The Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce will have a new face welcoming the public at its office at 231 E. Wall and a new configuration of the building interior this year, along with some new divisions of the Chamber.

At the weekly Chamber coffee January 4,  Lindsay Madison, executive director of the Chamber, said Vonnie Rickerson will replace Allyson Turvey as the administrative assistant in the Chamber office starting January 8.

In an interview following the coffee, Madison said the public area of the Chamber building will be enlarged and the administrative assistant will be shifted to the left of the front door, while the tourism section will be moved to the north part of the building.

Turvey will change from a Chamber employee to a city employee.

“She will work 1/3 time for tourism, 1/3 time for economic development and 1/3 times for community development,” Madison said.

The enlargement of the public area is the result of Fort Scott becoming a regional tourism center with the State of Kansas.

“There are two other regional tourism centers in the state,” Madison said. “So there will be a lot more materials and signage, so there will be changes to the building.”

Also new this year, the Chamber board is adding an Ambassador Group “to be more in touch with our members,” Madison said. At the coffee meeting, she asked for volunteers to be an Ambassador.

Madison said the Chamber has selected a new mission statement as a result of the tourism section coming under the city direction.

Supporting businesses, building community and promoting town spirit is the new mission statement at the Chamber.

Announcements from the first Chamber Coffee of the year:

• The Salvation Army Kettle Campaign this year netted $7,000, Allen Schellack said. Schellack is the director of Fort Scott Compassionate Ministries and the local agency for the SA.
• The Young Professional League will soon be having its annual enchilada fundraiser in support of the Beacon, YPL Member Chris Petty said.
• Zach Allen, Craw-Kan Telephone Cooperative, said that the company is bringing fiber optic services to the city’s businesses.
• Live Local, a local grassroots group, will be a new division of the Chamber and will focus on local businesses, Gregg Motley said.
• The annual Chamber dinner will be March 15, Motley said.

Pictured above, the attendees of the weekly Chamber coffee mingle before the meeting began.

Each week attendees may pay $1 and tell about an upcoming event, with proceeds going to support the Chamber trolley car.

The average attendance is 40-60 people, according to Madison.

This Saturday, January 6, Fort Scott’s first microbrewery will open at 11 a.m.

Named the Boiler Room Brewhaus, the brewery is located in the lower level of the Beaux Arts Center, 102 S. National. Entry is from the alley on the south.

Public parking is at First and National Streets and additionally,  Judson and Second Streets nearby. The Fort Scott Post Office parking lot is off-limits, however it is through the post office parking lot that one must enter the facility.

“It’s  a comfy atmosphere,” Barbara Ritter, who along with her sister-in-law Peggy Ritter are the owners, said. “No TV’s. We want to encourage people to talk to each other.”

In addition there will be board games.

There is a 40 person capacity in the tap-room, she said.

Right now, Barbara’s husband Bryan Ritter is the primary brewer.

He is making ales.

“Beers fall into two categories,” Bryan Ritter said. “Ales and lagers…most people in Bourbon County drink lagers such as Budweiser and Coors. I’m not going to focus on that right now.”

The cooler seasons are ale seasons, Bryan said.

“You want something thicker and richer,” he said. “There is 4-6 percent alcohol content.” He can produce one barrel per brewing session or about 33 gallons.

For opening night, they will have close to 100 gallons, he said.

In addition, Jake Johnson will provide the music that evening.

Only prepared snacks will be offered in the taproom with the beer.

“By Bourbon County law, 30 percent of sales have to be in food,” Barbara said. “We don’t want to be a restaurant. So we are hoping  to get some support by getting it put on the ballot to change the law for microbreweries.”

The hours for the brewery are Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday, 12 to 7 p.m.

Recently, the City of Fort Scott Commissioners implemented a  policy to engage employees in becoming more fit.

This was in response to the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team challenging businesses to develop wellness policies, Deb Needleman, human resources director with the city, said.

Other entities challenged to promote wellness and physical activity were Fort Scott Community College, Mercy Hospital, USD 234, USD 235, Peerless Products Inc., McDonald’s Restaurant, Landmark Bank and Ward Kraft Inc.

“Fort Scott Community College passed their policy recently, too,” Jody Hoener,  administrator for the Bourbon County Healthy Pathway Grant from Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Kansas Insurance, said. “I talked to (FSCC President) Alysia Johnston, who said they have started painting the room where their (fitness) equipment will be,” Hoener said.

“We are setting up policies to encourage employees to exercise at least three hours per week,” Needleman said. “We’ll be rolling the policy out in January to our employees.”

For her part, Needleman has started CrossFit training.

“The policy will encourage me to do CrossFit three times per week,” she said. “But any moderate physical activity that gets the heart rate going,” will work.

If she continues her fitness program for the whole month, “The following month I’ll get an incentive, a $20 reimbursement in expenses,” Needleman said.

This money can be spent on “fitness club membership, shoes, a new tire for a bicycle or anything related to physical activity”, she said.

The outcome of the policy implementation is expected to be an increase in the level of activity which is intended to help the bottom line of each entity that participates.

“When you have healthy activity, employees are more productive, there are lower health care costs and lower employee absenteeism and higher employee retention,” Needleman said.

For the incentives, employees must meet the criteria set forth in the policy, and Needleman acknowledges that not everyone will.

The policy is not mandatory, Needleman said.

Still, the city has set aside $9,000 to $15,000 in its’ budget to incent employees to get more active.

The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team will survey the city staff in August or September 2018 to find out if the level of activity has increased and thereby are approaching or meeting national standards, Needleman said.

“We will look at and re-evaluate the policy at that time,” Needleman said.

“We were about one-half of the national standard,” when surveyed prior to implementation of the policy,  she said.

Increasing activity is the goal of year one of the policy, Needleman said.

“Year two, we will look at nutrition,” she said. “Healthy eating, food choices in the workplace.”

“Year three we will look at tobacco cessation,” she said.

Each worksite is eligible for $10,000 to implement a wellness policy  Hoener said.

Firefighter Colten Hoggatt, 25, pictured, works out even on his days off for about one hour, he said. The fire department has a separate building on site that it uses as a fitness room.

Fort Scott Fire Department Captain Dale Bolinger said the fire department currently tracks physical activity of each employee and that information is included in their employment evaluation.