The Hole in the Wall Liquor Store, at Wall and Scott Street September 2018..
HOLE IN THE WALL GRAND OPENING & RIBBON CUTTING
FORT SCOTT – The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce announces a Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting Celebration for Hole in the Wall Liquor Store in their new location of 124 E. Wall St. in Downtown Fort Scott. The event will take place Friday, October 12th from 5:30 to 7 pm with the Ribbon Cutting & Remarks at 6 pm. There will be samples, snacks, and door prize giveaways.
Owners Roy & Jody Hoener sought a new location for their liquor store in Fort Scott’s Downtown Historic District and after receiving a CDBG Grant (Community Development Block Grant) renovated the dilapidated building at the corner of Wall and Scott streets.
Hole in the Wall Liquor Store originally opened on Oak Street in the mid-1980’s by Roy’s mother Connie Hoener and her father Roy Louderman. Roy Hoener has since taken ownership of the business and he and Jody look to a successful future with the new location and loyal customers.
The Hoener’s would like to recognize those who completed the building redevelopment including:
Exterior: Hofer & Hofer & Associates, Inc., Ag Engineering, R II Concrete, Casper Enterprises, LLC, Peerless Products, Tanner Beckham & Dennis Speer, Murphy Roofing; Interior: Great Expectations, Geiger Plumbing, KTK Electric, Miles Woodworking, Ruddick’s Furniture, Terry Kirby, Perry Cannon.
For more information please contact the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce at (620) 223-3566.
Former Gov. John W Carlin will make a stop in Fort Scott on Tuesday, October 9.
He has been speaking with Kansans about the future of rural health care. His visit comes just days after Mercy Hospital announced it will be closing its doors in Fort Scott.
Carlin was elected Governor of Kansas in 1978 and served two terms. Prior to that, he was Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives. He currently teaches at Kansas State University in Manhattan and is not running for office.
Jeff Sweetser and Kate Emmett-Sweetser will host a reception for Carlin at 10:30 a.m. at 116 South Main Street. The public is invited.
The city of Fort Scott and Bourbon County officials urgently join forces after the announcement of Mercy Hospital’s closure in Fort Scott Kansas.
October 4, 2018
City and County officials continue to meet to strategize a collaborative approach to the future of healthcare in Bourbon County.
Officials remain optimistic about the quality of life, access to health care, and continued economic growth.
The joint effort’s immediate next steps are to form a task force comprised of representatives from the City, County, Chamber of Commerce, USD 234, USD 235, Fort Scott Community College, businesses, Bourbon County Economic Development Council, Inc. and the financial community.
The task force will be led by Robert Uhler, City of Fort Scott Director of Community Development.
Mercy’s local leadership has taken steps to safeguard emergency services beyond their closure to ensure access to critical healthcare services.
The intention of this task force is to identify the next model of sustainable healthcare in this community.
With resilient citizens and ongoing legislative support, Bourbon County expects to be a representation of future healthcare in rural Kansas.
Rachel Pruitt Jody Hoener
Economic Development Economic Development Director
The City crews will be trimming trees that are overhanging over the streets throughout the City of Fort Scott.
This is for school buses and the trolley to operate safely down the City streets.
Please be advised that according to City Ordinance 2527, “The City shall have the right to plant, prune, maintain and remove plants, trees and shrubs within the lines of all streets, alleys, avenues, lanes, squares and public grounds, as may be necessary to ensure the safety or to preserve the symmetry and beauty of such public grounds.”
If you have questions, call City Hall at 223-0550.
The Journal magazine just published this story on what Independence, Kansas, has learned in terms of surviving without a hospital, noted The Journal Managing Editor Chris Green in an email to fortscott.biz.
“I thought it might be of interest with the news out of your community this week,” Green said in the email.
The recent announcement of Mercy Hospital closing, announced October 1, has stirred up Fort Scottians.
The loss of the hospital that has been a part of the town since 1886 has driven the local government to step in.
During the Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Downtown Meet and Greet Tuesday morning, Fort Scott City representatives spoke to the group.
“The City (of Fort Scott) is doing everything we can to facilitate the Mercy transition…the physicians will stay on…We are working on solutions,” Rachel Pruitt, Fort Scott Economic Economic Director, said.
“Ambulance and emergency room (services) are being worked on,” added Robert Uhler, Fort Scott Community Development Director.
Here is an excerpt from a later press release Pruitt wrote:
“The City intends to support our residents in every way possible through this transition. Robert Uhler, Community Development Director; Rachel Pruitt, Economic Development Director; and Dave Martin, City Manager are actively working on solutions and have been pleased with the outreach of interested parties. Our citizens work hard and deserve affordable healthcare. We are confident Fort Scott will overcome this challenge and continue to be a great place to work and raise families.”
To see the full press release send yesterday, click:
First off, the City would like to recognize the incredible effort by all of the Mercy employees and it’s local leaders.
1886.
That is the year the first Mercy hospital opened and we have been blessed to have their services. The tireless effort of these employees proves the strong community character of Fort Scott.
What makes Fort Scott a great place is the people. Our people have seen this town thrive, face challenges, and rebound like never before.
Fort Scott continues to see remarkable industry growth with the addition of over 800 jobs within the last 5 years. Over a 24% increase in the hourly median wage. In addition to the commercial investment with employer expansions, the residential investment has grown by 45% within the last two years.
Fort Scott is home to generations of families.
People who have been raised here and are returning home to raise their families.
People who have gone to the Community College here and choose Fort Scott as their home.
We have a district-wide student to teacher ratio of 13 to 1. An aquatic center which opened in 2012. One of the top 10 best public golf courses in the state. A 360-acre lake for fishing, boating, and recreation. Over 7 miles of bike trails within Gunn Park which is home to 7 shelter houses, 2 fishing lakes, playground areas, and a 9 hole Frisbee golf course. A state of the art baseball facility featuring a 1,200 seat stadium, 2 indoor batting cages, clubhouse with lockers and lounge, turf infield and grass outfield.
Fort Scott has tremendous community pride. The City intends to support our residents in every way possible through this transition.
Robert Uhler, Community Development Director, Rachel Pruitt, Economic Development Director, and Dave Martin, City Manager are actively working on solutions and have been pleased with the outreach of interested parties.
Our citizens work hard and deserve affordable healthcare. We are confident Fort Scott will overcome this challenge and continue to be a great place to work and raise families.
Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes Program Director Megan Felt, left, with Cathy Werling, the author of Mommy Who Was Irena Sendler? book.
It’s been 19 years since the story of Irena Sendler, the rescuer from death of 2,500 Jews in Poland, was discovered by three Uniontown High School students in Norm Conard’s history class. The Jews were being killed in Europe by the Nazi Germans.
“It was September 23, 1999, when we found the clipping that day in Norm’s class,” Megan Felt said. That clipping mentioned Sendler as one of a few people in Europe at the time who stepped up to save the Jews.
The students, Elizabeth Cambers Hutton, and Sabrina Coons Murphy along with Felt, did a history project on Irena Sendler that changed the lives of many, including Sendler who was still living at the time.
Several books and a movie have been made of Sendler’s life and are available for sale at the center.
Now one of the “rescuers of the rescuer”, Megan Stewart Felt, is featured in a book on Sendler that features she and her daughter, Blair, in re-telling the story for younger children.
The children’s book, self-published by the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes, is entitled Mommy Who Was Irena Sendler?, by Cathy Werling.
Werling is an employee of the center and Felt is the program director of the center, located at Wall and Main Street in downtown Fort Scott.
“Cathy surprised me with her idea of telling the story,” Felt said. “I think it’s special to tell about Irena, involving my daughter, Blair.”
Blair, who is 8-years-old, is “very excited,” Felt said. “She has been practicing her cursive handwriting to sign books for the family,” she said with a smile.
While Werling was writing the book, Blair came to the center and got a tour from Werling.
“I hadn’t told her much about Irena and the holocaust,” Felt said.
Werling explained the story in a way that Blair could understand, Felt said.
“We continued to have conversations about Irena and…. how one person can make a difference,” Felt said. “I want her to know that even though she is a girl in Southeast Kansas, she has the power to make a difference and being a positive change in the world. That’s the goal of the center.”
Werling agreed.
“When I got involved with the center, I found the work of the center is to help people understand that one person can make a difference,” she said.
“Young children need role models to show what you can do in circumstances where someone needs to step up,” Werling said.
“If we can help them be a positive force, that’s my mission, to see that,” she said. “Everyday people like them that can have a powerful impact.
Mommy Who Was Irena Sendler? is the third book that Werling has written on unsung heroes at the center.
Area elementary students come to the center for book readings at their appropriate level.
The children are then encouraged to choose to make a difference in someone’s life.
“It’s moving to see the little kids become involved in the stories on unsung heroes,” Felt said. “You hear them saying ‘I saw a little girl who sits alone. I can sit with her.'”
Werling uses a “hook” in her children’s books to get the child interested, then the story is told, the book ends with how the child can “be like that person,” Werling said.
In her latest book, Werling has additional pages of facts on the story, including photos.
“I want them to understand that the story is true,” Werling said.
The illustrator of the book is Maggie Raguse, Werling’s sister-in-law, who is a professional artist.
The book Mommy Who Was Irena Sendler? will be published by the end of October 2018, then will be for sale at the center, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble bookstores, Werling said.
The Airport Advisory Board will meet on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018 at 12:00 p.m. at the City Commission meeting room at City Hall, 123 S. Main Street, Fort Scott, Kansas. This meeting is open to the public.
Annually on the first Sunday in October, LIFE CHAIN invites all churches in each city and town across North America to stand on a designated local sidewalk and pray for 60 minutes, while holding an approved pro-life sign message.
LIFE CHAIN is not a demonstration, it is standing as a witness to those who call Christ their Lord to hold pro-life messages that declare abortion a grave evil that defames the name and holiness of God (Leviticus 18:21). Indeed the Church that Christ founded has drifted into cold indifference toward the sacredness of human life, and the result has been the mindless surgical killing and mutilation of over 50 million preborn Americans, plus untold millions who have fallen victim to abortive chemicals and medical neglect.
Stand with thousands of pro-lifers throughout the USA. You’ll be a light in a darkened world as you help put an end to abortion through prayer.
Bring your whole family. Rain or shine.
Water, lawn chairs, umbrellas and strollers are welcome.
Signs provided at each location.
Life Chain is a peaceful, prayerful public witness of pro-life Americans standing in honor of 54 million lives lost to abortion, praying for our nation, for people in crisis situations and for an end to abortion. It as a visual statement of solidarity by the Christian community that abortion kills children, and that the Church supports the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death.
(1:30pm gather at 1818 S Main for instructions then stand in the Life Chain 2 to 3pm)
There will be a meeting of the Fort Scott Land Bank held on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. in the City Commission meeting room at 123 S. Main Street.
This meeting will be held to continue to discuss the policies of the Land Bank and to review two sample policies.
There will be a majority of the City Commissioners present, but no City Commission business will be conducted.
