Before buried fiber optic cables were common, microwave towers offered one of the best ways of transmitting data signals. As more and more fiber has been installed, the microwave towers fell into disuse. Roughly two decades ago, the AT&T office in Fort Scott installed a large tower for microwave transmission. It is now being taken down.
Below are some photographs of the demolition work being done to remove the tower.
Mark your calendars for Thursday March 29th. The Beacon Soup Line will be held at the Scottish Rite Temple from 11am until 7pm. You can visit the Facebook page and Join to indicate that you plan to come and then share it with friends from the area. If everyone helps spread the word, we can make this the biggest year for a very important local organization.
This is a little late, but here are some pictures from Bake and Shakes from around Christmas. Bake and Shakes is located in the same building as 5 Corners Mini Mart.
The National Weather Service out of Springfield is forecasting a surge of Arctic airmass in Southeast Kansas starting Friday evening with temperatures falling into the single digits by Saturday morning followed by snow and sleet fer the next several days. With the low temperatures road surfaces are projected to be very slick.
Expressly For You is a coffee shop located 19th street and 69 across from Shepherd’s car dealership. It is owned by Judy and Phil Friedrick and opened for business about 5 1/2 years ago.
Expressly For You serves breakfast and lunch with specialty drinks, soups, waffles, cookies, sandwiches and much more.
When I visited I spoke with Jackie Webster who was working the front. She said that most everything they serve is homemade. She said it can take a few minutes to make the drinks or cook a waffle. If customers are in a hurry they can call ahead so it will be ready when they arrive.
The inside of the store is nice decorated, clean and friendly. Having never been in the store, it was quite a bit bigger than I expected.
Expressly For You is open 7 – 2 on Monday through Friday for drive up and in store service. If you want to call ahead, their number is 620-223-1333.
Kansas has an interesting program to help community colleges raise money. It works like this: You or your business can make a donation to FSCC and earn a 60% tax credit. On top of that, you get the federal deduction for a contribution to a non-profit.
So a contribution of $1,000 would get you $600 back from Kansas. The credit is refundable, so you get the $600 even if you didn’t pay $600 in taxes. If you are at the 25% Federal Tax Bracket, the donation can get you $250 off your Federal income tax. So you can donate $1,000 to FSCC and have it only cost you $150. If you are in a higher tax bracket the savings can be even greater.
It is a great program because it lets people keep their tax money local. For a $150 out of pocket expense, you can keep $850 of tax money in our local community instead of sending it to the state and Federal government.
If you might be interested in this, give Gary Palmer a call at 620-223-2700 ext. 5830. You can also take a look at this PDF for more details.
Today several people told me that the Scottish Rite Temple had “For Sale” signs in the window. I assumed that the signs were in the old Western building that is currently owned by Harvest Ministries. But when I went by, the signs were on the part that is owned by the Scottish Rite Temple–where the Kiwanis Pancake Feed and Beacon Soup Feed are held.
I called Diann Tucker at Stewart Realty to ask about it. She had been out of town and was surprised, but after checking with another agent called me back to say that the building is indeed for sale. The asking price is $1,000,000 and some of the personal property is negotiable.
Diann said that if they are able to sell the building, the Scottish Rite will most likely build a smaller facility.
A special thanks to Miss Pat and the Lyon’s Twin Mansions for sponsoring the giveaway. Don’t forget they are open for lunch 9 – 2 Tuesday through Sunday and they open an hour early (at 8am) on the weekends.
If you want to make sure your name is in the running for future giveaways, please sign up for our email list here.
The Chamber Coffee on December 1st was held at Ruddicks at 117 S. National. Ruddicks was started in 1934. The current owner is Terry Davenport. He has been at Ruddicks for 40 years–first as an employee and now as owner.
In addition to furniture, Ruddicks also offers sound equipment and floor materials and installation. Mr. Davenport said that they can order nearly anything and encouraged people to ask if they need something that they don’t have in stock.