Fort Scott and the Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony during their weekly Chamber Coffee event Thursday for one of the newest businesses in the community, Hartman Spine and Joint.

Dr. Grant Hartman was born and raised in Fort Scott, receiving his bachelor’s degree in biology from Pittsburg State University and then getting his doctor of chiropractic degree from Logan University in St. Louis. But he and his wife, Dr. Heather Davis, have since returned to Fort Scott and opened their chiropractor office.

Hartman admitted that he always enjoyed Fort Scott but did not truly appreciate it until he left for four years. But Hartman said he is now happy to bring this service to the city, where his and his wife’s family still live.

“Family is what it’s all about,” Hartman said.

Hartman said their goal with their practice is to redefine what it means to offer chiropractic care, not just treating the results of an issue but addressing the cause of the problem. Hartman said he wants to give patients a diagnosis and a treatment plan in order to help fix that problem, saying he does not want a patient to come in for the same problem twice.

“We’re so excited that you came back home,” chamber director Lindsay Madison said.

Other business owners made announcements concerning upcoming events including:

• Fort Scott will participate in Manufacturing Day Friday, with booths set up at the east campus of Fort Scott Community College as well as tours offered at different participating businesses in town.
• The Pioneer Kiwanis are looking for advertisers for their placemat fundraiser, one of the biggest they hold annually.
• G & W Foods will hold their grand opening event next Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., providing free hot dogs as well as deals the entire week. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will also be held during that time.
• Fort Scott Community College will host the annual Gordon Parks Celebration Oct. 22-24.
• The senior class of Fort Scott High School will hold a chili feed before their homecoming football game Oct. 9, with proceeds going toward their activities through the school year. Tickets will be $5 for adults and $3 for children.
• The Chamber of Commerce’s Forks and Corks: Taste of Fort Scott fundraiser will be held Nov. 7, at Memorial Hall. About 10-15 different food vendors will be on hand as well as numerous drink options.
• The bike trails of Gunn Park will host a bike skills workshop Oct. 3, at 10 a.m. at shelter house #6, for anyone interested in becoming more skilled riders. The 3^rd annual Triyakathon will be held on Oct. 10, with individual participants or teams running, kayaking and biking different sections of the event. Hot dogs will be served after both weekend events at Gunn Park.

The building that once housed Key Industries, Inc., near the railroad tracks on Wall Street, is now used by a new business to manufacture ammunition and sell other tactical clothing and gear, currently through online sales.

“It’s going to be a cool place for people who are outdoor people,” Greg Fess said of Velocity Tactics, which could open in the next few months.

Fess, who oversees the work site, said the idea for Velocity Tactics began about three years ago as a side project started by Ryan Kraft, son of Roger Kraft of Ward Kraft in Fort Scott. Kraft wanted to find a way to make improvements to bullets, which Fess said have seen little change since World War I.

With those three years of research and development, which continues even today, Kraft and others have been able to create a lead-free bullet, using solid copper instead of a copper jacket and lead, making it lighter and more precise as well as able to cause more damage to a soft target.

“It needs to perform better than what’s out there,” Fess said of the viability of their business, saying it has been a team effort to find a way to achieve that.

But so far they have found success with their products, continuing to develop their manufacturing methods, making sure they test a high percentage of the bullets to make sure they are of the best quality. While they originally wanted to start selling earlier, the team instead focused on becoming experts on their product as well as the business first.

Fess said their products – which currently includes ammunition as well as firearms, gear, knives, targets and tactical gear and accessories – have been available for purchase online for about a year and are being used around the nation.

But on a more local level, Fess said local law enforcement officers have tried out the different bullets in comparison to those they currently use. Velocity Tactics will also sell other gear the local sheriff’s office and police department use, allowing them to buy locally instead of from out of town.

“That will be cool to keep all that in the community,” Fess said.

With their brand name spreading, Fess and others involved in the rising company have already been on hunts with others who purchased or use their bullets. The store in Fort Scott will include a trophy room displaying some of those animals, which currently will include a hog, buffalo, elk as well as an alligator that broke state records in Florida for its size of more than 13 feet in length and weighing almost 1,000 pounds.

Velocity Tactics continues to focus on letting others know of their product through online marketing, improving their website and manufacturing the product while also getting the store in Fort Scott ready to open its doors.

Fess said they have had to do a lot of work on the building to make it fit with their plans for it, adding they could continue projects and expansions on it for the next five years. But already, the first floor of the Velocity Tactics location is nearly complete, with a third of that space to be used for the store while the remaining two thirds are reserved for manufacturing.

Work continues on the second floor, where Fess said they hope to eventually have 100 machines in operations to make the bullets.

The store location is set to open within the next few months or by spring of 2016 at the latest. Those interested in purchasing online can do so today through their website.

The weekly Chamber Coffee, hosted by the Pioneer Harvest Fiesta on the Fairgrounds in honor of the weekend event, gave business members of the community an opportunity to make announcements as well as meet new members Thursday morning.

Pioneer Harvest Fiesta organizers David McCord, Peggy Niles and Allen and Jackie Warren described weekend festivities which will include a downtown parade Thursday, machinery auction Friday, and quilt and arts and craft shows available throughout the weekend.

Admission for the entire weekend is $5 per person and free for children under the age of 12 years.

Those in attendance were also introduced to representatives from the new G & W Foods company located on 6^th Street east of Highway 69. Grand opening festivities will begin next Wednesday and continue for about three weeks.

Other announcements made by local businesses included:

• The Fort Scott National Historic Site will host a naturalization ceremony Friday at 10:30 a.m.
• Mercy Hospital with the police department and sheriff’s office are sponsoring a drug take-back program Saturday at Convenient Care on S. National, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Those with expired or unused medication are encouraged to bring them so the departments can properly dispose of them.
• Rita Baker of Mercy Hospital said after 17 months of investigations and planning, their recommendations for moving forward and improving finances was approved in St. Louis Wednesday afternoon, allowing hospital services to continue in Fort Scott.
• Fort Scott Community College and area businesses will participate in Manufacturing Day on Oct. 2, including booths set up at the college as well manufacturers providing tours of their businesses to visitors.
• Deb Madison of Medicalodges will be honored for her more than 20 years of service on Tuesday, Sept. 29, with a retirement reception at Medicalodges, 8-9 a.m.
• Tri-Valley Developmental Services will hold a fundraiser for United Way during the Pioneer Harvest Fiesta event over the weekend.
• The Highland Apartments in Fort Scott have 2- and 3-bedroom apartments available.
• G & W Foods is looking for community members with historical photographs of Fort Scott that the business could make copies of to decorate their interior with.

  

  

  

  

United Way hosted the weekly Chamber Coffee Thursday morning, giving an update on their organization as well as handing out award letters to the 12 agencies they support financially.

Gina Shelton, treasurer of United Way, said they wanted to use this Chamber Coffee as an opportunity to recognize the agencies they support and give them a chance to describe what they do.

“You know in general what the agencies are, but you don’t know about all of them,” Shelton said.

Shelton also described changes that have come to the area United Way in the past seven months or so, in their effort to cut administrative costs so they could give more to area charities and agencies.

“We had seen that there was a progressive decline in the money that was coming in,” Shelton said.

As a result, United Way gave up their office as well as their landline and also let go of a paid position so it is run by a board of volunteers. Because of all these changes, Shelton said this year they will take a break from the Zombie Chase, but bring it back next year.

Even with all these cost-saving cuts, Shelton said they are still in need of donations from the community so United Way can invest it right back into Fort Scott and Bourbon County through organizations that assist the infirm, young, elderly, destitute and others in a variety of ways.

“We really want to get the money more out to the community,” Shelton said.

United Way presented award letters to 12 area organizations to support them in their work, including Bourbon County Inter-Agency Coalition Board, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Bourbon County Senior Citizens, Care to Share, 4-H Fair, Kansas Legal Services, Keyhole Youth Center, Fort Scott Ministerial Alliance and Hospitality fund, Safehouse Crisis Center, Southeast Kansas Respite Services, Tri-Valley Developmental Services and United Cerebral Palsy of Kansas.

Representatives from each organization gave a brief description and update of their respective entity.

Other local business members also gave announcements for the cost of $1 to go toward the fund for Dolly the Trolley. Announcements this week included:

• This weekend, Common Grounds will host performers including Doug Harper of Nevada and local high school student Alex King.
• The Church of the Nazarene will again hold their Motor Sunday event on Sept. 20, including a ride for life and a car show as well as other activities for families.
• The Fort Scott National Historic Site will start placing flags Thursday afternoon for their Symbols of Sacrifice event which will begin Friday and continue through Sept. 17. The weekly Concerts in the Park event will be performed at the fort Friday evening and the 1^st Infantry Division’s Brass Band will perform a concert Saturday at 6 p.m. The event still needs volunteers to read the names of those who have died during the war on terror Saturday over the downtown public announcement system. Names will be read in 15 minute increments.
• Meals on Wheels in Bourbon County continues to look for volunteers who can deliver meals to senior citizens of the community.
• The 59^th Pioneer Harvest Fiesta will begin Sept. 24 with a parade before events such as a quilt show and machinery auction start Fri., Sept. 25, and end on Sept. 27. The event is in need of volunteers who can participate any of those days.
• With the end of the year approaching, Fort Scott Family Dental encourages those with dental plans to set up their appointments. New patients are also always welcomed.
• Already, the local rotary club is beginning preparations for the sixth annual Dancing with the Stars event to be held in February, featuring married couples performing a variety of dancing styles. Those interested in being involved can contact rotary members.
• My Father’s House is partnering with Casey’s to hold a fundraiser, featuring pizza and donut coupons. The $15 pizza coupon allows the coupon holder to buy a large pizza and get a second small pizza free 10 times, while the $10 donut coupon gets a second half a dozen donuts free on 10 occasions.
• Deb Madison, the community relations coordinator for Medicalodges, will retire at the end of the month after 21 years with the center. A reception will be held for her Sept. 29, 8-9 a.m.
• The Fort Scott High School and the city of Fort Scott are looking for adult mentors to get involved with the Career Exploration Mentor Program, pairing a community member with a high school junior or senior. Mentors meet with the student a couple times a month and help them plan for a future career.
• USD 234 will hold the Tigers on the Move Color Run Friday at the Riverfront trail at 5 p.m., before the first home game for the varsity football team.
• The Town-wide Garage Sale will be held Friday and Saturday, with maps of participating homes available at the chamber of commerce and other local businesses.