Travis and Jennifer Sawyer and some of their friends came up with a Halloween event that will take place starting this evening at Riverfront Park on Fort Scott’s North National Avenue.
The two-evening event is called the Haunting of Belltown.
“Travis and I and our friends thought up this idea for the community,” Jennifer said. “We did a small hayride last year with our kids and they enjoyed it so we did a haunted hayride last year for the community and was a big hit. Unfortunately insurance for our dealership to host it was going to cost too much so we decided to do it in town.”
Left-right: John Willis, Jerica Roberts, Jennifer Sawyer, Travis Sawyer, Mary Binford, and Josh Binford (not pictured) are the creators of the Haunting of Belltown. Submitted photo.
A haunted walking trail, hayride and Halloween movies await those who come to the Haunting of Belltown.
“The hayride I would say is for all ages and the haunted trail I would say 6th grade and up, but will be best based on parents preference,” Jennifer said.
The event is Oct. 14 and 15 from 7 to 11 p.m. , on the southside of the Marmaton River on North National Avenue.
“It will be the road where Stephen Toal did all the murals under the Hwy. 69 bypass,” Jennifer said. “There will be a hayride, haunted walking trail, Halloween movies will be playing, and we will be selling hot dogs, hot cocoa and other beverages.”
To enter is free but they will be accepting donations.
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office is sponsoring a women’s self defense class this Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Fort Scott Middle School from 10 a.m. to noon.
“This class is for women 12 years old and older, all the way up to 90,” said Kim Schwab, Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Administrative Assistant.
“The instructor is Jill Leiker, Executive Director of The Ali Kemp Educational Foundation,” she said. “She currently holds the rank of a 9th degree black belt, although the techniques taught in this class are not martial arts. They are simple techniques that any woman can learn and execute. She has instructed over 70,000 women in these techniques. She also was the recipient of the 2018 WIN for Kansas City’s Outstanding Woman Award for her positive impact on females, young and old.”
Participants should wear comfortable clothing and shoes, like sweatpants and athletic shoes, because they will be learning techniques of self-defense.
There is a suggested donation of $12 for the class to help defray the cost of presenting the class, however if someone can’t afford to pay the fee, they can still take the class, she said.
The money goes to the Ali Kemp Educational Foundation and was created by a Leawood, KS. man whose daughter was raped and murdered.
History of the Class in Fort Scott
The class in Fort Scott came about when Schwab’s daughter was preparing to go to college.
“Four years ago I approached Sheriff Martin about the possibility of having a self-defense class for my college bound daughter to take. He directed me to The Ali Kemp Educational Foundation as an excellent way to accomplish this to help her and other women in our county be proactive in taking responsibility for their own safety.”
No Class For A Few Years
COVID 19 prevented a class in 2020, she said.
Then this past April 2022, Roger Kemp, creator of the foundation, died suddenly.
“The foundation needed time to regroup after his passing and so we are now scheduled to do it this Saturday, October 15th,” she said.
TO BENEFIT CASA PROGRAMS IN 3 STATES DURING OCTOBER Pump N Pete’s Corp of Erieis hosting a pledge card fundraiser and other activities on behalf ofCourt Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA)duringthe month ofOctober.Pete’soperates 54 convenience stores and fuel stations in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma and thisspecialefforttargeting the increase of services by CASA to abused and neglected children in the court systemwill benefit6individual CASA Programsin those areas;CASA of the 31stJudicial District, CASA of the4th,Bourbon County CASA and Tri–County CASAinSoutheastKansas;Child Advocates of Northeast Oklahoma and CASA of Jasper County in Missouri.
“Pinwheels for Prevention–Partners for Children” is an easy, stress free and funway tohelp children in state custody. Pete’s cashiers will ask you todonate andall you do is say YES! You get to sign a Pinwheel Pledge Cardand hang it in the store tocommemorate your donation.It you donate $5 or more at one time you get a raffle ticket good for a chance at winning a$25prize in each store and the winners from each store will go on to a GRAND PRIZE DRAWING at the end of Octoberfor $250 at the Pete’s Corporate Office in Parsons.
The fundsraisedare used to recruit, train,prepareand supportVolunteerAdvocateswhoarespecially trained by CASA and appointedbyCountyJudgestohelpchildrenwho have been abused or neglected and found tobein need of careby the court. The Advocates partner with the children, speak up for their best interest in courtand guide them successfully through their time in foster care.Once appointed, the CASA is always there for the child until he or she is releasedfrom custody.CASAs focus on the needs of the children and them spending less time in foster care, also getting services that benefit them.
Fundraising proceedshave also been usedin emergenciesandto pay for athletics, music lessons, summer camp, winter coats, Christmas gifts, adoption gifts, life books, special equipment and special clothing forchildren in the CASA programs.
CASA programs are non–profitand must raise their own funds to operate The Pinwheel Fundraiser is in its 10thyear and Pete’s Corporation hasmade it a competition between stores, area managers and district managers, even offering corporate incentives to all employees to do their best for CASA. From there the managers and employees have gotten very creative and have taken the competition to heart! All stores do something specialor host an eventto supplement the fundraiserand many do some truly zany things. Several managers have taken cream pies to the face if the storereachesaset goal oroffered to get dunked in a water tank for extra money;others have thrown a BBQor pizza partywhenemployees post so many pledge cards.Thereweredueling bake sales between stores inthe same town; car washes that got drowned by rain but continued anyway; body painting; dance–a–thons; characters greeting customers; lotto winnings donated by employees and customers and public competition to have the most pinwheels on the wall!
At the endCASA awardstrophiesand publicly recognizes the top6Pump’n Pete’s Storesinseveral categories and representatives from eachCASA programare on hand to congratulate them. A media event is planned for December 14thin Parsons, KS.
CASA and Pump’n Pete’s inviteeveryone to join the fun and help unfortunate children at the same time.
Children who did nothing wrong but wound up in foster care anyway.Donations to CASA are fully tax deductable and CASA is recognized as a 502(c)(3) charity by the IRS.
SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working to ensure America has a skilled workforce. The Fort Scott High School Chapter of SkillsUSA is hosting a job fair on Wednesday, April 25, 2023 from 8 a.m. to noon in the high school auxiliary gym.
The purpose is to acquaint students with career opportunities available in the region. Michelle Laubenstein is the advisor for the group and can be reached at [email protected] or call 620.223.0600.
The FSHS SkillsUSA club is one of 23 Fort Scott High School student organizations, here is a list of the rest.
First Report Shows Kansas Child Welfare System Making Significant Progress
McIntyre settlement agreement requires yearly reports from neutral party
TOPEKA – Kansas foster children have stable placements and are experiencing fewer moves while in care, according to the first report from the Neutral Third Party in the McIntyre class action lawsuit settlement.
“My administration inherited a broken child welfare system that had an unacceptable number of children in care, a lack of placement stability, and limited prevention services,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “Under my Administration, we now have 1,300 fewer children in the system, and the Neutral Report shows we have made substantial progress in making sure kids are in stable placements and experience fewer moves. There’s more work to be done, but this report shows we are headed in the right direction.”
The McIntyre class action lawsuit was filed in 2018 under the Colyer Administration by Kansas Appleseed, Children’s Rights, and the National Center for Youth Law against the Governor, Kansas Department for Children and Families, Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The Governor was later dismissed from the case.
The parties agreed to a settlement in 2020. The settlement was structured to ensure Kansas would achieve substantial progress and compliance in key performance areas over a multi-year period. Performance areas include accountability, reporting and implementation, practice improvements and outcomes. The settlement recognizes that the outcomes and practice improvements will not all be accomplished in one year. Outcome goals were set for a three-to-four-year period.
Judith Meltzer, President of the Center for the Study of Social Policy serves as the Neutral Third Party responsible for assessing the State’s first year progress. This first report covers calendar year 2021.
“Reforming a child welfare system is a complex and multi-year endeavor,” Meltzer said. “During this first year, Kansas has made considerable progress in addressing some fundamental problems and has started down a path that we anticipate will lead to further improvements in the years ahead and to sustainable and meaningful improvements for Kansas children and families.”
Kansas made significant progress in placement stability. The Neutral validated that Kansas achieved its first-year benchmarks for placement stability and placement moves. Children in care experienced a rate of 5.84 moves per 1,000 days – more than meeting the benchmark of seven moves per 1,000 days. The report also shows that 86% of Kansas kids were in stable placements during CY 21, surpassing the benchmark of 80%.
“The report affirms our commitment to Kansas children by continuing efforts to build an effective child welfare system,” DCF Secretary Laura Howard said. “Using tools like kinship placements, partnerships with community agencies to provide trauma-informed support to foster parents and prioritizing families over facilities, these have all had a positive impact on this issue.”
The state does have more work to do in both temporary overnight placements and night-to-night or short-term placements. Children who experience a failure to place often have complex developmental, medical, behavioral or safety needs.
DCF is working to build capacity through several new initiatives. The agency has created the Failure to Place Prevention Network with the goal of creating stand-by service beds and other ways for family foster home to serve one child at a time. DCF also is addressing gaps with the addition of Therapeutic Foster Homes that launched in 2022.
The report also shows Kansas achieved several accountability benchmarks mandated by the agreement. Those include:
Amending case management provider contracts to clarify responsibilities arising from the settlement
Creating an independent advisory group to inform planning and program improvement
Collecting and reporting data on Class Members placed in a jail, correctional or detention facility
State agencies also are making significant progress in mental health practice improvements and outcomes despite not reaching the CY 21 benchmarks.
DCF approved a contract with Beacon Health Options to create the Mobile Family Crisis Helpline which launched in Oct. of 2021.
Unvalidated period 2 data shows significant improvement in addressing mental and behavioral health needs with nearly 80% of Class Members having their needs met.
“Addressing mental and behavioral health needs is vital if we are to have a strong child and family well-being system,” Howard said. “We know there is more work to do to strengthen the timely and consistent access to mental health assessments and reviews.”
DCF and its partner agencies will continue to collaborate with the Center for the Study of Social Policy to ensure valid data and look forward to showing more progress in the Period 2 report in 2023.
Those interested in the full CY 21 report can access it via the Center for the Study of Social Policy website.
Weeks of preparation and hard work paid off for several Uniontown 4-H Club members on August 21st in Manhattan, Kansas. The Southwind 4-H Intermediate Meat Evaluation team was named the state winner at the awards ceremony held on the campus of Kansas State University. Although they competed underneath the umbrella of the Southwind 4-H district, all of the team members hailed from the Uniontown 4-H Club!
Leading the way was Hailey Shadden and Kendyl Bloesser as they tied for the High Individual honors at the contest. Shadden was named the High Individual after utilizing tie breakers. Also ranking in the top ten individually were Makinlee Bloesser (5th) and Marley Sutton (7th).
Uniontown 4-H also had several members participate in the Kansas State Fair this past week. Austin Maycumber competed in photography judging and his team ended up ranking 8th in the state. Marley and McKinley Sutton exhibited hogs at the event with their biggest success coming in the market hog show where McKinley’s barrow was named the Reserve Champion Berkshire Market Hog. Seth Shadden received a purple ribbon on his Small Engine Display and Hailey Shadden received a blue on her Forestry Notebook and a red ribbon on her food project. Kendyl and MaKinlee Bloesser both participated in foods and received red ribbons on their entries. Makiah Woods received a purple ribbon on her garment entry.
Kansas Department of Commerce Announces New Grant Opportunity to Support Economic Development in Smaller Communities
TOPEKA – Lieutenant Governor and Commerce Secretary David Toland announced a new grant opportunity today that will help support economic development and revitalization efforts in smaller communities across Kansas through investments in quality-of-life initiatives.
The brand-new Strategic Economic Expansion and Development (SEED) program will make grants between $5,000 and $50,000 available to communities in 78 designated counties with a population of 5,000 or less. Grants will be available in the following categories:
Childcare and senior programming – projects that support or enhance these services, such as building improvements, educational materials, supplies and equipment;
Community vibrancy – projects that refresh, re-energize and unlock the attractiveness of rural communities, such as art installations, murals and signage;
Food retail – projects that support access to food retail establishments, including development, renovation and/or expansion; and
Libraries – projects that support providing free and open access to a broad range of materials and services, including reading material, technology, furniture and building improvements.
“The Department of Commerce is very pleased to offer this new grant opportunity to our smallest communities across Kansas,” saidLt. Governor and Commerce Secretary David Toland. “The SEED grants will offer communities a boost that will help them prosper and thrive. Quality-of-life investments help create vibrant communities that attract more people to live and work in Kansas.”
Local governments, economic development organizations, chambers of commerce, and other organizations are eligible to apply. Applicants must provide a minimum 10 percent match and complete the project within 12 months of receiving grant funds. Funds will be distributed half at the beginning of the grant cycle and the balance upon successful completion of the project.
Funding for the SEED program, which is administered by the Kansas Department of Commerce, is provided through the Technology Enabled Fiduciary Financial Institutions (TEFFI) Development and Expansion Fund. The TEFFI Act was enacted in 2021 through bipartisan legislation to promote economic development throughout the state.
Earlier this year, the Beneficient Company Group, L.P. received its full charter and became the first technology-enabled fiduciary financial institution in Kansas pursuant to the TEFFI Act. Beneficient’s first contribution to the grant program totaled $2.7 million.
SEED grant applications will open Monday, August 29, and close at 11:59 p.m. Friday, September 30. Grant awardees will be announced in October.
An informational webinar on the SEED grant will be available to the public at 10:00 a.m. (CST) Monday, August 29. Registration for the webinar, guidelines for the grant application, and a list of eligible counties can be found at www.kansascommerce.gov/seedgrants.
Applicants can contact [email protected] for any questions regarding this funding opportunity.
About the Kansas Department of Commerce:
As the state’s lead economic development agency, the Kansas Department of Commerce strives to empower individuals, businesses and communities to achieve prosperity in Kansas. Commerce accomplishes its mission by developing relationships with corporations, site location consultants and stakeholders in Kansas, the nation and world. Our strong partnerships allow us to help create an environment for existing Kansas businesses to grow and foster an innovative, competitive landscape for new businesses. Through Commerce’s project successes, Kansas was awarded Area Development Magazine’s prestigious Gold Shovel award in 2021 and 2022, and was awarded the 2021 Governor’s Cup by Site Selection Magazine.
A foundation that is located in Leawood, Kansas, has roots in and supports Bourbon County artists.
The Fremar Foundation was established in 2010 by Karen Fremar as a charitable organization and began giving scholarships in 2017.
Fremar’s parents were Fort Scott musicians who had a music studio starting in the 1950s through the 1970s. Fremar began her career as an accordian artist here.
Those students that have received Fremar scholarships, where they are studying and what their degree is:
The mission of the foundation has evolved, said Fremar, chairwoman and president of the Fremar Foundation. “It is currently to recognize the achievements and enable talented high school students in the Fort Scott area to continue with their artistic studies at the college level.”
“Initially we wanted to bring outstanding accordion artists from all over the world to perform concerts in Kansas City,” she said. But the cost was to high.
So her thinking changed.
“I was thinking that I would rather spend time and raise funds to support and recognize local young artists in all disciplines to help them on their artistic journey,” Fremar said. ” While we champion outstanding accordion art, we are not exclusive and support all musicians and artists.”
Tax advisor, Carol Hill, and financial advisor, Jordan Witt, both of Fort Scott, helped the organization develop a program to present scholarships in the area.
“Jordan was president of the school board at that time, and said that there was really nothing to recognize and financially reward the efforts of these talented young people in the area,” she said.
The critical part of the scholarship program is to recognize the achievements of these young artists in their creative work in high school, and encourage them to continue their art as they go into college and into life, she said.
“We find it thrilling to follow their careers, see their successes, and know that maybe we had some small part in recognizing and encouraging their talent and achievements,” she said.
“An added benefit is that Mayson Lane has now become a full-fledged member of Vivant! (the group of K.C. area musicians she performs with) and performs with us whenever possible.”
Annual Concert
Each year she spearheads a concert to provide more funds for the scholarships the foundation awards.
She is inviting people from Bourbon County to the concert at the Leawood United Methodist Church (near Ranchmart) at 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 28. The free concert will last about one hour and refreshments will follow. It’s at this time the audience can meet the scholarship recipients.
“The concert will be varied and fun… plus, we’ll feature some amazing musicians,” she said. “We would be grateful for donations to our scholarship program.”
“I arranged all the scores we perform together,” she said. “The musicians in Vivant! are top professionals in their field.”
This year’s recipient Laney Covey, Uniontown, will be featured, she said.
“Laney will… provide an art show in the lobby of her works,” she said. “Jezeriah Simpson… at Baker University, now in his fourth year of receiving our scholarships, will be there and be introduced.”
Fred and Margie Fremar, Karen’s parents who started a music studio in Fort Scott.
Photos on the foundation website show many recognizable names and faces.
This is part of a series featuring local VBS’s in the county. Please send information and a photo to help tell the story of your event.
Uniontown Baptist Church is located on Hwy. 3 on the town’s west side.
The First Missionary Uniontown Baptist Church invites community children to their Vacation Bible School from Monday July 19 to Friday July 22 with the closing program on Sunday July 24 at the 10 a.m. church service.
It is presented from 9 to 11:30 a.m. for ages 4 through fifth grade at the church. The church is located at the intersection of Hwy. 3 and Maple Road (Fifth Street in Uniontown.)
The Armor of God is the theme this year.
There will be Bible stories, fun games, yummy snacks and great songs.
A drawing for five Silver Dollar City Tickets will happen at the closing program.
For more information or to register, call Elaine Ledford at 620-756-4924, text at 620-215-6963 or email [email protected]
Kristin Lewis Gorman is the owner and director of Rock Ballet, a Fort Scott dance instruction studio.
Her dance instruction recital is at 7:30 p.m. on June 24 and 25 at the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts, on the campus of Pittsburg State University.
From the Rockballet recital in 2021. Submitted photos.
Gorman said the dancers are all getting very excited right about now.
She is as well, but last years recital is giving her confidence that this one too, will be a great performance for the dancers.
“Having one recital under my belt, I’m feeling a tiny bit less frantic at this point,” she said.
“Our dress rehearsal is Wednesday, June 22 and the shows will be Friday and Saturday, June 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m.” she said.
At the Rockballet debut recital,June 2021, at the Bicknell Center.
Rockballet Dancers. Submitted photo.
“I would love to get our online- reserved seating- ticket link out there to everyone in Fort Scott because last year so many people told me after the fact that they hated that they didn’t even know about the show,” she said. “My fault totally, I just ran out of time.”
“It is super easy to purchase tickets using the link, as it is all done online through Tutu Tix,” she said.
