The City of Fort Scott City Commission meetings will begin to be opened to the public starting July 7th, 2020. If you are wanting to appear before the Commission and speak during the Public Comment section, it is imperative that you sign up beforehand and you will be given a specific time to speak.
Please call the City Clerk at 620-223-0550 or email Diane Clay at [email protected] to sign up to speak under the public comment section.
The meetings are still limited to 45 total in number due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however the room will only hold 14 due to the 6’ social distancing rules. Patrons will be let in one at a time at their scheduled time to ensure the public health orders are followed.
The City Commission meeting will still be available on the City’s YouTube channel.
Film and theatre star Tina Fey, assisted by International Thespian Officer Anna Hastings from Olathe, and interpreter Jeffrey Johnson speaks with Thespians at the International Thespian Festival. Submitted photo.
Fort Scott High School Thespians got the opportunity to attend an entire week of theatre performances, workshops, and livestream events at the first-ever Virtual International Thespian Festival.
The annual festival was held June 22-26, 2020. The students from FSHS who qualified to compete nationally in individual events attended this year’s event along with FSHS Thespian Director Angie Bin.
2020 senior Mesa Jones and sophomore Jenna Stockstill competed in Musical Solo and junior Ashanti Green competed in Monologues. Each student received an “Excellent” rating on her performance. They qualified for the Festival by receiving a “Superior” rating at the KS Thespian Festival in January.
International Thespian Festival qualifiers Ashanti Green, Jenna Stockstill, and Mesa Jones. Submitted photo.
Green said, “I loved how so many people were able to come together virtually even if we couldn’t be together in person!”
Although students missed being able to travel across the country and spend a week with fellow thespians, this year’s festival had unique benefits. All workshops were recorded throughout the week and all attendees will have access to all videos, performances, and interviews with theatre professionals for the next three months.
“ITF was great because even though it was online, we still got to do many workshops and listen to many stars talk, which is something that wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have it online,” Jones said.
The festival included more than 2,400 Thespians from many countries. Guest speakers included Tina Fey, Dolly Parton, Stephen Swartz, Andrew Lloyd Webber and many other Tony, Oscar, and Emmy award winners and Broadway stars.
The Aquatic Center will resume normal business hours beginning July 1st, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. There will be more restraints and guidelines to follow:
Only 30 people will be allowed in the pool at any given time.
At the top of each hour 30 new patrons will be allowed in the pool and the previous 30 will be asked to leave.
Cash only will be taken due to an issue with the credit card system.
They will take the first 30 people at the beginning of each hour. If patrons leave before their hour time has expired, we will NOT allow the next person in. This is so we can stay on the hourly change of patrons as a whole and allow us to clean all areas at the conclusion of each session.
The fees will remain the same as posted.
These guidelines will be reevaluated on July 8th, 2020 when the Public Health Officer’s order ends.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please call City Hall at 223-0550 if you have questions.
Join us for the Quarterly Downtown Meet & Greet, Tuesday, July 7, 2020!
8:30 am to 9:30 am
hosted by the Chamber at Courtland Hotel & Spa
Rita Schroeder, Administrative Assistant
Lindsay Madison, President & CEO
620-223-3566
These informal, quarterly meetings are hosted by the Chamber for downtown business owners, representatives and community members to network and share ideas on events, promotions and anything related to downtown. Coffee, juice and light refreshments will be served.
Special Note from the Chamber Board:
Following KS state safety recommendations & health practices ~subject to Bourbon County’s continued advancement through the reopening phasing plans.
Buck Run Community Center will be open to the public beginning on July 1st, 2020. The hours for Buck Run will be 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays.
The facility will be limited to a gathering of 45 individuals or less including Buck Run staff. Individuals are reminded to social distance when using this facility.
This will be reevaluated on July 8th, 2020 when the Public Health Officer’s order ends.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please call City Hall at 223-0550 if you have questions.
Allyson Turvey, 30, is the new Fort Scott Community Development Manager, as of May 26, 2020.
Her office is in city hall, phone number 620-223-0550.
She was already performing duties as the Fort Scott Tourism Manager, and when Robert Uhler resigned as Community Development Manager at the end of May, Turvey was given then the additional role.
” My duties will be pretty widespread now that I’ve taken on community development as an additional role,” Turvey said.
“I will be responsible for working with the (Fort Scott)Tourism Advisory Board, Design Review Board, Planning Commission, and Zoning Board. I am also now a member of the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team. I’m now responsible for the LaRoche Complex and Memorial Hall. This includes oversight of each facility, assisting in booking of events, and continuing to market LaRoche (baseball stadium).”
“From a tourism standpoint, I will continue to market Fort Scott as a destination,” she said. “As well as continuing to attend trade shows in an effort to bring group tours, conventions, and meetings to our community. This doesn’t cover all of my duties, but the ultimate goals of the department are to bring more tourists to town in an effort to create an economic impact, and increase Tourism Guest Tax revenues.”
“From a Community Development standpoint, I will work to create a better community for our residents, which will ideally entice new residents along the way,” she said. “This is achieved through widespread collaboration, and continued research for funding opportunities.”
“While I have a wide array of open projects, my major project currently is the Smart Growth America planning and implementation,” Turvey said. “The Smart Growth team visited Fort Scott for a community workshop in February, and recently provided a next steps memo including short, and long term goals and action steps to create progress within our community.”
“Both positions require me to represent the city on a local, regional, statewide, and federal level in an effort to better collaborate, and ideally increase funding opportunities for our community, ” she said.
Turvey has been with the city for just over three years, she said.
” I started as an administrative assistant, where I worked between Fort ScottTourism, Community Development, and Economic Development,” Turvey said. “Last August I was promoted to tourism manager, and have continued to be heavily involved with other city departments, and projects.”
“I have also spent the last year representing the city on a local, regional, statewide, and federal level from both a tourism and community standpoint,” she said. “I’ve been working on alongside the community and economic development departments to meet Smart Growth objectives.
Turvey is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, but has been living in Kansas for nearly eight years.
Her community involvement includes being the current president of the Young Professionals League and was invited to join PEO just before the start of the pandemic.
“I hope to be initiated as a member once meeting activities resume,” she said.
Burke Street residents offer food following the parade in 2019.
The community is invited to a neighborhood parade to celebrate America’s Independence Day.
At 10 a.m. on July 4, 2020, Burke Street residents will begin to line up at 10th and Burke Street.
“It’s for everyone,” Barbara Albright, who is charge of information distribution, said.
Severe storms or lightning cancels the parade…but we have conquered the rain,” Albright said.
“This year patriotic masks can be worn, (optional),” she said. “Depending on COVID 19 (the disease of the pandemic), it might be a small parade or biggest ever.”
“Please no big vehicles and watch for the children, who are all over the place,” Albright said.
Parade entrants are asked to dress in patriotic attire.
Bring lawn chairs to sit along the street and cheer the parade, she said.
Patriotic songs will be lead by Phil Hammon, with help from others.
Burke Street Parade. Susan Foster and grandson, Jack Foster. Foster is the person with the original idea of a neighborhood street parade in Fort Scott. Submitted photo.
The parade starts at the corner of 10th and Burke Street, goes south to Marblecrest and back north to the starting point, Albright said.
“The parade goes south on Burke Street to the Marblecrest Triangl,” she said.
Traffic control will be organized by Burke Street resident Frank Halsey.
For more information contact Margaret Humphrey at 223-0388, Theresa Bahr at 223-1582 or Albright at 224-7762.
Steven Anthony in the Burke Street Parade. Submitted photo.
The Burke Street Parade is provided by Albright.
“About 40 years ago Susan Stapleton Foster was visiting her brother Dr. Burder Stapleton’s family in Memphis, TN over the Fourth of July,” she said. “She was fascinated with several neighborhood Independence Day parades on her visit, particularly the veterans who proudly marched in the parades. Upon return to Fort Scott, she shared the idea with neighbors Margaret Humphrey and Jill Gorman. The rest is history. ”
Burke Street Parade. Margaret and Merl Humphrey and granddaughter, Meg Norman. Submitted photo.
The drive-through of McDonald’s Restaurant had a fire on June 25 in the shrubbery.
On June 25. 2020 the Fort Scott Fire Department was dispatched at 4:16 p.m. to a fire at McDonald’s Restaurant, 2224 S. Main.
911 had numerous calls on the event, Deputy Fire Chief Mike Miles said.
FSFD responded in Engine 1. Deputy Chief Miles, Captain Hutchison, Lieutenant Schafer, Firefighter McGee, Firefighter Carpenter were in attendance.
While en route to the call, heavy smoke could be seen from the Station 1 at 1604 S. National, Miles said.
Engine 1 arrived on scene and found heavy flames and heavy smoke present from the rear of the structure. Firefighters quickly deployed the front jump line off Engine 1 and began extinguishing the flames.
The fire was under control within minutes. The fire spread throughout the entire landscaping area in the drive-thru. The fire destroyed the area and spread to the drive-thru stall #1 and damaged the ordering screen and stand. The secondary drive-thru landscaping and screen were not exposed because the firemen were able to get the flames under control in a timely manner.
Firefighters continued to mop up the hot spots around the vegetation area until all the smoldering was gone, he said.
The crew then checked the interior of McDonald’s with the thermal imaging camera to make sure there was no breach of fire through the walls or foundation and everything on the inside was normal, he said. Engine 1 then cleared the scene and responded to another call that came out during that time.
The fire was undetermined but dry conditions may have played a major factor.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Beerbower of the fire at McDonald’s on June 25, 2020.
There will be a Special Meeting of the Fort Scott City Commission held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 30th, 2020. This meeting will be held to discuss opening of City facilities, the opening of City Commission meetings, and the COVID-19 pandemic. This meeting will be held at 123 S. Main Street in the City Commission meeting room. This meeting will be broadcast on the City’s You tube channel. This meeting will not be open to the public.
The City of Fort Scott Administration Offices will be closed on Friday, July 3rd, 2020 in observance of the Independence Day holiday. The offices will reopen on Monday, July 6th, 2020.
The City’s tree and brush dump will also be closed on Saturday, July 4th, 2020. It will reopen on Tuesday, July 7th, 2020 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
