Graphic submitted by The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce.
Seventeen Fort Scott High School students will present their business products at a trade show and competition this evening, November 10, at the FSHS Auxiliary Gym from 6 to 8 p.m.
Among the students’ businesses are baked goods, candles, Christmas items, and home decor.
Lily Baluyot, Chanelle Cravens/Paizlee Crumby, Keeyon Deal, Tavin Anderson, Leon Cruz/Cameron Jackson, Alissa Doherty, Austin Chandra Kylee Conner, Xabier Granere, Kimberly McBoon, Te’Drin Turner, Sydney Hull, Hailey Spencer, Banks Brown, Kaylee McDerment, and Sydney Grant/Cora Eisenbrandt are the business entrepreneurs featured at the event.
Meet the students, shop their wares, and vote for your favorite business idea for the Community Choice Award. Awards will be presented at the conclusion of the Tradeshow.
The Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (YEC), a partnership between Local E-Communities, Network Kansas, and K-State Research and Extension, gives Kansas students in grades 6–12 the opportunity to develop, create, manage, and showcase their very own business ventures, according to a K-State Facebook page.
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce is supporting the event as well.
“Whether you’re a parent, educator, community supporter, or simply curious about what our young innovators have been working on, we invite YOU to come see their creativity, hard work, and entrepreneurial spirit in action,” according to the Facebook page.
Just browsing and encouraging the students is welcome, too!
Mark your calendars for November 9 to 13 and join the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation for Match Week 2026!
Match Week is an opportunity to support the local causes, projects, and organizations that make Bourbon County a great place to live, work, and grow.
Thanks to a generous matching partnership, donations made during Match Week will be amplified, helping participating funds make an even greater difference right here at home!
EVERY GIFT MATTERS!
Whether you give $10, $100, or more, your generosity helps strengthen our community.
Choose from any of the participating funds and support the causes that matter most to you. Every contribution helps create a lasting impact!
In person, delivered to Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce, 231 E. Wall, on or before Friday, November 13, 2026.
By check, mailed to FSACF, P.O. Box 901, Fort Scott, KS 66701, with a postmark date no later than Friday, November 13, 2026. Please make checks payable to FSACF and write the organization name(s) in the memo line.
Sending on behalf of Fort Scott Area Community Foundation
Match Week
November 9-13, 2026
Mark your calendars for November 9 to 13 and join the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation for Match Week 2026!
Match Week is an opportunity to support the local causes, projects, and organizations that make Bourbon County a great place to live, work, and grow.
Thanks to a generous matching partnership, donations made during Match Week will be amplified, helping participating funds make an even greater difference right here at home!
EVERY GIFT MATTERS!
Whether you give $10, $100, or more, your generosity helps strengthen our community.
Choose from any of the participating funds and support the causes that matter most to you. Every contribution helps create a lasting impact!
FORT SCOTT — AmericanMaid, a California maker of plastic housewares, is moving into the former Timken building at 4505 Campbell Drive and expects to create about 100 jobs in its first year, City Manager Brad Matkin announced Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Matkin said in a post on the city’s Facebook page that more job growth is expected in the second and third years. “This announcement is about much more than filling an empty building,” he wrote. “It is about jobs, families, economic growth and the future of Fort Scott!”
Mary Wyatt, the city’s director of business development, told the Bourbon County Monitor the company asked for no city incentives or property tax abatement. She said the company worked directly with the Kansas Department of Commerce on state tax credits.
The Monitor also reported that BNSF has approved a rail spur for the industrial park and that building it would be up to the new owner. Wyatt said the city would not be involved financially.
Timken closed its Fort Scott belt plant in 2025. Matkin told commissioners in July that a rail spur “sounds very possible.”
Join Us Thursday for Chamber After-Hours & Ribbon Cutting at Kale Nelson State Farm!
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce invites members and guests to celebrate the new downtown location of Kale Nelson State Farm!
Thursday, November 5, 2026 5:15 to 6:30 p.m. Ribbon Cutting & Remarks at 5:30 p.m. 113 S. National Ave., Downtown Fort Scott
Kale has proudly served the Fort Scott community as a State Farm agent for 21 years! He and his wife, Kelly, recently purchased and revitalized the property at 113 S. National Ave., continuing their tradition of bringing new life to previously vacant commercial spaces.
Come celebrate with us!
Congratulate Kale, Kelly, and the State Farm team
Tour their newly revitalized downtown office
Network with Chamber members and guests
Enjoy refreshments and hospitality
Help Support the FSCC Food Pantry!
In conjunction with the celebration, Kale and his team will be collecting non-perishable food items and health and beauty supplies for the Fort Scott Community College Food Pantry. Attendees are encouraged to bring a donation to help support FSCC students!
Separately, the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce will conduct its traditional Chamber 50/50 drawing, with a $2 admission collected and administered solely by the Chamber.
All Chamber members and guests are welcome! No RSVP required.
We hope to see you Thursday as we celebrate Kale and Kelly’s continued investment in Fort Scott and support a great cause in our community!
Link to Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/share/1KAvGVJH4C/
Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce
620-223-3566 | www.fortscott.com
Heidricks Hardware, 1508 S. National, was acquired by Waters Hardware on October 15, after 51 years in Fort Scott.
Denny Heidrick will be slowing down and traveling following the acquisition, but his sister, Nancy Heidrick, will stay on for 60-90 days until a new manager is found, helping the transition to Waters Hardware.
The new business has hired all the current staff, four employees.
“They will be adding many improvements,” Nancy Heidrick said. “More merchandise…and the whole inside….will get a facelift.”
“We could not have lasted without the wonderful support of the Fort Scott Community,” she said.
Waters is actively looking for a new manager, Randy Gerken, a part of the Waters Hardware leadership team, said.
Pictured from left to right: The Waters Hardware leadership team, including brothers Bo Gerken, Wes Gerken and Rusty Gerken, alongside their brother-in-law Mike Valent. Photo from the Waters website.
Waters Hardware
Waters Hardware was founded in 1894 in Manchester, KS, and is a family-owned regional home improvement, hardware, and equipment rental chain operating across Kansas and Missouri.
It is an affiliate of Do It Best.
Gerken Rent-All purchased Waters Hardware in 2019.
The new Fort Scott hardware store will focus on paint, appliances, and equipment supplies, Gerken said.
From left: Robin Bradbury, office manager; Brianna Herlocker, physical therapy assistant; and Hugo Dahlstrom, occupational therapist. Not pictured: Dennis Gillard, physical therapist; C. Jae Meech and Lisa Proctor-both physical therapy assistants.
I Am Rehab, a physical therapy and fitness center, has moved locations.
On September 21, the business moved to 1502 Scott Avenue, a former preschool.
Co-owner Hugo Dahlstrom said the move was prompted by the cost of renting the space they have occupied since January 2019.
They were previously located on the lower level of the former Mercy Hospital building at 401 Woodland Hills.
Dahlstrom said the business is unique in that in addition to outpatient physical therapy, they also offer occupational therapy.
“This is important for folks recovering from more severe debilitating health issues,” he said. “We are the only occupational therapy offering in Bourbon County providing outpatient services.
Doctors must refer patients to them with scripts, he said.
He is the occupational therapist; co-owner Dennis Gillard is the physical therapist.
The hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday.
Other employees are Robin Bradbury, office manager; C. Jae Meech, Brianna Herlocker and Lisa Proctor-all physical therapy assistants.
Contact by phone: 620.223.7073.
The I Am Rehab 24-hour access fitness center.
They have 5, 300 square feet of space for both the physical therapy side and the fitness room side of the business.
“We allow access to a 24-hour-per-day fitness center,” he said. “Members can use an app or a barcode to enter.”
At the former space, “We had a lot more space than we needed.”
Fort Scott Fall Boutique Crawl + Fall Fest Set for Saturday, October 17th
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce invites everyone to enjoy the Fort Scott Fall Boutique Crawl + Fall Fest this Saturday, October 17th!
Spend the day shopping at participating boutiques and local businesses throughout Fort Scott, featuring unique finds, fall arrivals, and more. Participating boutiques include Better in Bourbon, Eternal Grace Boutique, Blissful Meadows Boutique, Sunshine Boutique, Midwest Runway, Laree + Co., and Be the Light Boutique.
Additional shopping locations include Common Ground Coffee Co., The Market at 23 Main, Shirt Shack, Hedgehog Books, and Lu’s Ice Cream.
From 1 to 4 p.m., enjoy Fall Fest activities in downtown Fort Scott, featuring Painted Memories, Bougie Bites Treat Co., Parkway Church Kettle Corn & Caramel Apples, Tri-valley Mums & House Plants, Yummy Good Cotton Candy, and Tiger Ice.
Come shop, explore, and enjoy a fun fall Saturday while supporting local businesses!
For more information, contact the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce at (620) 223-3566 or visit fortscott.com.
Two of Kathy Dancer’s businesses on South Main have been reconfigured to make way for a storefront she will be renting out.
Cohn’s Cafe has shifted to the north room at 110 S. Main and the Mercantile has shifted to the former cafe space at 112 S. Main.
The space at 114 S. Main will soon be the space for the Old Fort Genealogical Society.
View of Cohn’s Cafe from the stairway to the front door; Dancer is in the right corner.The hours of the cafe and the Green Lantern Speakeasy.
About the Dancer businesses:
The cafe and mercantile are open Wednesday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner is Friday and Saturday only from 5-8 p.m.
The Green Lantern Speakeasy Lounge is open Friday and Saturday from 6-9 p.m.
The menu.Dancer shows The Vault, which is a private area dining room for a small group.
The Vault is a private dining space in the cafe that has been added for customers. It formerly was a vault for the Scottish Rite Temple in its heyday.
“There has been a bachelorette party…a DAR event…and we can do small tasting events in there. It can have up to 14 people,” she said.
A view of the mercantile with a cabinet of spirits to the left.
Coming soon is the handcrafted spirits.
In December 2026, the first bottling of Bourbon County Handcrafted Spirits is expected, she said.
She has a distillery on an upper floor of the former Scottish Rite Temple, in which all the businesses she owns are showcased, but the distillery is not open to the public.
“We’ll be in distribution by the end of the year,” she said. “Moonshine, whiskey and bourbon.”
Also on an upper floor is the Green Lantern and it is open to the public on Friday and Saturday night from 6- 9 p.m.
The Green Lantern Speakeasy is a 1920s-themed cocktail lounge located on the second floor at 110 S. Main, above Cohn’s Cafe.
“We offer craft cocktails and a large selection of whiskeys and bourbon and Kansas-made spirits and beers,” she said.
Drew Simpson speaks to attendees of the Downtown Meet and Greet on October 6. Lindsay Madison is in the center of the photo.
The quarterly Downtown Meet and Greet event was hosted by Cohn’s Cafe, 110 S. Main, on October 6.
A special welcome was given to Drew Simpson, Director of Kansas Main Street, a part of the Kansas Department of Commerce.
“Main Street is a self-help, technical assistance program that targets revitalization and preservation of downtown districts through the development of a comprehensive strategy.” -according to the website: http://www.KansasCommerce.gov/Main-Street
“You are a designated Main Street…you will see more traffic,” Simpson told the group of mostly business owners.
“Business owners, residents and property owners are…impacted.”
When a downtown is healthy, the benefits ripple outward, strengthening businesses, property, public revenues, community pride, quality of place, and future opportunity, according to a fact sheet provided by Kansas Main Street.
He outlined the long process to move forward on the Main Street Program, and commended the Chamber of Commerce CEO Lindsay Madison for “running the show; we are to provide the guardrails,” he said. “She is the face of Main Street in Fort Scott.”
There are a few grants available for businesses: ROOMS and HEAL. One can contact Madison at the Chamber office for more details.
The next Kansas Main Street Training is November 17-18 in Independence.
Other comments from attendees:
Kathy Dancer, owner of four downtown businesses cuts up quiche in preparation for the attendees of the Downtown Meet and Greet on October 6.
Kathy Dancer, owner of Cohn’s Cafe, 110 South Main Mercantile, Green Lantern Speakeasy and Bourbon County Handcrafted Spirits, all located at the former Scottish Rite Temple, gave a brief overview of all her businesses and provided a sampling of her quiches she makes daily in the cafe.
She also announced that the Old Fort Genealogical Society of Southeastern Kansas will be renting the southernmost storefront at 114 S. Main soon.
Jill Jaworski, Superintendent of Fort Scott National Historic Site, announced that the site is now open seven days a week, and some parts of the campus is undergoing remodeling. The Friends of FSNHS received a $10,000 grant to help with the 50th Anniversary celebration in 2028. The site is part of the Murder and Mayhem Tour for Halloween, and the annual candlelight tour is Dec. 4-5.
Mary Wyatt, business development with the City of Fort Scott, noted that many new businesses have opened, some businesses have expanded, and a few new businesses are on the horizon for the city. There will be a tax sale soon, she said.
Mid-Continental Restoration is currently working on Memorial Hall.
Rachel Carpenter, City of Fort Scott Human Resources person, introduced the new tourism contact Natalia Varzea. Varzea said she would “love to meet with businesses” in the community.
The October 6 Downtown Meet and Greet event met at Cohn’s Cafe.
She purchased the decade-long vacated 12,000-square-foot building in January 2022 at a Bourbon County Tax Sale.
The former Scottish Rite Temple has been transformed into four new businesses in Fort Scott’s Historic Downtown.
Since then, they have started four businesses after investing a lot of money in the infrastructure, said Kathy Dancer. They are Cohn’s Cafe, 110 South Main Mercantile, Green Lantern Speakeasy and Bourbon County Handcrafted Spirits.
In an interview about those businesses, Kathy said the Dancer’s drainage issue that has caused flooding in the building has been slow to be resolved.
The City of Fort Scott directed the Dancers to do some repair work, and then the city would fill in the ditch at the base of the building in the alley on the west side of the building, she said.
“The trench is still there,” she said. “When it rains, it goes into the basement and the main floor.”
According to Dancer’s records, they hired someone to start digging out along the building’s foundation in the alley at the end of June.
“On July 13th we had an excavator come in so that we could get deeper to do additional repair work on the foundation. The city blocked off the alley on July 14th. We are approaching the three month mark on the alley being in disarray.”
“Their contractor has been in contact with the person who is going to install a curb for the city,” said Fort Scott City Manager Brad Matkin.
“This concrete contractor is working on another job and will get to that area as soon as they are done. We have tried to work with the Dancers on this for the past few years, but our engineers said there were things they had to do before the city would do any work.”
Kathy Dancer said she shared a video with the city commission showing the water flow from the city parking lot, northwest of their building. And also the water flow from the portion of the alley that is already concreted, in back of the apartment building north of 110 N. Main.
The apartment building, the Dancer property, and the former Moody Building on the 100 South Main block are the only buildings that have basements on that block, she said.
The ditch is the lowest place in the alley.
The apartment’s alley is concreted; their alley portion is not, she said.
“We had a contractor go in and seal it in (at the base of the building in the alley),” she said. “He had to go back in after the rains and did more.
“To be honest, the city is not responsible for the curb we are installing, but I agreed to do it,” Matkin said. “The water is not coming from the alley; it is coming from the building owner’s guttering and roof. Hopefully, that is taken care of as well.”
“We did a lot of gutter work already,” Mrs. Dancer said. “There is another spot that opened up.”
“When we had solar installed, some of the roof gravel moved into the guttering,” she said. “We can’t get in to fix the guttering problem because the alley is not accessible.”
Dancer said alley maintenance is “100 percent, the city’s job.”
She said at the moment, all four of the businesses remain open for business.
Moody Building
While taking photos of the alley, Al Niece, who is trying to purchase the Moody Building on Main Street, stopped by to look at the building.
He said the basement at that building also gets flooded.
Niece was looking at the property before the city meeting this evening, where the Moody Building will be discussed, he said.
Niece was frustrated at the slow process to acquire the building
The Moody Building is located across the street from Fort Scott City Hall on South Main.
“We cannot do anything extensively to the alley until the poles holding up the west side of the Moody Building are removed,” said Matkin.
“Our city attorney is working on the deed with the owner of the building, and we are really close to getting this done,” Matkin said. We have also worked with the IRS to remove the lien that is placed on the building so Mr. Niece will not have to worry about any of this.”
“Mr. Niece has permission to do whatever he wants with the building due to the city getting a letter from the owners for him to do so, Matkin said. “I for one, appreciate Al taking on this project and am working with him to get this building going in the right direction.”
The entrance to Salon Social is located on the south side of the building that also houses Better in Bourbon boutique—submitted photo.
Brooklyn Holder, 22, a 2022 graduate of Fort Scott High School and 2023 graduate of Fort Scott Community College Cosmetology School, is having a grand opening at her salon at 2 Old Fort Boulevard today from 5-7 p.m.
Brooklyn Holder and her client, Brianna Davilla, a PIttsburg State University Student from Leawood on September 29 in the Salon Social shop.
Brooklyn’s services: hair coloring, hair extensions, hair blow-outs and haircuts. Contact her at 620.215.100 for an appointment.
Following cosmetology graduation, she did an apprenticeship in Kansas City. She then worked for two years at a salon in Joplin, MO.
She married Jet Holder on July 4 and they moved back to Fort Scott.
Her grandmother, Nancy Daniels Pruitt, and her dad, Chris Pruitt, own the recently remodeled building under their company, Pruitt Storage and Rental LLC.
Rachel Pruitt, her mom, owns the Better In Bourbon boutique on the west side of the building (formerly H & H Realty), and Brooklyn’s Salon Social shop is on the east side.
There are other office spaces to rent between the two businesses.
The door to enter her salon is on the south side of the building.
About the hair stylist
Brooklyn said the apprenticeship following cosmetology schoo helped her gain confidence and “trust in myself” and highly recommends it.
She will be having hair classes and “shadow days” for other beauty professionals. Her shop is envisioned as a place to socialize and have events to perfect the craft.
The best part of being a cosmetologist for her is:
“I love getting to help others be confident with their own beauty, and I believe client interactions are important.”
Her career started when she, without telling her parents, enrolled at FSCC’s Cosmetology School.
“I enrolled 20 minutes before the deadline,” she said. “The first day I realized, ‘this is for me’. It’s been a great career.”
Salon Social Shop is located at 2 Old Fort Boulevard, in the same building as Better In Bourbon Boutique.
Her husband is a Marine Corps reservist, and in her spare time she likes to hang out with her dog and her family, she said.
