There will be a Fort Scott City Commision WORK SESSION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21 at 5 pm at CITY HALL before the Commission meeting
Topic: Small Business Incentive Program
Submitted by
Lisa A. Lewis, City Clerk
There will be a Fort Scott City Commision WORK SESSION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21 at 5 pm at CITY HALL before the Commission meeting
Topic: Small Business Incentive Program
Submitted by
Lisa A. Lewis, City Clerk
Design Review Advisory Board Meeting
When: November 21st, 2023
Time: 4:00 pm
Location: City Hall
Topics for discussion:
The meeting is open to the public and the recording is available to watch on YouTube after the meeting is held.
Submitted by
Mary Wyatt
Community Development Director
City of Fort Scott

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CHAMBER ANNOUNCES CHRISTMAS LIGHT CONTEST SPONSORED BY NIECE PRODUCTS
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce encourages businesses, residents, and neighborhoods to “Deck the Fort” and make the community merry and bright for the holidays. Niece Products is sponsoring a Christmas Light Contest with cash prizes for the winners including:
Residential: 1st $100, 2nd $75, 3rd $50
Top Business: $100
Top Neighborhood: $100
Other contest details:
The Chamber encourages everyone to get in the spirit with lights this season. For more information contact the Chamber at 620-223-3566 or by email at [email protected].

Phone: 620-223-2700, ext. 5850
Email: [email protected]
Website: gordonparkscenter.org
The Gordon Parks Museum at Fort Scott Community College will celebrate the anniversary of Gordon Parks’ birthday on Thursday, November 30th with the showing of films throughout the day. The events are free of charge and the public is invited to attend.
The schedule throughout the day will include:
9:25 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. – Showing of the Criterion Collection film, The Learning Tree.
11:25 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. – Showing of the Criterion Collection films The Movie Makers, a featurette that shows Parks on location for The Learning Tree film. And My Father: Gordon Parks, (1969), a documentary made on the set of The Learning Tree, narrated by Gordon Parks Jr., and featuring on the set interviews with Gordon Parks Sr. and members of the cast and crew.
12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Join us for Birthday Cake in the Gordon Parks Museum on the Fort Scott Community College Campus Center.
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. — Showing of the film Moments Without Proper Names.
Throughout the day, visitors will be able to receive a 25% birthday discount on all apparel items.
Parks, born in Fort Scott on November 30, 1912, would have been 111 this year. He died on March 7, 2006, at the age of 93. The films will be shown in the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center. For more information contact the Gordon Parks Museum at 620- 223-2700, ext. 5850, or by email at [email protected]
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Key Apparel has been a local business for over a hundred years.
“Key has been in business in Fort Scott since 1908 and was founded on bib overalls,” said Brenda Brown with sales support and merchandising for the business.
Key Industries, Inc. in Fort Scott is having its 15th Annual Warehouse Sale from Saturday, November 18 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., then from Monday through Wednesday, November 20-22 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The sale continues on Friday, November 24 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., then Saturday, November 25 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“We have first quality products,” Angie Carr, Key’s Operation Project Coordinator, said. “We also use the sale to sell discontinued styles or colors, and irregulars-say for instance where a stitch is not completed and didn’t pass inspection but we can go ahead and closeout. That will be noted to the customer, we will specify why it is irregular.”
The sale this year is at a new location at 2400 S. Main St. Suite 200, between Hibbets and T-Mobile in the strip mall.

“Previously, we were at the former Gordman’s Store space under a short-term lease,” said Carr.”We have the same amount of merchandise (in the new space) as in previous years.”
Key Apparel is an official clothing sponsor of the Kansas State Fair and to commemorate that designation, Ike, the Bison, a collectible toy, will be sold.
“They make ideal stocking stuffers,” Carr said.

Payment of cash, Visa, Mastercard, or Discover will be accepted during the sale.
To shop year round:www.keyapparel.com

Want to level up your career or need to take classes that transfer to a 4-year college? Enrollment is OPEN for the spring and summer semesters at Fort Scott Community College! Dive into a world of knowledge from the comfort of your home. Spring classes start on January 10. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to boost your skills and achieve your academic goals. Plus, did you know that most classes at FSCC transfer? Join us on the journey of learning! For more info, go to https://fortscott.edu/


HBCAT partners with Chamber to help small business owners apply for loan and grant funding
For five years, Susan and Eddie Townley sold antiques, vintage finds, and home decor in booths at markets in Louisburg and Overland Park. This year, they were ready to open their own business in a historic building in downtown Fort Scott.
They just needed a bit of capital to seal the deal. And to get that capital, they had to prepare paperwork.
For help, they turned to The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team’s Center for Economic Growth. And on Nov. 2, their dreams were realized when the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce cut the ribbon on Be the Light Boutique at 12 N. Main, just across the street from the Fort Scott National Historic Site.
The boutique, which is open Thursday through Sunday, provides shoppers in Fort Scott as well as visitors to the area with a choice of unique clothing, home decor, antiques, and vintage finds.
“We are so excited for them because we have been with them step by step since the beginning of their business endeavor,” said HBCAT Executive Director Rachel Carpenter.
As a result of assistance from the HBCAT’s Center for Economic Growth, the Townleys were able to apply to the Fort Scott Chamber for an e-community loan, an initiative started by Network Kansas in 2019.
“Network Kansas provides us funding that we can then loan out to businesses for start-up, expansion, or any other type of needs they have,” explained Lindsay Madison, Chamber president. “A business will work with the staff at The HBCAT and another of their partners, the Pittsburg State University Small Business Development Center, to determine cash flow projections, market research reports, and other documents.”
The applicant then makes a brief presentation to the loan committee and awaits approval or a request to go back to the drawing board. If approved, the applicant might receive anywhere from $5,000 to $45,000 at 4 percent interest for 10 years.
For Be the Light Boutique, it was a critical piece of new business ownership.
“We needed funds to purchase some final inventory and provide a cash flow to continue with improvements to a building built in 1895,” Susan said. “My husband and I have done all the work on it to date.”
“The HBCAT helped us develop a business plan and loan documents that would serve as a basis for all of these grants,” she said. “We gave them our information, and they assisted with the creation of it. It was a beautiful thing.”
For more information on e-community loans, visit fortscott.com/e-community
About The HBCAT
The mission of The HBCAT is to increase access to healthy food and physical activity, promote commercial tobacco cessation, enhance quality of life and encourage economic growth. The problems of health inequity and social injustice are complex in nature and inextricably linked to key economic indicators. A healthy workforce is a prerequisite for economic success in any industry and in all cities.
Learn more at HBCAT.org. Find HBCAT on Facebook at facebook.com/HealthyBBCo/
Carolyn Sue Morrison, age 80, resident of Fort Scott, KS, died Tuesday, November 14, 2023, at Medicalodge of Fort Scott. She was born February 18, 1943, in Moran, KS, the daughter of Clyde and Dorothy Darlene Hunsaker Stewart. Carolyn was a very happy person. She was a wonderful cook, her specialty being fried chicken. Carolyn loved spending time with her family. She will be greatly missed.
Survivors include 2 brothers, Melvin, and Frank Stewart; 4 sisters, Anna Reagan, Coleen Barker, Vicki Rhodes, and Denise Adams; a granddaughter, Sheila Weber; a great grandson, Josef Weber; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by a daughter, Debbra Weber; son in law Gene Weber; 2 sisters, Avis, and Clydean Stewart; and her parents.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM Monday, November 20th, at the Cheney Witt Chapel. Burial will follow in the Pleasant View Cemetery, Blue Mound, KS. Memorials are suggested to the Carolyn Morrison Memorial Fund and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, PO Box 347, 201 S. Main St., Fort Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.