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].
.
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.
The Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site Inc. is now accepting applications for new subscriptions and renewals for their Fly the Flag project. The project provides homeowners and businesses, within the city limits of Fort Scott, the opportunity to display the Stars and Stripes on five different flag holidays during 2024 without the hassle of purchasing, placing, and storing a flag and pole. You don’t even have to remember the holiday!
For $37 annually, the Friends will install a 3’x5′ flag on a 12 foot staff at your home or business on each of the following Flag Holidays :
Memorial Day, May 27th
Flag Day, June 14th
Fourth of July, July 4th
Labor Day, September 2nd
Veteran’s Day, November 11th
Applications for new subscriptions can be obtained at the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce or can be requested by phone, text, or email. Call 417-684-2484 or email [email protected]. Renewal notices are being mailed/e-mailed to 2023 subscribers. Both new agreements and renewals must be returned by March 31, 2024.
All proceeds support programs at Fort Scott National Historic Site including Symbols of Sacrifice, Candlelight Tour, and other special programs.
Show your patriotism and help our local National Park by lining the streets of Fort Scott with our nation’s symbol!
The Fly the Flag project is a yearly project sponsored by the Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site. Once signed up, you will receive the option to renew annually.
Fish kill was observed this week at the Fort Scott Community College campus lake.
Walkers around Fort Scott Community College campus lake have noticed many dead fish.
A call with photos of the fish to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks gave the answer.
“The fish that are in the picture are gizzard shad,” said Lucas Kowalewski, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Fisheries-Region 2 Supervisor. “Gizzard shad are very sensitive to cold water conditions and it is very common in waterbodies where they are present to see winter-time kills. Especially in extended periods of extreme cold and periods where water temperatures fluctuate rapidly up and down (which we have experienced both this winter). ”
“That species is very common to see in the wintertime,” he said. “We are on the northern edge of their species distribution. They are very sensitive to cold.”
“This process can be important for other species, such as blue catfish, which will feed heavily on these winter die-offs of gizzard shad on our larger reservoirs, and I have seen migrating bald eagles key in on waterbodies where this is occurring,” he said. Leaving them for the birds and raccoons will clean them up, in time. If the smell gets bad, you might clean them up, but leaving them is OK, too.”
When there are fish kills, biologists look at two things.
Is it one species or multiple?
“If it’s one, is it something specific about that species at this time of year?” he said. “Or is it illness or disease?”
“If multiple species, is it something going on in the environment?” he said. “For example in summer there are low dissolved oxygen fish kills, due to weather patterns and dying plant materials.”
A Gizzard Shad fish kill at Fort Scott Community College lake on February 15, 2024, is the result of fluctuating weather, said a Kansas Fish Biologist.
The agenda was amended due to an error under the consent agenda for Resolution No. 6-2024. The wrong address was submitted from the Codes Inspector.
NOTICE OF AND AGENDA FOR REGULAR
MEETING OF FORT SCOTT CITY COMMISSION
CITY HALL COMMISSION ROOM – 123 SOUTH MAIN ST.
February 20, 2024 – 6:00 P.M.
Call to Order
Roll Call – M. Guns, M. Wells, T. VanHoecke, D. Olson, T. Dancer
III. Pledge of Allegiance
Invocation
Approval of Agenda
Consent Agenda:
Approval of Appropriation Ordinance 1354-A – $772,929.91
Request to Pay – Invoice #17109 – Project No. 23430 – South Industrial Park Waterline Extension – Earles Engineering and Inspection – Inspection Fees – $10,596.05
Consideration of Resolution No. 6-2024 – RESOLUTION AND NOTICE OFHEARING WITH REFERENCE TO ALLEGED UNSAFE AND DANGEROUS STRUCTURE AT 314 W. WALL ST. – L. Kruger/Codes
Consideration of Resolution No. 7-2024 – RESOLUTION AND NOTICE OFHEARING WITH REFERENCE TO ALLEGED UNSAFE AND DANGEROUS STRUCTURE AT 110 W. OAK ST. – L. Kruger/Codes
Consideration of Resolution No. 8-2024 – RESOLUTION AND NOTICE OF HEARING WITH REFERENCE TO ALLEGED UNSAFE AND DANGEROUS STRUCTURE AT 1801 E. WALL ST. – L. Kruger/Codes
January Financials
VII. Public Comment:Sign up required. Comments on any topic not on agenda and limited to five (5) minutes per person, at the Commission’s discretion.
VIII. Appearances:
Mary Wyatt – Grant Update requested by M. Guns
Cory Bryars/Care to Share – Temporary Street Closure and Temporary Park Closure for Fort Fest 2024
Diane Striler – Ice Skating Rink
Deb Needleman – Repairs to Senior Citizens’ Building
Kendall Schoenrock – DCF Building Update
Old Business:
Suggested Street Advisory Board Ordinance Changes – D. Olson
SEKLS Library Board Charter Ordinance – M. Wells
New Business:
Public Hearings:
RESOLUTION NO. 9-2024 A RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE REPAIR OR REMOVAL OF AN ALLEGED UNSAFE AND DANGEROUS STRUCTURE AT 922 E. WALL ST. – Codes Department
RESOLUTION NO. 10-2024 A RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE REPAIR OR REMOVAL OF AN ALLEGED UNSAFE AND DANGEROUS STRUCTURE AT 515 S. HEYLMAN – Codes Department
Action Items:
Consideration to purchase (4) Dura Tracker Portable Flow Monitors with sensors and applicable cipher, software and training for Wastewater Collections System – B. Lemke
Consideration to purchase Lexipol Policy Writing Service for Police Department – $14,126.40 – J. Pickert
Consideration to purchase wide-area batwing mower for Woodland Hills Golf Course – M. Wyatt and D. Fowler
Consideration to purchase (3) skid steers for Streets, Wastewater and Water Distribution Departments – T. Coffman
Consideration of Change Order No. 4 – Project No. 21-074 – 17th St. andEddy St. Drainage Improvements Phase I – J. Richardson Construction –Final Measured Quantities – Decrease of $3,320.00.
Request to Pay – Project No. 21-074 – 17th St. and Eddy St. Drainage Improvements Phase I – J. Richardson Construction – FINAL withCertificate of Substantial Completion $14,453.15
Consideration of Change Order No. 1 – Gunn Park Shower House andRestroom – Hofer-Hofer & Associates – Creation of footing for stabilization – additional cost of $2,640.00.
Consideration of Quit Claims Deed – William L. Brittain and Michelle M.Brittain – B. Farmer
Consideration to renew Arnold Schofield’s term to Design Review Board
A business that provides personalized print services opened an office in August 2023 at 201 E. National, Fort Scott.
Global Print Brokers. Submitted photo.Darrin Gauthier. Submitted photo.
Global Print Brokers owner is James Stewart Gulager and there are two other employees: Darrin Gauthier and Paul Studyvin.
Stewart Gulager, from his Facebook page.
“We specialize in a variety of products, including stock products for forms, labels, and more promotional,” Darrin Gauthier said. “Our goal is to offer our clients the best of the best when it comes to print solutions, and we have the expertise to provide the best cost evaluations to ensure that your business operates smoothly. Reach out today to learn more about how we can help your business thrive.”
Paul Studyvin. Submitted photo.
“The business was started to help the end user find a better product and save them money in the process,” Gauthier said.
“We provide all kinds of custom printed forms and labels,” Gauthier said. “Along with supplying stock forms and labels. We also help out on promotional and plastic items.”
Forms they provide with some examples:
Pressure Seal
Integrated Labels
Joined Webs
NCR products
Cutsheets
Multi-Part forms
Medical / Lab / Pharmacy Forms
Letterhead
Envelopes
Business/Appointment Cards
Custom printed
Stock
Many more products
Labels:
Shipping Labels
Roll labels
Static cling label
Decal
Stickers
Tire
Industrial Labels
Window Labels
Water bottle labels
Asset tags
Many other items
Plastics:
Gift Cards
Loyalty cards
Mailers
Key tags / any other combination
Etc
Promotional items:
Pens
Signs
Rugs
Tents
Banners
Posters
Mugs
etc.
Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
The business phone is 913-285-5774
To reach the staff: Stewart Gulager – 620-215-4464; Darrin Gauthier – 620-215-6298; and Paul Studyvin – 620-215-2523.
Barbed Wire and Rose Vintage Market owner Rosemary Harris. Submitted photo.
Rosemary Harris opened Barbed Wire and Roses Vintage Market, 18 N. Main Ste. A on January 30, 2021.
The Barbed Wire and Roses Vintage Market, 18 N. Main, Suite A.. Submitted photo.
“Barbed Wire and Roses Vintage Market was started because I love vintage, antique, and collectible items and through the store, they can find new life and purpose and can go back out into the world,” Harris said. “I love when someone finds an item in the store that they have been looking for and share their story about it. I also felt that our historic downtown area was the perfect location for opening a vintage/antique store.”
The shop provides Fort Scott and the surrounding areas a place to go for furniture, home décor, collectibles, and fun and unique items. “We also have people coming into the store looking for specific items and we try to help people locate those items whenever we can,” she said. “Our vendors and consignment items bring a variety of products into the store for our customers and friends to choose from.”
A variety of one-of-a-kind articles are found in Barbed Wire and Roses Vintage Market. Submitted photo.
Conversations are started over some items.
“Toys and home décor bring back lots of fond memories,” she said. “Many customers enjoy reminiscing over items in the store their grandparents or other family members had when they were growing up and visiting their homes. We love when our shoppers share their stories and memories about cherished collections or mementos they have.”
” We hope to keep providing Fort Scott and the surrounding area with a fun place to shop and continue to be a part of our downtown shopping district,” Harris said. “We are excited to be celebrating our third year in business. We are celebrating our 3-year anniversary with sales throughout the store and treats for the month of February.”
Some merchandise in the shop. Submitted photo.
Contact information: the store number is 620-224-7764 and it can be found on Facebook at Barbed Wire and Roses Vintage Market
