Who: Thompson-Harkey American Legions Riders Post #25
What: School Parade drive by
When: November 11, 2022, at 9 a.m.
Where: Memorial Hall, 1 East Third Street, Fort Scott, KS 66701. Parade will drive by the USD234 Preschool, Winfield Scott Elementary School, Fort Scott High School, Eugene Ware Elementary School, and end at the Fort Scott National Cemetery prior to the Veteran’s Day Ceremony.
**ALL VETERANS ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE VIA MOTORCYCLE OR AUTOMOBILE**
The more participants, the better.
Media Contact: Tom Metcalf, Jr. American Legion Riders Post #25, Director. 620-224-7951, [email protected]
On Saturday, 9/24/22, at around 4:23 am, Fort Scott Police, along with EMS personnel, responded to an address in the 400 Blk of Andrick, for a report of an adult male that had been discovered laying in the grass with multiple injuries. The victim has been positively identified as being Kenneth Bevins, 39, of Fort Scott. Bevins was transported by EMS personnel to a hospital in Kansas City.
As of October 10, 2022, four (4) subjects have been taken into custody. Michael Sheriff, (23) of Fort Scott, and Tavin Eisenbrandt (20) of Fort Scott are currently being held at the Bourbon County Jail. Two (2) juveniles are also being held in custody for the following offenses:
1) Attempted Murder 1st Degree
2) Aggravated Robbery
On October 18, 2022, FSPD investigators applied for and received an arrest warrant for a 5th subject in connection with this case. That subject, is Cody Tindill (23) of Fort Scott. Tindill was subsequently located and arrested out of state.
Yesterday, November 2, 2022, Mr Tindill was extradited back to Fort Scott by the Bourbon County Sheriff’s office where he was booked into the Bourbon County Jail. Tindill was booked for the following offenses:
1) Attempted Murder 1st Degree
2) Aggravated Robbery
All persons are presumed innocent until found otherwise in a court of law.
The victim, Mr. Bevins, remains in critical condition.
Submitted by:
Fort Scott Police Department Public Information Team
A seven-year-old boy and his family were traveling through Fort Scott in 1952, when a fire in the motel they were staying in killed his parents and baby brother.
His whole life people have been telling Leon Perry, 78, he should write a book about his life.
In March 2021 he published it.
His story is one of a terrible tragedy that turned into a life full of random acts of kindness given to him that he feels are miracles from God.
And the first part of his story includes many familiar places in Bourbon County.
In 1952 Leon was moving with his family from Parsons, Kansas because their farm had experienced a severe flood and the family had lost all their belongings.
The family of five, the two parents and three brothers, stopped in Fort Scott.
“The Salvation Army got us a motel in Belltown,” he said. “That night… a propane gas explosion blew the roof off of the cabin. The (Fort Scott) police department came to rescue us. We lost my step-father, mother and baby brother. I have no recollection of the event, but the chief of police said ‘you wouldn’t have been burned so bad if you hadn’t gone back in to get your brother’. My half-brother Ernie and I were taken to Mercy Hospital.”
“I had severe burns on my face, shoulder, arms and hands,” Perry said. “My brother wasn’t burned as bad. The Mercy people told me I about died a couple of times.”
He had numerous surgeries from that time until he was 15 years old.
They were placed Goodlander Home, an orphanage on the old Fort Scott site, and remained there until he was 10 years old.
The orphanage was a good experience.
“It was a good experience,” he said. “Even though they were difficult times. I was in the hospital a lot and also to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City several times for skin grafts.”
Over and over, Perry has experienced miracles he said.
Leon was blind and heard a doctor tell a nurse that he wouldn’t see again, and even though he had skin grafts around his eyes, he could see perfectly in a few months.
Eventually he and his brother were adopted by a local farm couple, Ancel and Marguerite Perry, in Bourbon County, near Devon.
This was another miracle.
The couple, who weren’t young, had a large ranch and had no other children, he said. They were instrumental in his physical and emotional recovery from the trauma of the fire.
After moving to the farm he began to regain strength and overcome some of his handicaps.
“She was a wonderful cook… I was undernourished even though under a doctors care,” he said.
As he strengthened, he began to help on the farm with chores: milking cows, driving a tractor, herding cattle.
“I showed cattle at the county fair,” he said. “I loved it all.”
He had been in the hospital so much he was behind in schooling, which was in Berlin Elementary School, and then the Mapleton Elementary School.
Marguerite helped Leon with his assignments.
“Everytime I said ‘I can’t’, she said ‘You will,'” he said. “It made the difference.” It was a turning point in his life, he said. Her determination showed Leon he COULD learn and helped him believe in himself.
His adoptive parents were supportive of him being involved in extra activities outside of farm and school, which included 4-H projects and showing cattle.
“I had to come out of my shell and become more active,” he said.
He attended Uniontown High School and went on to become an FFA state officer, graduating with the class of 1963. He then went on to Fort Scott Junior College and was StuCo President, and on the honor roll. He was also on the honor roll at Pittsburg State University that he later attended.
Perry went on to get four college degrees and was a teacher, coach, athletic director, assistant principal and principal.
Perry became a believer in God, and said his faith has allowed him to see the miracles in his life.
“There is always people willing to help…and you can look forward to the future…with faith,” he said. “Always look for the miracles of God in your life.”
Perry and his wife, Carol have two grown children, LeAnn Perry and Ty Perry and one grandson.
Funds from the book entitled God Led Through the Fire and Filled My Life With Miracles, will go to their church youth organization. They attend the First United Methodist Church, Monett.
The Leon Perry book cover.
To purchase a book, email: [email protected] or mail $10 per book to Leon Perry, 8 Appleblossom Lane, Monett, MO 65708.
How old is the Earth? What are the facts about Dinosaurs? Has science proven Evolution to be true? Does science confirm the Bible?
Creation Experience Museum is coming to your area soon with answers to these questions. Come and hear Curtis and Sherry Baker share the truth about creation. You’ll be amazed to see how the scientific evidence matches the Bible’s claims.
These are issues that affect everyone. Evolution teaches us there is no need for a God and that science is all there is.
The Bible gives a very different picture of the nature of these things. In these presentations, you will learn how the scientific evidence, when properly understood, confirms the details of the Biblical account.
To find out more:
Date: Sunday, November 13th, 2022
Time: 10:50 am – Digging up the truth about Dinosaurs
The Fort Scott Area Community Foundation has awarded the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes a grant for $2,500. The grant will fund “Unsung Heroes of the Stars: A Community-wide Stargazing Project.” The monies will purchase a telescope that will be used at the Lowell Milken Park for young and old alike to learn about special unsung hero astronomers. Not only will the project include stargazing but special guests will be invited to teach about space and the people that spent their lives trying to reach it!
About the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation: “The Fort Scott Area Community Foundation hosts individual charitable funds created by donors who have a passion for giving back to their community. Grants from these funds assist people throughout Fort Scott and Bourbon County. Call the Foundation at 620-224-6500 with questions about the Community Foundation.”
About the Lowell Milken Center: The Lowell Milken Center is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) that works with students and educators within a range of diverse academic disciplines, to develop projects focused on unsung heroes.
We are passionately dedicated to improving the healthcare system because we all have had a personal experience with the struggle that comes with a change in health. We are here to help and support you and your family as you seek to improve or simply maintain your health and independence at home.
At Integrity, our mission is to identify and meet your home care needs and the needs of our employees with the unmatched skill, compassion, and integrity. Not just because its the right thing to do, but because that’s how we would like to be treated, too.
Let us help you on your care journey.
Thank you to our Chamber Champion members shown below!
Minnie Lorene “Cricket” Likely, age 95, a longtime resident of Bronson, Kansas, and more recently of Ft. Scott, Kansas, passed away Tuesday, November 1, 2022, at the Allen County Regional Hospital in Iola, Kansas, just two days shy of her 96th birthday.
She was born November 3, 1926, in Moran, Kansas, the daughter of LaMoyne Knapp and Bessie Mae Smith Knapp. Cricket graduated from the Moran High School. She married Harry Benjamin “Fuzz” Likely in June of 1947, at Bronson. Together they raised three children.
In earlier years, Cricket worked as a cook for the Bronson school system. She later worked at Miller’s Dress Factory in Iola. She later began working at the Bronson Post Office and eventually served as the Bronson Postmaster. She was a long-time member of the Bronson Baptist Church. Cricket enjoyed spending time with family and friends playing cards and dominos.
Survivors include her three children, Norma Pope (Rex) of Fredonia, Kansas, Kathy George (Gale) of Uniontown, Kansas and Tom Likely (Debbie) of Parker, Kansas; six grandchildren, Tanya Ostrosky (Dusty), Myra Barnett (Dee), Delta Pollock (Jared), Denise George, Tommi Compton (Chris) and Troy Likely (Lacey); twelve great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
Cricket was preceded in death by her husband, Fuzz on May 20, 1997. She was also preceded in death by her parents, a brother, four sisters, and a grandson Curtis George.
There was cremation. Rev. Rusty Newman will conduct a memorial service at 11:00 A.M. Monday, November 7th at the Cheney Witt Chapel.
Burial will follow in the Bronson Cemetery.
The family will receive friends on Monday from 10:00 A.M. until service time at the Cheney Witt Chapel. Memorials are suggested to the Bronson Baptist Church and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, P.O. Box 347, Ft. Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.
One of the 18 sewing machines that Marie Wiley has in her husbands shop.
Dale Wiley loved to tinker.
Dale Wiley. Submitted.
“He was handy and clever,” said his wife of 60 years said. “And he was pretty talented.”
Marie Wiley.
For over 23 years, Dale served on the Fort Scott Fire Department as a firefighter. But in his spare time, he began repairing sewing machines. Marie Wiley, his wife is a talented seamstress, who worked at Country Cupboard for several decades.
Before working at Country Cupboard, Marie worked for Helen Carson, owner of Helen’s Fabric, and Helen asked Dale to repair sewing machines.
“He went to Bernina School in K.C. and also to training in Las Vegas for training,” Marie said. At first he repaired only Bernina’s, but began to tinker with other brands.
TWo of the Wiley sewing machines.
“Sometimes he would spend a couple of hours and sometimes a couple of weeks on a machine,” she said. “Sometimes he had to make machine parts. It had to be done right or he wasn’t going to do it.”
When Dale died on August 23, 2022, there remained 18 sewing machines in his shop that people had given him and he took on to repair.
A Brother Sewing Machine that Dale repaired.
“It was just a hobby for him to tinker around with,” she said.
Besides Bernina machines in the Wiley garage there are Singer, including two antiques, Brother, J.C. Penney, Montgomery Wards, Sears Kenmore, and Husquana Brands, along with two Singers for leather work and two sergers. A serger trims the seam and encloses the seam allowance or edge of the fabric, inside a thread casing, all in one step, according to thesprucecrafts.com.
A serger that Dale Wiley repaired.
“He repaired no computerized sewing machines, just the heavier old ones with no nylon gears,” Marie said.
One of the sewing machines that sews on leather.
Marie also has eight sewing machines in her sewing room in the house and continues to create cloth heirlooms for her family.
As with her husband, small appliance repair options are dying.
“Small appliance repair is a dying art,” Marie said. “Everything is made to be thrown away when it doesn’t work.”
For more information about the machines, contact Marie at 620.215.2014.
Effective October 31st, 2022, Shane Walker resigned his position as City Commissioner on the Fort Scott City Commission.Persons interested in applying to fill the position vacated by Commissioner Shane Walker are asked to submit a letter of interest to:City Clerk, Lisa Lewis at 123 S. Main, Fort Scott, Kansas66701 or by email at [email protected].Letters of interest must be received by the City Clerkby12:00p.m.onFriday,November11th ,2022.
Only individuals who reside in the City limits of Fort Scott are eligible to apply.Once the appointment has been made, it will become effective at the next scheduled City Commission meeting and the term will expire in December of 2023. Any additional information or questions may be obtained by contacting Lisa Lewis, City Clerk at 620-223-0550
