Fort Scott Washateria also houses Fort Scott Community Closet.
Submitted by Linda Lovelace, owner
As we go into the colder time of the year, I want to take the time to remind Fort Scott of the Fort Scott Community Closet.
This is Lori Lovelace, owner of Fort Scott Washateria and Fort Scott Community Closet, located at 501 S National.
We have been providing clothing, coats and other items to those in need of them with the help of the generous folks of this community for six years now.
I want to say a special thanks to St. Mary’s school and Mary Queen of Angels Church who have supported us year after year with coat and clothing drives. We have coats right now along with clothing for any who are in need.
We don’t ask what your circumstances are, we have no income or other requirements, we take in the clothing and other items and give them out, no questions asked.
We can do this because of YOU, Fort Scott.
We are currently bringing out coats and they are hanging on a rack in the Washateria, if you need a coat, come in and check out what we have. We are putting out coats as they are given away so if you don’t find one that fits, stop by again.
The Closet is open Mon-Fri 10-6 if you would like to go through our tubs of clothes as well. To those who are sorting through clothes looking to donate, our most requested items are children’s clothing of all sizes, adult t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, sweat pants, jeans, coats,
Stacy Racy, facing, left, Lindsay Madison, and Wayne Racy at the Downtown Quarterly Meet and Greet at Common Ground Coffee Shop on Oct. 17.
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Downtown Quarterly Meet and Greet is a meeting to share events and opportunities that are coming.
Stacy and Wayne Racy, owners of Common Ground Coffee Co., 12 E. Wall, were introduced by Lindsey Madison, Chamber CEO.
The Racy’s took over ownership in May 2025, from the Fort Scott Church of the Nazarene, where they are members. Since then, they have been revamping the menu to some healthier options and featuring evening entertainment periodically. They are having a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for the Honor Flights program for military veterans on Oct. 25 starting at 4 p.m. To learn more:
The City of Fort Scott Housing and Community Development Coordinator Lisa Dillon spoke about work done on a possible Main Street Program designation. Main Street assists in developing strategies to revitalize or strengthen downtown areas.
The Main Street Program will give technical assistance, training, access to design services, available state and national grant funds and membership to the Main Street America Network, according to info provided by Dillon.
Dillon said it has proven to be successful for communities enhancing the downtown area, but there must be community engagement in the process.
“After meeting four times over the past six months to plan and discuss this effort, we’re now at the point of collecting letters of support for our application,” Dillon said later.
Fort Scott National Historic Site Superintendent Jill Jaworski told the group that the annual Christmas Candlelight Tour will proceed, but because of the government shut down during the planning season for the event, ” it may not be what it was in the past.” Tickets will go on sale on Nov. 1.
The City of Fort is sponsoring a live music concert by Almost Kiss on Oct. 25 at 9 p.m. at the pavilion on North National Avenue, with costumes encouraged, said Rachel Carpenter, Special Project Coordinator.
Carpenter also told of a new app that she is using that can tell how many visitors visited the city, for example: Fortfest 2025 had 2,500 visitors. Additionally, it can tell spots the visitors went to while here.
The city is sponsoring Haunted Trails at Riverside Park on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Actors are still needed, those “who like to scare people.”
Contact Carpenter at 620-223-0550 Ext. 205.
The annual children’s downtown Halloween Parade will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday Oct. 25, with preliminary fun activities and pizza and drink to end the event. Drink donations are appreciated. Call the Chamber of Commerce at 620.223.3566.
Small business Saturday is November 29.
The Christmas Parade is Thursday, December 4 with a theme of Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.
During Christmas on the Bricks festival event, stores will stay open late and entertainment will abound in the downtown. Diane Striler is the facilitator of this annual event. There will be a cookie making site, a wreath making site, a skating rink, carriage rides, a new event at the splash pad area for children, various alcoholic tasting spots around the downtown, a scavenger hunt and tree decorating contest among many others. See their Facebook page for more info: https://www.facebook.com/fortscottchristmasonthebricks
The Chamber downtown map that has been in the making is nearing completion, Madison said.
The Chamber Guide and Directory deadline is Oct. 31 for reviewing all info.
There is a Chamber sponsored candidate forum on Oct. 22 at the Ellis Fine Arts Center at Fort Scott Community College, doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Upcoming Chamber Coffees: 10/23 is First United Methodist Church, 10/30 is Fort Scott Area Community Foundation Grant Awards at Landmark Bank.
There are E-community grants and Grow KS grants available: contact the Chamber for more details.
CFSEK Hosts New Rural Community Partners Fund to Support Local Businesses
At a time when funding is growing increasingly uncertain and hard to obtain, the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team (HBCAT) is stepping up in a big way! Jody Love, President and CEO of HBCAT, is a small business owner herself, and after renovating a downtown building in Fort Scott, she saw first-hand the limited support for small businesses in Southeast Kansas.
Jody Love, president and CEO of Healthy Bourbon County Action Team. Submitted photo
“I saw the need for economic development and growth across the region, and I knew that we just needed access to opportunities,” Love said. “People believe in where they live and want it to improve, so what can we do to help?”
Rural Community Partners (RCP), a subsidiary of HBCAT, is creating a new fund at the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas (CFSEK) called the SEK Entrepreneur and Small Business Support Fund, which will help empower small businesses across Southeast Kansas.
The grants will be managed by Small Business and Entrepreneurs (SBE) Council of RCP, which is composed of local business owners from five counties in Southeast Kansas, representing a diverse range of geographical locations, racial backgrounds, and includes low-income and women entrepreneurs. The grants will also serve as an opportunity for networking and mentorship with similar organizations facing similar challenges.
One local business that has already utilized these services is Bushel and a Peck in Girard. With Southeast Kansas connections and experience in Philadelphia restaurants, owners Michael and Kelley Gringas were equipped for success. HBCAT has started to build systems to connect restaurants like Bushel and a Peck to locally produced food.
“One of the recipients of our food producer grant was Freedom Farms, based out of Bourbon County, with the concept of creating a food co-op model,” Love said. “That has now come full circle, and we have been able to connect Bushel and a Peck with Freedom Farms to source local chicken and lamb!”
“Commerce is at the heart of every community,” Love said, “and this project from HBCAT is supporting our SEK communities, continuing their economic development for years to come! We are serious about it being a regional fund, which is why we are housing it at the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas.”
“We are excited to work with Jody and Rural Community Partners to create this endowment that will support our friends and neighbors who operate small businesses,” said Devin Gorman, CFSEK Executive Director. “Small businesses are crucial to rural economies, and Southeast Kansas has some incredible small businesses. We are delighted to try and help bring them more resources.”
Healthy Bourbon County Action Team office is located at 104 N. National. Phone: 620.224.2563
Applications for the Entrepreneur and Small Business Support Fund are accepted via email to Jody Love at HBCAT. She can be contacted at [email protected].
The Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas awarded over $2 million in grants from all foundation funds in 2024 and has facilitated over $25 million in total granting to Southeast Kansas since its inception in 2001. CFSEK serves the region by providing donors with various charitable interests and encouraging charitable giving, which addresses present and future needs in our area. The Columbus Area, Fort Scott Area, and Girard Area Community Foundations are affiliates of CFSEK. More information about CFSEK is available at SoutheastKansas.org
The Sept. 13 Concert listed on this flyer is cancelled due to the illness of the performers.
Fall Music at Common Ground Coffee Shop, 12 E. Wall, is back.
“Bring a friend, grab your favorite latte, and enjoy the sound of fall at Common Ground,” said shop owner Stacy Racy. “We decided a couple of months ago to bring back the Fall Concert Series. We’ve done it in the past and it’s been well received, so we’re excited to do it again.”
Stacy and Wayne Racy, owners of the Common Ground Coffee Shop. Submitted photo.
“Join us this fall for evenings filled with live music, cozy drinks, and community vibes,” she said.
The live music shows are from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday evenings, and all ages are welcome.
The large group private area at Common Ground, from its Facebook page.
Upcoming Shows: The September 13 – Jesse Jack & The Electric String Band was cancelled due to illness. September 27 – Vinyl Revival October 11-Jerico Jones
October 25- Serenade
“We’ll have drinks, cookies, and food available for people to enjoy while they listen,’ she said. “We have some amazing local and regional musicians we love listening to, and we thought this would be a great way to give the community something to do on Saturday evenings through the fall.”
Music lovers might want to try some of the new menu items offered by the coffee shop staff as they listen to the music in the large stage area in a room adjacent to the public seating area.
“Our new menu items are going really well – that’s the biggest new thing right now, and we’re excited about the community response.”
One of the new menu items: pannini. From the shop’s Facebook page.
For the live music nights, they will have their flatbreads, paninis, and chicken salad sandwiches along with cookies and drinks available for purchase, she said.
KU School of Business partners with Healthy Bourbon County Action Team to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystem in southeast Kansas
Credit: KU Marketing
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Business has launched a collaboration with a Bourbon County organization to support local entrepreneurs and small business owners.
The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team (HBCAT), an organization dedicated to building a healthy, thriving workforce, will work with KU Business entrepreneurship programs both to identify community business projects for student engagement and to access programmatic resources. The collaboration allows KU students to gain hands-on experience while HBCAT and its community partners benefit from KU’s expertise, tools and support for entrepreneurial development.
“Our partnership with the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team exemplifies KU’s commitment to fostering economic development throughout Kansas while enhancing the student learning experience,” said KU School of Business Dean Jide Wintoki. “Our students get to apply their business expertise to support small but growing companies, with the potential to generate new jobs in the region. It’s a powerful way to strengthen our students’ professional skills while creating meaningful impact in the state.”
The partnership will support Bourbon County businesses through three tailored pathways, each grounded in a KU Business entrepreneurship co-curricular program.
Jayhawk Consulting: HBCAT will identify local startups and small businesses that could benefit from student-led consulting services.
RedTire (Redefine your Retirement): HBCAT will connect with businesses nearing an ownership transition and work with KU’s RedTire team to assess fit for the program’s comprehensive business valuation and succession planning services.
The Catalyst: HBCAT will help launch a locally led version of KU’s program, which supports aspiring entrepreneurs through mentorship and venture development. KU will provide HBCAT with training and resources on curriculum and program management, with the first Bourbon County Catalyst cohort expected to launch in spring 2026.
Through this partnership, KU students will gain a stronger connection to and understanding of Kansas’ economic landscape while contributing to its continued growth.
“Our entrepreneurs have been clear about what they need: more guidance, more support and more opportunities to grow,” said Jody Love, HBCAT president and CEO. “Partnering with KU allows us to respond directly to those needs and ensure that small businesses in southeast Kansas have the resources to succeed.”
The KU School of Business provides entrepreneurial curricular and co-curricular education to students of every major and across all stages of interest, from those exploring new ideas to those actively launching ventures. Students learn to solve meaningful problems with purpose and creativity, building a mindset that equips them to thrive in any career path.
More information about KU Business entrepreneurship programs can be found at the school’s entrepreneurship webp
Scott and Ashley Shelton, with their children. Submitted photo.
TOAS, LLC is a new family-owned local business that provides custom laser-engraved items with the customer’s design.
“Toas is the first initial of the names in our family,” said Scott Shelton, co-owner with his wife, Ashley, of the business.
“We provide a wide array of products,” he said. “From hats, cups, keychains, insulated can sleeves, pet collars, bottle openers, fridge magnets, wood products, signs, and more. We also make stained glass items.”
They have the industrial laser machine at their rural residence and share duties when they are not working their full-time jobs.
A customized dog collar from its Facebook page.
“We offer products for the folks of Bourbon County and beyond to promote their business, support their teams, or anything they would like to express.”
From its Facebook page.
” I started the business as an additional revenue stream and income for when I retire from the fire department in a few years,” he said.
The transmission line of the Wolf Creek/Blackberry Project, from the NextEra Energy website.
A power delivery project, many years in the making, has started transmitting energy through Bourbon County.
NextEra Energy Transmission (NEET) – Southwest began producing energy over the 92-mile, 345-kV Wolf Creek – Blackberry transmission line on July 16, 2025, according to Lillie Zeng, spokesperson for NEET-Southwest.
The project was within budget and nearly five months ahead of Southwest Power Pool’s (SSP) required in-service date. The project was completed within three years, according to the spokesperson.
This is the second of three competitively awarded transmission projects in SPP that the company is building, she said.
“NextEra Energy Transmission – Southwest is proud to support SPP and its customers in Kansas and Missouri with a transmission line that will help enhance grid reliability and support economic growth in the region.”
The NEET-Southwest field office is at 2522 Richards Road, Fort Scott, KS 66701.
“We are in the process of hiring local office staff. In addition, NEET Southwest has access to approximately 70 affiliate technical staff located in the project area,” according to the spokesperson.
The project included a diagonal power line through the southwest part of Bourbon County as noted in the graphic from NextEra.
The process can be summed up this way:
Electric power is generated by nuclear energy at the Wolf Creek Nuclear Plant near Burlington, Kansas in Coffee County.
The power is moved via transmission power lines to the southwest, to the Blackberry Electrical Substation, just over the state line in Missouri.
Electric power transmission lines along with wind turbines can be seen from Hwy. 3. in Bourbon County, near Birch Road, north of Hepler, KS. These are NextEra Energy Transmission lines.
This project is a new 94-mile, 345-kilovolt (kV) regulated transmission line that runs from the Wolf Creek substation (Evergy Energy) in Kansas to the Blackberry substation, Associated Electric Cooperative Inc.(AECI) in Missouri.
The Blackberry Electric Substation, Jasper County, MO. August 2025
The Wolf Creek site is about 10,500 acres, and 1,500 acres of company land are reserved and managed for wildlife. Wolf Creek employs approximately 750 employees, many of whom have worked at the site since the plant began providing electricity to the nation’s power grid more than three decades ago, according to the Evergy website.
Wolf Creek provides electric generation for Evergy and generates about 1,200 megawatts of electricity, which is enough energy to power more than 800,000 homes, according to the Evergy website.
Wolf Creek generates 20.7 percent of Kansas’ electricity, and 36 percent of its emissions-free electricity, according to the NextEra website.
Evergy is an electric service provider in Bourbon County.
“Evergy and Next Era are both members of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), which helps manage the power grid and energy markets across 14 states in the middle of the country, including Kansas and Missouri,” said Evergy Director of Corporate Communications Gina Penzig. “SPP keeps track of how electricity moves through the system and helps ensure coordination among area utilities.”
“The Wolf Creek–Blackberry Transmission line simply connects to Evergy’s equipment and helps send electricity into the power grid,” Penzig said. “The SPP chose Next Era to build this line through a competitive bid process. Even though the line connects to Evergy’s substation and electricity flows through it, Next Era owns and operates the line.”
NextEra Energy
In October 2021, NextEra Energy Transmission (NEET) Southwest was awarded the construction of a new approximately 92-mile 345 kV transmission line from the Wolf Creek substation to the Blackberry substation in Jasper County, Missouri.
Electric power transmission lines in southwest Bourbon County.
The project is part of the 2019 Integrated Transmission Plan approved by SPP in October 2019 to address the need for a more reliable and cost-effective grid. This project will reduce congestion and provide market efficiencies and benefits to ratepayers, according to the NextEra website.
According to NextEra, the project benefits are:
“Leads to lower electricity costs for customers
Enhances the reliability and resiliency of the electric grid
Creates job opportunities in the short and long term
Spurs investment in the local economy during construction
Supports public health and safety through access to reliable electricity
“Environmental & Visual Considerations
Conducted rigorous environmental analyses to limit impacts on wildlife, sensitive habitats, and natural resources
Coordinated with federal and state agencies to identify protected species found along the route
Selected monopole structures to minimize tree clearing and agricultural impacts
Incorporated considerations for visual impacts into the routing study.”
The Mapleton Cafe, located in rural northern Bourbon County, is under a new manager.
“This cafe had been shut down for eight years,” Adam Clay, the new owner/manager,” said. “Joe Bisogno owns the building.”
It opened at the end of July.
“I was given an opportunity to open my own business in the country, where I want to be,” Clay said. “I have always been drawn to the country. I lived in DeSoto. Panasonic moved into the area, and lots of people have moved in.”
“You need to seize an opportunity.”
He moved a fifth-wheel recreation vehicle to the site of the building in Mapleton, population 99, in January and started renovating the building.
“I had to fix it up. I moved here, living in the fifth-wheeler.”
Clay has 35 years in the hospitality business with a focus on kitchen, menu, costing, and trends in the food business.
“I come from the K.C. area, Desoto, and worked as a chef for a corporation in their test kitchen. I left my position with Goodsents in K.C. at the end of June to do this full-time. Up to then, I only worked on weekends.”
The restaurant passed the Kansas Department of Agriculture inspection in mid-July.
“Even though a lot of work needs to be done, with the help of the Mapleton City Council, the local residents, and Joe Bisogno, we’ll make it successful,” he said.
“I’m the only cook; there are two local people as employees, Shawn Mierkey and Zoe Charley, and other local people pitch in to help.”
Adam Clay, right, is the manager of the Mapleton Cafe. Pictured are his two employees, Shawn Mierkey and Zoe Charley.
About the cafe
“It’s a country cafe with a modest breakfast and lunch menu,” he said. “It’s a starter menu. I’m still trying to figure out what works in this marketplace.”
“We are open to suggestions. A new dish for me is chili with a cinnamon roll and a pickle,” he said.
He said he is trying to keep the prices that fit this rural area.
The menu at the Mapleton Cafe as of August 2025.
The restaurant is located at 423 N. Bourbon Street in Mapleton. Contact info: 785-813-6051. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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