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Chamber Announces Downtown Fall Fest
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce announces a Downtown Fall Fest late-night shopping event featuring horse-drawn hayrack rides, live music, drawings and more will take place Thursday, September 21st from 5 pm to 8 pm in the Downtown Historic District.
Stores will have festive offerings such as pumpkin snacks, hot cider, and a pumpkin passport to submit for a chance to win a Chamber Bucks gift certificate. Participating retailers include Angie Dawn’s Boutique, Barbed Wire and Roses Vintage Market, Bids & Dibs, Brickstreet BBQ, Flint + Fray, Hedgehog.INK! Bookstore, Iron Star Antiques & Such, Laree + Co, Museum of Creativity, Papa Don’s Pizza, Sunshine Boutique, The Artificers, and The Beauty Lounge.
Special activities planned by participating stores and Chamber include the following:
The Chamber also announces a Scarecrow Contest is underway with the deadline to turn in entries of September 20th. Key Industries is sponsoring the contest with gift certificates for the top three individual or family entries, and the top business winner will receive one dozen logoed shirts and bragging rights for the year. More details on the contest may be found on the Chamber’s Facebook page or fortscott.com.
Downtown Fall Fest offers fun for all to get out and support local while taking in the season, finding some great deals, and seeing what’s new in apparel and holiday décor.
Contact the Chamber of Commerce at (620) 223-3566 for more information.

Some of the region’s fastest mountain bikers will be in Fort Scott for the 10th Anniversary of the Marmaton Massacre Festival, on Gunn Park Trails, the weekend of September 16th & 17th.
Race promoter and trail steward Frank Halsey is proud of what his team of volunteers has accomplished over the past ten years.
“Our event attracts all types of riders from the region, professionals as well as beginners,” he said. “Lots of riders prefer our hand-built trails over the machine-built trails in popular areas such as northwest Arkansas, we just don’t have enough mileage to be a destination trail.”
The Festival begins Saturday, with some participants arriving on Friday, to prepare for the Saturday Marathon Race, which is as many miles as possible in a three-hour timeframe. Sunday events will consist of the age and ability Category Races.
Halsey encourages locals to grab their lawn chairs and join us in the park for the Saturday evening festivities which will include a performance by the Fort Scott High School Orchestra at 5:30 pm, followed by the always popular little kids race, and live music by the Pittsburg band, Left of Center. Sharky’s Pub & Grub will be providing food truck services.
“Mountain bike racing is not really a spectator sport, but my goal for this event has been to bring riders to our beautiful city and park, while providing locals an opportunity to have a relaxing evening in our beautiful Gunn Park,” Halsey said. “None of this would be possible without our awesome volunteers and local sponsors including, Cheney Witt Funeral Home, CrawKan, Southwind Cycle & Outdoor, Sonic, Typhoon Bay, Union State Bank, Ward Kraft, RPS Benefits, and Mid-Continental Restoration.”
For more info: https://www.bikereg.com/61371
Event Websitehttps://gunnparktrails.com/
Races begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
SPONSORS NEEDED!
The past couple of years the attendance has been growing for the Downtown Trick-or-Treat parade with 600+ kids in attendance! At the end of the parade, we serve a hotdog, chips, and drink to each child who is in costume. We have been very thankful for the gracious donations from you all in the past!
If your business is interested in making a donation, please contact us! Click here to email us or call the
Chamber at 620-223-3566.
We will accept monetary donations or other items such as hot dogs, buns, individually packaged chips, or drinks.
Saturday, October 28, 2023 @ 11:00 AM
10-11am: Walgreens will be taking pictures with a Halloween Backdrop & providing a free 4 x 6 print. The backdrop will also be available throughout the event for pictures with your own camera.
Face painting will be offered by the Fort Scott High School Pride and Thespian Clubs!
11am: Parade will start at La Hacienda, down the west side of Main Street to 2nd, then back down the east side of Main Street to Skubitz Plaza.
Following parade: Hotdog, chips & drink will be served to the kids in costume provided through the generous donation of local businesses!
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***Businesses along Main Street will be handing out candy during the parade, and businesses not on Main Street as well as any community organizations are welcome to set up a table along Main to pass out candy, coupons, promo items, etc.***
Please email the Chamber if your business or organization will be passing out candy so we can plan accordingly.
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Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce | 231 E. Wall Street, Fort Scott, KS 66701
The 117th Old Settlers Picnic continues today with a kid’s carnival, lunch, games, and car show.
Here are some moments caught before the parade:











This is part of a series featuring the grant recipients of the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team’s Center For Economic Growth in their latest grant cycle.
Tiny Greens and Herbs, LLC, is a new microgreens business
which will open in September.
Tiny Greens and Herbs will provide Bourbon County families and
community members with convenient, year-round access to locally grown, nutrient packed greens and herbs, according to owner Cherri Walrod.
“This start-up business produces sustainably-grown microgreens which are tiny, immature vegetable and herb plants that are packed with up to 40 times more nutrients than their full-grown counterparts,” she said.
Phytonutrients, also called phytochemicals or antioxidants, are compounds produced by plants that provide health benefits to the body. Along with phytonutrients (antioxidants), microgreens are loaded with vitamins, minerals, flavorful, easy to prepare and
fun to eat, according to Walrod.
Walrod moved to Fort Scott in July 2023 from Eudora, KS.
Or connect on the Facebook page Tiny Greens and Herbs LLC.
Tracy and Kathy Dancer purchased the Scottish Rite Temple at the Bourbon County Tax Sale in January 2022.


Since the purchase of the historic building in downtown Fort Scott, the Dancers opened a Mercantile and Market at 110 S. Main in February 2023 and in the next few weeks will be opening a cafe in an adjoining room.
“The shop is called Mercantile and Market and Cohn’s Cafe,” Kathy said. “It was run from 1926 to 1948 by Sidney Cohn and his wife as a cafe, in the exact space.” The cafe is adjacent, south, to the mercantile.
For many years, the space was used for fundraisers for Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs.
This week, they will have a reservation only preview, no walk-in patrons, from August 22-26.
The grand opening to the rest of the public is September 1.

The preview this week is to train new staff.
“This will be to train new staff on the menu,” she said. “To give our staff a chance to adjust things before we open. This is practice so when we do our grand opening, we will be prepared.”
There are 10 employees, not counting Tracy and Kathy.
The cafe will use locally sourced ingredients to make fresh breakfast and lunch dishes: quiche, crepes, bakery items, salad, soup, sandwiches, and other featured meals, plus drinks.
The meats, eggs, and veggies are lined up from local suppliers and the menu will be adjusted based on seasonal availability, she said.

On the horizon for the cafe are syrups made from local orchards and additionally a tea service.

“It will be a pot of tea that comes with scones, biscuits, and tea sandwiches,” she said. “We will be starting a tea pot collection for our tea service.”
People will pay for the meal in the mercantile section, much like a Cracker Barrel Restaurant.
Following a conversation with a downtown resident, the cafe will be selling milk, eggs and bread from a cooler she purchased.
