The 49th Annual Invitational Grade School Music Festival was held at Fort Scott Community College Saturday.
“The day was a huge success!Ellis and Bailey Halls (were) packed full of excited young musicians performing as soloists as well as in small and large ensembles,” Seth Ernst, FSCC music instructor said.
“Here are some numbers from the day:
– Thirty-four schools and private music studios attended, just shy of 300 solos performed, 46 small and large ensembles, upwards of 400 students, in total, across all entries.
“There were hundreds of family and friends in attendance to watch and listen,” Ernst said. “I must give my sincerest thanks to the following people:
– The maintenance staff, for their hard work in helping me set up and tear down all of the festival rooms,
– The business office, for their excellent help with getting me resources for the festival,
– The festival judges, two of whom include our very own Ronda Bailey and Dr. Greg Turner, for their expertise in assigning students’ ratings and giving valuable performance suggestions,
– The student workers, who put in a long day and made sure that all of the performance rooms ran smoothly and that students received their earned awards. These included Abigail Gilligan, Alexandreia Johnston, Allison Gilligan, Ashley Lockwood, Dayton Knight, Donnie Flowers, Erin Deatsch, Jackalynn Neher, Katie Palmer, Kevin Kerr, Megan Thomas, Shayla Button, Tim Higgins and Ty Covey.”
The Fort Scott Community College Music Department will present the annual Spring Concert on Saturday, May 12, at 7:00 pm in the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center, 2108 South Horton St.
The FSCC Chamber Winds will begin the concert with a Hollywood-themed prelude consisting of several beloved themes from silver screen classics.
The FSCC Choir will take the second half of the show with a wide variety of uplifting and inspiring works that are sure help you feel the fullness and life of the spring season.
Admission is free and open to the public!
For more information, please contact Seth Ernst at 620-223-2700 ext. 3058, or email sethe@fortscott.edu.”
Courtesy photos. The Fort Scott High School Forensic Team 2018.
Fort Scott High School Forensics scored this weekend.
“We had 36 events qualify for state this year,” Amber Toth,FSHS Forensic Teacher, said. “However, we are only allowed to take 16 total entries and two Lincoln Douglas Debaters. Overall, as a team, we took second.”
She is proud of her forensic students.
“If you see Forensics kids, please tell them congrats,” Toth said.” It is an amazing accomplishment to walk out of the largest state tournament in any classification with a trophy for the 2nd year in a row.”
Courtesy photos. Fort Scott High School Forensics Team 2018.
Individual Results:
Darby Toth is the Oration State Champion and the Impromptu State Runner-Up
Elizabeth Ngatia is the State Runner-Up in Oration and takes 4th in Poetry.
“We also have 15 students attending the National Tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this summer,” she said.
Tayton Majors and Sara Al-Shawish will be competing in Policy Debate.
Darby Toth will be recognized on the state level as a four time-qualifier (Fort Scott’s second ever), was chosen as South Kansas District Student of the Year, and will compete in Student Congress.
Zoe Self and Hunter Adamson will be competing in Duo Interpretation.
Rebekah Sweyko will be competing in Informative Speaking.
Madison Toth will be competing in Program of Oral Interpretation.
Ashtyn Dowell and Jorden Willard will compete in Public Forum Debate.
Elizabeth Ngatia will be competing in Original Oration.
Isabella Provence will be competing in Humorous Interpretation.
Brooklyn Lyons will be competing in Program of Oral Interpretation.
Mark Adams will compete in Domestic Extemp.
Dalton Womeldorff will compete in World Schools Debate.
Jonie Antonio will compete in World Schools Debate.
The National Day of Prayer Breakfast drew a crowd Thursday morning at the Ellis Fine Arts Center at Fort Scott Community College.
“The National Day of Prayer was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman,” according to its website. “In 1988, the law was unanimously amended by both the House and the Senate and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on Thursday, May 5, 1988, designating the first Thursday of May as a day of national prayer. Every president since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation.”
For more information about the National Day of Prayer click below:
The prayer breakfast was sponsored locally by Cheney Witt Chapel, Pioneer Kiwanis, Fort Scott Ministerial Alliance, and Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce.
Kelley Collins, president of Pioneer Kiwanis welcomed the crowd.
Kelley Collins, president of Pioneer Kiwanis welcomes the crowd to the National Day of Prayer breakfast Thursday morning at the Ellis Fine Arts Center.
Pastor Norman Tillotson, who pastors the First Baptist Church and Cherry Grove Baptist Church gave both the invocation and benediction.
The presentation of the flags was by Olson-Frary-Burkhart Post #1165 V.F.W.
Attendees of the National Prayer Breakfast sing “God Bless America”.
Music was provided by Ronda Bailey, FSCC English instructor.
“Unity” was the topic by Pastor Danny Brown of Christian Gospel Chapel, based on Ephesians 4:3 “Making every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.”
Danny Brown spoke on unity, the theme of the 2018 National Day of Prayer.
Because this month the Kiwanis Club of Fort Scott Pioneers is celebrating 30 years of serving the community, they served cupcakes to attendees as they were leaving the breakfast.
The Fort Scott Police Department daily reports can best be viewed on a computer.
The department is located at 1604 S. National, Fort Scott, KS 66701
and can be reached at 620-223-1700.
Click here to view the reports, then click on the image to enlarge:
The Design Review Board will meet on Wednesday, May 9th, 2018 at 4:00 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 alterations to the building at 16 N. National Avenue and any other matters that may come before the Board. This meeting is open to the public.
Jared Leek leads the Good Ol Days parade in a prior year.
The Good Ol Days Parade is just one month away, so speak to your employees, organizations or friends to put on “thinking caps” for a creative entry in it.
The parade theme this year is “Fins, Feathers, & Furs” Celebrating the Great Outdoors. Categories are float, golf cart, foot unit, horse unit, classic car, antique car, tractor and other (no prize is awarded for this).
Tractors are one category in the Good Ol Days annual parade.
The parade will be Friday, June 1, at 6 p.m. beginning at 7th and Main.
Entries without registration entry form completed will not be allowed in the parade.
The place registration number must be attached to the right side of the parade entry.
Information on placement in the parade will be available prior to the line-up at 5 p.m. from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Chamber of Commerce, 321 E. Wall.
Absolutely NO candy, gum or goodies can be thrown to the crowd from your float. For the safety of children, it must be handed out by someone on foot.
A float in a prior year’s Good Ol Days parade.
The deadline to enter is Wednesday, May 30, 2018.
Deliver or mail entry to Chamber of Commerce, 231 E Wall, Fort Scott, KS 66701
OR fax entry to (620) 223.3574, or email to information@fortscott.com
First place prizes will be awarded and mailed to the winners in each category.
The Fort Scott Police Department daily reports can best be viewed on a computer.
The dept. is located at 1604 S. National, Fort Scott, KS 66701 and can be reached at 620-223-1700.
Courtesy photo. New bikes stand at the Bike Share spot at the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce office.
Bike Share is coming soon to Fort Scott, in fact, the bikes are here!
“It all started with a group of us visiting Thrive Allen County’s Bike Share program and deciding the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce would take it on under their wing,” Jody Hoener, Mercy Hospital Clinic Quality and Community Benefit Liaison, said.
” Lindsay Madison (Executive Director of the Chamber) has done an exceptional job coordinating it all.”
The bikes are made possible through a grant from Blue Cross/Blue Shield Kansas Insurance.
For more information about this $500,000 grant awarded to the Bourbon County Action Team click here:
Allen County Bike Share is a free program that allows people to borrow bikes to explore the streets and trails of our communities, according to its website.
To learn more about the Thrive Allen County Bike Share, click here:
The bikes in Fort Scott will be available at spots around the city.
The bike pick-up spots will be the Chamber office, 321 E. Wall and Peerless Products Inc., 2403 S. Main.
“Then we need to decide the other spots,” Hoener said. “There were several community members who are also part of Gunn Park Volunteers who joined us originally.”
Courtesy photo. Frank Halsey backs up a bike into his company trailer to bring all the newly purchased bikes to Fort Scott Tuesday. Halsey is an avid mountain biker and is president of Mid-Continental Restoration Co. Fort Scott.
Frank Halsey, who has spearheaded creating new bike trails in the community with others in the Gunn Park Volunteers, has been a part of the effort.
Courtesy photo. Frank Halsey, Gunn Park Volunteers, Jody Hoener, and Lindsay Madison, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce.
Hoener, Madison, and Halsey picked up the bikes May 1 from Velo+ Bicycle Shop in Iola.
Courtesy photo. Lindsay Madison, Frank Halsey, and Jody Hoener packing the bikes in the trailer for transport from Iola to Fort Scott.
“The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team participated in bringing the bike share program here and paid for 10 bikes,” Hoener said. “Peerless is going to take two of them at that end of town!”
Members of the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team are:
Reta Baker, Sherise Beckham, Craig Campbell, Alice Maffet, Rachel Pruitt, David Martin, Alysia Johnston, Madison, Joy Miller, Kathy McEwan, Mark McCoy, Rhonda Hoener, Pam Brown, Janet Braun, Rhonda Dunn, Dr. Randy Nichols, and Hoener.
The Good Samaritan Auction and Dinner is today, Wednesday, May 2.
The annual event is to benefit senior citizens who have outlived their resources at Fort Scott Presbyterian Village.
Chicken Mary’s dinners are served from 4:30-6:30 p.m. along with homemade desserts and the auction begins at 5:00.
The village is located at 2401 S. Horton, Fort Scott, KS. Call (620) 223-5550 or stop by for meal tickets. Meal tickets were $8.50 in advance and $12 today. Carry out is available.
“We started this specific fundraising event in 2003 doing an auction and dinner, however, we have had a Good Samaritan fund ever since the first Presbyterian Manor opened,” Ginger Nance, executive director of the local assisted living facility, said. “Each year our fundraising event gains momentum as people learn more about the mission of our organization and how the funds are used. Every dollar raised is used to help seniors who have a financial need to pay for the care that they need if they should outlive their resources, through no fault of their own. All money stays local in Fort Scott. We have never asked someone to move out due to lack of resources. This is a commitment we make to people when they move in.”
All money donated to the Good Samaritan program is tax-deductible.
The Presbyterian Village is a not-for-profit, Christian mission organization.
Nance is asking the community to get involved.
“An event of this caliber cannot happen without the help of hundreds of volunteers who donate their time, talents and resources,” Nance said. “Our community understands that a program like this is only sustainable through the commitment of supporters… who reach out to help. One never knows when it might be them who needs the help in return one day. ”
This year there will be a drawing to win a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Drawing tickets are $5 each or three for $10. One need not be present to enter this drawing.
The New Mexico adventure is into the beauty of 7,000-foot Rocky Mountain vistas of Santa Fe. Ancient native culture mixed with modern arts and legendary cuisine is part of the visit, according to information provided by Nance.
There are many attractions… numerous art galleries, historic sites, museums, shops, and plenty of places to hike, cycle or climb nearby, and winter skiing at the Santa Fe Ski Basin.
“The donor of the trip is a local person who has supported the mission of the Village for many years,” Nance said. ” He and many others have seen firsthand the benefits that the Village can provide family members in their time of need.”
The auction, at 5 p.m. May 2, is a large one.
“We have many super great items for the auction,” Nance said. ” We have started lining things up but we are a long way from done.”
Pictured are a few of the auction items:
Items are still being accepted for the auction.
“If people have things they are no longer using, or simply don’t need, we’d love to have them donated to the auction,” Nance said. “Sometimes people have a boat just sitting around that they haven’t used, maybe a motorcycle, a vehicle, a piece of furniture, golf cart, tractors, you name it, we can use it! We can provide a receipt to the donor and it is a tax-deductible contribution for them. Everyone wins in this situation. The person who donates their items, the person who buys a nice item they would love to own, and the seniors who benefit from this awesome fund.”
“More than anything, I hope people can understand that each person can make a positive difference in the lives of seniors in need Nance said. ” Every meal sold, every item donated, every ticket purchased, every item bought at the auction, every smile and word of encouragement means the world. Come out and see what a great time it is!”
