Feeding Families In His Name, a free community dinner at First United Methodist Church, is each Wednesday evening. Pictured is FUMC, located at Third and National Street. Courtesy photo.
The Bourbon County United Methodist Parish churches have been gathering coats and blankets to give away to those who need them.
West Liberty UMC led the drive and used Feeding Families In His Name as the distribution site for two weeks, according to Jean Tucker, coordinator for FFIHN. Linda Deere was the contact person for the drive.
“The Beacon brought us their donated coats and blankets, also,” Tucker said.
The Beacon, located at 525 E. 6th, Fort Scott.
” We helped them (Feeding Families In His Name) with a lot of coats,” Carol MacArthur, president of the Beacon Board, said.
The remaining coats, all adult sizes, have been donated to Gallilee Thrift Store, 605 S. National Avenue, for them to distribute for free to those who need coats.
The Beacon, a local helping agency, recently stopped taking donations of clothing and household goods, as of Oct. 31.
The Galilee Thrift Store, on National Avenue, south of Pete’s Conoco Convenience Store.
“Jane Lifer (owner of Galilee Thrift Store) said she would give them out and not sell them,” Tucker said. “Most are adult sizes 14,16,18.”
Children’s clothes were left in front of the Galilee Thrift Store to give away on Friday.
Additionally, Mother to Mother Ministry, 728 S. Heylman, has clothing to give away.
Food To Those In Need
Each Wednesday evening at the First United Methodist Church, located at Third and National Avenue, a free community meal is served from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Entry to the church basement kitchen is on the Third Street side of the building.
This FFIHN ministry has been doing this since 2011 and feeds between 125-130 people a week.
“We allow seconds and to-go meals,” Tucker said. “Anybody and everybody is welcome.”
The Beacon provides food in the form of groceries to their clients and will continue to do so.
In addition, The Beacon helps in other ways.
“We do feed families, and we do help them with funding for prescriptions, rent, and utilities,” MacArthur said.
Driver’s License Office, 108 W. Second. October 2018.
The Fort Scott Kansas Driver’s License Office recently moved from the Bourbon County Courthouse to 108 W. Second.
The new office is directly behind the courthouse at 2nd and Judson Streets.
This follows the reconfiguration of the courthouse to allow for easier public access to the Bourbon County Commission Room, the Bourbon County Treasurer’s Office, and the Bourbon County Clerk’s Office. These offices were moved to the north wing of the courthouse, following the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office and Correctional Facility to move to its new building at 293 E. 20th.
Hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. Testing must be completed by 11 a.m. in the morning and 2:45 p.m. in the afternoon.
The phone number is 620-223-6319.
Formerly the hours were Thursday and Friday only from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The hours are posted in the lobby of the office at 108 W. Second.This sign is posted on the door of the new Driver’s License Office at 108 W. Second.
One of the St. Martin’s Academy boys rappeling at Looking Glass Arch, near Moab, Utah. Courtesy photo.
St. Martin’s Academy, a new Catholic boys boarding school started its inaugural school term in Moab, Utah in September.
The staff and students spent six days canoeing, technical rock climbing and exploring, during the first days of the school year.
” It was a time of intense bonding and camaraderie, and life-long friendships were born,” Daniel Kerr, founder of the school said in a newsletter.
St. Martins’ Academy, Oct. 2018, is still in the construction stage.
The school campus is still under construction, with a tentative completion date for the first building, Theotokos Hall, by late spring 2019, according to Patrick Whelan, headmaster of the academy.
Meanwhile the students/faculty are staying in the Levine House on South National until the facility is complete.
“We have 18 students this year, eight freshmen and ten sophomores,” Whelan said. “We have students from all over the country including Virginia, Georgia, Texas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Maryland, etc.”
” We have a relatively large staff (12) due to the 24 hours per day supervision requirements,” Whelan said. ” We have four residential staff that we call House Fathers. They live in the same building as the students and are responsible for supervising all daily activities.”
“St. Martin’s is unique in that it is neither a prep school for the socio-economic elite nor is it a reform school for young men with behavioral problems,” Kerr noted in a recent newsletter.
The platform-tent at Camp Kapaun on the campus of St. Martin’s Academy, located on Indian Road, serves as a classroom each morning for Natural History, Liturgy, Ancient History and Latin lessons. Courtesy photo.Courtesy photo. Coach Simon Webster said many of the St.Martin’s Academy freshmen and sophomore boys had never played soccer. The school ended with a winning record and had competed against varsity level teams.Courtesy photo. Two St. Martin’s students take a turn milking Sweet Molly Brown, a Jersey cow. St. Martin’s Academy students participate in daily chores. The first two weeks of work, students butchered rabbits, castrated hogs, bucked two fields of alfalfa hay and milked cows.
These are the faculty and staff of the school:
Chris DeCleen age 24 is from Indiana and earned a degree in philosophy from Ave Maria University in 2017. He teaches Freshman History.
Joseph Free, age 23, is from Massachusetts and earned a degree in the Humanities and Liberal Studies from Ave Maria University in 2018. He teaches music and is assistant rugby coach.
Joshua Mincio, 20, is from California and interned at a monastery in Oklahoma before joining us this fall. He teaches advanced Latin.Simon Webster, 20, is from Texas and comes from the University of Houston Business College. Simon is the head soccer and rugby coach and athletic director.
Faculty:
Travis Dziad and his wife Margi come from Ave Maria University where Travis is ABD in a Ph.D. in Theology. He serves as the Residential Dean and teaches Algebra and History.Daniel Kerr is from Fort Scott and is the owner and co-founder of Adjuster Pro. Dan is the president and co-founder of St. Martin’s Academy; he leads development efforts and teaches Natural History.Kenneth Klassen is from Fort Scott. He holds a Ph.D. in literature from the University of Kansas and has taught a variety of subjects for over 30 years. He teaches Literature and Geometry.Ronald Klassen is from Fort Scott, holds a Masters degree in Classics, and has taught in public and private schools for over 30 years. He is the head Latin teacher.Sebastion Macik and his wife Erin come from Dallas, TX where Seb taught and served as an EMT. He is the chef.Fr. Bob McElwee is from Pittsburg, KS holds several Masters degrees and is a retired priest in the diocese of Wichita. Fr. McElwee is the Chaplain and teaches all Religion classes at the academy.
Michael Taylor and his wife, Jenna, recently moved to Fort Scott from Mound City, KS. Mike has worked as a hunting guide in Alaska and in various dairies for over a decade. Mike is the Farm Foreman and teaches leather-working and pottery.
Patrick Whalen and his wife, Kristi, moved to Fort Scott last year from St. Louis. Patrick is the headmaster and co-founder of the academy. He is a Marine veteran, a reserve officer in the Marines, and a Ph.D. candidate at Washington University in St. Louis. Whelan teaches literature at the academy.
Whelan provided the following information about the school:
The curriculum taught at the academy for freshmen: Mythos, Greek Literature, Roman Literature, Pre-History to the Hebrews, Greek Civilization, Roman Civilization, Basic Catechism (The Problem of Evil), Natural History, Algebra 1/Applied Mathematics, Latin 1.
The curriculum for sophomores: Rome and the Incarnation, Medieval Literature 1 and 2, Roman Empire to Late Antiquity, Early Middle Ages, High Middle Ages, The Liturgy, Earth Science, Biology, Geometry/Euclidean Geometry, Latin Advanced.
” In addition to their academics, the boys play soccer in the fall and rugby in the spring,” Whelan said. ” We are currently engaged in the FORT (Functional Outdoor Resilience Training) program which is an outdoorsmanship, fitness, and leadership development program we designed. In their free time, the boys learn folk music, juggle, and enjoy the parks and trails around Fort Scott.”
“All students participate in athletics and a series of Practica that include Leatherworking, Pottery, Drawing, Painting, Cartography, and Gregorian Chant,” according to Whelan.
Seth Simpson, Fort Scott City Airport Manager, as of Dec. 2018.
Seth Simpson has been hired as the Fort Scott Airport Airfield Operation Flight Manager.
His hiring was announced at the airport Monday afternoon.
The Fort Scott Airport entrance at 187th and Indian Road.
A 2002 Fort Scott graduate, Simpson, 35, has worked at Elgin Air Force Base, Florida for six years as an Air Force Air Traffic Controller.
He then entered the Air National Guard and served in Stillwell, OK; Manhattan, KS; Montgomery, AL; Biloxi, MS, and most recently St. Joe, MO.
Simpson is married to the former Amy Cozens and his parents are Scott and Becky Simpson, Fort Scott. They have three children: Lydia, Maylie, and Alex.
“Five people applied,” said Kenny Howard, the current airport director, who will be retiring in December 2018.
“We selected Seth because of his experience in aviation, plus he was a local boy,” Howard said.
“He will be training one day, every other week, until December 21,” when Simpson will become fulltime and Howard will step down, Howard said.
“I will be in charge of air traffic control, airfield operations, and landing systems maintenance,” Simpson said.
Simpson will continue in the Air National Guard one weekend a month, two times a year, he said.
Hedgehog.INK, a bookstore featuring new and gently used books has its’ grand opening today at 5:15 to 6:30 p.m.
The ribbon cutting is at 5:45 p.m.
The store is located at 16 S. Main and owned by Jan and Dick Hedges.
Hedgehog.INK, located at 16 S. Main, in historic downtown Fort Scott.
The store accepts paperbacks and hardback books for all age levels, according to information provided.
Most of the books traded for store credit will receive up to 20 percent of the price charged for the book at Hedgehog.INK.
Book pricing depends on book quality, age, demand, current stock, and condition.
Trade credit can be redeemed at the rate of 1/2 credit and 1/2 cash for books only. For example, if a book is purchased for $4, one can apply $2 of credit, and the customer will pay the remaining$2 in cash.
New or used books can be special ordered through Hedgehog.INK.
Jan Hedges stands in front of her display of a new children’s series of books, called Barefoot Books.
The Hedges will sell a series of new children’s books, called Barefoot Books.
“They are colorful, high-quality books for children,” Jan said.
The children’s area of the Hedgehog.INK bookstore.
In addition to a children’s area, there is a writers area in the store, where customers can read or write.
Sheryl Bloomfield is the assistant manager and Addison Guilfoyle is an employee.
Sheryl Bloomfield logs in books Monday afternoon at Hedgehog.INK.
In addition to books, local products will be for sale.
Goat milk products, lavender products, and homemade cards are among the items provided by local producers to Hedgehog.INK, that are for sale.
The Lavender Patch owner, Betsy Reichard, has a sales area in Hedgehog.INK. She sells lavender products that she produces on her farm: soaps, sprays, dried lavender, etc.Homemade cards by Jean Solomon will be for sale in the store.
“Dick and I have been amazed at how people have come to volunteer and help us,” Jan Hedges said.
Dick Hedges, left, works on processing books Monday afternoon, while volunteer Sharon Campbell works on books on the shelves.
“Our motto is a community of books for the community,” Jan said.
Tours of Cato, the first town in Crawford County are hardly new.
Susie Stelle started helping John Spurling organize Cato Fall Tours in 1985.
Stelle is president of the Cato Historic Preservation Association.
With Spurling, she started giving informal tours of the town, located northwest of Arcadia for several years prior.
Organizers of the upcoming Cato tour this Saturday, Nov. 3, plan to take visitors back to the mid-1800s through music, history, and re-enactments.
Activities on Saturday will begin at 9 a.m. and continue through the day.
Ralph Carlson, a member of a music group called “Old Fuss and Feathers”, will perform in the church at 9:30 a.m.
There will also be presentations in the restored 1869 rock school by Anna Portwood Swank and her sister, Elizabeth Portwood Thompson, and husband Jaime Thompson.
Souvenirs and homemade baked goods will be available at the Cato Store, headed up by Stelle.
Proceeds from the tour will benefit the continued restoration and preservation of the Cato School and Cato Christian Church and this year’s newly constructed cabin, donated by the Coonrod family.
At noon, there will be ham and beans cooked by Bob “Buck” Rowland of Arma. The meal also includes cornbread.
There will be an open fire for those who choose to bring their own hot dogs.
Drinks will be provided, all for a nominal fee.
At 12:30 p.m. a quilt raffle will take place. The quilt was donated by Sue James of Galveston, TX.
Sue’s husband, Dale, attended all eight grades of the one-room Cato school.
At 1 p.m. hayrides are offered by Joe Bournonville to visit area cemeteries and other sites related to Cato’s history.
On Friday, Nov. 2, approximately 600 youngsters will have a field day, organized by Katharine Spigarell.
School children from Uniontown, Fort Scott, Girard, Arma, Frontenac, Pittsburg and new this year, Liberal, Mo. will come to Cato.
A tour guide will direct groups of kids to various stations to observe living history exhibits such as blacksmithing, wagons and farming, schoolhouse games, area history, civil war weaponry, and Native American culture.
The Cato HPA has a Facebook page and website located at www.catoschool.com.
Directions to Cato, KS: On 69 Hwy., turn west on 720 Avenue, one mile north of the Arcadia turn-off (one mile south of the Bourbon County line. Go west one mile, then turn north for one-half mile, then left one mile to Cato.
Susie Stelle, Mary Portwood, Richard Coonrod, Lily Coonrod, Jerry Coonrod, Ralph Carlson, Joe Bournonville, Anna Portwood Swank, Katharine Spigarell, Marilyn Coonrod Flagg, Elizabeth Portwood Thompson, Floyd Feezel, Donna Hashagen, Bob George, Jamie Thompson, Buck Rowland.
These signs mark the closed Eagle Road, Oct. 25. Workers were busy all along Hwy. 69 on the expansion project.
The 69 Hwy. expansion project from Fort Scott to Arma doesn’t have a November completion date anymore, according to Priscilla Petersen, with the Kansas Department of Transportation.
In an interview, Petersen said the November completion date of the U.S. 69 expansion has been pushed back.
“We plan to have this project open to four-lane unrestricted traffic by Dec. 21, 2018,” she said.
All work on the active U.S. 69 expansion in Bourbon County will be completed in April 2019. ”
“The active Bourbon County expansion project is approximately six miles long, starting south of Fort Scott and ending at the Bourbon-Crawford county line,” Peterson said.
“The Crawford County expansion project has not been let. The tentative letting date is the fall of 2020.”
It seems KDOT ran into more extensive excavation of the stretch of highway than originally thought.
“During the grading phase of the expansion our contractor encountered a lengthy section of the old highway that had not been previously removed,” Petersen said. “The removal of the old mainline and bridges required extensive excavation. In addition, the discovery of the old roadway greatly reduced the amount of dirt available for the earthwork. We found it necessary to add a second borrow-waste area to supply the material.”
A KDOT crew work on a section of Hwy. 69 Thursday morning near the Garland exit.
“Current project activity includes concrete paving on the mainline and guardrail installation on the bridges,” Petersen said.
Gary Murrell is the director of The Beacon, a helping agency.
November 5-8 is the annual sign-up for a Beacon Card, the Adopt a Family program and the Elks Christmas Basket.
The sign-up event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 5-8 at Community Christian Church 1919 S. Horton, Fort Scott, in Robinson Hall.
In addition, there will be evening hours on November 8 from 6 to 8 p.m.
The following must be provided during the sign-up:
Must have ID’s for all adults,
Social Security Card for all in the household,
Proof of Income
Proof of Address (utility bill or rent receipt)
The Beacon Card provides free food products two times a month at the Beacon, a helping agency located at 525 E. 6th.
The Adopt a Child program allows area children to receive Christmas presents from community families, organizations and other entities.
The Elks Christmas Basket is provided by the local Elk’s Lodge and is “all the fixings for a Christmas dinner,” said Gary Murrell, director of the Beacon.
People may sign-up for all three on Nov. 5-8.
Distribution will be in December.
The Beacon still has clothes and household goods to distribute until Oct. 31, Murrell said. Following this date, the agency will no longer be distributing these items.
The vote here sign sits in front of the north wing of the Bourbon County Courthouse, 210 S. National.
Advanced voting is happening now through noon on November 5 on the first floor of the Bourbon County Courthouse, then on the November 6, registered votes vote in designated polling places. If you have any questions please call the County Clerk’s Office at 620-223-3800.
The Uniontown School District Don’t Quit Fitness Center is open to the community, with stipulations.
“To be able to use the fitness center, you would need to be a resident of our school district or have students that are attending,” West Bourbon Elementary School Principal Vance Eden said.
The fitness center is located in the junior high wing of the school. Pictured here, it is the area with the light, to the right. Entrance is a door on the east of the fitness center.
Eden is the contact person to get a key-card.
School district patrons must pay a for a card.
“There is a $10 fee that applies when the account is activated and the card is programmed for use at the fitness center,” Eden said. “The only other time there would be a fee is if the card is lost or destroyed.”
The hours are from 5-7 a.m. and 5:30-9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Students in the district are using the center during school hours for physical education classes.
A family leaves the fitness center on Tuesday evening. They are leaving through the acess door, which is located on the east side of the fitness center.
Those who are granted access to the center may find their key-card temporarily disabled as the rules and regulations change.
Users will need to sign a new form in order to be able to use the facility.
High school students do a history program in the quartermaster’s house at Fort Scott National Historic Site.
The National Park Service cares for special places saved by the American people, so that all may experience our heritage, according to an NPS statement.
To help area children experience our heritage, Fort Scott National Historic Site administration personnel applied for and received a grant to help classroom students get to the Fort.
The grant will pay school transportation costs for area fourth-grade students to come for a hands-on experience in history.
“Students come primarily in the spring,” Barry Geersten, education program coordinator at the Fort, said. “But they could come now.”
Area high school government and history students help with re-enacting the history experiences for the fourth-graders, he said.
Fort Scott High School Teacher Josh Regan’s Advanced Placement History Class, Tami Campbell’s government class, along with Nevada High School teacher Jared Brown’s Advanced American History Class will be the instructors for the field trips, according to Geersten.
The following is a press release from the Fort about the opportunity:
“FSNHS has received a field trip grant for the 2018-2019 school year from the National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service.
This $5,000 grant will reimburse the costs of transportation for fourth-grade class field trips to this national park.
This grant is part of the Foundation’s Open OutDoors for Kids program which creates pathways for kids to explore and connect with national park experiences, and is administered locally by the Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site.
“We are excited to be able to assist school groups in coming to Fort Scott National Historic Site,” said Betty Boyko, Superintendent, FOSC. “We understand that not all schools can afford to visit even though we do not charge a fee. This grant will help reduce barriers to bringing students to have fun while learning and developing a lifelong connection to our nation’s history,” Boyko continued.
“We are pleased to be involved in helping more of the areas school children build deeper connections with Fort Scott NHS and our history,” said Reed Hartford, President of the Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site, Inc.
During their time on site, the students will participate in either the “Life on the Frontier” program for grades K-4 or the “Sweep through History” program for grades 4-8.
In “Life on the Frontier,” local high school students train to be the instructors and mentors to the K-4th-grade students. They dress in period clothing and are stationed at various locations around the site focusing on various aspects of life at Fort Scott during the 1840’s.
“Sweep through History” will acquaint 4-8th-grade students with life at Fort Scott during the three most significant periods in the site’s history: Westward Expansion, Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War.
Educators, dressed in period clothing, are stationed at various locations around the site focusing on life at Fort Scott during one of these periods. Both programs have pre-visit and post-visit activities and all are aligned with Kansas and Missouri content standards.
“Trekking along trails, observing our natural ecosystems and engaging with our shared history are experiences that benefit all children,” said National Park Foundation President Will Shafroth. “Making it possible for America’s youth to explore our national parks is an investment in their future and the future of the national parks community.”
Teachers and school administrators can request additional information about transportation grants and curriculum-based field trip programs by visiting the education section of the park’s website (www.nps.gov/fosc) or contacting the education program coordinator, Barry Geertsen, at 620-223-0310 or e-mail us.
For the full list of grantees and their projects, click here.”
This is part of a series introducing the candidates in the November 6 election
State Representative, 2nd District (vote for one)
Adam J. Lusker Sr. 452 S. 210th St. Frontenac 66763 Democratic
Kenneth Collins 102 E. 1st Street Mulberry 66756 Republican
Adam Lusker
Name: Adam J. Lusker Sr.
Age: 46
Position running for: 2nd District Kansas State Representative
Residence: Frontenac, KS
Occupation: Mason
Community involvement:
Member of the following: American Legion Post 43, Frontenac Rotary, Frontenac Unified Methodist Church, Sacred Heart Church, Elks Lodge, Masonic Lodge 187, Mirza Temple Shrine, Scottish Rite, Former Member of Frontenac Education Foundation and USD 249 School Board, 25-year business owner
Party affiliation: Democrat
What is the biggest issue, if elected, and how do you plan to address it?
Maintaining a consistent revenue source, to ensure our budget is balanced and meets the needs of our community.
Give your views on the sales tax.
Sales taxes are regressive taxes. Higher sales taxes affect people’s buying power in a negative way, especially our lower and fixed-income citizens. Therefore, food sales tax impacts these same folks adversely. Our sales tax also puts border counties like ours at a disadvantage economically in regard to retail sales, food, mercantile, equipment, etc, with our neighboring state. I think we should work to reduce food sales tax, as well as sales tax in general as other sources of revenue, are realized.
Give your views on legalizing marijuana.
I do not believe Kansas is ready for legalizing marijuana. Several states are still continuing to deal with legal marijuana. We were a test site for a very costly tax plan; I think we should let other states be the petri dish on this experiment.
Give your views on health care for our state, including Medicaid.
We should continue to find ways to reduce health care costs, increase access to medicine and promote wellness in our state. Regardless of anyone’s opinion of the Affordable Care Act, it is law and Kansas has to take advantage of all we can to keep our hospitals open. Kansas taxpayers have sent over $3 billion of our money to other states to expand Medicaid. The numbers show that expanding Medicaid would have a positive impact on our healthcare systems and our communities.
Give your views on abortion and Planned Parenthood.
I have a pro-life voting record and will continue. I think we should continue to invest in adoption and education to prevent unwanted pregnancy.
