Suzette Torres, 46, will be the new communication and events coordinator for the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce.
Her hometown is Honolulu, Hawaii.
She has lived in Fort Scott since July and applied for the job because she wants to get involved in the community, she said.
“I love creating events, decorating,” she said. “I am a creative person and this job is all the things I love wrapped up into one.”
“I love Fort Scott, and my boyfriend, Berry Jones, is involved in this community,” she said. They worked together on the community mural that faces Heritage Park, at First and Main Street.
Torres attended the University of Hawaii a few years, then did administrative work in the design and also the hardware industry, she said.
“Most recently, I did admin for Hilton Grand Vacations,” she said.
She has four children, two in college in California and two who will start attending Eugene Ware Elementary and Fort Scott High School upon their soon arrival to Fort Scott.
Torres’s Chamber job will include all the email blasts, creating flyers, maintaining social media posts, and walk-in traffic to the Chamber office at 231 E. Wall.
She also will help Chamber Executive Director Lindsay Madison with the planning and coordinating of the many Chamber events.
Rachel Pruitt has opened a new Christmas pop-up shop in the lobby of the Liberty Theatre, 113 S. Main in downtown Fort Scott. She has named the pop-up Better in Bourbon.
“We will be open the remainder of the year, with new product arriving weekly,” she said.
Her products are women’s and tween girl clothing, gift items, and accessories. For those who don’t know: a tween is no longer a little child, but not quite a teenager.
Pruitt is following a lifelong ambition, after many years spent in the apparel business.
“During college, I was the first Kansas State student to intern at the Atlanta Apparel Mart,” she said. “Upon graduation, I worked for fifteen years in wholesale apparel based in Kansas City which involved traveling to several cities supporting NCAA Division I sports and later relocated to Nashville.”
“My next chapter lasted over 20 years in corporate marketing which included another relocation to Chicago,” she said. “After having the opportunity to live in several other cities, I found a sense of ease returning to Fort Scott. Life is simpler in a rural community, and I consider myself fortunate to have the perspective to realize life is ‘better in Bourbon’.”
“It seems there is so much focus on what is wrong today, a rapid spread of negativity,” she said. “Over the last year, I’ve attempted to refocus my energy on what is right, on things which are positive. With unwavering support from friends and family, I am returning to a lifelong passion.”
“This pop-up boutique is in the lobby of the beautiful Liberty Theatre due to the generosity of the owner, Jared Leek,” she said. “It will be open through the end of the year, Wednesday through Saturday from noon until 7 p.m., adjusting hours to coincide with special events. I am optimistic the pop-up will justify the need to look for a permanent space.”
A new Fort Scott Christmas Parade route will happen this year.
The 2021 annual parade is Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. and this year will start line up in front of Central Communications, 2 N. National Avenue, the radio station. Participants will line up north of that site, extending to possibly Twister Trailer, across the bridge over the Marmaton River. Each entry is to be in place no later than 5:50 p.m. that evening.
A parade entrant, 2016.
“We feel like people go to a lot of work on their entries,” Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lindsay Madison, said. “We wanted to give them more blocks for people viewing their entries. In the past, it has been four blocks.”
Lindsay Madison is the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Executive Director.
Floats, foot units, horse units, car/trucks, golf carts, marching bands or other entries will start at Wall Street and National Avenue, head south on National, to Third Street, turn left on Main Street, then north on Main until Skubitz Plaza is reached, where the Fort Scott Mayor’s Christmas Tree will be lighted immediately following the parade. Josh Jones is mayor this year.
A parade entrant, 2016.
The theme is Marching Into Christmas.
Entries are encouraged to feature toy soldiers to showcase the new downtown decorations.
“We looked at Christmas decor availability and felt that these complemented the Fort Scott National Historic Site and the history of Fort Scott,” Madison said.
Briggs Automall of Fort Scott is sponsoring cash prizes of $75 for first place, $50 for second place and $25 for third place.
The deadline to enter the parade is Monday, December 6, 1 p.m.
Following the lighting of the downtown Christmas tree, children may visit with Santa in Papa Don’s Restaurant, 10 N. Main. Parents are encouraged to bring their cameras to take photos of their kids with Santa.
While waiting to visit with Santa, Fort Scott High School Pride Club students will be providing crafts that children can make.
The Chamber is booking for its annual Christmas Light Trolley Tours from Dec. 10 to Dec. 23 at 5:45 and 7 p.m. each evening.
The trolley.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for kids and includes hot cocoa and cookies and a festive glow necklace. Pre-paid reservations are required.
For more information contact the Chamber office at 620.223.3566.
The Bandera Stone showroom storefront is located at 103 Third Street, on the north side of the square in Uniontown. Workers are currently working on the interior of the building, with a completion date in early 2022.
Don and Mary Pemberton, owners of Bandera Stone, Inc. are in the process of restoring and remodeling the storefront on the north side of Uniontown’s square.
The building is located at 103 Third Street.
Their business offers stone products for both interior and exterior, commercial and residential projects, all from local quarries.
Bandera Stone Inc. truck driver, “Bugs” George, left, with Don and Mary Pemberton, owners, with a stone that was recently delivered to the Cato School site, commemorating the National Register of Historic Places designation. Mary described George as “driver extraordinaire.” Submitted photo.
“Bandera Stone quarries and fabricates natural limestone and sandstone: full depth veneer, thin-cut veneer, landscaping, pool coping, sills, caps, hearths, mantels, countertops, and other dimension stone products,” Mary Pemberton said. “At our Bronson Quarry, we also have a crusher plant and provide a wide range of crushed stone products including road rock, ¾”, 1-1/8” and 2” clean, crusher run, ditch liner, and agriculture lime with a CCE in the mid to high 90’s.”
They offer a range of stone colors, with the product drawn from the several quarries in Kansas and Missouri that the Pemberton’s operate.
“We specialize in custom cutting each order using these unique stones,” she said. “Our stone is shipped all across the country but primarily west of the Mississippi River. Our biggest markets are in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, California, Tennessee, and more locally in the Kansas City area.”
“You can find our stone on projects throughout Bourbon County including the LaRoche Stadium and the Fort Scott Community College baseball fields, (Fort Scott’s)Heritage Park, the Fort Scott National Cemetery, Uniontown City Park, as well as numerous private residences,” she said.
One of Bandera Stone’s projects is Fort Scott’s City National Bank at Second and Scott Avenue. Taken from its website.
The business needed to relocate its office and wanted to combine it with a showroom to better display their stone products and enable customers to visualize options for their project, she said.
“We considered several options, including building new, but always liked the idea of restoring an older masonry building,” she said. “We decided on Uniontown for the location and just began asking building owners if they would be interested in selling. We were able to purchase the former café building, one of the few older structures left on the Uniontown square.”
They discovered their newly purchased building was in very poor structural condition.
“In October, we started a total gut-job remodel which included changing the flat roof to a gable roof as well as refacing two of the exterior walls which were extremely deteriorated,” she said. “Inside, absolutely everything will be new. The front half of the interior is the showroom which will display a variety of our veneer and cut stone products installed as it would be on a residential project. The back half of the interior contains restrooms, a conference room, file room, etc. ”
“We expect to have the remodeling completed in late January, barring delays with materials or contractors,” she said. “In the spring, I hope to begin painting murals which will cover the brick exterior east wall. Once the remodeling is finished and stone installed in the showroom we will have an open house so everyone can come and see.”
History Of Bandera Stone
“Don was a second-generation stone and brick mason so he had 15 plus years of masonry experience before founding Bandera Stone in 1988,” she said. “We purchased the Bandera Quarry near Redfield and initially only supplied veneer stone.”
Within a few years, the Pemberton’s started a Bronson quarry that supplies Winterset Limestone, which has become the most popular and versatile stone they sell, she said.
Winterset Limestone from Bandera’s Bronson Quarry. Taken from their website.
They also bought the former school building in Redfield to expand into cut stone.
“Over the years we have continued to expand, adding quarries and buildings, and equipment at the cut stone mill, as we could afford it. In Bourbon County, we now have our stone mill in Redfield, our primary quarry just east of Bronson, and soon to be our office and showroom in Uniontown.”
For more information call or text 620-223-3920 or email [email protected].
For forty years the Fort Scott National Historic Site has had re-enactors portray people on the prairie in the 1840s era, just before Christmas, called The Candlelight Tour. This year the tours are Dec. 3-4, Friday and Saturday evenings.
“The purpose of the tour is to provide a deeper understanding of this region’s history, that helped shape this nation, and specifically how the fort was involved in that,” Carl Brenner, FSNHS Program Manager, Interpretation and Resource Manager, said. “Instead of just telling the story, we are trying to help people become immersed in that story.”
Fort Scott National Historic Site glows during the annual candlelight tour event.
Tickets are $8, children five and under are free. To purchase call 620.223.0310
Friday evening, tours start at 6:30 p.m. and the last one is 9 p.m. On Saturday, the first tours are at 5 p.m., and the last start at 8:45 p.m.
Please arrive 10 minutes early to park, present a ticket, and acclimate yourself.
This year there are five vignettes, or re-enacted portrayals, circa 1842-1851. Forty volunteers and 10 staff will be involved in the tour this year.
The theme is Finding Peace on the Prairie.
The vignettes include:
Soldiers arriving at the fort, who are acting as peacekeepers between the Native Americans and the Anglo-European settlers.
Soldiers protecting trade goods along the Santa Fe Trail, keeping the peace. Fort Scott High School drama students helped write the script for this portrayal.
Soldiers returning from the Mexican-American War, celebrating the Peace Treaty of 1848.
Keeping peace along the Arkansas River by escorting people heading to the California Gold Rush, looking for fortune.
A traveling minister came through the fort in 1851, providing a message of peace on earth to the soldiers.
Brenner said there are approximately 25 tickets left and the later tours, after 8:15 p.m., there are some available for families or groups.
Tours will be all outside, so visitors should dress to stay warm.
“Masks are required in all federal buildings, including the visitor center and restrooms,” Brenner said.
Tours are handicapped accessible.
“We are asking people to show up 10 minutes early and meet at the west (left) side of the visitor center building, between the two buildings, on the sidewalk,” he said.
Photo Credit: Fort Scott National Historic Site. Re-enactors in the 2017 Candlelight Tour.
After ten and one-half years and coordinating 107,000 meals, Jean Tucker is stepping down from Feeding Families In His Name.
The ministry provides food to anyone on Wednesday evenings at the First United Methodist Church, Third Street and National Avenue, and Tucker has been the coordinator since its beginning.
The meal is provided for free to all who would like it.
“It’s for anybody,” Tucker said. “We’ve had new families drive through every week. It’s a free meal for the community.”
“Recently we have had caregivers who are worn down, and this (meal) is such a relief,” she said. “It’s for anyone who wants a warm home-cooked meal.”
The last meal that Tucker will coordinate is December 8.
That is 80th Tucker’s birthday.
“I am giving myself a birthday present,” she said. “That doesn’t mean I won’t have anything to do with the meal, I just won’t be responsible.”
“I ask that if you have any questions or contributions for Feeding Families In His Name that you contact the church office at 620.223.1950,” Tucker said. “The church secretary will direct your call to the appropriate person.”
Pastor Christopher Eshelman, Tom Braker and Bonnie Milburn have agreed to coordinate after Dec. 8, Tucker said.
Joey Beerbower will be in charge of the paper goods and Tom Coyan will be in charge of the kitchen and the commodities.
Over ten years ago Braker, along with Doug Altic saw a need to help families stretch their food budgets, she said. “Koyle Link, Don Tucker, Deborah Wood, Tom Braker and myself were on the original committee.”
“They went to the pastor at the time, Paul Babcock, then they called an emergency meeting and the administration board voted and approved unanimously to start the program,” Tucker said. “They were the impetus.”
“This has been God’s doing,” Tucker said. “We provide this meal because of God’s love.”
The first meal served 45 people, including the volunteer helpers, now 300 to 350 people being served on Wednesday evenings.
“We started to-go meals in March 2020 because of the pandemic and the numbers increased,” she said. “We don’t think we could go back to getting that many in our church basement.”
Several organizations cook for the meals.
The first Wednesday of each month, the St. Martin’s Academy students cook; on the second Wednesday, Community Christian Church and First United Methodist alternate cooking; on the third week, a Fort Scott Church of the Nazarene small group cook; on the fourth week, the Presbyterian Church cooks and on any fifth Wednesday, the Pioneer Kiwanis Club cooks. Fulton United Methodist Church cooks to fill in when others can’t, she said.
“Every week 15-20 people bake desserts for us,” she said.
Tucker said she is retiring because she is weary of the weekly repsoniblity, but is confident the ministry will continue.
Feeding Families in His Name offers a meal to Fort Scottians each Wednesday evening.
First United Methodist Church at Third Street and National Avenue, Fort Scott.
The Artificers 5th Annual Christmas Show, a new artshow to Fort Scott this year, is Friday, Dec. 3, and Saturday, Dec. 4 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 119 S. Main.
“Once a year Trent and I create Christmas and holiday-themed (art) work,” Kate Freeman said. “We invite some artists’ friends to share their offerings as well.”
The Freeman’s, from the Kansas City area, purchased the building north of the radio station 8 North National Avenue in Fort Scott and were renovating it, but had a few setbacks, Kate said.
“Jared Leek, the owner of Front Door Realty, was kind enough to give our show a home when we weren’t able to open our studio in time for our annual show,” Kate said. “We were hoping to be open for business, but due to some setbacks our space isn’t finished.”
This year seven artists are participating in this event.
“I hand-picked them for their craftsmanship and diverse mediums,” she said. “There is sure to be something special for everyone on your Christmas list!”
The artists include Trent and Kate Freeman, in the medium of sculpture: Andrea Latham, Kansas City, Kansas, ceramic pottery; Erin Shevling, Edwardsville, Kansas, functional pottery;
Tim Kienzle, Bonner Springs, Kansas, copper jewelry;
Darrell Williams, Kirksville, Missouri, airbrush art; and
Julie Snitker, Kansas City, Missouri, mixed media collage.
Some of the artists work:
The Artificers studio is progressing on National Avenue.
“Slowly but surely,” she said. “There is progress on all fronts, it just feels like a snail’s pace when we are so excited to share our space and art with our new community.”
Below is a link to sign up for updates and emails for classes and events.
The house at 512 S. Judson has recently been approved for the Kansas State Historical Register.
The current owner, Ronda Hassig, and husband, Rob, moved in in February 2019.
“We are both history teachers and moved from Olathe to Lawrence for retirement,” Ronda said.
They were there for one year when a native of this area and friend, Carmen Streeter Misse, showed her the house.
“We drove right down and bought it outright,” she said. “It was the house we had always dreamed of owning and putting our Victorian antique furniture in.”
It had been up for auction two times since Ken Lunt died, she said.
Ken and his wife, Charlotte, were well-known volunteers in the community. Lunt who was the mayor of Fort Scott died in 2013, Charlotte in 2007.
“Both times (it went up for auction) there was interest from a salvage company in Kansas City,” she said. “We decided to get it on the Kansas Historical Register, once we settled in. Once on the register, it would be protected from such a fate.”
Ronda was a middle school librarian, and is a historical fiction author and “all-around research nerd,” she said and began researching the history of the house.
Ronda Hassig. Taken from the Lowell Milken Center Facebook page.
History of the house
“The Thomas and Anna Herbert house sits at 512 Judson Street, the sign on the house says it was built in 1887, but it was built in 1888,” she said. “Thomas bought the property in 1870 and married Anna in 1873. They waited a while to build the house though.”
“He owned a successful home design business at 2nd and Wall and sold paint, wallpaper, household items from all over the world, and anything dealing with decorating your home,” she said. “He was a painter. In my research, I found that he helped decorate some of the most beautiful homes in Fort Scott.”
The couple had no children and Thomas died in 1913. Anna sold the house in 1917 to a banker, C.D. Sample.
In seeking to be on the register, Hassig thought she could do the architecture piece on the application.
“It became apparent after trying to use the dictionary for every other word when explaining the features of the house, that this was a job for a professional,” she said.
Hassig hired Susan Fort, a preservationist, and architect from Kansas City, Missouri to help her with the application.
On November 13, 2021, she found out the application was approved.
Now it is on the Kansas State Historial Register, but is heading to the U.S. Park Service for approval for the National Register of Places, she said.
“We should know in three to six months,” she said. “Then a plaque will be put on its’ beautiful facade.”
“I hope that Ken and Charlotte Lunt are happy in heaven with the exciting news and won’t mind too terribly that the house will now be called the Thomas and Anna Herbert House,” she said.
Workers from Mid-Continental Restoration Company work on the front of the building at 20 N. Scott. New awnings, siding, and paint are improvements being added to the building.
The Fort Scott downtown area is seeing new life.
Already approximately one dozen buildings have been purchased by new buyers and are being or have been renovated in the last few years.
Judy and Jerry Witt, who sold their suburban home and moved downtown to an apartment at 9 Main Street, have also purchased a building in the back of their living space, located at 20 N. Scott Avenue.
The purchased building has 1,812 square feet on each floor and was built in 1880 as a harness shop, Jerry said.
“Harnesses were put on horses to pull wagons,” he said.
“It’s the small building north of the Courtland Hotel,” Judy Witt said. “It was formerly owned by Jim Shoemaker and before that, it was a coffee shop.”
“I wanted to preserve it,” Jerry Witt said. “I wanted to see renovations on Scott Avenue.”
“It was basically in good shape,” Jerry said. “We finished the downstairs area; redid the bathroom and put new cabinets in.”
“The upstairs has a commercial kitchen,” he said. “Three sinks, a double oven, and a range.”
“We hope to have an area for a small business on the lower level,” Judy said. “And an apartment upstairs.”
“The idea is someone could start a business downstairs and live upstairs,” he said.
“I’d like to see something like an ice cream shop or popcorn,” he said. “To serve the visitors to the fort (Fort Scott National Historic Site).”
The building will be for rent, when the reno is completed, which should be the end of the year, he said.
Jerry and Judy moved downtown last year.
“We have a front door on Main Street and a back one on Old Fort Boulevard,” he said. “I talk to a lot of visitors to the fort and find out where they are from.”
Old Fort Boulevard is directly in front of the national historic site.
Jerry said he is enjoying living downtown.
Jerry and Judy Witt hand out Halloween candy in front of their apartment on Main Street on October 30. Taken from the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Facebook page.
“We are part of everything going on,” he said. “And it’s close to restaurants. There is always something happening. It’s beautiful and peaceful at night.”
“I have my rental office in the front room of my condo,” he said. “It’s the only one-story building on Main Street.”
The Witts own three businesses on North Main Street that currently house Audette Davis’s beauty shop, Mary Eastwood’s upholstery shop, and Stacy Gooderl’s healthy living store, he said.
This week Mid-Continental Restoration Co. of Fort Scott was working on the front side of the building at 20 North Scott Avenue.
“They are doing siding, awnings, painting, and bringing the brick back to life,” Judy said.
Noble Health Corporation announced yesterday that in the near future they will be deciding whether it is feasible to reopen a hospital at the former Mercy Hospital facility, according to Rob Harrington, Director of Bourbon County Regional Economic Development Inc.
“There will be two more meetings with the (Bourbon County) Commission and then they will begin talking with the public about the outcome of the feasibility study,” Harrington said.
“Today was a good day for Bourbon County and we are excited to see the process continue,” he said.
“The next phases will be dedicated to renovation costs and I believe labor,” he said.
“The study has been completed, however, it contains information that at this time needs to remain confidential until after the property is transferred to Noble by the county,” Harrington said. “We are hopeful that this will happen in January and February when they begin doing their town hall meetings.”
Noble Health Corp. announced in June 2021 that it would explore the possibility of reopening the acute care hospital facility in Fort Scott, according to a previous press release from the corporation.
The corporation, a Kansas City company, engaged in a cooperative agreement with Bourbon County to conduct a feasibility study that could lead to the reopening of the former Mercy Hospital building, located at 401 Woodland Hills Blvd., according to the press release.
The building is located just off Hwy. 69 on Fort Scott’s south side.
Mercy Hospital Fort Scott closed in December of 2018.
Mercy Hospital before it closed in December 2018.
Since that time Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas has leased a portion of the building, and Ascension Via Christi Hospital, Pittsburg, has leased the emergency department. Those leases end in December 2022. Fort Scott Community College has leased the western part of the building for student housing.
To view the prior features on Nobel Health in Fort Scott:
Mayra and Jose Montanez, have started a helping ministry in Fort Scott. Submitted photo.
As You Are Ministries is a ministry started by Mayra and Jose Montanez, owners of the Fort Scott Barber Shop.
“We were led by God to not only bring this ministry here but also to move here along with our kids and grandkids as well as our barbershop,” Mayra said. The family came to Fort Scott earlier this year from the Kansas City area.
The ministry will provide faith-based community services such as clothing, shoes, hygiene products, food, and hot/cold beverages to those in need.
And they have much bigger plans for those people who are down and out.
“We will also be building two bathrooms with showers for anyone in need of one,” Mayra said.
The ministry is headquartered above their family business, Fort Scott Barbershop, 118 E. Wall.
The next step will be to create a healthy-food pantry, in collaboration with local farmers, she said.
Then they plan to build four family bedrooms for anyone needing a place to sleep or stay until they can be placed in a more permanent situation or program, Mayra said.
The ministry started at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020.
“We quickly realized that people were desperate for hope and encouragement,” she said.
They started on social media.
“Every Sunday at 7 p.m., we would log in to our Facebook page ‘As You Are Ministries’ and give a word of encouragement to all that would log in.”
“Through our online videos, so far we have reached 15 countries,” she said.
They began to give out Bibles.
“Quickly noticing many people didn’t have Bibles, we started offering free Bibles, of their choosing, and would mail them to them,” she said. “We’ve currently given out close to 100, (with the) price ranging from $40-$100. It’s always what the person chooses, as long as it is Christian-based so that we can be in one accord.”
“Our Facebook page is public, anyone can see it and our goal is to reach all those in need of encouragement,” Jose said. “But the faith-based community service is for Fort Scott.”
The Montanez’s attend Faith Church and go to Bible studies with one of their groups on Mondays, he said.
The family had a setback when money was stolen from them recently.
“Our funds were stolen from our home about two months ago and we are currently in the process of saving up money to put in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system and bathrooms,” he said. “The community has donated randomly so far $1,075 to help with the money stolen, we are so appreciative of that”
The ministry is headquartered above the Montanez family’s barbershop at 118 E. Wall, on the second floor.
To view the story on the barbershop they opened in May 2021:
