Category Archives: Entertainment

Area News, Entertainment, Fort Scott

July 7: Family Fun at Gunn Park

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Fort Scottians are invited to join in the fun and entertainment Saturday, July 7 for a local mountain bike race, that this year includes the Kansas championship race and live music in the evening.

“The 5th Annual Marmaton Massacre Festival / Kansas State Mountain Bike Championship starts Saturday at noon with our Marathon Race, a 4-hour endurance event,” Frank Halsey, who originated the race several years ago, said. ” At about 6:30 pm, the Kid’s Race is free and open to kids 10 and under.  This race is not on the trails, rather we cut a trail out in the open field, to avoid the exposure of wooded trail riding.”

The volunteers at Gunn Park Trails, as part of the Marmaton Massacre Festival, would like to invite the public to the shade of Gunn Park on Saturday, July 7, for the evening of free entertainment, according to a press release from the volunteers.

The 10 years of age under Kid’s Mountain Bike Race will begin about 6:30 pm, followed by a  performance of balance and agility, by Ryan Braxton and Ed Schilling on their trials bike.

“A free concert will follow by Paul and Leslie from En Power & Light. They’re really good!” according to the release.

Bring your lawn chairs and coolers and take advantage of this relaxing evening in the park.

“It’s free, and we’d love to see you there!”

Entertainment, Fort Scott

Symbols Of Sacrifice At The Fort June 30, July 4

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Symbols of Sacrifice Commemoration and Fourth of July Activities to be held at Fort Scott National Historic Site

FORT SCOTT, Kansas: As the nation reflects on its freedom on Independence Day, Fort Scott National Historic Site honors those who have lost their lives fighting for this freedom with Symbols of Sacrifice.

The Symbols of Sacrifice commemoration features thousands of American flags displayed in a Field of Honor on the historic Parade Ground. Their purpose is to commemorate the sacrifice of members of the United States Armed Forces who have died in all wars that Americans have fought in.

The flags will be displayed from Friday, June 29, through Friday, July 6.

The park is pleased to welcome musicians Pat and Steve Harry, who will perform a special concert of patriotic music on Saturday, June 30 at 7:00 pm. Following the musical performance, you are invited to participate in an evening cannon firing.

On Wednesday, July 4 at 10:00 a.m. and at 3:00 p.m., the staff at the historic site will honor the fallen through a discussion of the meaning of the Field of Honor, followed by an artillery salute.

At 11:00 a.m., visitors can join a 1840s Infantry Soldier and an Officer’s Wife as they share perspectives on “What Independence Day Means to You?” at 2:00 p.m., or come and witness infantry soldiers as they fire a salute to the 13 original colonies. You are welcome to fall in with the soldiers and assist in taking down the 30-star flag at 4:00 p.m.

The schedule of activities is as follows:

SATURDAY, JUNE 30 (EVENING)

7:00 p.m. – Patriotic Musical Performance by Pat and Steve Harry

8:00 p.m. – Evening Cannon Firing

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4

10:00 a.m. – Honoring the Fallen: A Salute to Sacrifice

11:00 a.m. – “What Independence Day Means to You?” Guided Discussion

2:00 p.m. – 13 Gun Salute: The Pursuit of Liberty

3:00 p.m. – Honoring the Fallen: A Salute to Sacrifice

4:00 p.m. – Flag Retreat

www.nps.gov

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 417 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.

Entertainment, Fort Scott

Fort Scottians In Pittsburg Community Theater

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“The Most EPIC Birthday Party Ever” will happen Friday, June 22 at Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium and Convention Center, 503 N. Pine. Directed by Megan Gabehart. The music will be directed by Fort Scott music teacher Mary Jo Harper.

“Pittsburg Community Theatre’s Jr. Starz program is built for 6-12-year-olds who work diligently for two weeks to learn and memorize an entire show, create crafts and props, and more,” Harper said.
“This year, we were able to have two sessions again, meaning that 80 children have had the opportunity to understand the magic of theater!”
“Of those 80 kids, we have four kids from our district! Bianca Pommier and Chrislen Newman are in the Morning Session and Ana Rupprecht and Emma Bin are in the Afternoon Session,” Harper said.
“Wanna see them rock it out? 6 pm for Morning Session Show, 8 pm for Afternoon Session Show. $5 General Admission at the door. “
Entertainment, Fort Scott

Holiday Fun: Burke Street Independence Day Parade

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In this 2011 photo, Margaret Humphrey is at the left with grandson, Elliott Norman; daughter, Kristen Humphrey Norman; husband, Merle, and grand-daughter, Violet. In front are grandchildren Leo and Meg Norman.

The 36th Annual Burke Street Parade is July 4th on the city’s west side, near Gunn Park.

The event is pretty disorganized, said Margaret Doherty Humphrey, but lots of fun. The Humphreys live at 1024 S. Burke.

The parade starts with patriotic singing led by Phil Hammonds, Jill Gorman, and Susan Foster.

“We started the singing after 9-11 (the terrorist bombings in New York), Humphrey said.

People wear patriotic attire, kids decorate their bikes, scooters or buggies and line up at 10th and Burke streets at 10 a.m.

There is no parking on Burke Street between 10th and 12th streets during the time of the event.

The public is invited to sit or stand on the curbs lining the street during the parade.

And people are invited to don a patriotic outfit and join in the fun.

“Frank Halsey will line them up at 10th and Burke,” Humphrey said.

Frank and his wife, Deb are hosting the cookie social following the short parade at 1222 Burke Street. People may donate cookies for the social the day before the parade, to the Halseys home.

“Every year someone (on Burke Street) hosts the cookies and drinks,” Humphrey said.

“Please no big vehicles and watch for children who are all over the place,” Humphrey said. “It’s very disorganized, they go up and down and back and forth.”

For more information call Margaret Humphrey 223-0388 or Theresa Bahr 223-1582.

“Or Barbara Albright, the official distributor of information,” Humphrey said.

“Severe storms or lightning cancels the parade…but we conquered the rain last year,” Humphrey said.

Entertainment, Fort Scott

New Keyhole Director

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Bethany Hartford, the new Keyhole director.

Youth Ministries of Bourbon County Inc, known as the Keyhole, has a new director.

Bethany Hartford, 24,  became the director in March 2018.

Hartford has lived in Fort Scott for 14 years and has worked with the youth group at her church, Fort Scott Church of the Nazarene, for about three years, she said.

She formerly worked at the Common Grounds Coffee Shop and saw a flyer on the bulletin at the shop of the position and applied.

The Keyhole is located at 1002 S. Main, across from Fort Scott High School and targets middle school through high school youth.

“The Keyhole is a place to hang out with friends,” Hartford said.

The Keyhole offers gaming systems, board games, ping pong, pool and an outside basketball hoop, in addition to a concession stand.

But most of all, the ministry hopes to be an encouragement to the youth to be “good members of society and love Jesus,” Director Bethany Hartford said. “I want to lead by example and show you can be a positive person in working with others.”

Caring, adult volunteers are always needed at the Keyhole, Hartford said. The phone number is 620-223-4700.

This month through July 29 from noon to 1 p.m. free sack lunches are available at the site as well.

Thursday the Keyhole hosted the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce weekly coffee, with Keyhole board members present.

Board member Ben Workman said the goal of the ministry is to instill Godly principals in the lives of the youth.

The Keyhole Board of Directors listens as Ben Workman, member, shares about the ministry. From left, president Tim Harper, Judy Hood, Workman, Hartford and Dona Bauer. Not pictured are Marge Madison, Kenny Felt, and Ryan Goodbody.
Summer hours of the Keyhole.
The Keyhole is a youth activity center located across from Fort Scott High School.

 

 

Entertainment, Kansas

2018 Notable Kansas Books

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The State Library of Kansas Announces the 2018 Kansas Notable Books

15 books celebrating Kansas cultural heritage

 

Topeka, KS — Acting State Librarian Eric Norris announced today the 13th annual selection of Kansas Notable Books. The fifteen books feature quality titles with a wide public appeal, either written by a Kansan or about a Kansas-related topic.

 

“I am proud to present the 2018 Kansas Notable Book list.  Choosing only 15 books is no easy task,” said Eric Norris, Acting State Librarian. “The selection committee began with a pool of over 100 submitted titles and worked diligently to identify the year’s best works by authors and illustrators from Kansas, as well as those works that highlight our history and heritage. Kansans are encouraged to visit their local public library and celebrate the artists and the artistry of Kansas.”

 

Kansas Notable Books is a project of the Kansas Center for the Book, a program of the State Library. The Kansas Center for the Book is a state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Throughout the award year, the State Library promotes and encourages the promotion of all the titles on this year’s list at literary events, and among librarians and booksellers.

 

An awards ceremony will be held at the Kansas Book Festival, Saturday, September 8, 2018, 9:30 a.m., at the State Capitol to recognize the talented Notable Book authors. The public is invited.

 

For more information about Kansas Notable Books, call 785-296-3296, visit kslib.info/notablebooks or email [email protected].

 

 

2018 Kansas Notable Books

 

Bad Kansas: Stories by Becky Mandelbaum (Rockport WA), University of Georgia Press

In this darkly humorous collection, Kansas becomes a state of mind as the characters struggle to define their relationship to home and what it means to stay or leave, to hold on or let go.

 

Cricket in the Thicket: Poems about Bugs by Carol Murray (Overland Park), illustrations by Melissa Sweet (Portland ME). Henry Holt & Co

Playful poems highlight surprising facts about the world of insects – from familiar ants and exotic dragonflies to cringe-worthy ticks and magnificent fireflies in this picture book for children.

 

Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West by Tom Clavin (Sag Harbor NY), St. Martin’s Press

Cowpokes, desperadoes, and lawmen: it wasn’t always easy to tell which was which. This rollicking tale of Dodge City brims with colorful characters. From frontier settlement to cattle drives, to a railroad town, the history of Dodge City is the story of how the West was won.

Feet of the Messenger: Poems by H.C. Palmer (Lenexa), BkMk Press Books

Between the horrors of the Vietnam War and the pacific silences of the Kansas prairie, these poems honor both the beauty of the English language and the ancient powers of poetry to speak experience without diminishing it.

 

Fireflies in the Gathering Dark: Poems by Maril Crabtree (Mission), Aldrich Press

These poems traverse landscapes, inner and outer: physical landscapes and metaphysical ones; the landscape of relationships; the landscape of age, from childhood to maturity; and the questing landscape that leads to new understandings.

 

Headlights on the Prairie: Essays on Home by Robert Rebein (Irvington IN), University Press of Kansas

These essays bring a storyteller’s gifts to life’s dramas, large and small. Moments of singular grace and grit encapsulate the lives of feedlot cowboys, long-haul truckers, and farm kids dreaming of basketball glory.

 

Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower’s Secret Campaign Against Joseph McCarthy by David A. Nichols (Winfield), Simon & Schuster

This fast-paced account reveals President Eisenhower’s subtly clever role in the destruction of demagogue Joe McCarthy. Drawn from documents in the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Nichols presents a gripping story of a classic power struggle.

 

Kansas Baseball, 1858-1941 by Mark E. Eberle (Hays), University Press of Kansas

The early history of baseball in Kansas is the story of towns and the ballparks they built. It was a time when baseball was adopted by early settlers, then taken up by soldiers sent west, and finally by teams formed to express the identity of growing and diverse communities.

 

Kansas Guidebook 2 for Explorers by Marci Penner (Inman) and WenDee Rowe (Inman), Kansas Sampler Foundation

The ultimate guidebook for all things to see and do in Kansas features 4,500 attractions, 843 eateries, and more than 1,600 color photos. Counties are arranged alphabetically within six geographic regions as are the cities within each county. Entries include directions, hours and contact information.

 

The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery by Bill James (Lawrence) and Rachel McCarthy James (Lawrence), Scribner

A baseball statistician and his daughter deliver a provocative story that aims to solve a 100-year-old mass murder case. The two painstakingly scoured thousands of newspapers and records to discover and reveal the identity of one of the deadliest serial killers in America.

 

Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson (Asheville NC), HarperTeen

While the stories of three women span multiple generations and thousands of miles, their lives are intertwined. Before leaving Kansas to go to Mars, Adri discovers Catherine’s journal of the Dust Bowl and Lenore’s letters about World War I. Each story weaves a unifying thread of hope.

 

The Shape of Ideas: An Illustrated Exploration of Creativity by Grant Snider (Derby), Abrams ComicArts

What do ideas look like? Where do they come from? These one- and two-page comics have been featured in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and the Kansas City Star. They are a colorful look into the creative process.

 

Stark Mad Abolitionists: Lawrence, Kansas, and the Battle over Slavery in the Civil War Era by Robert K. Sutton (Bethesda MD), Skyhorse Publishing

In 1854, Boston was in an uproar. Businessman Amos Adams Lawrence was inspired to put his efforts and considerable fortune toward keeping slavery out of Kansas. The town that came to bear Lawrence’s name became part of a bigger story of people willing to risk their lives and fortunes for freedom.

 

That is My Dream! by Langston Hughes and Daniel Miyares (Lenexa), Schwartz & Wade

Langston Hughes’s inspiring and timeless poem “Dream Variation” comes joyously to life in a gorgeously illustrated picture book. Follow one child on a walk through his small segregated town in the 1950s. Then watch his mind take flight as he images a brighter, more inclusive world.

 

To The Stars Through Difficulties by Romalyn Tilghman (Long Beach CA), She Writes Press

Inspired by the women who built fifty-nine Carnegie libraries in Kansas, the No Guilt Quilters overcome numerous obstacles to build the Cultural Center on the Plains- proving that New Hope is more than just the name of a town.

 

Entertainment, Fort Scott

Scenes From Good Ol’ Days June 2

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A street fair view of North Main Saturday morning during the Good Ol’Days, the annual festival for Fort Scott.

A rain overnight cooled things down a little for Saturday’s Good Ol’Days events. The event is in its 37th year.

A street fair stretched from Third Street to Skubitz Plaza, a petting zoo, pony rides, motorcycle, tractor and automobile displays, a baby contest,  the Red Garter Show, a carnival, a turkey calling contest, and lots of other entertainment was offered for the public’s enjoyment.

Boys ages 19 to 24 months strut their stuff in their age division at the annual baby contest held at Memorial Hall Saturday morning.
Maddox and his dad, Matt Glades, enjoy the pony rides.
Even grown-ups enjoyed the petting zoo.
A broad ax demonstration at Fort Scott National Historic Site.
A family enjoys the birds of prey demonstration at the Fort.
Ticks were the subject of a station at the Fort.
Storyteller Steve Otto entertains a group at the Fort Saturday morning.
Two young archers get lessons from the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism employees at the Fort Saturday morning.
Fort Scott Munitions had a marketplace of its own on East Wall at the store location.
A long line waited to enter Fort Scott Munitions store Saturday morning.
A car show was held at the Fort Scott Munitions location Saturday morning.