The Regular Council Meeting on June 13, 2023 at Uniontown City Hall, was called to order at 7:00PM by Mayor Jurgensen. Council members present were Danea Esslinger and Josh Hartman. Also in attendance for all or part of the meeting were Mary Pemberton, Sherri Hartman, Jody Hoener (HBCAT), and City Clerk Sally Johnson.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS/PROJECTS
Community Conversation regarding placemaking project – While waiting to see if a quorum would be met, Jody Hoener, Healthy Bourbon County Action Team, informed those present of the findings of the community perception survey that was conducted in February. Also discussed were possible ways to get community engagement in the planning and implementation of the placemaking project to add a pickleball court to park facilities. An information booth will be manned at the Independence Day Bash to facilitate community engagement. No governing body action was required for this conversation.
No quorum, council meeting will be rescheduled. Meeting ended at 7:45PM.
We’re excited to introduce Alanna Scott and her family! You can find the Scott family on Tuesday afternoons and Saturday mornings. There are lots of little hands to help out, and their baked goods are becoming very popular. Since they sell out almost every time, you’d better come early!
The Lake Advisory Board Meeting scheduled for Saturday, June 17TH, 9:00AM at City Hall has been canceled. The new date will be announced in the near future.
Richard Lee Ferguson, Sr., age 76, resident of Arma, KS, died Wednesday, June 14, 2023, at Mercy Hospital in Joplin, MO.
He was born May 22, 1947, in Joplin, the son of Beryl and Mildred Adams Ferguson.
Richard was raised in Ft. Scott, KS, and graduated from FSHS. He worked as a mechanic for various auto dealerships in his career. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, guns, and building engines. He loved spending time with his grandchildren and sitting on the back porch with his dog Harley.
Survivors include three daughters, Tammie Kuns, Ft. Scott, KS, Kimberly Ferguson, Pittsburg, KS, and Linda Harper (Brian), Ft. Scott; two sons, James Nickelson, Garland, KS, and Richard Ferguson, Jr. (Melinda), Moran, KS; 13 grandchildren; and eight great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife Crystal, four siblings, and his parents.
David Alan Shinn, age 76, a resident of Uniontown, Kansas, passed away Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at his home in Uniontown. He was born January 10, 1947, in Ft. Scott, Kansas, the son of James Orval Shinn and Thora May Nichols Shinn. Alan graduated from Iola High School and then Allen County Community College and Emporia State University. He later went on to receive a Master’s Degree from Pittsburg State University in 1971.
He married Rebecca Emert on May 29, 1969, at Iola, Kansas. Alan served as a math teacher for Uniontown USD #235 for fifty years. He loved teaching the fundamentals of math and his students often placed well in area math competitions. Aside from working in the classroom, Alan also served as the Uniontown High School Assistant Football coach and the girls’ Golf and Softball coach. He also drove a bus for twenty-five years.
In addition to teaching, Alan also served two years as the Uniontown City Clerk and also worked weekends in the office at the Ft. Scott Sale Barn for many years.
Alan was a longtime member of the First Missionary Baptist Church in Uniontown where he had served as a Deacon. During the church’s remodeling project, Alan became familiar with the Volunteer Christian Builders Association and went on to help with other building projects. He loved being outdoors and enjoyed hunting both deer and turkey as well as fishing at Roaring River.
Survivors include his wife, Becky, of the home; his children, Kevin Shinn (Diana) of Uniontown, and Melissa Gage (Jason) of Louisburg, Kansas; six grandchildren, Emily Jefferis (Austin), Holly Richwine (Dylan), Lauren Shinn, and Brayden, Bryce and Brock Gage and a great-grandson, Kase Jefferis. Also surviving is a brother, Jack Shinn, of Pittsburg.
Alan was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Mark Shinn.
Rev. Marty Dewitt will conduct funeral services at 11:00 A.M. Saturday, June 17th at the First Missionary Baptist Church in Uniontown.
Burial will follow in the Turkey Creek Cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 P.M. Friday at the Cheney Witt Chapel.
Memorials are suggested to the Shinn Family Scholarship or the First Missionary 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.
Left to right: Martin Hudecek-Ashwill, Martin Ashwill II (rear), Adam Ashwill, Kristi Hudecek-Ashwill in this 2017 submitted photo.
The 42nd annual bicycle “Race Across America” will pass through Fort Scott this week, according to a press release.
The bicyclists will cross the length of the American continent, over 3000 miles from Pacific Ocean to Atlantic Ocean, stopping to sleep only when necessary. The average sleep time for a solo is 2-3 hours per day.
Along the route, they pass 54 time stations, spaced approximately 50 miles apart, where their crew must call RAAM headquarters to report the rider’s or team’s arrival time and any other important news.
The Fort Scott Time Station 30 is the 1,778.6 Mile mark.
“Our family runs the time station (Time Station 30) for Race Across America,” said Kristi Hudecek-Ashwill. “We’ve been doing it since 2015 and have entertained hundreds of cyclists and crews from all over the world.”
The family runs the time station from their house at 21 N. Caldwell, Fort Scott.
“We provide a place for the racers and crews to rest, get some food and water, use the bathroom, and we provide escort service to any stores they might want to go to and to Buck Run (Community Center)for showers,” Kristi said. We also fly their nation’s flag on Wall Street and cheer for them as they approach. It is a festive atmosphere and many racers and crew members have said this is the best time station on the route.”
The community provides for the visitors as well.
“Walgreens provides water, Fort Cinema provides popcorn, Taco Bell provides tacos, Dominos provides pizza, and the refrigerator is provided by Rent-A-Center, 4-States Sanitation provides trash bins,” she said. “In addition, Buck Run lets racers and crew members take showers there.”
“Martin also has a small repair shop here where he fixes their bicycles if they need him to,” she said. “He’s a bike mechanic and has an array of tools that the bike mechanic on the team may not have.”
Pictured is the kitchen of the Ashwill family. The family gets food donations from area businesses for the racers.
“Race Across America is an annual international 3000+ mile bicycle race that starts in Oceanside, California and ends in Annapolis, Maryland and runs right through Fort Scott,” she said. “The solos have to make it in 12 days while the teams have to make it in 9 days. There are various times for women and older riders and teams, but the finish times are all around the numbers given.”
This year their are 31 solos and 16 teams.
“One of the teams is a four-man team from Germany in the age category of 80-84,” she said. “They have nine days, 12 hours provided they leave with the solos.”
“The race starts on June 13 and we expect the first rider to arrive on June 18 or 19, depending on how things go in the desert.”
By June 22, all riders should be through the area.
“It gets so hot out there (in the desert) that sometimes the riders succumb to the heat and end up not finishing the race. The forecast for this year is that it’s supposed to be cooler and, if that’s the case, there won’t be as many DNF’s and this time station will be very busy. We are every year, but this will make it even more so.”
“DNF means Did Not Finish,” she said. “Nobody wants that, but it does happen often during this race.”
Martin Hudecek-Ashwill with Christoph Strasser from Austria.
The time station in Fort Scott will be staffed with enthusiastic volunteers and provide a festival-like atmosphere for spectators of all ages and the traveling group of racers and crews as they pass through the community, according to the press release from Ashwill.
The manned time station is located at 21 N. Caldwell and is an open house to all racers and crew, she said.
“Race officials are invited to take their sleep at the Time Station 30 house instead of spending money at a hotel or sleeping in their cars, which is the majority case,” Ashwill said. “In 2015 we opened our house for the event and the racers and crew loved it. It is the first time that the Race Across America actually had a house opened up to them.”
May-Brit Christiansen from Norway, Adam Ashwill, Johnny Stausholm, from Norway, Kristi Hudecek-Ashwill, Martin Hudecek-Ashwill holding the flag of Norway in this 2017 submitted photo. “Johnny was the rider and had to DNF in Arizona, but still drove to Fort Scott to see the time station and brought gifts for Adam,” Kristi said.
“This is the only time station that has been in RAAM movies, one of which was shown at the AMC Theater in Olathe,” Kristi said. “The movies have been on airlines and have been shown all over the world.”
The time station members with Stefan Schlegel and his crew from Germany in 2017. Schlegel had to quit the race at this time station for health reasons and threw a barbecue for the family and anyone who happened to walk by,
Free Photography Workshops Sponsored by
Kansas State University Art Department
Fort Scott, Kan. June. 14, 2023 – Shreepad Joglekar, Associate Professor of Photography at Kansas State University and Professional Photographer, Veretta Cobler will provide free workshops series on working with film and digital photography.
These in-depth workshops are designed to help any beginner, student, novice and the professional learn how to get the most out of their film or digital cameras, or even cell phones. More experience photographers will learn some techniques to help them improve and enhance their work.
Interested participants are encouraged to attend the whole series to benefit the most.
These workshops will also help to prepare photographers to be part of the Back to Fort Scott, Now project in taking photos with the reimaging of Gordon Parks photographs that he had taken in 1950 for a LIFE magazine assignment.
The workshops will be held on Friday, June 23, 2023, Friday, July 7, 2023 and Friday, August 11, 2023. The times for each of the workshops will be 10:00a.m. – 12:00p.m
The workshops are free to attend, but registration to attend each the workshops is required. Registration is available either online at http//www.gordonparkscenter.org/events, or by phone 620-223-2700 ext. 5850 or by email at [email protected]
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Dwight Lester Driver, age 52, a resident of Bronson, Kansas, passed away Saturday, June 10, 2023, at the Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg, Kansas. He was born October 11, 1970, in Ft. Scott, Kansas, the son of Dwight Adams Driver and Karen Marie Sampson Driver.
Dwight worked as a wood cutter and enjoyed doing carpentry work.
Survivors include his mother, Karen Sampson Farmer of Bronson, Kansas and two children, Dwight Justin “D.J.” Conway Driver and Brynn Marie Driver.
He was preceded in death by his father and step-father, Fred Farmer.
There was cremation and no public service is planned. Arrangements were under the direction of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, Ft. Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.
MANHATTAN, Kansas — The Kansas Department of Agriculture is requesting public comment on a proposal to limit the number of Callery pear trees (Pyrus calleryana) that are planted in Kansas each year. This includes trees with the names of Bradford, Cleveland Select, Chanticleer, and others.
Because of this tree’s inherent invasiveness and its proven tendency to spread to areas outside of the landscapes in which is planted, KDA is seeking ideas on how to restrict the further introduction of these trees into the state, including a possible quarantine that would restrict new planting or movement of the Callery pear into and within the state of Kansas.
Although KDA recommends the removal of all invasive species found to be growing on public and private lands, this proposal would not include any requirement for the removal of any Callery pear trees that had already been planted. Therefore, listing the species as a noxious weed would not be applicable in this case.
The plant protection and weed control program at KDA is committed to protecting the state’s native and cultivated plants from the introduction and outbreak of harmful plant pests, including insects, plant diseases, weeds, and other organisms.
Provide comment on the idea of restricting the movement of Callery pear trees into and within the state of Kansas at agriculture.ks.gov/PublicComment.
Licensed Tiger Team Member – Superintendent Destry Brown recognized Jannah Farrington as the Licensed Tiger Team Member of the Month.
Left U234 Superintendent Destry Brown and Jannah Farrington. Submitted photo.
Farrington is a Special Education teacher at Fort Scott Middle School. Mrs. Farrington organizes the Special Olympics held for students and coordinates going to Pitt State for participation. She is always positive and trying to find what is the best for kids. Mrs. Farrington has taught for USD 234 for 12 years.
Classified Tiger Team Member – Superintendent Destry Brown recognized Cheryl Marsh as the Classified Tiger Team Member of the Month.
Destry Brown and Cheryl Marsh. Submitted photo.
Marsh is a Kitchen Manager at Fort Scott High School. Cheryl is gracious and kind to everyone. She has a can-do attitude and does what is best for schools. Mrs. Marsh has been with USD 234 for 25 years.
Superintendent Destry Brown recognized Bill Michaud as the Volunteer of the Year. Mr. Michaud is the coordinator of the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce mentoring program that matches local leaders with Fort Scott High School students.
Destry Brown and Bill Michaud. Submitted photo.
Board Members shared comments.
Superintendent Destry Brown provided an update to the board on services provided by the school nurses in the district, shared information regarding the Core Community program, discussed a June 27th special board meeting for the purposes of closing down the budget and other end of year items. He also noted two grants that had been applied for: Safe and Secure Grant and Mental Health Grant.
Assistant Superintendent Dalaina Smith updated the board on end of year data, highlighting celebrations, curricular and assessment team progress, Science Resources, the new assessment program, and Summer Enrichment.
Gina Shelton, Finance Director, updated the board on new employee orientation, USD 234 job fair to be held on July 11th & 12th at the FSMS Community space, and final categorical aid numbers for Special Education.
The board approved changing the regular July board meeting from July 10th to July 17th, still to be held at the Board of Education, 424 S. Main Street, at 5:30 p.m.
Superintendent Brown shared information with the board in regard to adoption of a policy related to out-of-district student enrollment.
The board approved the following items:
Workers Compensation Renewal 2023-24 – KASB Workers Comp
Trash Bid & Recommendation – 5-year bid to 4 State Sanitation
Audit Contract for the year ending June 30, 2023, with Diehl, Banwart, Bolton, CPAs
Ratification of Negotiated Agreement for 2023-24, including changes to Supplemental Salary Schedule
