

2nd District-Jeff Fischer Corrected: _______________

3rd District-Nick Ruhl Adjourned at: _______________

County Clerk-Kendell Mason

9:00-9:45-Jim Harris

9:45-10:00-Bobby Reed-Budget figures

10:00-10:30-Don Doherty-Insurance Quote

10:30-10:45-Commissioners to discuss Health Insurance

11:00-12:00-Justin Meeks

Executive Session-Privileged in the attorney-client relationship-15 min.

Handbook-10 min.

NRP-5 min.

1:30-4:30-Commissioner to work on 2019 Budget

Justifications for Executive Session:

          Personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel

          Consultation with an attorney for the body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship

          Matters relating to employer-employee negotiations whether or not in consultation with the representative(s) of the body or agency

          Confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships

          Preliminary discussions relating to the acquisition of real property

          Matters relating to the security of a public body or agency, public building or facility or the information system of a public body or agency, if the discussion of such matters at an open meeting would jeopardize the security of such public body, agency, building, facility or information system

The Beacon Has A New Director

Gary Murrell. Submitted photo by Carol MacArthur.

Gary Murrell has pastored churches for 38 years in Kansas, Missouri, and Louisiana through the Church of God, headquartered in Anderson, Indiana.

As of August 7, he is now the director of the Beacon, a helping agency in Fort Scott.

“Through ministry, you help people in various ways,” Murrell said. “I feel comfortable in that….this is an opportunity to help people.”

“This is a  great opportunity to grow myself and the Beacon,” he said.

“The Beacon serves Bourbon County with food and clothes, to help those that qualify. The community is welcome to come by and get to know the Beacon.”

The agency is located at 525 E. Sixth St. on the city’s east side and is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.

To donate food, clothing or money, contact the agency at 223-6869.

The Murrell’s are Bourbon County transplants.

In 2014, Gary and wife, Fannie, purchased the Perry property, near Redfield.

They have two daughters, Hanna Malveaux, Fort Scott, and Rachael Woosley, Chandler, Arizona, and six grandchildren.

 

Boer Goats: Good For 4-H and FFA Kids

The Boer Goats are coming! The Boer Goats are coming!

And due to a happenstance, they have been coming annually to Fort Scott for three years.

“This will be the third year ( the Heartland Showcase Boer Goat Sale)  will be held in Fort Scott as we are in the middle of the area of people raising Boer Goats,” Allen Warren, with the Bourbon County Fairgrounds Board, said.

What is a Boer Goat?

“The development of the Boer goat in the early 1900’s can be traced to the Dutch farmers of South Africa. Boer is a Dutch word meaning farmer.  With meat production setting the selection criteria, the Dutch farmers developed the Boer goat as a unique breed of livestock. The Boer goat has a rapid growth rate, excellent carcass qualities and is highly adapted to different environments,” according to  http://abga.org/about-abga/history/

“They (the Heartland Showcase Boer Goat Sale organizers) originally held their first sale in Columbus,” Warren said.

There was a lack of hotels and restaurants in Columbus, according to Warren.

“As some of the officers were on their way home to Nebraska, they drove through Fort Scott  and decided to see what kind of a Fairground  and facility we had to offer,” Warren said. “The next day they called the K-State Extension Office and got my telephone number.  This developed into the relationship we have today.  They feel our facilities and our community has a lot of what they were looking for.”

“We heard that they were a good location, centrally located. Fort Scott seemed to be the perfect fit,” Lisa Stripe, co-owner of the sale, said. “We generally have 12 different farms bringing their goats into the sale. Usually the crowd draws 100-150 people.”

The Stripes are from Humeston, Iowa.

“We personally got started because as a kid Ithought it would be fun to have some. Later, I bought some behind my husband’s back.”

“They are good animals  for kids in 4-H or FFA because they are gentle, the kids are less likely to get hurt versus a cow or calf.”

“I  would like to thank the businesses , the motels the fairgrounds,” Stripe said. “We couldn’t ask for a better place to have the sale.”

 

Viewing of the animals is from 4-6 p.m. Saturday, August 18 and again Sunday August 19. The sale will be Sunday at noon at the fairgrounds.
You may contact Lisa Stripe at 402-759-5497 or Jill Lanham at 402-984-8344 for more information about this event