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Category Archives: Fort Scott
Ongoing Revitalization of 110 S. Main Has Target of Fall Completion
The former Scottish Rite Temple, 110 S. Main, is in a constant stage of revitalization.
Kathy and Tracy Dancer, who purchased the building at a public auction, plan an “ongoing effort to revitalize the building and increase the useable commercial space. We also want to improve the energy efficiency of the building.”
The work will be a combination of restoration and renovation.
“The first project is new signage for the front of the building,” she said. “We will be removing the blue plastic lettering designating the building as the Scottish Rite Temple and replacing it with a new sign for the cafe and retail store. We are also installing a new ceiling and lighting in the south half of the building.”
“Because the building is part of the historic district, we are working with the Fort Scott Design Review Board,” she said. “Any changes to the exterior of a building in the historic district including painting, windows, and signage must go through the Design Review Board. They have been very helpful during this process and a great source of feedback for our plans.”
New windows, heating, and air conditioning are coming.
“Next, we will be installing glass windows in archways to restore the storefront appearance,” she said. “The new windows mean you will be able to see into the cafe and retail store if you are walking or driving down Main Street.”
” We are also adding several new HVAC… Once HVAC is installed, we will be moving and expanding our retail store into the south portion of the building. Moving the retail store to the south side of the building will more than double the amount of space we have for the Mercantile and Market store. The additional space will allow us to add new vendors and craftspeople to the retail store.”
“New HVAC will also be installed for the Speak Easy space we created on the second floor,” she said. “This will allow us to operate the Speak Easy year round.”
Speakeasy was a term used during Prohibition for drinking establishments and illegal bars, Dancer said in a prior interview. “They were usually hidden away in a building and sometimes you needed a password to be allowed to enter. Fort Scott had several speakeasies including The Green Lantern, operated by J.D. McClintock.”
On the horizon
“The Speak Easy will reopen in the Fall after we have installed new HVAC. We plan on being open two evenings a week for cocktails and light food. We had an excellent response to our soft opening in the Spring so we are really excited to reopen on a regular basis. While we wait for reopen, we have been working on the cocktail menu and working with suppliers to provide additional Kansas made wines, beers, and spirits.”
“We will also be hosting another Murder Mystery Dinner in October. The dinner we hosted this past spring sold out quickly and was very well received. Tickets for the October show will be available in mid-August.”
They are in the process of applying for grants focused on energy efficiency to defray the cost of adding HVAC and energy efficient windows and lighting.
“We might need to adjust the scope of some of the work based on the grant amounts, but we still plan on completing these projects,” she said.
” The new ceiling and lighting for the south half of the building has already started,” she said. “New sign letters for the front of the building have been ordered and should be ready for installation in August. The HVAC and storefront will take a bit longer since we will be ordering equipment and materials for these projects.”
“We hope to have the work completed by late Fall this year,” Dancer said.
“Our other BIG project is the distillery. We are in the final stages of the Federal licensing process to open the distillery and then we will file for state licensing. We do not have a projected opening date yet but we hope to be in production by the end of this year.”
End of Summer Craft Event on Saturday July 27
Fort Scott River Room, 3 W. Oak St., is the site of a Second Annual End of Summer Craft Creations event on July 27 from 10 a.m .to 4 p.m.
Food, Drinks, Crafts are offered for sale.
“We will have tees, hats, purses, wallets, trendy bags, bookmarks, keychains, pens, keychains, lanyards, scarfs, crochet baby booties, scrubbies, ponchos, wooden crafts,” said Cathy Bishop, event coordinator.
“Brick Street will have food and drinks available upstairs and off of their menu.”
“The bake sale is a fundraiser for the High School Volleyball Team selling all sorts of goodies.”
Vendors are still being accepted.
For more info
Email: [email protected]
620.224.8289
USD 234 New Teachers: Howell, Motley, Weddle
This is part of a series of new teachers in USD 234 School District, Fort Scott. There are 22 new teachers and two new administrators in the district.
School starts for students on August 16.
There are five campuses in the district:
- Fort Scott Preschool Center (serving pre-kindergarten students ages 3+)
- Winfield Scott Elementary School (serving kindergarten through through second-grade students)
- Eugene Ware Elementary School (serving third through fifth-grade students)
- Fort Scott Middle School (serving sixth through eighth-grade students)
- Fort Scott High School (serving ninth through twelfth-grade students)
The district has nearly two thousand students enrolled within the district and over 350+ staff members, according to its website.
Carolien Howell, 49, is a new second-grade teacher at Winfield Scott Elementary School.
She has a varied teaching experience.
- First-grade teacher for 3 years at Grace Christian Academy in Saipan, Mariana Islands
- PE/Art teacher for grades 1-5 for one year at Grace Christian Academy in Saipan, Mariana Islands
- Third-grade teacher for 4 years at Grace Classical Academy, Springfield, MO
- Fourth-grade teacher for 1 year at Polk County Christian School, Bolivar, MO
- Substitute teacher in Wyoming elementary schools for 2 years.
- Substitute teacher at Meadowlark and George Nettels Elementary Schools for 3 years.
She is involved in her church, Family Life Assembly of God in Pittsburg as a pre-kindergarten teacher, works with youth Sunday School, life group leader and host, and on the refreshments team.
Her husband, Bill Howell, works as the director of Family and Children’s Services at Crawford County Mental Health and they have been married for 27 years.
They have two sons. Liam, 14 years old, attending Pittsburg High School as a freshman, and Karsten,12, a 7th grader at Pittsburg Community Middle School.
“The rest of my family lives in the Netherlands, which is where I am from,” she said.
“I think that the best part of being an educator is seeing the growth in the students,” she said.
There are many challenges to being an educator, she said.
“One of the biggest challenges is managing and helping all the students when there are so many needs within the classroom.”
Aubri Motley, 28, will be a new special education teacher at Winfield Scott Elementary School.
” I graduated from Ottawa University with a bachelor of arts in elementary education and three years of experience as a para-educator in a school setting.”
She and her husband Levi have three children together and live on a small ranch with three dogs and a cat.
“From my experience as a para I think the best thing about being an educator is when you see the “aha moment” from a student because whatever they are learning is starting to click,” she said. “I am sure I will come across many challenges as a first-year educator but I am ready to tackle all of the challenges head-on.”
Codee Weddle, 25, is a new fourth-grade teacher at Eugene Ware Elementary School.
At Fort Scott Community College she earned an Associate in Science, from Ottawa University and a Bachelor’s in Arts in Education.
She was a paraprofessional for five years at Winfield Scott Elementary School.
She is a member of Fort Scott Nazarene Church, and she and her husband, Dalton, have two sons Porter (3) and Kallum (9 months).
“I love interacting with the kids and watching them feel excited about learning!” she said.
“A challenge I have had in the past is not being able to help more outside of school. Knowing what they go through and then expecting them to come to school as if everything is okay is heartbreaking.”
Gathering Square Pavilion Will Be Painted July 24-26
ATTENTION: Sprouls Construction will be at the Gathering Square Pavilion starting tomorrow afternoon to paint the steel beams. They will be blocking off the parking lot under the pavilion on Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, and Friday. If you are going to enjoy the Splash Pad on these days please use the parking to the north and south of the Splash Pad.
It will be available for the Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning.
Thank you for your patience.
Brad Matkin
City Manager
City of Fort Scott
Fort Scott, Kansas 66701
620-223-0550 ext. 210
Care to Share Golf Tournament: Golf, Auction, Raffle, Live Music on July 27
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First Production of Community Theatre Group: An Immersive Murder Mystery
A group of like-minded Fort Scottians have banded together to do theatre in Bourbon County.
It all started with a social media suggestion.
“Bourbon Co Community Theatre came about based on a suggestion on Facebook for a community theatre in Fort Scott,'” said Angie Bin, who is the public relations person for the group. “Melissa Guns took that suggestion and ran with it, creating a list of interested individuals who met for the first time last summer.”
The group set about organizing.
They created a list of bylaws and a board and established its non-profit status. The current officers are President: Matthew Wells, Secretary: Sandy Abati, Treasurer: Danette Popp, Public Relations: Angie Bin, Production Coordinator: Katie Wells, and At-Large Board Members: Barbara Woodward, Eric Popp, and Regen Wells.
The first production is called Holy Mother of Bingo! by Patrick Walsh and will be at 7 p.m. on Aug. 2 and 3 in the lobby of the Ellis Fine Arts Center at Fort Scott Community College. 2108 S. Horton.
“The immersive murder mystery allows audience members to play five full rounds of Bingo with prizes donated by local businesses,” according to a press release from Bin.
“Pioneer Drama describes the show this way, “’An innocent bingo fundraiser at the Our Mother of Mercy church goes awry when parishioners mysteriously drop dead!” according to the press release. “‘The evidence suggests well-calculated murders, but who is to blame? Tensions rise as everyone begins identifying suspects. Past feuds rear their heads as the members of the parish try to state their innocence one by one. Who could be behind the elaborate spree? The disgruntled choir director? The magician turned youth minister? The ex-convict that has recently turned to the power of prayer? It couldn’t be one of the Cookie Cadets selling their beloved cookies! Everyone’s a suspect… even the audience in the zany comedy that takes interactive theatre to a whole new level!'”
Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for children and Senior Citizens. A purchase of an entire table of 7 or 8 gives audience members a discount of $2 on each adult ticket. Tickets are at bcct.ludus.com, at the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce, or at the door, but seating is limited and advance purchase is suggested.
More information can be found on the Bourbon County Community Theatre Facebook page. BBCO Community Theatre, LLC is a non-profit community organization formed last year whose mission is to bring education, community, and culture to southeast Kansas through theatre.
The production is directed by Angie Bin along with Assistant Director Mark Bergmann. Bin is the drama teacher at Fort Scott High School.
“We wanted our first actual production to be a fun family-friendly show that would generate a lot of interest in the community, but also be a show that our very limited budget could afford,” Bin said.
They formed a committee to select their first production.
“We had a script-reading committee that read many murder mystery-themed plays and decided on Holy Mother of Bingo! as the best choice. It is a brand new play that just recently won the 2024 Shubert Fendrich Memorial Playwriting Contest. We have cast members ranging from elementary school to senior citizens.”
Bin praises the cast.
“Even though we have several adults who are in their very first production ever, this has been a stellar cast to work with,” she said. “Everyone has been so energetic and willing to help out the production of the show in so many ways.”
A live Bingo game will weave through the play.
“Cast members have been very proactive about meeting with local businesses to request donations for prizes for the live Bingo games that take place during the show and we have so many tremendous prizes from a very large number of local businesses,” Bin said.
Notable roles include the character of Father Ron Culpepper played by Ben Self, Sister Helen played by Katie Wells, Marabelle Manson portrayed by Regen Wells, and Detective Quinn played by Bradley Whitehead, she said.
Museum of Creativity Will Close For One Month
The Museum of Creativity is about to get even better! We are closing from August 4th to September 5th so that we can update and add attractions.
If you haven’t been in lately, I highly recommend visiting this month to see the new Morphing Mini Golf attraction. We built 3 holes and have many obstacles that you can change to create a new challenge each time you putt.
Our prices have remained low @ $1-$2/ visit for the past 3 years as we’ve been making changes here and there and adding things slowly. After this closure we will be opening up for a $5 entrance fee.
We will be initiating memberships and if you visit once a week they definitely reflect our old price more than the new one. Stay tuned for more information!
Along with this revamp of the museum we are also having a fundraiser. An opportunity for you to become a permanent part of the museum. We are building a picket fence at the museum and you can get your name, a grandchild’s, a business or even a pet’s name put onto a picket. We are asking for a $50 donation for up to 20 characters (including spaces). Our goal is to get at least 100 of these sold by the end of July. You can purchase them here:
You can use this link:
museumofcreativity.ludus.com
to subscribe to our email list and donate to a specific project, improvement or just in general. We are dedicated to using your money wisely to improve the museum for all to enjoy. Now is the time that you can make a huge difference!
We appreciate any and all help this next month as we prepare for this huge update. If you would like to donate time or labor, we would love to include you in our plans. Just reply to this email or shoot us a text. We have never paid employees to manage or improve the museum. Everything we do is through volunteer service. Any and all help is very much appreciated. Here is a list of some of the different projects we are hoping to tackle as part of this revamp:
We hope you will come visit us this month and that you will join us for our grand opening event in September to see all the new changes! (flyers attached below)
As always, please help us spread the word!
Thank you for your support!
Lorina Bowman
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Museum of Creativity
209-204-9743
102 S. National Ave
Fort Scott, KS 66701
20 N. Main is Renovated and Ready For Tenants
A business space in Historic Downtown Fort Scott is available to rent.
In 2021, Sandra Davis and her husband Donald purchased the former J&W Sport Shop at 20 North Main and were there briefly before moving their businesses to the former Bartlesmeyer Jewelry Store at 1519 S. National in 2022.
“Once we moved into 20 N. Main we realized that we were going to have to renovate quicker than anticipated,” she said. They moved their businesses to another location while renovating.
“We originally were renting 1519 S. National when we first moved in it, but we liked the building so much we purchased it and decided to make it our business location.”
The 20 N. Main location, in historic downtown Fort Scott, is now ready for new tenants, following renovations.
“The bottom floor is completely renovated and is ready for tenants,” she said. ” We intend to start on the upper floor soon by turning it into an apartment. It will be an Airbnb or possibly a long-term rental.”
About the businesses
The Davis’s have their two businesses under one roof.
“I’m Davis Accounting Inc. and his business is Donald D. Davis CPA PA.,” she said. “We jointly own Professional Property Investors LLC which legally owns the buildings.”
Davis Accounting provides full-service bookkeeping and tax return preparation. She started in Arkansas in 2000 and moved to Fort Scott in 2004. Donald’s business formed in 1995.
“Between our two companies, we offer all aspects of bookkeeping; A/P, payroll, payroll taxation and reporting, Bank reconciliations and preparation of financial statements and tax returns,” she said.
Davis can be reached at 620.223.9777 or
New Teachers in USD 234: Wilcoxen, Hastings
This is part of a series of new teachers in USD 234 School District, Fort Scott. There are 22 new teachers and two new administrators in the district.
School starts for students on August 16.
There are five campuses in the district:
- Fort Scott Preschool Center (serving pre-kindergarten students ages 3+)
- Winfield Scott Elementary School (serving kindergarten through through second-graderade students)
- Eugene Ware Elementary School (serving third through fifth-grade students)
- Fort Scott Middle School (serving sixth through eighth-grade students)
- Fort Scott High School (serving ninth through twelfth-grade students)
The district has nearly two thousand students enrolled within the district and over 350+ staff members, according to its website.
Travis Wilcoxen, 31, is a new 7th Grade Special Education Teacher, at Fort Scott Middle School.
He has a bachelor’s degree from Ozark Christian College and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Special Education.
This is his first year teaching.
“My family and I are active members of Community Christian Church, where I currently serve on the Mission’s Committee. I also serve on the board for the Bourbon County Coalition.”
His wife, Jenni, and he have been married for nine years and have two children. Jude, 6, and Nora, almost 4 years old. They also have a Golden Retriever dog, Charles (Charlie) Barkley.
What is the best thing about being an educator?
“I don’t know yet. I can tell you that I am most excited to work with the students, their parents, and the other 7th-grade teachers. My goal is that my students come to school excited and ready to work hard.”
What is a challenge?
“I have no teaching experience to pull from. I know that this year will be full of learning for me as well. Balancing teaching, studying for my master’s, and still being a present husband and father will not be easy. Even so, bring it on!”
Nicky Hastings is the new Fort Scott High School Special Education Teacher.
She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Pittsburg State University and also a Master’s Degree in Special Education from Pittsburg State University.
She has 23 years experience in education.
“I have been married to Don for 34 years and have two daughters and a son and have eight grandchildren.
“The best thing about being an educator is watching the success of my students in life,” she said.
“My challenge is always trying to find the most useful way to connect to my students so I can help them in the best way so they will succeed.”
Winfield Scott Elementary School Rummage Sale July 18 and 19
Chamber Coffee Hosted by Bourbon County Fairgrounds Assn. on July 18
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