Rotary Club of Fort Scott welcomed new member, Robert Uhler during a weekly meeting. He will be serving as the club’s secretary for the 2019-2020 year.
Uhler moved to Fort Scott in 2000 and currently works as the Director of Community Development for the City of Fort Scott.
He and wife, Laurie have two children and two grandchildren.
The Fort Scott Rotary club meets every Wednesday at noon at the Presbyterian Church.
Anyone interested in learning more about Rotary’s mission to serve the local community can contact Lindsay Madison, Rhonda Dunn, or Shirley Palmer.
This sign seen on the door of the Fort Scott Gordmans store window tells of apparel coming in July. The store opened earlier this year as a department store but did not carry clothing at that time. On August 10 the new clothing department of the store will be completed.
An apparel department is being added to Gordmans department store that opened earlier in 2019 in Fort Scott. The store is located at 2400 S. Main, in the strip mall on the southside of town.
“Gordmans in Fort Scott will be expanding to a full-fledged Gordmans, which will offer big brands in merchandise for the entire family at very low prices compared to department store prices,” Blakeley Graham, Manager of Brand Publicity at Gordmans, said. “The complete changeover will be August 10, and Gordmans is planning a special in-store event that day to celebrate the expansion.”
“In addition to the home décor, beauty merchandise, fragrances, accessories and toys already available at Gordmans, there will be name brand apparel for all ages and footwear at bigger deals and smaller prices,” he said.
Gordmans is part of the Stage family of stores.
Stage has opened 74 Gordmans this year, including the store in Fort Scott. By the end of 2019, there will be over 150 Gordmans stores across the country.
Gordmans is located at 2400 S. Main in Fort Scott’s south side strip mall.
More details will be shared soon about the August 10 event, according to Graham.
Fort Scott Public Library held its very first LibraryCon event on July 20, from 10 am to 2 pm at the library. It began with cookie decorating for kids with Martha Scott as Tabitha Twitchett. Children painted cookies, let them dry while listening to a story, and then consumed their masterpieces.
Martha Scott decorates cookies with children at LibraryCon.
Meanwhile, local authors Cathy Werling and James Collins began speaking with people downstairs, with Werling helping kids make little “buckets” to fill with kindness, in her ongoing quest to help children realize they can be everyday heroes.
Cathy Werling prepares for children with her books and activities.
Collins shared some of his humor and interesting observations, for which his book is known, and both authors sold several books throughout the day.
James Collins waits at his author’s table to sign and sell his books.
Meanwhile, Professor Allen Twitchell, dressed as historical figure Alan Quatermain, kept incoming attendees entertained.
Some people stopped by a photo station to have their pictures taken with various props or to play games from different fandoms. Many attendees grazed on chocolate molds of famous movie and television show icons, cheese balls, gummy lifesavers, and superhero graham cookies, served at the refreshments table. Also served was cold bottled water, donated by G & W Cash Saver of Fort Scott.
Nancy Linnenbrink, Kassandra Farr, Angel Farr, and volunteer Ashley Cannon hang out Anime Alley for children’s activities.
Upstairs, Dominic Cannon and Jo Goodbody manned a tabletop gaming table, and at 10:30 am, Susan Messer began a Children’s Literature Trivia session, which covered 20 questions on the topic and lasted for an hour. In the end, Jayce Warner won, receiving a trophy and prize.
In the young adult book area, 11-year-old Ashley Cannon, dressed as a character named Pidge from the animated series, Voltron, led kids in several anime-related activities, including the game “Name That Pokémon,” a foam Poké Ball craft, and a Voltron helmet craft.
In the children’s room, Taylor Qualls, dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and 9-year-old Kaylee Cannon, dressed as Joy from the movie “Inside Out” led children to color bookmarks and coloring pages, and to make a covered rose craft. They were also invited to build something with piles of building blocks or to play with a cardboard space shuttle control center and the space shuttle, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
Madalynn Miner and another child color in Cartoon Corner with volunteer Taylor Qualls, dressed as Belle.
Soon after the cookies were cleaned up, a tea party began with the Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts, Alice, and the White Rabbit in attendance.
Angela Bin, dressed as the Queen of Hearts, reads an Alice in Wonderland story to the children at the Mad Hatter Tea Party.
Children chose between hot and cold tea and a variety of shortbread cookies, then listened to an abbreviated Alice in Wonderland story read by the Queen of Hearts, played by Angela Bin. Levi Bin played the Mad Hatter, Emma Bin was Alice, and the White Rabbit was played by Brooklyn Miller.
Many of the tea party attendees came upstairs after the party for the kid’s activities, most of whom decided to participate in Miss Val’s digital scavenger hunt, which challenged teams to photograph everything listed for the hunt in 15 minutes or less. Two teams tied for the win.
At 12:45 pm, a group of kids, teens, and one adult lined up in the downstairs computer room to show off their LibraryCon costumes for the library’s first costume contest.
First, six children in the ages 0 – 11 years category paraded before judges Angela Bin, Allen Twitchell, and Brenda Buehler. Madalynn Miner was the winner, with her Little Red Riding Hood costume.
Next, three in the ages 12 – 17 years category showed off their costumes, with Jo Goodbody taking home a trophy and prize for his king costume. Finally, one adult, Taylor Qualls, claimed her prize for her Belle outfit.
Professors Allen Twitchell, dressed as Alan Quatermain, and Harold Hick, dressed in a Star Trek outfit, pose together before heading to their respective workshops.
Also winning trophies and prizes were Kaylee Cannon for Most Unique Costume, Brooklyn Miner for Funniest Costume, and Kimberly McBoon for Most Beautiful Costume.
Soon after, upstairs, Allen Twitchell led a round of sports trivia, for which Brenda Buehler won the trophy and prize.
At 1 p.m., Professor Harold Hicks began a creative writing workshop with a group of young people in the event room, and at 1:30, Professor Allen Twitchell led a workshop upstairs on how to create a historical character.
Professor Harold Hicks leads children in a creative writing workshop in the library event room.
The library staff have declared this first installment of LibraryCon a success, based on participation and attendee feedback, and plan to hold an event next year, likely around the same time of year.
If you are interested in being a guest author or artist, speaker or volunteer, or would like to donate prizes, food, etc. for the event, please contact the library at (620)223-2882, visit in person, or email [email protected].
Professor Allen Twitchell leads a workshop on how to create a historical character in the library’s upstairs seating area.
Kaeli Watkins, Brooklyn Miller, and volunteers Dominic Cannon and Jo Goodbody gather around the gaming table upstairs.
Dalton Womeldorff sits in the studio of Fort Scott Broadcasting. He is an announcer at the radio station and a recent graduate of Fort Scott High School.
Red Dirt Country is in Fort Scott as of July 1 at 98.3 FM on your radio.
The Red Dirt genre of country music started in Oklahoma and Texas.
“Red Dirt Country is a different brand of country,” Tim McKenney, owner of Fort Scott Broadcasting said. “Most tell a story…songs that tell stories about the cowboy’s way of life.”
Fort Scott Broadcasting, owned by both Tim and Deb McKenney, is the umbrella company for KMDO-AM 1600 and KOMB-FM 103.9 and now K252KY-FM 98.3.
KMDO started in 1954 and KOMB in1981 and continue to play classic and contemporary music. They were purchased by Tim and Deb in 1996 from Tim’s father.
Red Dirt Country, K252KY-FM started this year.
Fort Scott Broadcasting is the parent company of KMDO-AM and KOMB-FM and is located at 2 N. National Avenue. The parent company of the businesses are Fort Scott Broadcasting, owned by Tim and Deb McKenney. They also own U.S. Cellular at 1711 S. National and 2506 S. Santa Fe in Chanute.
“On July 1 we opened K252KY,” McKenney said. “It started broadcasting a few months ago. We wanted to run it a while to make sure it was going smoothly.”
“We wanted to compete with those (radio stations) that do country, in a different way,” he said.
“It’s been crazy, for signing on quietly,” McKenney said.
KMDO-AM and KOMB-FM Radio Stations are located at 2 N. National Avenue, Fort Scott. New in July 2019 is the addition of Red Dirt Country at K252KY-FM, 98.3
The broadcasting company plays music 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
There are several announcers who work for the company: Larry Gazaway, Brandon Tadtman, Dalton Womeldorff, Pam Hutchison, Charlene Bolinger, Brayden Enstrom, Dena Wade “and a few more of us do some on-air, but not regularly,” McKenney said.
“We still have announcers, it is not automated by satellite,” McKenney said.
In August, Larry Gazaway returns to the radio station as “the morning man on 103.9 and he will be our sports broadcaster,” McKenney said. Gazaway did a stint as Fort Scott’s Director of Convention and Visitor Bureau recently and returns to broadcasting on August 5.
For more information about the business and to see what services they provide, click below
The Design Review Board will meet on Wednesday, July 24th, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. at the City Hall Commission Meeting room at 123 S. Main Street, Fort Scott, Kansas. This meeting will be held to discuss a Certificate of Appropriateness for the building at 123 S. National Avenue. This meeting is open to the public.
There will be two work sessions of the Fort Scott City Commission held on Thursday, July 25th, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. and then again at 12:00 p.m. in the City Commission meeting room at 123 S. Main Street. These work sessions will be held to discuss the 2020 budget. No action will be taken at these work sessions. These meetings are open to the public.
Friday evening’s community concert at the Heritage Park Gazebo in downtown Fort Scott, at 1st and Main Street will feature Forever Family. It starts at 7 p.m. Please bring a lawn chair and enjoy the outside concert.
Siblings Jim Dillow, Ernie Dillow, and, Shirley Showalter started singing together about six years ago.
“They felt God leading them to share the gospel message of hope and love through music and testimony,” Ralph Carlson, event coordinator said. “Forever Family enjoyed singing at the Gazebo for the last 3-4 years. In December of 2017 Jim was suddenly taken to his heavenly home. They discontinued their ministry at that time as the loss of their Godly and inspiring brother was so heartbreaking and overwhelming. Recently God has opened doors for Ernie and Shirley to sing together again. Friday evening will be their first full concert since Jim’s passing. They, along with Jim’s wife, Susan, are dedicating this performance to the memory and legacy of their brother and husband. They look forward to sharing; knowing God always has a plan for our lives. Ernie and Shirley will continue to praise God and seek His guidance for future ministry.”
co-hosted by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce and the Young Professionals League.
The event will take place on Tuesday, July 23rd at the FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center at 2108 S. Horton. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for a meet & greet with the candidates and the forum will begin at 6 p.m.
The public is encouraged to submit questions for the candidates! Questions may be submitted to the Chamber no later than July 22nd.
– The first is USD-234 Position 3 Candidates. There are 5 candidates for 1 position; this race will be narrowed to 2 candidates after the primary election.
Candidates include: Kellye Barrows, Joe Foulk Sr., Michael Hoyt, Josh Jones, and Aaron Judy.
– The second is Fort Scott City Commission. There are 14 candidates for 3 positions; this race will be narrowed to 6 candidates after the primary election.
Candidates include:Cheryl Adamson, Harold (Pete) Allen, Kevin (Skitch) Allen, Cindy Bartelsmeyer, Casey Bolden, Tracy Dancer, Bobby Duncan, Bob Farmer, Josh Jones, Deb McCoy, Diana Morriss, Jeanie Parker, Lindsey Watts, and Matthew Wells.
The general public is invited and encouraged to attend this Election Candidate Forum on Tuesday, July 23rd. Light refreshments will be served.
Candidates should RSVP to the Chamber prior to the forum
Dr. Robyn Kelso, assistant principal at Fort Scott High School. Submitted photo.
Dr. Robyn Kelso is the new assistant principal of Fort Scott High School as of today, July 22.
She hales from Eudora, KS and has 20 years experience following her education at Kansas State University where she earned a degree in agriculture, then teacher certification from Ottawa University and both a master’s degree and a doctoral degree from Baker University.
“My contract starts today,” Kelso said. Her duties are still being sorted out, “but I will be the career and tech education coordinator and oversee truancy concerns, along with teacher evaluations and discipline issues.”
Following are responses to questions to Kelso:
How did you become an educator?
Education was a second career for me after spending some time in the journalism field.
Did someone inspire you?
I had some awesome teachers in high school, but what inspires me is the students and teachers who come each day willing to contribute and make their school the best it possibly can be.
What is the best part of education for you?
The best part is knowing each day I get a chance to make a difference, whether that is small or large. Whether for students or adults, having that chance each day is the best part of education for me.
What are the greatest challenges?
A challenge I personally face is learning what it means to be a Fort Scott Tiger – I am anxious to dig in and discover the great things both the schools and the community have!
She is married to Mike Kelso and has two sons – Matthew and Mason.
USD 234 in partnership with New Generation is offering a preschool/daycare opportunity for qualifying 4-year old students.
Students will attend preschool geared toward kindergarten readiness for half-day sessions and have the opportunity to also get half-day daycare provided.
For qualifying students, meals and transportation to and from New Generation will be available upon request.
This program is being offered through a grant and will come at no cost to the families who participate.
All students must be 4 years old on or before August 31.
If you can answer yes to any of the following questions, then your child may be eligible:
1. Does your child qualify for our free and reduced lunch program?
2. Are you a single parent?
3. Have you been referred through DCF?
4. When your child was born, was either parent a teen?
5. Is either parent lacking a high school diploma or GED?
6. In the home, is the main language used not English?
7. Does the family qualify as migrant status?
8. Does the child have lower than expected developmental progress, but is not currently receiving special education services?
Applications are available for pickup at New Generation or the USD 234 Board of Education office. If you have further questions, please contact Andrea Scott at [email protected] or call 620-223-8965 and leave a message.
