A few years ago, my girlfriend “Sharon” came from Florida to spend some quality time with her widowed mother who lived on a small farm outside of Fort Scott. Since her mother was a homebody and didn’t venture far from her garden, Sharon planned to take her mom shopping and treat her to a few of the local restaurants.
My friend flew into KC on Sunday. Wednesday found her at my house in tears.
“Mom” couldn’t leave her house on Monday because that was the cleaning day. Tuesday was for laundry and ironing and Wednesday for canning. Sharon offered to help but was told her mom needed to do it alone so it was done right. To add insult to injury, the “Is there something wrong with my cooking?” question caught my friend off guard.
Mom’s schedule dominated her life, and not even her daughter’s visit would dissuade her from altering it. Of course, Saturday “would have been fine” for a lunch out, but since Sharon had booked an early morning flight, she obviously had “not taken” her mother’s agenda into account. It was a miserable week.
Sharon’s mother died two years after that visit, but my friend has not forgotten her mother being so locked into her agenda that she could not set aside time just to “hang” with her only child. The Bible shares a powerful message on what Jesus thinks of people who cannot make time for relationships. Luke 10:38-42 is a familiar story but one worth revisiting.
Company’s coming, and not just any company. This is Rabbi Jesus and his friends, and Martha, the restless hostess, is almost ready; the house is free of cobwebs and the dirt floor swept, and there will be no shortage of food or drink. Still, the pressure is building. If there is something to stew about, Martha will find it. Not her sister Mary. Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, soaking in all he has to say.
One worries.
One worships.
What a difference!
A preacher at my step-daughter’s church expounded on that message with these words: “The presence of Jesus was part of Martha’s plan, but it WAS Mary’s plan. If Martha had time, she was going to be with Jesus. If Mary didn’t have time, she still was going to be with Jesus.”
Don’t skim his words. Read them again. The pastor ended his sermon by asking which one represented us. “Do we merely include Jesus in our schedule, or is our schedule designed around time with our Savior?”
Jesus modeled priorities. No one has ever been busier than he, yet he never appeared harried. He was all about people. The gospel makes it clear as to where we start. If we want a stress-less, worry-less, stew-less schedule, we must make time to sit at Jesus’ feet.
Martha’s regimen had no eternal benefits. Mary’s did.
So, the question remains: Do we want Busy, or do we want Blessing?
If all goes as anticipated, the recently moved John Deere Tech Program at Fort Scott Community College should have all parts of the facility completed in December.
The facility is located at 2223 S. Horton, formerly the Kansas National Guard Armory.
“They are building a bigger shop for big machinery,” Kent Aikin, one of the program’s two instructors, said Wednesday. A second instructor is Dale Griffiths, hired around one month ago.
The building being constructed is just to the east of the current tech program facility. The general contractor for the project is Tri-State Building, Pittsburg.
The current building is used for instruction on smaller machines and classrooms, Aikin said. The instructor’s offices are housed in this building as well.
The auditorium of the current facility is used for instruction on smaller engines.
“John Deere sends us three to six machines every year, for training purposes,” Aikin said.
Renovation of the current building started a month ago with the addition of new air lines and electrical lines.
Even though all is not completed in the facility, classes began in August with 13 first-year students and 10 second-year students.
Three first-year John Deere Tech Program students work on lessons in a classroom Wednesday.
Students who fulfill all requirements for the program have options of electrical, hydraulic or service advisor certification.
The program’s students must be sponsored by a John Deere dealership, and go through an interview process, Aikin said.
Aikin and Griffiths help the students through the whole process.
“We help locate a dealership to sponsor them,” Aikin said.
“There is a high demand for these jobs,” Aikin said. “The job prospects are good. I’d say over 90 percent have a job waiting for them.”
The move from Frontenac to the repurposed facility on the FSCC campus was precipitated by the selling of the building they were leasing, FSCC Director of Public Relations Heather Browne said.
Students have more accessibility for living in the dorms now, Browne said.
They also have easier accessibility for completing their general education classes, Griffiths said.
An open house for any interested students will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, November 2 and 8 a.m. to noon, Friday, November 3.
Following completion of the new part of the facility in December, a grand opening for the public will be in February, Aikin said.
A whole power-train for a John Deere 8300 tractor is used in instruction during the tech program.
Fort Scott Community College’s Ellis Arts Center is the venue for the 14th annual Gordon Parks Celebration. The Gordon Parks Museum is located in the arts center.
As part of the annual Gordon Parks Celebration
scheduled for October 12-14, at Fort Scott Community College, there will be a “Parks Poetry Out Loud” contest this year. Participants will pick one of seven selected poems written by Gordon Parks and will present it in front of an audience at noon on Friday, October 13 in the Gordon Parks Museum in the Ellis Fine Arts Center on campus.
“I have wanted to do this for years,” said Jill Warford, Gordon Parks Museum Director. “We hope a lot of people take part in the poetry contest, it will be a lot of fun.”
There is no fee to enter and participants will be judged on how they present the poem through voice, diction, and interpretation. Cash prizes will be awarded: first place will win $100; second, $75 and third, $50.
“You don’t have to register to enter,” Warford said. “Just show up.”
It is open to anyone and both students and adults alike, are encouraged to take part, she said. The seven poems are available on the Gordon Parks Museum website: gordonparkscenter.org .
Select poems from the website, then print them out for use, she said.
For more information email [email protected] or by phone call (620) 223-2700, ext. 5850
Poems to choose from are:
MOMMA
by Gordon Parks
Now and then she said things that made my ears frown.
More than likely they were just too young to understand.
“Brush those teeth, and wash your feet before you go to bed.
And stop snoring so loud. You keep everybody awake.”
Pig feet, turnip greens and chitlins put hair on the chest.
My stomach craved apple butter and crackling bread.
It had a mind of its own. It wasn’t looking for hair.
Sunday school was particularly necessary, but not enough.
Reverend Frockcoat’s bland sermons had to sanctify the day.
Some other things stood in my way
Talking too much when I should have listened,
Crying when laughing was better,
Shooting marbles when the cattle needed feed.
Momma’s most relentless warning stuck like claws.
“Son, don’t ever come home blaming your skin’s blackness
For tumbling you downward.
If a white boy can do something worth doing,
Remember you can do it too. When the time comes
Just get out there and do it or forget to come home.”
Much later, long after she was gone,
And swimming in her advice, I’ve tried to keep going,
Going and going.
Down through the years, her warnings helped push clouds away
While sopping tears from stars that insisted on falling.
Yes, it was Momma who spread the checkered tablecloth.
But it was my good fortune to sit down and eat.
Her love filled the space between heaven and hell.
She was a mother beyond all other mothers.
I owe her everything
My breath in the half light of autumn,
For spreading patience when doubt surfaced,
For smiling at the unrest that over took my anxious feet,
For guidance that walked me away from my mistakes,
And for hands that pulled me out of the storms.
Yes, I owe her for these things and many, many more.
So no goodbyes, Momma. The love petals
Falling like rain upon your grave
Are mine all mine.
COME SING WITH ME
By Gordon Parks
Despite the turmoil, anguish and despair
Disrupting the planet we inherited,
There is something good I choose to sing about.
That something lies within us, patiently waiting
Beneath us, above us and around us.
Its peaceful message yearns to fill
Our places of murderous anger and hatred,
To flourish forever.
Hope is the song I have chosen to sing
A deathless song, flowing steadily beside my faith.
Whenever the fist of doubt knocks at my door,
It is powerfully turned away by my hopeful singing.
When things go from bad to worse I still sing my song.
Why not?
It helps me endure the bloodthirsty days.
Once earth’s fire had devoured my hopes.
As my twisted soul slid toward Hell,
Fate came racing from another direction.
Pinned to it was a belt of sun with new instructions.
These, it said, are for you! Suddenly fear was gone.
I made peace with the mean roads I’d walked.
My jackals could now lie down in truce.
From that day on, I began singing the song called Hope.
I still sing it loud
Above the waves, fire, darkness and mud.
From The Huge Silence
by Gordon Parks
The prairie is still in me,
in my talk and manners.
I still sniff the air for rain or snow,
know the loneliness of night,
and distrust the wind
when things get too quiet.
Having been away so long
and changed my face so often,
I sometimes suspect that this place
no longer recognizes me
despite these cowboy boots,
this western hat and
my father’s mustache that I wear.
To this place I must seem
like wood from a different forest,
and as secretive as black loam.
This earth breathes uneasily under my boots.
Their odor of city asphalt
doesn’t mix well with the clean smell
of wild alfalfa and purple lovegrass.
It puzzles me that I live so far away
from our old clapboard house
where, in oak tree shade,
I used to sit and dream
of what I wanted to become.
I always return here weary,
but to draw strength from
This huge silence that surrounds me,
knowing now that all I thought
was dead here is still alive,
that there is warmth here
even when the wind blows hard and cold.
The First Bud
by Gordon Parks
Through winter locked and hungered days,
And during trials of doubtful years,
I walked mistaken roads searching for you.
So when as you say during pillowtalk,
You do not know me,
remember that I am you.
We have been one for thousands of years.
Our love is older than the sky.
That love tremored every windflow
While waiting to be summoned
By a cry, a moan from my heart
That was ablaze with loneliness.
Then, with the silence of a cloud,
It emerged through shadowless mist
and, with pity,
Ripped my outraged soul apart,
Then strung it together with stars
That light your peaceful shade.
Now those nights
That were once without splendor
Dance in on wings that sing.
And the sound of rain
Falling on the roof is joyous.
A Bottle’s Worth of Tomorrow
by Gordon Parks
Time slipped out of my house last night
As I was bringing in the cat.
Angry, worried, frowning,
I went in search of it
Where it lay wrinkled and disgruntled
Behind a stubborn door among thorns.
I knocked and knocked;
The door refused to open.
Time, it finally said, is tired,
And in need of a long rest.
The hours it spent on you
Were far too exhausting
And moved much too slowly.
Remember your running from sky to sky,
With fog falling on you like fire?
The suit my soul wears
Was growing threadbare.
I had eaten salt for supper
And been killed so many times.
I was about to die some more
when the stranger appeared,
Asked me to wait,
handed me a scrap to paper
Then left as quietly as he had come.
He had scribbled his name: Tomorrow.
Wait? Where? For how long?
Distraught, I went toward home,
Worried and frowning even more.
Who was this fellow Tomorrow anyway,
And where was he last night
When time ran out on me?
Later I slept among bad memories.
Having lived in the forest under my scalp,
They knew me well; but I no longer knew them.
I had drowned the worst in waves of skepticism.
But when I awoke to let the cat out
They were stirring inside me, moving as I moved.
I opened the door
and there stood tomorrow,
Grinning, with a sack full of sun, stars
And a little bottle filled with a little more time.
He dropped the sack and then hurried off.
Content, at least for the moment,
I gave a thankful sigh for those signs
That had quietly walked out with my cat.
But after a close look at that little bottle,
It all became clear. No time was left
To wait for myself.
I snatched a bunch of thoughts from the air,
Then I too was off in a hurry.
Homecoming
by Gordon Parks
This small town into which I was born,
has, for me, grown into the largest,
and most important city in the universe.
Fort Scott is not as tall, or heralded
as New York, Paris, or London
or other places my feet have roamed,
but it is home.
Surely I remember the harsh days,
the sordid bigotry and segregated schools
and indeed the graveyard for Black people,
(where my beloved mother and father
still rest beneath Kansas earth).
But recently, the bitterness,
that hung around for so many years seems
to have asked for silence, for escape
from the weariness of those ugly days past.
Thankfully hatred is suddenly remaining quiet,
Keeping its mouth shut! And I’m thankful
For the contentment we lost along the way.
My hope now is that each of us can find
What GOD put us here to find
LOVE!
Let us have no more truck with the devil!
No Apologies
by Gordon Parks
Fate holds no reason to frown at what Providence granted me.
My thanks remain uncountable.
After long talks with my
past I now realize that life held a divine purpose,
For shoving me into places that were as changeable as the wind.
In between the floundering of then and now, the eyes of fate were following me
watching, always watching with
narrowing glances.
Now, having given deep thought to life’s offerings,
I realize everything that happened should have happened.
So my heart lifts praise to a smiling autumn
To those fallen years that no longer exist.
With this, and with no respite, I give thanks
To each dawn,
To each night,
To all the falling and climbing that patiently carried me through unpredictable wanderings.
Crowned in the confusion that hammered my journey,
Construction work is being done out of public sight at the new Price Chopper Grocery Store at 2322 S. Main.
The store, the former Woods Super Market, is slated to open before the holidays, said Barry Queen, owner/ operator of the Price Chopper Fort Scott grocery store.
Crossland Construction, Columbus, is the general contractor for the new Price Chopper Fort Scott. The owner anticipates the store to open in November. Once completed the store will employ around 100 people.
“The goal is to open November 10, 2017,” Queen said. “There’s a lot of work going on. Don’t know whether we’ll make that goal or not.”
“We are excited to get there, but there is a big challenge ahead. There is a lot that has to happen. We’d love to get open before the holidays.”
A big plus for the community is the store will be hiring 100-120 employees Queen said, with the number depending on the volume of customers the store will have.
“We’ll be setting up a trailer for interviews in the next few weeks,” he said.
Some features of the new store will be a major focus on fresh food, he said.
Produce , a salad bar, food service, a grill, a smoke house, a full service floral department, catering and online shopping, to name a few.
A drive-through Dunkin Donuts will be located on the southeast corner of the facility.
An overlay for the parking lot and adding more light poles will be coming.
The new owner, operator is no stranger to Bourbon County.
“My dad, Jim Queen, was born in Hammond,” he said. “My mom is from the Linn County/Bourbon County area. I have a lot of relations around here.”
Queen has had a vacation home at Lake Fort Scott for 16 years, which will become his part-time home he said. He lives in Paola.
Associated Wholesale Grocers own the real estate the store is on, Queen said.
Crossland Construction, Columbus, is the general contractor and is doing the demolition work; CDL, Pittsburg is doing the electric work and AAA, Kansas City is the framer for the project, said Brad Vinardi, superintendent with Crossland.
Inside the Price Chopper Grocery Store a five-man construction crew is currently working . At right is the old administration office.Matt Foster, Oswego, left, talks to co-workers on the large scissor lift at Price Chopper Fort Scott. On the lift are Jose Deleon, Kansas City, left, and Josh Powers, Pittsburg, right. The Crossland Construction crew was working on the facade of the building.Matt Marshall, Kansas City, preps the roof deck for painting at the new Price Chopper Fort Scott.
Mercy Hospital Fort Scott will host a Diabetes Support Group on Monday, Sept. 18, at 6 p.m. in the McAuley Conference Room located on the main level near the lobby. The session topic is Managing and Reducing Risk of Long-term Complications of Diabetes.
Patty Ryan, R.N., will discuss risk reduction, symptoms to report and available treatments. The support group is open to the public. No registration is required. Light refreshments will be served. Family members are encouraged to attend as well.
To learn more about this topic or other important information regarding managing diabetes, join the Mercy Diabetes Support Group. The group meets the third Monday of every other month. The next meeting date is scheduled for November 20.
For more information, contact Patty Ryan, R.N., at 620-223-8412.
And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. (Philippians 1:6, AMP)
God is not finished with me yet.
(Insert the “Hallelujah” chorus!)
And He isn’t finished with you either.
Of course, in my case He is running out of time since I’m slightly (ahem) over the half-century mark, a fact that confronted me the other day as I was organizing some family photos taken when the kids were young. What should have brought great memories made me sad. Babies had turned into adults, some with grown babies of their own, but no one had changed as much as I had. What happened to the thick mane, the trim body, the sagless eyes, the single chin? It didn’t help when this week my fifteen-year-old grandson, Drake, told us his height and weight and Dave shared, “Those were Grandma’s measurements when we got married.”
Drake got a kick out of that.
So did Dave, if you know what I mean.
Now, as I creak out of bed in the morning, rely on an occasional Aleve to calm the joint pain caused from pickle ball, and have to wait for my knee’s permission to navigate the stairs, I still have it a whole lot better than it will be in a decade when I will have even less hair, more aches, sags and chins.
(Delete the “Hallelujah” chorus!)
I’ll be honest. It’s much easier appreciating what I used to be and not what God sees in me now. I see a flawed, finished work as opposed to a work in progress. In reality, I negate the beauty of the work God has done—and is doing—in my life. What a waste! Look at the scripture above. None of us will be flawless until “the day of Jesus Christ.” Perfected beauty is nonexistent until we see God face to face. Where we are today is where we need to be so He is able to continue His work.
No matter what a mess we are physically, mentally or emotionally. God continues to paint on our life’s canvas. Can you imagine someone having the gall to criticize Michelangelo’s partially-completed painting of the Sistine Chapel half-way through his four-year project? I’m betting that viewers, privileged to watch him at work on scaffolding 68 feet above ground, were in awe of his masterpiece and told him so, even though he, the master painter, probably yelled from above, “Just you wait!” Nevertheless, to the observer, the finished frescoes would have taken their breath away. In their eyes, how could it ever be more spectacular?
God sees us as Michelangelo saw his Sistine project. Our Creator can transform our complaining view of our earthly bodies if we stop fighting him for the paint brush and appreciate what strokes he is perfecting now as he continues to make us a reflection of His eternal glory.
We are, in reality, a work in progress.
And I don’t know about you, but that makes me smile.
Western Senior Living apartment complex has a designated unit for a homeless person.
Homelessness in Fort Scott is being addressed, at least for one person at a time, by a local business.
Western Senior Living apartments at 8 East First Street, opened in January 2017 and has 35 apartments for lease, with one designated for a homeless/ transitional individual in the community.
When renovated and re-purposed, the old Western Insurance Building became apartments that were designated for individuals who have income at 60 percent or 50 percent or 40 percent of median income level, said Diane Kelsey, regional manager for Flint Hills Management.
“In addition, there is one homeless unit,” Kelsey said. “You have to be designated homeless by an agency. At that point, rent is 30 percent of their income, or $100, whichever is greater.”
There is currently an individual living in the homeless designated unit.
“They sign a year lease when they move in,” she said. “Then at the end of the year, we re-evaluate their circumstances. The maximum they can stay is two years. This is to give them a more stable place to stay.”
The individual has to meet the same criteria as other residents: pass a background check and have credit, she said.
Kelsey said she has apartments available for lease currently that are not designated for the homeless. Prices range from $370 to $550 a month for a one bedroom apartment and $610 to $710 for a two bedroom.
Kelsey said 80 percent of the apartments have requirements of income.
“Twenty percent are market rate,” she said. “Which means no
income requirements.”
The bedroom closet in the apartment currently available at Western Senior Living.A single bedroom unit currently empty at Western Senior Living apartment complex.The bathroom of the one bedroom apartment currently available at Western Senior Living.Western Senior Living is located at 1st and Main Streets in downtown Fort Scott.
For more information call 620-223-1718 Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Physical Therapist Meredith Tucker opened a clinic in June 2017.
Physical Therapist Meredith Tucker opened No Limits Rehabilitation Clinic at 18 N. Main in downtown Fort Scott in June, 2017.
Her specialty is pediatric physical therapy.
“For 12 years I’ve been doing mostly pediatrics,” Tucker said.
For insurance to provide coverage for her services, a doctor must provide a script to her, she said.
Her clinic exists not just to serve the patient, but the caregivers as well, so they can provide the best care for their loved ones at home, according to her website.
Tucker was ready for a new challenge following 9.5 years of working for Mercy Hospital.
During those years she did pediatric physical therapy and physical therapy for inpatients at the hospital.
“They closed the acute inpatient rehab unit,” Tucker said. “They still offer outpatient service and acute bed services.”
“I was ready for a new change and challenge. It’s been a good change,” she said.
Meredith Sewell Tucker is a Fort Scott High School graduate, then graduated from Kansas University with a children’s with disability and autism degree, then a masters degree in physical therapy.
She is married to Brad Tucker.
The physical therapy clinic phone number is (913) 406.8040.
Mike Cheney gets a treatment from Physical Therapist Meredith Tucker.
A mother-daughter business opened recently in downtown Fort Scott.
Dakota Isaac in front Vette’s Rerun Clothing Shop, 15 N. Main
Vette’s Rerun Clothing, 15 N. Main, opened July 24, 2017.
Tracy Isaac, the mother, has another job, while her daughter, Dakota works in the shop.
Dakota Isaac enjoys being able to spend time with her children while at the resale clothing business she is helping her mom to establish.
Tracy Isaac assumed ownership of the north Main shop in July from Connie Harper, but had previously owned a used clothing shop further south on Main Street, then moved to 605 National.
“I offer cheap clothing,” Tracy said. “And I’ve got lots of clothing, from sizes infants to 5 extra-large women. I’ve got prom dresses and wedding dresses.”
Many people can’t afford new clothes, Tracy said, and she sees that as her niche in the community.
They have lowered the prices of the clothing since assuming ownership, Dakota said.
“Currently, we are switching from summer to winter stuff,” Dakota said.
Sometimes the shop is closed because Dakota has to take her two-year-old son, Jacob, to a hospital in Kansas City.
“My grandson has spina bifida and has to go the Children’s Mercy,” for appointments, Tracy said.
The shop is open not open on Sundays and Tuesdays, but is open from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, with Saturday hours of 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information contact Dakota at (620) 215-6958.
Dakota Isaac with her children, Jade, 4, and Jacob, 2, in the playroom at the family’s used clothing shop, where she works to help to mom.Dakota Isaac works on getting winter clothing switched out at the shop.
Submitted by Krista Harding, KState Southwind Extension
September is here and that means it is prime time to fertilize your fescue lawns. Even if you faithfully fertilize in the spring, by September, fescue plants are literally starving to death.
Fescue is entering into its fall growth cycle as days shorten and temperatures moderate. Fall is the time that cool-season grasses naturally thicken up by tillering. Tillering is the term used to describe how the plant forms new shoots at the base of existing plants. Plants also build their root system for the following year in the fall. An application of fertilizer in September is put to immediate use by the plants.
However, before applying any fertilizer, I recommend that you have a soil test done. Lawn soils vary widely in pH, available phosphorus and potassium. It is very difficult to just “guess” about which nutrients are lacking and how much of each is needed. Soil testing can be done through the Extension office with a fee of $12 per sample. You will receive a detailed report that outlines your soil needs and how to fertilize accordingly. It is recommended to have a soil test every five years.
The procedure for soil testing is simple. Use a sharp shooter shovel and go straight down into the soil about four inches. Pull the soil clump up (grass and all) and knock the soil off into a bucket. Do this in about five to six locations in the lawn. In the bucket, mix the soil samples well and then randomly pull out about two cups of soil and place in a zip-lock bag and bring to one of our office locations in Erie, Iola or Fort Scott. For those living in or near Chanute, you can drop soil samples off at Breiner’s Feed Store for pick-up.
If you have not had a soil test, here is a general fescue lawn fertilizer recommendation. With a fall application, it is best to use a “quick-release” source of nitrogen. Apply 1 to 1 ½ pounds of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn. If the fertilizer analysis is 10-10-10, it is declaring that it contains 10 percent nitrogen, 10 percent phosphorus, and 10 percent potassium. So, to get the 1 pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet using a 10-10-10 blend, you would need to apply 10 pounds of the fertilizer.
Another application of fertilizer in November should be applied to help the plants build up their food reserves for use when the grass greens up in the spring. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you can get the same results if you just waited and only fertilized in the spring. Spring-only fertilizing leads to fast growth, which means more mowing. This can also promote shallow root growth and possible summer die out.
Fall is the ideal time to renovate poor lawns. If you have an overabundance of weeds, crabgrass, etc., then you may want to consider reseeding. New lawns should also be planted in the fall.
If you would like more information on lawn fertilization, seeding or soil testing, please contact me at the Extension office.
Krista Harding is a K-State Research and Extension Agricultural agent assigned to Southwind District. She may be reached at [email protected] or 620-244-3826.
With the new semester and school year, the Fort Scott Community College brought new features to its students and the community with building renovations and additions to the courses provided.
“We greatly appreciate what you do,” President Alysia Johnston said of the community’s support for the college during Thursday’s Chamber Coffee, saying the college’s goal is to serve Bourbon County. “This really is your institution and we appreciate those tax dollars that you give us every time, but we really do take that seriously.”
Enrollment at FSCC is up slightly this year, with about 1,400 full-time students and a total of about 2,000 people taking part in the courses the school provides.
The armory received an update through renovations over the summer as FSCC welcomed the John Deere program to its main campus from its former location in Frontenac. Already 23 students are involved in that program, while Adam Borth, vice president of academic affairs, said they hope to grow that to 40 over the next couple years.
The school also provides a welding course, which has about 15 students currently meeting in the morning class. FSCC hopes to provide that in the evening as well when the interest is great enough.
FSCC provides late-start classes as well for students who were not able to start in August. Those classes begin in October.
Janet Fancher, dean of student support services, expressed appreciation to the businesses and other members of the community that participated in the expo provided during the first week of classes, saying that is a great service to the students.
Athletic Director Tom Havron said all the teams have full rosters, just as the dorms are at full capacity, and said they look forward to the season ahead and hope the community will come out to support. The volleyball team is already off to a 5-0 record to start the year and the football team has their first home game this Saturday.
“We’re proud of the fact that truly athletics is a vehicle for these kids to get an education,” Johnston said, adding they are proud of the athletes for their athletic and academic accomplishments.
Johnston encouraged students and members of the community to inform the faculty of any ideas and recommendations they might have for the community college in order to improve its services.
“We are always open to suggestions,” Johnston said.
The group of baseball players, attendees at the weekly Chapel service, all raised their hands.
“Who believes God can do a miracle in your life?”
Same response.
“Who believes God will do one right now?”
The athletes looked at one another, unsure of what to do. If they didn’t raise their hands, were they denying that this speaker had a special connection with God? If they did raise their hands, was the
miracle dependent upon their faith being powerful enough to make it happen?
The guest evangelist, sensing their confusion, removed a banana from a plastic bag and asked the crowd, “How many of you believe that God can split the fruit of this banana into thirds without
altering the peel in any way?”
The ballplayers were dumbfounded. After all, God could do anything He wanted, so He certainly “could” perform such a miracle. Slowly, the men raised their hands.
“Good,” the speaker continued. “I’m going to pray that God does just that. I’m going to ask Him to slice the meat of this banana into thirds without making a mark on the skin. How many of you are confident God will answer my prayer?”
Surely it was a trick. Or was it? No one moved.
The speaker spoke to their doubts. “You probably think I’m messing with you, right? To prove I’m not, I’m going to pass this banana around the room. Check it carefully. See if there are any external marks on its skin.”
Each ballplayer took his time studying the banana. No one could find any puncture or marking. While the players sat on the edge of their seats, the preacher took the banana, raised it high, and prayed for it to be cut into thirds when peeled. As he broke the top portion of the banana’s skin and pulled it back, one piece—approximately a third—fell onto the table. The same scene replayed itself as the skin was peeled further. Three pieces. Just like the miracle worker said.
My son Adam, a player in that room, phoned me from the clubhouse.
“Mom, I just saw a miracle.” He proceeded to tell me what had happened. Although skeptical—only because I wasn’t sure why God cared about a banana dividing itself into thirds—I was thrilled for my normally unexcitable son to be so pumped about what he had witnessed.
A few days later I relayed Adam’s story to my girlfriend. “Patty, that’s an old trick,” she said. “A threaded needle is pushed through the banana by working in a circular motion. With enough punctures, it creates a cut, and the skin heals itself so the pin marks can’t be detected.” I couldn’t believe it. The ballplayers had been deceived. My friend was as bothered by this evangelist’s tactic as was I.
I shared my findings with Adam so he could discuss what had happened with the chapel leader who organized the visiting speakers. I told him what bothered me most was that God doesn’t need any help in the miracle department. No tricks. No manipulation. Jeremiah 10:12 speaks to His authority: But God made earth by his power; He founded the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. His abilities are endless. For goodness sakes, He produced ten plagues to force Pharoah’s hand, provided manna for millions of Israelites wandering in the desert, saved Daniel and his friends from a fiery furnace, and made Himself man to redeem a lost humanity.
In retrospect, I hope the intention of the pastor was to excite his audience about God’s power and not draw attention to his own ability to be used by God. I feel bad that he was so desperate to prove God is still in the miracle business. On the other hand, I would like to think my girlfriend was wrong; there was no needle and thread and this man’s prayer was answered.
