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Category Archives: Entertainment
New Trail Coming To Riverfront Park
A new walk/bike trail should be completed by early 2025 in Riverfront Park.
The Overlook Trail will be 1,722 feet long, and eight feet wide, and follow the curves of the Marmaton River on the south side of the park, said Jerry Witt, Fort Scott Bourbon County Riverfront Authority Chairman.
It is being funded by a $92,000 grant from Kansas Wildlife and Parks and the Riverfront Authority adding $75,000.
The survey stakes are in place for the proposed trail,and the land was surveyed by Agricultural Engineering Associates, Uniontown.
The concrete path contractor will be Marbery Concrete Inc., Fort Scott.
Following the curve of the Marmaton River around to the Hwy. 69 bridge, it will include a concrete ramp for the wooden observation deck, for handicap accessibility, he said. The deck, called an overlook, gives an unobstructed view of the river.
The grant proposal process started in 2021 and a grant was 11submitted in 2022. The grant was awarded in 2023 and will be completed in 2025, he said.
History of the Riverfront Park
The Riverfront Park came out of a 2005 town-wide visioning meeting that gave ideas for the future of the city.
One of the visions that came out of this meeting was the formation of a committee to clean up the unused area around the Marmaton River on the north edge of Fort Scott.
In 2007, then Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, authorized a board, called the Fort Scott Bourbon County Riverfront Authority to secure the needed land for a new park.
From 2007 to 2010 the board secured all the properties needed.
“Most donated the land,” Witt said. “Once the land was secured, we were able to develop the land.”
The development since then: lighted trails, a pavilion with lights, the river overlook deck, benches, and bike repair stations, all with the help of the community and local organizations.
The overlook had to be moved to higher ground on the south side of the Marmaton River, following a flood that partially destroyed it.
The Riverfront Park has daily walkers, businesses and schools use it, Boy Scouts have camped there, and weddings and other events, including last weekend’s FortFest have large gatherings there.
Paul Ballou, the retired Fort Scott Fire Department Chief, is the park caretaker, and Witt said he does a good job.
The Bourbon County Garden Club maintains the flowers in the circle in the south part of the park and local artist Stephan Toal has created mural art in the 69 Hwy. underpass area.
The Fort Scott Bourbon County Riverfront Authority is comprised of Witt, Bob Love, Arnold Schofield, Penny Barnes, Dean Mann, Danny Magee, Jeff and Kate Sweetser.
Friday Night Free Concert: Linda Simons and Friends
This Friday, October 4, the Linda Simons & Friends Band will be performing at the Pavilion in downtown Fort Scott.
The group will cover a variety of 70’s-era pop tunes, jazz standards and jazzy gospel.
The band is based in Mound City. Linda Simons, vocalist, is backed by her band, including Suzanne Thompson on piano, her husband Gary Thompson on bass guitar, and Steve Thompson on drums and harmonica.
Gary and Suzanne have performed at the Pavilion with the Hemphill Family Band and as the Gary Thompson Trio.
The event will begin at 7:00 PM and the public is invited to attend
FortFest 2024 Continues Today and Tomorrow at Riverfront Park
Opportunity to Be In Live Outdoor Theatre AND Tell Some Local Fort Scott History
The 21st Annual Gordon Parks Celebration Schedule of Events
Fort Scott, Kan. September. 27, 2024 – Kokayi Ampah, Art Evans and Fred Watkins will be the recipients of the “Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award” at the annual celebration on October 3rd -5th, 2024 in Fort Scott, Kansas. The celebration is in honor Fort Scott native Gordon Parks, noted photographer, writer, musician, and filmmaker.
The Choice of Weapons Award was established in Parks’ honor to be given annually at the celebration.
This year’s celebration will feature several events to include presentations, special events, tours, music performance, barbeque and a celebration tribute dinner. The schedule of events is available at the Gordon Parks Museum or online at https://www.gordonparkscenter.org/2024-celebration-schedule and the facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/fsccGPmuseum/.
This event is for everyone and open to the public. Please reserve tickets early by Wed, Oct 2, 2024 for all the reserved events. The 21st Annual Gordon Parks Celebration this year will have a wide range of great events and activities for all to enjoy. The Celebration kicks off on Thursday, Oct 3 with a chamber coffee at the Gordon Parks Museum and ends with a Tribute Celebration Dinner at The River Room in Fort Scott, Kansas on Saturday, Oct 5, 2024.
For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the museum by phone at (620) 223-2700, ext. 5850, or by email at [email protected]..
I Needed Paris will make its premier screening on Friday, October 4, Ellis Family Fine Arts Center.
Gordon Parks Museum at Fort Scott Community College, Host Screening of Tall Grass Film Festival- Selected Documentary, I Needed Paris
Fort Scott, Kan. September. 27, 2024 – The documentary I Needed Paris will make its premier screening on Friday, October 4, 2024 at 11:00am to 12:00pm at the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center. This film is an official selection for the 2024 TallGrass Film Festival in Wichita, Kansas. The screening is free admission and open to the community to the attend. This screening is part of the 21st Annual Gordon Parks Celebration.
We are very fortunate to have this film make its debut here in Fort Scott.
“We are very fortunate and excited to host this film and having the film’s premiere debut here in Fort Scott.,” said Gordon Parks Museum Executive Director, Kirk Sharp. “This is a great opportunity for our everyone community to have a chance to see this film that has been officially selected for the 2024 TallGrass Film Festival for free. We encourage everyone in the community to attend.”
This film follows the journey of a small group of photography students from the Gordon Parks Academy in Wichita, KS, through Paris, France, in late May 2024, traversing the same streets and neighborhoods as Gordon Parks when he worked in the Paris bureau of Life magazine in the early 1950s. These students along with other photographers will take a deep dive into Gordon’s world of fashions, portraits, street photography, music and poetry. They will also incorporate some fashion images using the same type of camera Gordon used – twin lens reflex film cameras. The screening is free and open to the community to attend.
Produced and directed by Michael Cheers. Associate Professor, Photojournalism, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, San Jose State University. Cinematographer/Editor, B. Kameron Lawson.
For more information about the film or the Gordon Parks Celebration visit us at
https://www.gordonparkscenter.org/2024-celebration-schedule or the museum by email at [email protected] or by phone at 223-2700, ext. 5850.
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FortFest Blues Festival Starts Tonight, September 27
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Bourbon County Community Theatre Seeks Actors for Voices from the Grave
Bourbon County Community Theatre is still holding auditions for Voices from the Grave, an original production based on stories from Bourbon County’s history.
An open audition will take place October 2nd from 5:30 to 6:30 PM at the Fort Scott high School Auditorium.Those who audition must be age 14 or over and rehearsal times will be scheduled in small groups with the Director, Regen Wells.
Voices from the Grave is from 6-9 p.m. on Oct. 26 at Riverfront Park in Fort Scott, KS. Guests will enjoy a guided walking tour of short acting vignettes centering around stories of murder and mayhem in Fort Scott. Scenes were written by the students in the Advanced Drama class at Fort Scott High School and are based off of stories from local author Brian Allen’s books about Fort Scott.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and are available from bcct.ludus.com in Fort Scott. Tour times must be pre-scheduled and run every 15 minutes. Parents must accompany children under the age of 14.
More information can be found on the Bourbon County Community Theatre Facebook page or by contacting Wells at 620-215-3510.
Ice Skating Is On The Horizon For Christmas On The Bricks: 1st Fundraiser Is Oct. 9
There will be an added event coming to the 2nd Annual Christmas on the Bricks event, ice skating!
The rink will be a daw to Fort Scott and help with local commerce, according to Diane Striler, who is spearheading the rink project.
The rink will be in the new Gathering Place Pavilion on North National Avenue of the Fort Scott Downtown Historic District.
Striler has been talking to people since the first of 2024 about the project, an ice skating rink with no ice (it is a synthetic surface) that is not dependent on cold weather since the surface does not need to be frozen.
An anonymous couple is donating approximately $18,000 of the $37,000 total for the rink which includes the skating surface, railing, 60 skates of various sizes, and a sharpener for the skates. Additional donors have totaled approximately $3,500, and she has applied for a Fort Scott Area Community Foundation Grant.
In addition to those for the rink, other funds will need to be raised to purchase materials to build a storage facility. Striler has talked to a group that is willing to build the facility. It will be used to house the skates and provide a place for skaters to check in, sign their waivers, make payments, and access the rink.
“The whole project will be funded by private donations and grants, there are no tax dollars involved,” she said.
To bring the rink to Fort Scott, Striler had to get approval from the City of Fort Scott Commission and have a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the City and the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which is overseeing operations.
The kick-off for the opening of the rink will be the weekend of Christmas on the Bricks, Dec 6-8th. The plan is for the rink to be open that weekend and the following Thursday and Friday evenings, Saturdays, and part-day Sundays through January 5th. The cost to skate is $5 per person.
“We have talked to an individual who may help run the rink and oversee individuals involved,” she said. “We would like to allow different organizations to help staff the rink and receive part of the proceeds for their groups.”
In addition, Striler has been talking with Fort Scott Physical Therapist Meredith Tucker about creating some aids to use at the rink to make it more accessible for children with disabilities.
The rink can be reused for up to 15 years if cared for, she said.
First Fundraiser For the Project
To add to the needed ice skating rink funds, the first fundraiser is 6 p.m. on October 9 at the Liberty Theatre, 113 S. Main, Fort Scott.
It is called a Puzzle, Pizza & Pub Challenge!
The first team of 4 people to complete a 300-piece puzzle, a large pizza, AND a bucket of beverages (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) wins! The cost is $100 per team ($25/person) The event is Wednesday, October 9th, at 6 p.m. at the Liberty Theatre in downtown Fort Scott. Register a team by calling or stopping by the Chamber at 620-223-3566 or online here! Limited to 20 teams! If you can’t attend and still want to donate to the rink: click here to make a payment to the Fort Scott Area Chamber Foundation, 501c3, via PayPal or Venmo @fschamberfoundation, please note the Rink in the notes! Checks may also be made payable to the FS Area Chamber Foundation and mailed or dropped off at the Chamber, 231 E. Wall St with Rink in the memo. |
Pioneer Harvest Fiesta Is October 3-6: A History of Rural American Culture
Pioneer Harvest Fiesta began from an interest in rural American cultural history and some early members’ interest in steam power which they had experienced in railroad employment and farm use, according to Davin Reichard, Vice President of the PHF board.
“The PHF is an organization interested in equipment, machinery, and other technology characteristic of rural American culture particularly during the first half of the twentieth century, and in sharing this with others,” Reichard said. “Typical exhibits include steam engines, tractors and stationary engines, quilts, threshing machines and other farm equipment, hand tools, and other items used in rural life in the early to mid-1900s.”
The PHF organization began in 1956 and their first show was in 1957.
Visitors will experience educational and historic exhibits, refreshments, and live musical entertainment all weekend, according to https://pioneerharvestfiesta.com/
All three days are alive with Steam Engines, Blacksmiths, Food and Flea Market Vendors, Drag Saw Demonstrations, Tractors & Gas Engines on Display, Baker Fan Demonstrations, Tractor Pull, and a Garden Tractor Pull. Quilt Show, Straw Bailing, Wheat Thrashing, Corn Husking/Shelling, Sorghum Making Demonstration, Rock Crushing, Saw Mill Operation, Car Show, and many more exciting events! It’s one great weekend to kick off Fall in the 4-state’s region! It’s the 68th annual Pioneer Harvest Fiesta, at the Bourbon County Fairgrounds in Historic Fort Scott, Kansas.
New at the event this year is a demonstration of sorghum cane processing and cooking.
Sorghum is an ancient grain and pro-planet protein source packed with nutrients. Sorghum is a versatile crop that can be grown as a grain, forage, or sweet crop and is one of the top five cereal crops in the world, according to https://www.sorghumcheckoff.com/sorghum-101/
This will be the second year of the car show at PHF.
The Bourbon County Fairgrounds are located at 2102 S Huntington Blvd., Fort Scott, KS 66701
The annual Pioneer Harvest Fiesta Parade is Thursday, October 3 at 6 p.m. in downtown Fort Scott on Main Street.
The main fairground event is Friday through Sunday, Oct. 4 -6, 2024.
Admission
This year’s full weekend admission is only $5 per person and includes a collector button and the Friday Bean Feed at 5 PM. For children under age 12, admission is FREE, but admission does not include a button. Prior year collector buttons are available for $1.
Officers
Current officers of the Pioneer Harvest Fiesta Board are President Craig Shikles; Vice President Davin Reichard; Secretary Betsy Readinger; and Treasurer Delphine Parks.
FSHS Thespians Host 7th Annual Royal-Tea & Friends Party
The Fort Scott High School Thespians host their 7th Annual Royal-Tea & Friends Party from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 12 in the FSHS Commons and Courtyard.
Children can join their favorite princesses and princes, queens and kings and other members of the royal court. They are invited to take photos with favorite characters as they make crafts, have treats, and play games. Over thirty Fort Scott High School Thespians will be dressed in character and leading the event. New this year: the inclusion of superheroes, villains, and other cartoon characters. Attendees are encouraged to come in costume as well.
Tickets for the Royal-Tea & Friends Party are $5 per child and all must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets may be purchased online in advance at fortscotthighschool.ludus.com or at the door.
Featured characters are the stars of the FSHS Fall Musical – Frozen Jr. They include Junie Fisher as Elsa, Chris Newman as Anna, Theodore Bowman as Olaf, and Mykael Lewis as Kristoff. FSHS performs Frozen Jr. on Nov. 12 and 14 at 7 p.m. and on Nov. 16 at 2 and 7 p.m.
For more information, please see the Fort Scott High School Thespians Facebook page or contact Angie Bin at [email protected] or 620-719-9622.