Hairbow Center

In 2008 Kristi Banwart started making hair bows for her daughter and even sold a few of them at craft shows. She soon found that there was a big need for quality ribbons and other supplies for her projects. Eventually she purchased a large supply of good ribbon, but it was much more than she could use on her own. After listing for sale online, she found there were a lot of people looking for the same thing and the ribbon sold quickly.

There are probably thousands of hairbow makers across the US, who have run into the same problems locating good ribbon making supplies. Most people just stop at this point and make do with what they can get, but Kristi’s entrepreneurial streak kicked in. She began researching global suppliers and looking for manufacturers who could make high quality ribbon.

Finally she sat down with her husband, Trent, and asked, “How much do we have on our home equity line of credit?” And that is how Hairbow Center was started.

With the line of credit, the Banwarts were able to order a shipping container full of high quality grosgrain ribbon, hair clips, and all the other supplies that you need to make hair bows.

As the first container crossed the ocean on its way to Fort Scott, Trent mentally calculated how long it would take to sell the inventory based the bulk products they were splitting up and selling. The answer was measured in decades.

When it arrived, the inventory filled their garage. With an online webstore to sell the product, sales exploded. People all over the world discovered that www.hairbowcenter.com in Fort Scott Kansas was the place to go for quality ribbon and quick shipments.

Trent didn’t have to worry about his garage being stuck with the original inventory, but it wasn’t long before the garage couldn’t fit all the product they needed to inventory.

Eventually they built a warehouse on the East side of Fort Scott. They now have 7 employees working out of the 6,500 square foot, high efficiency facility where they ship an average of 100 orders each day and maintain an inventory of over 3,000 items.

The Hairbow Center is now creating ribbon with custom printed designs and even a custom line of specialty ruffled ribbon. So some of the products shipped from their warehouse aren’t available anywhere else in the world except Fort Scott.

Rural Kansas isn’t usually the first place businesses think of to build a large online business, but Haribow Center is finding a lot of advantages in Bourbon County. Land, electricity, construction and labor are all relatively inexpensive. By selling on the Internet, the Banwarts are able to stay a part of the community they love while tapping into a global demand for their products.

Arcadia Area News

Patrons of the Arcadia Post Office are asked to sign a petition in City Hall in regard to the possible Post Office closing. The feasibility study will be over in early December by the U.S. Postal authorities. Shortly after that a decision will be made.


The announcement was made Sunday that a Community Holiday Dinner will be sponsored by Open Door Mission and Christian Church on December 10, in Arcadia Community Center, 5:00 PM.

Friends are asked for non perishable foods for the needy in Arcadia, In exchange for the gift, a ticket will be given for a drawing at the end of the event.


The Fort Scott Presbyterian Village invited area folks to attend HEALTHY CHOICE FOR DIABETICS DURING THE HOLIDAYS in their Village featuring Ann Ludlum who is the Agent for Southwind Extension District. I was sorry I had a meeting that day and unable to attend.


A former Arcadian and a member of this church has put together a spiral book all about THE ARCADIA CHRISTIAN CHURCH from the beginning to the present. I was pleased to receive from him a copy autographed by him and delivered to me by his parents, Vera and John Parrish, now living in Pittsburg. Walter now lives in Texas. Much of the history in the issue was written by my late father, G. W. Corporon. This is one of the things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving Holiday season.


Ralph & Cindy Shead returned to their home in Carl Junction, MO. after spending from November l7-20 attending the National Missionary Convention in Atlanta, Georgia.


OUR GANG will be meeting December 3 next month due to the busy holiday later in the month. Plans are for Soup and sandwiches. There will be Potato and Vegetable Soup and Chili. There may be Oyster Stew. Finger food and desserts. Those who care to participate, please take a wrapped gift to exchange


Stuart and Ashley and Elizabeth Semple enjoyed a Sunday dinner in Springfield, MO with his parents. In his place leading the singing in Arcadia Christian Church were Clay Carrington and Vera Parrish. Before sermon time, pastor Cable led all in singing a song he learned when teaching children as a Bible Student. It is entitled I’M IN GOD ARMY. All went through the motions. Vera read an original Thanksgiving poem written by husband John Parrish. Mae Watt sent greetings to all and a birthday offering for her son Bill Watt. The birthday song was dedicated to Bill.

A bulletin was passed to each person asking for a list of things to be thankful for and spend some time in prayer, praising and thanking God. May he bless you.


The first Monday in November, Larry Shead attended a meeting in Pratt, Kansas on behalf of Fort Scott Community College.. Enroute home he drove in heavy rain, so it took about 5 hours. About 2 miles from his farm home he missed hitting two opossums but hit a raccoon that ran out in front of him.. He had just had his car repaired from a recent hit by a deer.


On a recent weekend, Patty & Gary Peterson attended a Festival in the Apostolic Church on a hill in Seneca, MO. They had a very fine time and won three cakes.

Mercy Day – June 2000

Over a decade ago Mercy had a picnic in the park. I recently found a bunch of photographs I had taken of the event and thought some people in Fort Scott, might enjoy seeing them.

Click on any of the small images below to the larger image. Clicking on the larger image will take you to the next photo in the list. If you recognize someone, please consider emailing them a link or sharing it with them on Facebook.  Also don’t hesitate to leave a message in the comments on this post or the individual pictures.

 

 

 

Edward Jones Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

There was a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Edward Jones office today at noon. Approximately 35 people attended the event. Jamie Armstrong (Financial Advisor) and Tedena Tucker (Branch Office Administrator) will both be working in the new location at 1713 S. National Suite B. The office is right next to subway in a section of the building that used to be the Movie Gallery.

Edward Jones provides financial services to nearly 7 million clients in the United States and Canada.

County Commission Meeting

The only person listed on the agenda at the start of the meeting was Marty giving the road report at 9 am and opening sealed bids for a generator at 10 am.

Roads Report

The Slick Rock Bridge project is going to incur an expense of $167,000. The $167,000 will be reimbursed by the Kansas T-Works program. However, the county needs to come up with the $167,000 payment to get the work done before the county can be reimbursed. The commissioners and the clerk determined that there was enough money available.

The current timeline looks like the bridge will take 5 months to build.

One of the county high loaders is using over a gallon of oil each day. It will cost $3,895 in parts to do a rebuild on the engine if the county does it themselves. A new engine would cost $20,200. The commissioners looked over different quotes and options. There was quite a bit of discussion regarding what would be most cost effective.

A citizen called in to ask how to go about protesting their taxes. Commissioner Warren conferred with the Clerk and told them they would need to speak with the Treasurer’s department who would help them setup a review with the county appraiser.

Fences

A citizen came in and asked about who is responsible for maintaining a fence between property when one piece of the property is in the CRP program. The commissioners said there is a $7.50 charge per commissioners to do a “fence viewing” where the Commissioners will come out and meet with both owners and then decree which owner is responsible for which part of the fence.

There was some discussion about how property boundaries works. Commissioner Coleman said that if you discover your neighbor has built a fence that is on your property, you have 15 years from the time it was discovered to correct the problem. Otherwise the fence becomes the new property line.

The citizen had to pick which two commissioners he wanted to have view the fence. Commissioner Coleman suggested that he choose Commissioner Warren and Chairman Endicott–even though that meant he would forgo the lucrative $7.50 payment for his service.

Generator Bids

There was a bid opening at 10 am for a generator. Commissioner Endicott had five sealed bids. They ranged from $46,079 to $92,500. The Commissioners decided to wait to review the bids before awarding the contract.

GPS/GIS Changing Acreage

Kansas Senator Bob Marshall came in at 10:00 to see what was going on and see what they though of the economic forum in Iola yesterday.

He wanted to talk about citizen Gary Harper who was concerned that his acreage has changed due to the GPS and the assessor process, but there has been no change to the deed. Senator Marshall said that if the assessed acreage changed, it needs to be changed on the deed. Mr Harper joined the conversation and Judy Orr was asked to come up to discuss the issue.

Senator Marshall asked whether or not GPS had been approved to be used for appraisals. Mr. Harper said that he had a 4.5 acre piece of property that has grown to 5.7 acres according to the appraiser’s office.

Senator Marshall pointed out that people can end up paying taxes on their property for years, but when they go to sell it, they can only sell it for the amount on the deed.

Shane Walker (Bourbon County GIS Coordinator) explained that the older maps were not “ortho rectified”. This means they didn’t take into consideration the curves in the land. So  the amount of land may change because the property isn’t flat. He said that sometimes a 1,000 foot line on the old maps would turn into a 1,021 foot line.

Mr. Walker said that Mr. Harper’s property change had to do with the way the old maps were made and that instead of measuring to the middle of the river, the old maps just went to the edge of the bank. He also said that years ago land was recorded in an “Atlas Book” and in some cases what was actually sold was very different from what the person thought they had. So the “Atlas Book” may have recorded the land as 80 acres, but in some cases it might have only been 60 acres.

After Mr. Harper and Senator Marshall left Judy Orr (County Appraiser) came in with the deed in question. She read it and most of the measurements in the legal description said things like “about 20 rods more or less.” Shane Walker said that he had seen some descriptions that said, “to the big rock in the middle of the river” or even “to the big oak tree.”

Emergency Preparedness

Keith Jefferies (Bourbon County Emergency Manager) talked about some of the emergency preparedness that is taking place. He also said that there is a red flag fire warning today and has placed several public service announcements letting people know that they should not burn. They are working on organizing a deployable mortuary system staffed with volunteers.

County Treasurer

Susan Quick said that Dan Meara (the attorney handling the tax sale) should have everything ready by December 1st. Ms. Quick said that Mr. Meara had some cases ready to file, but she had told individuals that they had until December 1st to pay their taxes. She also said it wasn’t fair if some people had the foreclosures started before others because it would give some people more time to pay.

The Commissioners said that they had planned on the lawsuits being filed in groups so they wouldn’t be done all at the same time. The Treasurer said that they had always filed them all together.  She feels that the Commissioners have “kicked the rug out from under her” in a number of things and asked the Commissioners to wait until the December 1st date to keep things fair and consistent with what the public had been told by the Treasurer’s office.

She said that waiting until December 1st is legal and that is the way they have always done it. Commissioner Allen said that “this is a new day.” It was brought up that the tax statements said to pay Bourbon County Treasurer Susan Quick. The Commissioners asked why this had changed. Ms. Quick said that this is how it has always been and asked,”Do you think I’m stupid enough to take the checks that are made out to me and cash them?”

She said she would change it next year to just say Bourbon County Treasurer.

Chairman Endicott said he would talk with Mr. Meara and ask him to hold off on filing anything until December 1st.

The Treasurer said that she has collected $58,938 in back taxes since October. She also said that the properties that are not homesteads can be sold one year sooner than the other properties. Joanne Long said that in the past they have only sold properties after 3 years in order to avoid difficulties in determining what is homestead and what is not.

The Treasurer said that all the money in escrow accounts from the payment plan has been applied to the taxes. Commissioner Warren asked if anyone was still on the payment plan. Ms. Quick said that it had been discontinued and no one is currently on the payment plan. Ms. Quick said, no one is being held off of the tax sale.

She gave the commissioners a list of $231,000 in taxes from properties from 2008. They asked for the same report for 2009 and 2010.

So November 30th is the last day people can pay taxes to avoid being on the tax sale. After this point, the property cannot be partially redeemed and the entire amount of unpaid taxes must be paid to prevent a sale.

 

 

Common Property Tax Questions

What is the Extension category?

The “extension” category goes to the Southwind Extension District which appears to fund some of the local Extension Offices. In the past, the extension office was only funded by the state and wasn’t paid for by a separate local levy, but now it is.

What is the Other category?

The “other” category is what funds Fort Scott Community College. Sometimes in the past this was labelled as FSCC. The change was due to differences in the way the computer systems handle creating the statements.

How do I protest my taxes?

The County Treasurer’s office has Payment Under Protest Applications. These allow you to pay first half of the property taxes. The protest must be filed by December 20th. The County Appraiser will schedule an informal hearing. After the hearing the County Appraise will notify the citizen of the results. If the citizen wants to further contest the appraisal, they can file an appeal with the Small Claims and Expedited Hearing Division or through the Regular Division of the State Court of Tax Appeals.

Why do we make checks out to Susan Quick County Treasurer?

The Treasurer wanted to make sure the everyone knew that the money doesn’t go to her personally. The instructions on how to pay have been this way for years, so there has been no change in this matter.

 

Chamber Coffee – Iron Star

This week’s Chamber Coffee was held at The Iron Star Antiques & Such at Main and Wall Street. The Iron Star is owned by Barbara Trimbure and is run as a coop with several  departments with both old and new items. One of the Iron Star’s specialties is taking old furniture and giving it new life. The upstairs in the building hosts the resale shop and they also have a section of baby gifts.

Barbara said the most people think that stores like the Iron Star get the majority of their sales from tourists, but in reality is it the local customers that keep coming back again and again. To cater to local customers, they are constantly changing things around and bringing in different items to keep the store fresh and interesting.

Barbara said that they will be having an open house on December 20th for last minute Christmas shoppers.

Other news and announcements:

The Gala Committee presented the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation with a check for $16,952. Two thirds of this came from the Gala and the rest came from a 50% matching program.

Gala Committee Presents Check for $16,952
  • The Citizen’s Bank Bowl has selected Trinity Valley Texas and Butler as the two teams for the Bowl game coming up on December 4th. (more details)
  • Candlelight Tours at the Fort will be on December 2nd and 3rd. The theme is Fort Scott in 1861.
  • The 300th performance of Life In A Jar will take place in Lebanon, MO at 6pm on December 4th.
  • The Kiwanis Pancake feed will be on December 8th.
  • The Beacon’ Christmas Adopt a Child program will be wrapping up this Friday.
  • The Middle School is hosting their VIP Fall Extravaganza on November 21st. It is a “one-stop shopping and dining experience” and a great way to pickup some baked goods for Thanksgiving.

Other Unpaid Taxes

The Bourbon County Real Estate Tax Statements are starting to arrive and most people are going to see an increase in property taxes this year because of several mill levy increases. The County Commissioners have noted that if all the taxes due were paid, it is likely that the county wouldn’t have needed to raise the mill levy.

But property taxes aren’t the only form of income from the local government. Here is a list from the Kansas Department of Revenue of warrants for some of the other types of unpaid taxes.

Just in Bourbon County, there are over $600,000 in unpaid taxes. Now not all of this money would go to local governments. For example, the bulk of sales tax goes to the state. However, Kansas sales tax has gone up in recent years to deal with revenue shortfall just like the local government bodies have had to raise property taxes.

One of the biggest concerns from this list is that most of these taxes are either sales taxes or witholding taxes. That means they were actually collected from people–most likely Bourbon County citizens–and not remitted to the government. When the government didn’t get the taxes it needed, it had to raise taxes. So in effect, many locals have had to pay taxes twice. Once when it was collected as sales tax for a local purchase and again when the property taxes and sales taxes went up.

Certain types of taxes being unpaid can lead to prison terms for tax fraud which means that the local citizens may end up paying a third time by taxes that are going to cover keeping someone in prison. The best figures I could find for Kansas seem to estimate that it costs about $24,000 per year to keep someone in prison.

Government works when people follow the rules. Unfortunately when some people don’t follow the rules, the costs are distributed to those who do and it is often very expensive.

COWBOYS GRILL INC
15 E. HUNTINGTON BLVD
FORT SCOTT , KS 66701
SALES TAX $104,963.35
THOMAS DAVIS -2175
927 S HOLBROOK ST
FORT SCOTT , KS 667013030
SALES TAX $73,866.20
HAROLD E SILVERS
22 1/2 N MAIN ST
FORT SCOTT , KS 667011435
SALES TAX $44,751.65
MCKENNEY RESTORATION 1110 SCOTT AVE
FORT SCOTT , KS 667012704
WITHHOLDING TAX $43,613.63
MARK C MCKENNEY -3229
1110 SCOTT AVE
FORT SCOTT , KS 66701
WITHHOLDING TAX $43,613.63
GOOD FOOD FORT SCOTT
2503 S MAIN ST
FORT SCOTT , KS 667018724
SALES TAX $39,173.48
BRUCE RE
11221 MARTY ST
OVERLAND PARK , KS 662102627
SALES TAX $39,173.48
NICHOLS, RE, MEYERS, LLC
11221 MARTY ST
OVERLAND PARK , KS 662102627
SALES TAX $39,173.48
COWBOYS GRILL INC
15 E. HUNTINGTON BLVD
FORT SCOTT , KS 66701
WITHHOLDING TAX $36,796.98
FDBA ONLAR LLC
BHUPINDER S DHILLION
101 STATE ST
FORT SCOTT , KS 667011531
SALES TAX $31,872.17
TREND ENTERPRISES INC
1804 S NATIONAL AVE
FORT SCOTT , KS 667013030
SALES TAX $27,964.88
TREND ENTERPRISES INC
1804 S NATIONAL AVE
FORT SCOTT , KS 667013030
SALES TAX $22,608.34
TREND ENTERPRISES INC
1804 S NATIONAL AVE
FORT SCOTT , KS 667013030
SALES TAX $22,418.92
FDBA ONKR LLC
101 STATE ST
FORT SCOTT , KS 66067
TRANSIENT GUEST TAX $15,895.98
STRUCTURAL FORM INC
1224 S CRAWFORD ST
FORT SCOTT , KS 667012604
WITHHOLDING TAX $14,404.52
KURT ALLEN
712 S NATIONAL AVE
FORT SCOTT , KS 66701
WITHHOLDING TAX $14,404.52
TERRY R PRUITT
1587 205TH ST
FORT SCOTT , KS 667018306
SALES TAX $9,797.97
THOMAS DAVIS -2175
927 S HOLBROOK ST
FORT SCOTT , KS 667013030
WITHHOLDING TAX $9,309.61
BRUMBACK TOWING
827 MARION
FT SCOTT , KS 66701
PROPERTY VALUATION AD VALOREM $9,300.59
STEVE BRUMBACK
827 MARION
FT SCOTT , KS 66701
PROPERTY VALUATION AD VALOREM $9,300.59
TREND ENTERPRISES INC
1804 S NATIONAL AVE
FORT SCOTT , KS 667013030
WITHHOLDING TAX $9,246.38
COWBOYS GRILL INC
15 E. HUNTINGTON BLVD
FORT SCOTT , KS 66701
SALES TAX $7,593.78
HAROLD E SILVERS
22 1/2 N MAIN ST
FORT SCOTT , KS 667011435
WITHHOLDING TAX $3,438.21
BONNIE J HAMMOND
302 BAY ST
BRONSON , KS 667163058
WITHHOLDING TAX $3,062.28
BONNIE J HAMMOND
302 BAY ST
BRONSON , KS 667163058
SALES TAX $2,934.24

Arcadia Area News

Clay Carrigton attended the wedding of his brother, Joseph Darel Plotner and Cassandra Marie Blanchard on November 11, 2011 in Galena, Kansas. A reception was held immdiately following the wedding in Fellowship Hall.


Gael & Dave Martin of Spring Hill, Kansas visited her Aunt, Mary V. Shead on Saturday morning in Arcadia and enjoyed lunch in Harry’s Cafe, Pittsburg with her cousin, Charles Corporon. That afternoon, they visited former Spring Hill neighbors who recently moved to Pittsburg. The Martins are former students of PSU.


Doris Schaub, former Arcadian now living in Ft. Scott visited Mae Watt one day last week. Mae’s sons living in the Kansa City Area and Wichita visit frequently and contact her by phone every day.

This past week, friends took Mae to the Veterans’ Day program held in Winfield Scott Elementary School. It was entitled THIS IS AMERICA.


Ava Mae Adams was honored for her birthday one day last week when her cousin, Louise Holland and Judy Rawlings took her to lunch in Pittsburg. Enroute to pick up their guest, the two ladies took Ruth Holland with a prepared lunch to the home of Mary V. Shead in Arcadia where the two old time friends played Dominoes, took a walk and talked about their activities of long ago when Ruth used to live in Arcadia and attended Christian Church. Ruth now lives Rural Liberal, MO.


In the Arcadia Christian Church on Sunday morning, November 13, Clay Carrington was the song leader with Vera and Christie Parrish as his helpers and Charles Cable at the piano. After Scripture Reading from the pulpit, two construction workers appeared with bags of rubbish that Pastor later described as “reasons why people don’t come to church”. The “two workers” are known as Willa Cable & Patty Peterson, teachers of the youth in Sunday School. They received a round of Applause! Those attending JOY Class again gave thanks to Wayne Parrish. President of the church Board for the home baked treats he brings each Sunday morning.


Ralph & Cindy Shead returned to their home in Carl Junction, Mo. after spending Fri night with his Mother, Mary V. Shead in Arcadia.
They left early Saturday morning to speak for Literature
and Teaching Ministries at Union Christian Church, Terre Haute, Indiana. Ralph first visited the church while a college student in the l970’s and stayed at the home of Jean Farr, who also hosted Ralph & Cindy for this visit.
OnThe same weekend his brother, Larry Shead left on Sunday for a business meeting on behalf of Community College, Ft. Scott in Pratt, Kansas. He also returned home on Monday evening.


Mitzi Ray with sons Cademon & Ryan and daughter Atalie of Tulsa spent time with Haley & Mark Shead family in Ft. Scott. Husband, Joel Ray was tiling a home in Joplin with his brother-in-law, Clayton Liston, as his helper. The Ray family spent one night with her Uncle Ralph & Cindy Shead in Carl Junction before returning to their home in Tulsa.

Does Your Insurance Cover An Earthquake?

Most homeowner’s insurance in Kansas doesn’t cover an earthquake unless you specifically add it to your policy. Since the risk is very low, most homes in the Bourbon County area can be insured against earthquake damage for a few additional dollars per month. Be aware that the way deductibles are handled for earthquakes can be different than the way it is handled for other types of damage.

Even if you want coverage, you may not be able to get it right now. At least one local insurance company is unable to write earthquake insurance today. Its underwriters refuse to issue policies in this area due to the recent tremors.  Other companies will let you add coverage with a simple phone call.

If you are unsure of your coverage, your insurance agent can let you know what your policy covers and what options you have.

 

Bourbon County Local News