During this Easter week, the First Presbyterian Church hosted the weekly Chamber Coffee, informing attendees of their special services in honor of the Holy Week as well as other community events they participate in.

Pastor Jared Witt, who has been at the church for about four years, said the church added two services in honor of Easter, including one held Thursday in honor of Maundy Thursday, or the last Lord’s Supper, as well as a Good Friday service. A spirituality center is also available for anyone who would like to stop by at any point over the weekend.

Throughout the year, Witt also explained that they take three weekends away from the normal church services and instead enter the community to do different service projects such as cleaning or construction work for the city, local organizations or elderly residents, with skilled workers of the church helping organize and lead the projects.

“It’s one thing to sing a hymn near someone,” Witt said. “But a totally different thing to paint together for four or five hours.”

The next project day will be held May 22. While Witt said they likely have enough projects for that day, they will accept ideas for service projects for future work days.

Witt said their elder-run church has seven staff members as well as a number of deacons, who lead the church’s compassion ministry, and elders, who help lead the church body. Currently, they are looking for someone who might be interested in taking on the position of youth minister.

Other announcements during the Chamber Coffee included:

• This week, a New York archivist is in town to help the Gordon Parks Museum get new prints of the Parks photos on display, which should soon be ready for exhibition once again.
• The Chamber of Commerce will hold their annual banquet March 31. The event is still accepting items to be sold in the live auction during the event.
• Musical artist Branford Marsalis will provide a concert at the Fort Scott Community College Thursday, April 7. Tickets at $30 apiece or $20 for students remain available.
• My Father’s House is in the process of considering expansions for their services such as by adding an emergency shelter and a thrift store as well as a vehicle. Members of the community who might have buildings they could donate or sell at a reasonable price are requested to contact My Father’s House.
• Work continues to be done on the Riverfront Project as local and out of town groups have participated in the project by picking up debris such as rocks and sticks. Groups are welcome to volunteer their services. The project is also currently waiting to hear if their applications for a lookout tower and shelter are accepted.

The Chamber of Commerce and city of Fort Scott welcomed the Country Place Memory Care facility at an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday evening as construction and inspections completed during the prior week, making it ready for residents.

Visitors to the new building on Horton Street could tour the facility, which includes 12 suites, three key-padded entrances, a kitchen where they prepare their own meals, living and activity areas as well as a fenced-in area where residents can enjoy being outside.

“I love what Country Place is,” director Darcy Sinn said, saying it provides a high and customized level of care to residents with dementia or other memory problems.

The home currently has four staff along with the director, though that number could grow as more residents move in. The facility can also provide day services for families that need a relative to be taken care of for just a day.

“We’re incredibly excited to be here and see this project come to fruition,” Director of Economic Development Heather Smith said, saying this was one of the first projects she began working on when she took her position three years ago.

Chamber Director Lindsay Madison pointed out that many people were involved in the project, as it moved from considering Fort Scott to finding a location and beginning construction.

“Things like this don’t happen overnight,” City Manager Dave Martin said, adding he is proud to work with the city and the chamber in partnering with local and new businesses such as Country Place.

The location in Fort Scott is the 12^th Country Place location in Kansas. With its completion, work will begin on the Country Place Senior Living facility to be located next-door, which will have 26 units.

In just over a month, Fort Scott will provide a new opportunity to members of and visitors to the community as they host the inaugural 2^nd Story Festival of Arts and Ideas event, April 8 and 9.

Local pastor Jared Witt helped initiate the planning for the event after being inspired by similar opportunities his family saw available to the public when they went on vacation to New York last year.

“I’ve been thinking about community development for a long time,” Witt said during the March Young Professionals League meeting held Friday at Papa Don’s, promoting the event and encouraging young professionals to be involved.

Witt said he believes many Fort Scott residents either wish their city were a little bigger or that the community was a little more interesting. While that first thought is a negative one and not beneficial, Witt said he thinks people can help better the community by focusing on the latter idea.

With that goal in mind, Witt began working with Fort Scott Director of Economic Development Heather Smith to bring a festival combining both the arts and entrepreneurship to the community.

“It’s much bigger than what I thought it would be,” Witt said, saying a federal grant of $7,000 and matching grants from local groups such as the arts council, city of Fort Scott and the local community foundation has allowed it to include more than they originally had hoped.

Witt said they combined the arts and innovative entrepreneurship because both require a level of creativity and can inspire each other. Smith added the combination encourages people to think differently in both category to better their hobby or business.

“I think there’s a lot they have in common,” Witt said.

The Friday night of the event will focus on the innovative side of the weekend, including an entrepreneur panel of successful business people as well as artists available to answer questions, to be followed by a roundtable discussion focusing on business planning, sources of capital, marketing strategies and the legal structures of having a business. The first evening will end with a reception and opportunity for networking.

Saturday’s creative events will include sessions on book publishing and literature, culinary arts, watercolor, poetry, photography and fashion, pottery and a luncheon featuring Marc Willson discussing Art as a Business. The festival finale will include treats and an art sale and time to mingle with artists.

Friday’s event will cost goers $10 while access to Saturday’s events cost $10 per person but with added fees for those participating in hands-on events such as pottery, watercolor and the cooking demonstration.

“We hope that this becomes an annual event,” Smith said.

During the weekly Chamber Coffee Thursday morning, hosted by the Five Corners Mini Mart, representatives from local businesses and organizations shared a series of events occurring in Fort Scott in upcoming weeks while Five Corners gave an update on their services.

Owner and proprietor Darcy Smith said her family opened the gas station and convenience store located near the corner of Highway 69 and 12^th Street in 2006 and have been developing their business ever since, including opening the Libation Station next door in 2010.

In just recent weeks, Smith said they made improvements to their gas pumps so it flowed better. The store also provides meals throughout the day, such as breakfast made fresh each morning and barbecue such as pulled pork, brisket and ribs prepared for later hours of the day.

“If you haven’t tried our barbecue, you really should,” Smith said, adding that they also have a loyalty program for drinks, which allows the eighth purchased to be free.

Events happening around town in the upcoming weeks include:

• The Fort Scott National Historic Site will host a brown-bag lunch event Friday which will include a presentation from an author.
• The Knights of Columbus will host a fish fry Friday evenings, 5-7 p.m., during Lent at the Kennedy Gym. The fried catfish, side dishes and desserts can be purchased for a freewill offering.
• Friday evening, Nate’s Place will host a fundraiser meal of enchiladas to support two charities, Care to Share and the Neonatal Intensive-Care Unit.
• Gunn Park will host the third annual Disc Golf Ice Bowl Saturday morning, with registration beginning at shelter house #3 at 8 a.m. and tee off at 10 a.m. All proceeds from the $20 registration fees will go towards the Beacon. The first 20 participants or visitors will receive a free disc.
• Mercy Hospital is again partnering with Country Place Senior Living to offer another Virtual Dementia Tour Thursday, Feb. 18. Appointments should be made in advance.
• Fort Scott Community College will host a Red Cross blood drive, Feb. 18-19. The drive will be held from 1-7 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday.
• The rotary will host the annual Dancing with our Stars event Feb. 20, at 7 p.m.
• On Thursday, Feb. 25, Mercy Hospital will host a Go Red for Women luncheon, which will include a speaker on the topic of women and heart disease.
• On March 5, Kansas residents will have the opportunity to participate in a caucus for the presidential nominees.
• Tri-Valley Developmental Services continues to sell tickets for their June 24^th drawing for a 2016 Ford F-150 Platinum Edition. About 1,000 tickets have already been purchased with 2,000 remaining. Tickets can be bought for $50 each or $350 for eight. Money raised will go towards homes they construct.
• Those interested in participating in the Bourbon County Fair this summer, Jul 16-23, are encouraged to begin considering what contests they will participate in or what they might exhibit. New and returning contests include making table runners, baling, scarecrows and food items.

Next week, the local movie theater will celebrate 10 years of existence, and throughout the month, the theater will provide specials to their customers to celebrate and thank them for their support.

Fort Cinema owner Amanda Hale said it’s hard to believe the theater has been open that long, while at other times it feels longer as she and her husband handle the theater after they made the decision in the early 2000s to start their own business.

After making that decision, they came to the conclusion that a movie theater was a need in the community, since the nearest ones were in Pittsburg or Kansas City.

“Every town does need a movie theater,” Hale said, saying they thought Fort Scott especially could benefit from one since the local bowling alley and other areas of activity were no longer open or were in disrepair.

Over four years after reaching that conclusion, the Hales prepared for their endeavor by forming a business plan, doing feasibility studies, considering the area demographics, selecting a property and speaking with bankers for financial support. But few thought they could successfully open a theater while others were unable to support the business.

But finally, with the support of a federal grant, property given to them and a parking lot constructed by the city, the Hales moved forward with their plans to replace the two-screen, Liberty box theater that had closed in the 1990s and was in very poor condition.

Since the opening of the theater on Feb. 17, 2006, it has provided stadium seating for each of their three screens and other amenities that Hale said are often not even available at larger theaters. Other upgrades in recent years have added the technology needed to provide 3D viewings with the new digital films.

With only three screens, Hale said they have to carefully schedule what movies they show, trying to show the most popular movies as well as always keeping family-friendly movies showing. When they face a difficult choice in selecting which movies to show, Hale said they take polls on their Facebook page to see which movies Fort Scott residents would be most interested in.

While some movie studios require certain movies be shown for at least two to four weeks, others are shown only on limited screens across the United States, such as certain Christian films Hale tries to get for Fort Scott, including the movie “Risen” releasing Feb. 19.

“When people tell us they appreciate us, than that makes it all worthwhile,” Hale said of their theater, which she referred to as a busy undertaking.

During the month of February, the theater will offer specials to those who come to Fort Cinema, such as offering $1 nachos and $2 pretzels this week. Details on show times and special offers can be found at their Facebook page and their website, www.FortCinema.com.

Downtown businesses in Fort Scott will donate a portion of their sales Friday toward the purchase of a new trolley for the city in honor of Kansas Day, celebrating the 155^th birthday of when Kansas became the 34^th state of the union.

During a recent, quarterly meet-and-greet of local businesses in Fort Scott, certain business owners proposed donating five percent of their sales toward that fund during the annual event, which in the past has provided discounts at certain stores in Fort Scott.

Participating stores include Papa Don’s, Crooner’s Lounge, Shirt Shack, Iron Star Antiques, Sharkey’s Pub & Grub, Main Street Gallery & Gifts, Courtland Hotel & Spa, Common Grounds Coffee Co., Bids & Dibs, J & W Sports and Country Cupboard. Those stores will have a sunflower placed in front of their store.

In recent weeks, the local Chamber of Commerce has also posted facts about Kansas on their Facebook page, sharing information about its history, tourist attractions, economy and physical attributes.