The 2023 Blue Collar Awards, 2023. Submitted photo.
Advance Bourbon County is sponsoring a Blue Collar Awards event on March 9 at Memorial Hall, located at Third Street and National Avenue.
“The purpose is to raise money for scholarships for local students going to college in the blue-collar trades field,” said Josh Jones one of the organizers of the event. The scholarships will be awarded to Fort Scott and Uniontown students who apply and are eligible
For students wishing to be considered for a scholarship in the trades field see the application below:
According to the scholarship requirements, students must be high school seniors and will attend a college/trade school within 180 miles of Bourbon County. All scholarship monies will be paid directly to the school. Qualified trade programs re: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, construction, welding, fabrication, automotive and diesel mechanics. commercdriver’svers license, auto CAD/drafting, manufacturing technology, machining, masonry, robotics/drones, lineman, railroad training, carpentry, and major appliance technology.
The student must also write a paragraph describing their plans upon completing the program.
The awardee must present proof of enrollment to Josh Jones to claim their scholarship award.
Some of lyear’sears recipients. Submitted photo.
Local tradesmen are on a ballot for a community vote with winners recognized during the March 9 event.
“We are in the voting process now and on March 1st we will tally the votes and give out awards based on each category to local businesses,” Jones said.
The event will also feature a comedian this year, the Copenhagen Bandit.
The Copenhagen Bandit from his Facebook page.
To view a prior feature on Advance Bourbon County’s beginnings:
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce invites members and guests to a Chamber Coffee this Thursday, February 29th at 8 a.m. hosted by Bourbon County Arts Council. The event will be held at the Ellis Fine Arts Center on the campus of Fort Scott Community College, 2108 S. Horton St. Coffee and light refreshments will be served.
The 32nd Annual Bourbon County Arts Council exhibit will be open to the public Thursday, February 29th through Friday, March 8th from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, March 9th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. An artist reception will also be held February 29th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. where participating artists will have the opportunity to listen to the juror critique and visit about their pieces. The public is welcomed, and light refreshments will be served. Categories include Ceramics, Sculpture, Mixed Media, Jewelry, Pastel, Watercolor, Fiber Art, Painting (Oil & Acrylic), Drawing & Graphic (Pencil, Pen, Ink), Photography, Glasswork, Printmaking, and Theme – “Art of Everyday Life”.
Any member business or organization wanting to host Chamber Coffee in 2024 is encouraged to contact the Chamber to save a date by calling 620-223-3566 or emailing [email protected].
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce announces a Spring Open House, Find the Golden Egg shopping event which will take place on Friday and Saturday March 23rd and 24th. Most stores in the Downtown Historic District and several additional locations will be participating in the hunt.
Customers are invited to shop local retailers to search for the hidden gold eggs. The golden eggs will contain coupons, promotions, Chamber Bucks, and more.
In addition to the shopping fun that weekend, there will be plastic multi-colored eggs hidden around Downtown on Saturday the 24th after 10 a.m. suitable for young children to find.
The Chamber encourages the community to join the hunt on March 23rd-24th. Get ‘egg-cited’ to shop local. Contact the Chamber for more information at 620-223-3566.
On behalf of the USD 234 School District, we would like to invite you to the 2024 Early Childhood Spring Fling. This year’s event will be held on Thursday, April 18th from 5:30-7:00 PM at the Fort Scott Preschool Center. All children ages birth-six years old and their families are invited to attend.
For this event, we are asking family resource providers and community partners to bring an interactive activity for students and families. We will provide space and a table for your activity. During the event, you will also have an opportunity to visit with families and distribute flyers, handouts, giveaways, etc. Our goal is for children and families to interact, be active, and learn about the resources available in our community. If you are a preschool or childcare provider, please share the attached flyer with your families. We also welcome you to set up an activity and table for your program.
If you plan to attend our event, please complete the short form below by Thursday, April 11th so we can have a table reserved for your organization. If you have questions, please let me know.
Sending on behalf of Chamber Member CORE Community…
Bridges Out of Poverty Workshop
Bridges Out of Poverty workshop is a unique and powerful tool designed specifically for social, health, and legal services professionals. Based in part on Dr. Ruby K. Payne’s myth shattering A Framework for Understanding Poverty, Bridges reaches out to the millions of service providers and businesses whose daily work connects them with the lives of people in poverty.
As a workshop attendee, you will learn specific strategies and brainstorm potential solutions which you and your organization can implement right now to: Design programs to better serve people you work with; Build skill sets for management to help guide employees; Upgrade training for front-line staff like receptionists, case workers, and managers; Improve treatment outcomes in health care and behavioral health care; Increase the likelihood of moving from welfare to work.
If your business, agency, or organization works with people from poverty, only a deeper understanding of their challenges-and strengths-will help you partner with them to create opportunities for success.
Continuing Education credits available with a certificate issued at the end of the workshop.
The Workshop will be lead by Deborah Factor, CEO of Youth Core Ministries (YCM). Core Community Bourbon County is a chapter affiliate of YCM.
Deborah Factor serves as CEO/Executive Director of Youth Core Ministries, Inc. YCM, formerly Youth for Christ-South Central Kansas, was founded in 1995 as a ministry to reach kids outside of the church. After becoming Executive Director in 1998, Deborah watched as many of her students moved into adulthood repeating the cycle of poverty. To address this need, YCM launched a community and school-based mentoring program, Core Mentoring, in 2012 and in 2015 an initiative to resolve poverty called Core Community. Deborah and her team are having a profound impact on rural Communities. They are passionate about ending poverty and seeing kids and families truly thrive. Deborah, her husband, Tony, and their son, Caleb, live in Greensburg.
Participants will review a mental model of poverty, examine a theory of change, and analyze poverty through the prism of housing, the hidden rules of class and resources. Cost is $35 (payable at event) including training materials and book. If cost is prohibitive, there are a limited number of scholarships available.
Bridges Out of Poverty workshop is a unique and powerful tool designed specifically for social, health, and legal services professionals. Based in part on Dr. Ruby K. Payne’s myth shattering A Framework for Understanding Poverty, Bridges reaches out to the millions of service providers and businesses whose daily work connects them with the lives of people in poverty.
As a workshop attendee, you will learn specific strategies and brainstorm potential solutions which you and your organization can implement right now to: Design programs to better serve people you work with; Build skill sets for management to help guide employees; Upgrade training for front-line staff like receptionists, case workers, and managers; Improve treatment outcomes in health care and behavioral health care; Increase the likelihood of moving from welfare to work.
If your business, agency, or organization works with people from poverty, only a deeper understanding of their challenges-and strengths-will help you partner with them to create opportunities for success.
Continuing Education credits availablewith a certificate issued at the end of the workshop.
The Workshop will be lead by Deborah Factor, CEO of Youth Core Ministries (YCM). Core Community Bourbon County is a chapter affiliate of YCM.
Deborah Factor serves as CEO/Executive Director of Youth Core Ministries, Inc. YCM, formerly Youth for Christ-South Central Kansas, was founded in 1995 as a ministry to reach kids outside of the church. After becoming Executive Director in 1998, Deborah watched as many of her students moved into adulthood repeating the cycle of poverty. To address this need, YCM launched a community and school-based mentoring program, Core Mentoring, in 2012 and in 2015 an initiative to resolve poverty called Core Community. Deborah and her team are having a profound impact on rural Communities. They are passionate about ending poverty and seeing kids and families truly thrive. Deborah, her husband, Tony, and their son, Caleb, live in Greensburg.
Participants will review a mental model of poverty, examine a theory of change, and analyze poverty through the prism of housing, the hidden rules of class and resources. Cost is $35 (payable at event) including training materials and book. If cost is prohibitive, there are a limited number of scholarships available.
The Hello Summer Luau is May 18 at the new pavilion on North National Avenue. Submitted graphic.
The City of Fort is sponsoring a community event at the new Fort Scott Pavilion on North National Avenue, next to the new splash pad, on Saturday, May 18.
“The purpose of the event is to promote drug and alcohol (prevention) awareness while kicking off the summer for the grand opening of the Pavilion and the Splash Pad- which will be open the day of the event,” said Mary Wyatt, Planning, Housing, and Community Development Director for the City of Fort Scott.
“The City of Fort Scott is sponsoring the event and is using the Drug and Alcohol Tax Fund which goes to spread awareness to the youth (and adults) to pay for the expenses, plus there are local businesses handing out free stuff and selling their items at the event,” said City Manager Brad Matkin.
“We are in the beginning stages of the project, and currently putting together a committee for the event,” Wyatt said. “After the committee’s first meeting, we will have more details and specifics confirmed that we can share, and will start reaching out to vendors (mostly, if not all, local) to determine their availability. It is the City of Fort Scott’s goal to help provide a safe and fun family-friendly event to start off the summer together as a community.”
There will be live music, vendors, and free activities for the kids Matkin said.
“The vendors will be starting at 3 pm with the bands starting at 6:30 pm,” said Matkin.
The northern end of the Gathering Place is seen from National Avenue and Stanton Street. The splash pad is behind the pavilion to the left in this photo.
“The plan is to have the splash pad open,” for this bash, Bailey Lyons, one of the committee members of the splash pad said.
The Gathering Place is the venue of the new pavilion and splash pad on North National Avenue at Old Fort Boulevard. Here are the rules for the splash pad.
“The Hello Summer bash will feature Beach Boys tunes under the pavilion from the live tribute band, Surfin’ USA,” Matkin said.
“Surfin’ USA features seven musicians from the Kansas City area. Their collective dedication to quality musicianship and soaring harmonies will be on full display as they are committed to accurately recreating the music of The Beach Boys,” according to https://www.surfinusashow.com/
Before Sufin’ USA, Vinyl Revival will be playing at 6:30 p.m. at the pavilion.
“Comprised of six professional musicians near the Kansas City area, members of Vinyl Revival have opened for artists such as: Little River Band, Doobie Brothers, Eddie Money, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Firefall, Badfinger, The Guess Who, Joe Bonamassa, Blood Sweat & Tears, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Edgar Winter, Pure Prairie League, The Romantics, and Peter Frampton,” according to https://vinylrevivalkc.com/
To view prior articles on the two new additions to downtown Fort Scott:
Beach Museum of Art Specialist and Musician Nate McClendon will be at the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center Theater on Thursday, March 21, 2024, to present his portrait of Gordon Parks in music and narration with a jazz band.
The performance starts at 7:30 p.m. and doors open at 7 p.m.
This performance was inspired by the exhibition Homeward to the Prairie I Come: Photographs by Gordon Parks from the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University organized by the Beach Museum with support from Art Bridges, a philanthropic organization dedicated to expanding access to American art.\
This music and narration event is free and open to the public of all ages courtesy of Art Bridges. It is part of the Gordon Parks
Convening at the Ellis Fine Arts Center, March 20 – 22, a collaboration with the Beach Museum of Art and the
Gordon Parks Museum funded by Art Bridges. The convening will have over twelve museum professionals from across the nation at Fort Scott learning more about Gordon Parks and his works.
For information on the Portrait of Gordon Parks: Interpretive Jazz event, contact Kirk Sharp, executive director,
620) 223-2700, ext. 5850, or at [email protected].
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A group of residents organized last summer to form a non-profit corporation that will be bringing education, community, and culture to Southeast Kansas through theatre productions, called Bourbon County Community Theatre.
“BCCT was formed in late June and has been working since then to get up and running so that the people of Bourbon County can soon have the opportunity to participate in and enjoy community theatre again,” said Delynn Abati, public relations person for the group.
The group’s first event is March 16 and is a prom for adults to fund future events and performances.
“We are hoping this prom for adults will become an annual night of fun, dancing, and community support,” she said.
This formal dance is for anyone age 21 and up and will be held in The Legacy Center on the lower level of the old Mercy Hospital building at 401 Woodland Hills Blvd.
“We will have a promenade beginning at 7:45 pm and the dance will run from 8-11 pm,” she said in a press release. “In addition to dancing, we will have non-alcoholic drinks, a charcuterie board, and a chocolate fondue bar included in the ticket price, as well as alcoholic beverages available for purchase from the bar, provided by Sharky’s.”
“We’re hoping to add to the fun (and success) of the night with some lighthearted music dueling,” she said. “Attendees can pay $1 to request and/or dedicate a song, $5 to request a song NOT be played for an hour, or $10 for a song to be banned for the night.”
Tickets can be purchased at BCCT.ticketspice.com (QR code provided below) or at the door on March 16.
Online tickets are $50 per couple or $30 for a single ticket. Tickets purchased at the door will go up in price to $75 per couple or $40 for a single ticket.
“Our BCCT board is so excited to be offering this event to the people of Fort Scott and surrounding areas and hopes that it will be a success for years to come,” she said.
The BCCT is accepting members.
“If you’d like to be a part of bringing community theatre back to Bourbon County, visit our Facebook page; and fill out the Community Theatre Interest Form,” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552088270799he said.
Additionally, on the horizon is a Night of Living History performance.
“The Bourbon County Community Theatre is looking for people who would like to be involved in a committee for a Night of Living History performance,” said Abati. “This will be a play (or similar event) telling some of the history of Fort Scott and its surrounding areas.”
Construction work continues on the new Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church and the new parish rectory, changing the configuration of the church campus.
But the annual fish fry remains the same.
“Not much has changed on our fish fries,” Knights of Columbus Member Calvin Barr said. “As the saying goes, ‘why mess with something that is working?”‘
The annual Knights of Columbus Lenten Fish Fry continues every Friday until March 22 at Kennedy Gym at 7th and Holbrook, on the campus of Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church, and St. Mary’s Catholic School.
The Kennedy Gym is located at 7th and Holbrook Streets, just behind St. Mary’s Catholic School, and is the site of the annual Knights of Columbus Lenten Fish Fry.
The meal is from 5 to 7 p.m. and includes fried or baked fish, french fries or baked potato, vegetables, spaghetti with sauce, bread, dessert, and drink.
This is a freewill offering meal, but a minimum of $8 is asked for the meal, according to the flyer.
Barr gave an update on Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church, which the Knights are a part of.
“Fr. Yancy’s new rectory is just about completed,” Carr said. “The workers are finishing up the inside this week.”
The priest’s rectory, located at 720 Holbrook, is nearing completion. Submitted photo.
The concrete pad for Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church’s new building has been poured.
The foundation for Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church has been poured. Submitted photo.
The metal frame is up, with the walls going up this week.
The metal frame is going up this week for the Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church. Submitted photo.
An artist’s rendition of the new welcome arch that has started this week and will be completed in a month. The project was a partnership with the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team, the Fort Scott area Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Fort Scott. Submitted graphic.
The new downtown welcome arch is slated for concrete work this week, then arch installation after that, followed by stonework and the replacement of the sidewalk and curb.
Words displayed on the metal arch are Welcome to Fort Scott Downtown Historic District.
The metal arch being built by T. L. Steel, Burrton, KS. Submitted photos.
Marbery Concrete, Fort Scott, did the demolition of the sidewalk and curb of the site which is in front of the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce office, 231 E. Wall.
The site in front of the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce where the arch will be installed. Sub-contractors Great Plains Drilling, K.C. MO are putting the rock anchors for the arch sign footing in today.
This week, a four-man crew will be making the concrete footings, installing the anchors, and installing the 18 shear lugs into bedrock, to keep the sign secure, according to Jason Marbery, president of Marbery Concrete.
The metal arch sign, itself, will be coming either next week or the week after.
T.L. Steel, Burrton, KS, will be sending a crew of one crane operator, two welders, a rigger (someone who hooks up hoisting equipment), and the project manager, Levi Robillard, to install the arch sign, Robillard said.
“Install will take three days,” Robillard said. “And another day to paint the sign matte black.”
“Then we will come in and complete stonework,” Jess Milburn, JCM Restore LLC, Fort Scott, said.
The new sidewalk and curb will then be poured, Marbery said.
The timeline for completion of the project is one month, Rachel Carpenter, Health Bourbon County Action Team Executive Director said. The HBCAT along with the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Fort Scott facilitated the project.
The total cost of the arch is $120,000.
“It was a creative placemaking project, through the Patterson Foundation. We also received grant funds from Blue Cross and Blue Shield Pathways to a Healthy Kansas,” Carpenter said. “We went through surveys and meetings, public input, which was very important for this project.”
‘An arch of this type has been a vision of the Chamber for several years to welcome locals and visitors to our community and establish the Downtown Historic District as a destination,’ Lindsey Madison, executive director of the chamber, said. “We believe the arch will provide signage to let visitors know they have “arrived” and that the Downtown area lies just ahead.”
“It is amazing how many visitors we have come into the Chamber & Visitor Center to get information and don’t know all of the assets we have within walking distance and around Fort Scott and Bourbon County,” she said. “This will help entice them to explore the area. We were ecstatic that the opportunity came about for the arch to be a placemaking project through the Blue Cross Blue Shield Pathways grant spearheaded by the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team.”
“Several public meetings were held to gather community input on the design, culminating with approval from the Design Review Board of the City. The esthetics of the arch will compliment nearby historic structures including the beautiful Bandera limestone from right here in Bourbon County. This has truly been a group effort by all of the entities involved and we are excited to see it come to fruition,” Madison said.
