Submitted by Fort Scott Community College

Armed Forces Day

Fort Scott Community College will honor service members and veterans of the United States Military during its Armed Forces Day football game on Saturday, November 5, at Frary Field.

“We invite fans to join us in thanking these brave men and women for their faithful service to our country,” said Tom Havron, FSCC Director of Athletics.

Service members and veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, along with their immediate family members, will receive free admission to the game. Several local service members will serve as honorary captains of the team that evening.

During halftime of the game, FSCC will also recognize spring 2016 honor roll students.

For more information about Armed Forces Day, please call Tom Havron at 620-223-2700, ext. 7230.

High School Senior Day

Fort Scott Community College will welcome local high school seniors to the Fort Scott campus during the College’s annual Senior Day event on Thursday, November 2. Area high school seniors and their parents are encouraged to attend this free event, which begins at 9:15 a.m. at the Danny & Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center.

“This is a great opportunity for students to visit and experience FSCC,” said Matt Glades, FSCC Director of Admissions. “College faculty, staff and students will be on hand to show potential students what it’s like to be a Greyhound.”

Students will have the opportunity to meet with FSCC faculty and learn about the benefits of attending Fort Scott Community College. The event will also include a campus tour, an expo with student organizations and local resources, breakout sessions by academic program, entertainment, activities and drawings. Additionally, all attendees will receive a free lunch.

To preregister, visit fortscott.edu/SeniorDay. Preregistration is not required—however, those who preregister will be entered into a drawing for prizes from t-shirts to scholarships.

For more information, call Matt Glades, FSCC Director of Admissions, at 620-223-2700 ext. 3520 or email [email protected].

Schedule of events

9:15 a.m. – Registration at Danny & Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center

9:45 a.m. – Welcome and introductions

10:15 a.m. – Campus tour

11:00 a.m. – FSCC expo with student organizations and local area resources

11:30 a.m. – Break-out sessions with instructors and FSCC students

12:15 p.m. – Lunch

12:20 p.m. – Entertainment and games

1:00 p.m. – Conclusion of event

During their commission meeting Tuesday, the Fort Scott City Commission received a report on the past six months at the Woodland Hills Golf Course, including finances, additions and upcoming needs.

In recent months, the course has received numerous improvements and additions, including the new clubhouse, golf professional and manager Shannon O’Neil, improvements at certain tees and holes, the new sign and logo, the option of senior tees and scorecards and the addition of new equipment for taking care of the greens.

“It’s a viable golf course and a good golf course,” O’Neil said, adding he believes it is one of the best courses in the area.

O’Neil said his goal is to expose the course to new groups of people, especially those outside of Fort Scott. In September, the Woodland Hills Golf Course hosted a tournament for the Southeast Kansas Senior Men’s League that brought in more than 40 players. O’Neil said events like those will bring in more golfers as well as encourage local golfers to attend.

Since the end of March, O’Neil said about 5,000 golfers have come to the course, with more than 2,200 of those rounds played by season pass holders. More than 3,300 paid green fees to play.

The season passes and golf fees added up to almost $55,000, the green fees more than $41,000, merchandise such as hats and golf balls almost $5,000, and food and beverages more than $13,000.

“We’re operating on the right side of things,” O’Neil said about the profit they have been able to draw in, while adding that he hopes to add more to the merchandise available.

O’Neil said their other plans for the near future include replacing the golf cart fleet, which have been in use since 2006, and possibly replacing the storage shed for the carts. The city will consider leasing the carts as opposed to buying them outright, determining which option will be most reasonable.

The city commissioners praised O’Neil for all he has accomplished since taking his position this summer as well as for his forward-thinking vision for the golf course.

During a Lunch and Learn hosted by Fort Scott Community College Thursday, author and baseball historian Phil Dixon shared some of the history the Kansas City Monarchs have with the city of Fort Scott.

The Kansas City Monarchs, a team of the Negro National League team from 1920 until the 1960s, played games not just among the eight teams in their league, but against teams around the state and even neighboring states in exhibition games.

Dixon, who spent time in the 1980s as a public relations person for the Kansas City Royals, said the Monarchs were a formidable foe that in their early years, winning pennants and even world championships in their league. They also at one time had more than 400 exhibition wins and just three losses.

Between 1922 and 1932, Dixon said he believes the Monarchs played in Fort Scott approximately nine times, with some of the matches being close considering the quality of the Monarchs, some of whom would go on to become major league players and even Hall of Fame members.

“They had some pretty good ball players in this town,” Dixon said of Fort Scott, even bringing up quotations from Monarchs players who said the Fort Scott team they played in 1922 was the best independent ball team they played that season.

During those years, Dixon said attendees often paid a quarter for a ticket, maybe 50 cents if it was a more respected pitcher. Around that time, they also began playing night games for the first time and started taking buses to different cities instead of trains.

Dixon dedicated his discussion Thursday to Monarchs player George Sweatt, who was born in Humboldt and lived much of his life in Iola.

Dixon said it is important for baseball fans to continue to share that passion with younger generations to keep that pastime alive.

Attendees of the event could ask questions and also share information with Dixon about their experiences with games played in Fort Scott in past decades. Dixon also presented a photo of the Monarchs team to Jill Warford and the Gordon Parks Museum.

Submitted by Fort Scott Community College

FSCC Theatre to Stage “The Bald Soprano”

The Fort Scott Community College Theatre Department will present “The Bald Soprano,” Thursday, October 20, through Saturday, October 22.

“The Bald Soprano,” was written by Eugene Ionesco in 1950.

“This play is a significant part of the Absurdist movement in theatre. The original version of the play takes place in London, but we have adapted the script to fit in the United States,” said Lawrence Alford, FSCC Theatre Instructor. “The concept of the production is based around the 2016 presidential election campaigns. The characters in the play will represent four significant groups—the American voter, the American media, Democratic Party and Republican Party.”

While the play has no discernible plot or storyline, it follows a stream of consciousness. The main message of “The Bald Soprano,” is that language cannot be used as a vehicle for change if no one is saying anything and no one is listening. The play expresses the futility of meaningful communication in modern society.

“One of the main reasons why I chose this play is because my students are voting in their first presidential election,” said Alford. “The play will not take a side in the election—it will attempt to show the absurd nature of the presidential campaign process as a whole.”

The production opens on October 20, and runs through October 22. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Performances will be held at Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center, 2108 S. Horton. General admission tickets may be purchased at the door on the day of the show—prices are $7 for adults, $4 for students and seniors and free for FSCC students.

For more information, call Lawrence Alford at 620-223-2700, ext. 3056.

FSCC to Host Community Appreciation Day

Fort Scott Community College will welcome members of the community to its campus 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Friday, October 28. for its Community Appreciation Day.

The event is designed to thank the community for its continued support of the College. Attendees will receive a free grilled hot dog lunch and a tour of the Gordon Parks Museum. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to meet and talk with FSCC administrative staff.

FSCC’s Community Appreciation Day will take place in front of the Danny & Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center. In case of inclement weather, the event will take place inside the Fine Arts Center. For more information, please call 620-223-2700.

Submitted by Angela Bin

The International Thespian Society announces the participation of Fort Scott High School, Thespian Troupe #7365, in the Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat program.

Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat is a national community service program to collect canned and dry goods for local charities and food banks. Theatre students from FSHS will collect food donations on Friday, October 21, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Thousands of pounds of food will be collected in one week across the state, giving organizations the ability to help thousands of local people.

The International Thespian Society (ITS) is an honorary organization for high school and middle school theatre students located at more than 4,100 affiliated secondary schools across America, Canada and abroad. The mission of ITS is to honor student achievement in the theatre arts. High school inductees are known as “Thespians” and junior high/middle school inductees are known as “Junior Thespians.” ITS is a division of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), a professional organization with approximately 100,000 members nationwide.

Thespians will also partner with other high school clubs including Pride to collect food.  If you would like to donate to the cause and the students miss your home on October 21, please drop your donation by FSHS and address it to Angie Bin, FSHS Thespian Director.

After being postponed a week because of recent heavy rains, the 4^th Annual Tryakathon at Gunn Park was almost delayed again because of wet conditions on the trails. But the night before the Saturday event, organizer Frank Halsey decided it was safe for the participants and the event continued.

“It’s been hectic,” Halsey said of the planning over the last couple weeks, which forced organizers to keep a close eye on the trail and river conditions.

Participants had to face muddy trails as well as a tree downed in the river, but individual competitors and teams still came out to compete in the event that covered 4 miles of running, 2.5 miles of kayaking and 6.5 miles of bike trails.

Because the event was delayed a week, the event lost some participants as well as gained some, but overall the numbers remained lower than previous years because of the conditions. Halsey said there was still a larger number of competitors than they expected.

Local volunteers such as from Fort Scott Community College also helped put on the event.

Members of the Young Professionals League invested their time and efforts into downtown Fort Scott Tuesday evening by washing windows and sweeping the sidewalks in order to make the vacant storefronts more presentable.

YPL executive board member Jessica Schenkel said she had recently come across records of the YPL doing a similar downtown event in 2008, and decided that would be a good way for the young professionals to get more involved in the community.

“We’re trying to do some more events to get the YPL out into the public eye,” Schenkel said, saying they want to encourage other young professionals to get involved in the organization as well as make sure the rest of the community knows they exist.

The YPL also helps with other community events throughout the year, such as through the high school job fair and a soup kitchen to raise money for the Beacon, this year switching to an enchilada meal for that same goal. On Saturday, a team of YPL members participated in the kickball tournament to help raise money for a new 3D mammogram machine for Mercy Hospital.

The organization’s members also gather for monthly social events as well as hold a meeting the first Friday of each month. This Sunday, members and their families and prospective members are invited to the Fort Wise Pumpkin Patch at 2 p.m. at a discount price.

Throughout the year, YPL members are encouraged to turn in hours of community service they complete in order to keep a record of some of the impact the members have on the city.

During their homecoming event Friday evening, Fort Scott High School crowned the 2016 homecoming king and queen while the football team protected their field against the Coffeyville Golden Tornadoes.

Taylor Engstrom was named the homecoming king while Lauren Hurd was crowned the queen. Other king candidates included Noah Daly, Wyatt DeHaven, Grant Goldston and Mayson Lane. Queen candidates were Alex King, Taylor Krokroskia, Makayla Robertson and Karlee Stanley.

The Fort Scott Tigers then held on for a 35-20 victory over the Golden Tornadoes, scoring 16 points in the third quarter after trailing Coffeyville by one at halftime. A Tigers’ defense that had three interceptions and four sacks held the Tornadoes to just over 200 yards of offense while their own surpassed 400 yards.

The Tigers continue their season with a district game on the road against the Louisburg Wildcats Friday.