The Design Review Board will meet on Wednesday, September 11th, 2019 at 4:30 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 a sign at 120 E. Wall Street. This meeting is open to the public.
Category Archives: Fort Scott
Stutesman’s Realty Expands and Moves: Offers Office Space To Businesses
Stutesman’s Action Realty has extended its reach in Fort Scott.
“We’ve grown the last two years,” said Amanda Bourassa, a broker for the real estate business, said. “We needed more space to continue to serve our clients.”
She loves the location of the new space.
“It’s downtown, in the center of everything and it has a view of the Fort (Scott National Historic Site),” she said.
“We wanted to show a permanent presence here in Fort Scott and Bourbon County,” she said. “To show we are committed to not only our clients who are buying and selling but also our community.”
The realty signed a 10-year lease with Pat and Stacy Wood for the space and began a remodel in June, she said.
“We all have our own homes and investment properties,” she said. “We believe this will help with serving our clients.”
The new office is located at 120 E. Wall and officially opened its doors on Sept. 3.
Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The 1,600 square-foot space has been completely remodeled by her husband, Tim, with Stutesman’s Action Realty paying for the reno.
There are now five agents working for the agency: Bourassa is the broker; agents are Stacy Wood, who joined in December 2018; Kaci Kurtz who joined in November 2018, along with Bailey Lyons and Scott Theis.
In addition to the realty business, the Bourassa’s finished out two additional offices in the new space, that are available for lease.
The business will host a Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Coffee and ribbon cutting at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12.
In addition, on Wednesday, October 2, the business will have a Celebration of Success Open House from 3-6 p.m.
“This is open to the public for people to see the reno and meet with agents if they want to do so,” Bourassa said.
For more information, the toll-free number is 833-286-8400 or www.actionsold.com.
Bourassa can be reached at 417-684-5681.
The original office of the realty is still located in Nevada, MO.
New FSHS English Teacher: Jeni Hartman
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Jeni Hartman is the new freshman English teacher at Fort Scott High School.
Her experience includes teaching kindergarten and substitute teaching for the last 10 years.
Hartman has a bachelors degree in elementary education;
licensed for K-9 with a certification for secondary English 6-12
She grew up in Olathe but spent most of her adult life in Ottawa.
She is married to “my best friend, Chris Hartman, and we have been together for almost 22 years.”
“My oldest (son), Logan, is 18 and he and his girlfriend are having our first grandbaby in February,” she said.
“My youngest, Caleb, is 14 and he is in 8th grade. He is on the football team, wrestling team and the track team.”
In her spare time she “loves reading and taking a nap (and) I really enjoy spending time with my family.”
To become a teacher, she took a “long road,” she said. “I started at Pitt State, missed my family, so I moved to Dallas and went to UNT, moved back here to get married and had my oldest, went back to Pitt State and drove from Overland Park three days a week! Now I am working on my Master’s Degree in Reading Specialist and will be licensed in that as well.”
A teacher inspired Hartman to teach.
“Mr. Barnes, my senior genetics teacher inspired me. He took us on a trip to St. Louis to see the students mapping the human genome.,” she said.
The best part of teaching for her is “Hanging out with young people, getting to do what I love most, reading and writing. They keep me young.”
What are the greatest challenges in teaching for you?
“When that tough student that you are starting to break through with makes a poor decision and you have to start all over with that student. But when you do get that breakthrough and they start trusting you, that is the best. For a student to know that ‘Yeah, Mrs. Hartman is cool. She gets me.’ And when the stuff they bring to school from home gets left at the door and they learn in my class, that is why I am a teacher.”
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Ribbon Cutting At Washateria Sept. 7
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Fort Scott Special Events This Weekend
New Business Spaces Available Soon
Eighteen years ago, Jeff and Jamie Armstrong came home to Fort Scott and started raising their family here.
“We love our community and despite the challenges all small towns face, we still believe Fort Scott has something special,” Jeff said.
The couple had discussed ways to encourage more young professionals to return to Fort Scott.
“We have often talked about developing property and finding a way to recruit more young professionals like us to come back home,” Jeff said. ” We were surprised to learn late last year that the building my wife currently runs her investment office out of, was getting ready to be listed.”
” We had been considering moving her office to another location in town…but we weren’t finding much we felt good about,” Jeff said. “We ran the numbers, prayed for wisdom, and took a calculated leap of faith.”
They purchased the property at 1711-1715 S. National Avenue on December 31, 2018, and started a business, which they call Legweak, LLC.
“We wanted to use our family name somehow, so it is a play on our name. ARM STRONG …LEG WEAK,” Jeff said.
U.S. Cellular, Subway Restaurant, and Edward Jones Financial Services are the existing tenants at the building the Armstrong’s purchased.
The Armstrongs began asking small business owners what they want and need in a space.
“We’d love to continue working with those types of professional businesses that want a nice storefront with good visibility,” Jeff said.
“Surprisingly, we found a lot of sole-proprietor-type businesses don’t want all the extra space and expenses,” he said. “So we started looking at a shared office space. It makes a lot of sense for small professional businesses who want a higher-end workspace without the extra overhead. We will continue to develop the other four units (about 4800 sq ft) as we find needs in the community.”
There are seven units total, one of which is already under lease.
Each unit is a 12’x10’ office and shares a full kitchen, an ADA Compliant bathroom, and room for a shared receptionist down the road.
For more information:
Jeff and Jamie Armstrong at
or 620-224-3036 or
search on Facebook at @legweakllc
Lake Advisory Board Forming
Residents are asked to consider serving on a newly forming Lake Fort Scott Advisory Board.
Please see the following Board openings:
This is for the newly formed Lake Fort Scott Advisory Board Committee:
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One opening (City resident)
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One opening (County resident)
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Two openings (west side of Lake) – one full time resident – one part time resident
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Two openings (east side of Lake) – one full time resident – one part time resident
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One opening (at large – Lake resident) – preferably a long term resident of the Lake
The function of the Lake Fort Scott Advisory Board Committee is to provide suggestions to the City Manager and Governing Body regarding lake operations, lake safety, fishing, boating, and camping at Lake Fort Scott.
If you have a desire to serve on this board and meet the above requirements, please submit a letter of interest to the City Clerk, Diane Clay, 123 S. Main, Fort Scott, Kansas 66701. These will be submitted for consideration to the City Commission. All of the boards and commissions serve on a volunteer basis and are not compensated. If you would like more information on this board, please contact Diane Clay, City Clerk at 620-223-0550 or [email protected]. Please submit your letter of interest by September 12th, 2019.
Presbyterian Village Car Show: Entries Wanted
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Fresenius Kidney Care Closes Sept. 30 in Fort Scott.
“After careful consideration, we have made the decision to close the kidney dialysis center at Fresenius Kidney Care located at 2526 S. Main St, Fort Scott, KS 66701 on September 30, 2019. Staff are working diligently with each patient to ensure seamless continuation of treatment, either with the option to dialyze at home or at one of two other clinics in the region. Fresenius Kidney Care will continue to support the clinic’s home therapy patients after the closure.”
“This move toward home therapy reflects a national trend, aligning with the (President Trump) administration’s recent executive order to increase access to home dialysis, which so often is the best treatment for patients, empowering them to participate in their own care in the comfort of their homes.
—Fresenius Kidney Care Regional Vice President, Scott Ochs
Another option is for the patient to find a caregiver to assist with dialysis treatments at the patient’s home.
“If a patient has a caregiver available to help with treatments, we will train them to provide the care, through our Fresenius Kidney Care home training programs, we will work with both the patient and the caregiver until they are ready to administer treatments on their own,” said Shirley Irvin BSN, RN, CDN, Fresenius Director of Operations Home Therapies.
Chamber Coffee at Health Department Sept. 5
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WEEKLY CHAMBER COFFEE REMINDER
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Hosted by:
SEK Multi-County Health Department
Location:
524 S. Lowman St.
Thursday, September 5, 2019 at 8:00 a.m.
Chamber members and guests are encouraged to attend for networking, community announcements, and to learn about the hosting business or organization.
Members may pay $1 to make an announcement about an upcoming event, special/sale/discount, or news of any kind.
Upcoming Coffees:
September 12 – Stutesman’s Action Realty (New Location: 120 E. Wall St.)
September 19 – Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes (1 S. Main St.)
September 26 – Diehl Banwart Bolton CPA’s P.A. (70th Anniversary)
October 3 – Gordon Parks Museum (16th Anniversary)
Takin’ Notes Band: Friday’s Free Concert
The Friday Night Free Concert series continues this Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. at Heritage Park, 1st and Main Street.
“This weeks concert will feature the “Takin’ Notes Band”with Randy Maple on lead guitar and vocals, Terri Louk guitar and vocals; Jeff Deal, bass; Mike Church, rhythm guitar; Dr. Larry Buck, mandolin and vocals; Bill Buck, mandolin; Brian Crites, dulcimer; Lane Steiner drum / harmonica; and David Shelby, guitar and vocals,” Ralph Carlson said. Carlson is the coordinator for the weekly event.
“The band has been a real hit with our audiences,” Carlson said. “They play traditional, blue grass, gospel and classic country music.”
“The weather is predicted to be good, but in the event of a change we will move to the Common Grounds Coffee shop.. Come early and bring a lawn chair as seating is limited.”
FSHS Teaches New Class On Bourbon County History
Fort Scott High School has some teachers who wanted to bring to life for their students the stories of places/events where they live, where they have first-hand experience.
Brian Allen, an auto shop teachers-aide at Fort Scott High School, began a FSHS History Club several years ago to educate students about local history.
“It has grown in membership and students have shown a genuine interest in knowing about where they live,” said FSHS History Teacher Sara Jackman. “Last year, I approached the (USD234) administration about teaching a local history class and they were on board. After teaching a Bourbon County unit to junior high students at Uniontown for several years, I knew that it would be an elective I would enjoy teaching.”
“There is an interest from our students about the town and the county,” Jackman said. “They love to learn information about the places they see every day. The (FSHS)History Club’s membership numbers have been proof of that. Additionally….we are trying to build pride for our hometown and county and respect for all of those who have made our community a good place to live.”
“I teach two sections of the class with approximately 53 students enrolled,” Jackman said. “Mr. Allen helps me a great deal with content and guest speakers etc.”
A project at the end of the class will be for students to interview 80-90-year-olds in the community for future generations.
“The list of names for this year’s projects were selected by the HPA (Bourbon County Historical Preservation Association) board members,” Allen said. “The idea for the project came from them. We hope to interview people from all over the county. Arnold Scofield and some others on the board are working on the questions. We will mostly focus on their memories and their contributions to the area. As you know, we have some great people who have come before us.”
“Our students will also be adding in questions of their own so that we can do the interview from multiple perspectives,” Jackman said. “We are always looking for volunteers.”
“I may in the future need to ask for volunteers for the interviews,” Allen said. “But for now have enough for the 2019-2020 school year. If someone has a person they would like to have us consider in the future, they could contact me through Facebook. I hope to house the interviews in the HPA archives as well as with the genealogy society.”
“If they would like to participate they can contact either of us at the school 620-223-0600,” Jackman said.
“We are hoping to include the video production classes and have them filmed,” Jackman said.
The purpose of the new Bourbon County History class is to educate students about the history of the place in which they live, “Where we came from as a community,” Allen said.
“Our hope is that it gives them civic pride knowing about the rich history of Bourbon County,” Jackman said.
The first class in Bourbon County history began at FSHS on the first day of school, August 22. It is an 18-week, one-semester course, that will be taught both semesters.
Curriculum for the course is from local authors and historical societies.
“Curriculum sources vary widely,” Jackman said. “The textbook purchased for students is the Historic Reflections of Bourbon County Kansas by Fred Campbell, Jr. and Don Miller. We also use many other locally written books, resources from the Kansas State Historical Society, the Bourbon County Historic Preservation Society, and lots of others.”
These books are also available to the public through the Fort Scott Public Library.
The class is going well, Jackman said.
“We have started off learning about the Native Americans who would have lived in the area and some of the explorers who came to Kansas,” Jackman said. “On August 30, Mr. Reed Harford (came) in to speak to the class about the expedition of Zebulon Pike and his time in Bourbon County.”
“I am so impressed with Mrs. Jackman,” Allen said of the teacher and the class curriculum that she constructed.
Brian Allen is also the president of the Bourbon County Historical Preservation Association.
To see a recent KOAM News story on the subject, click below: