Obituary

Obituary of Dale Johnson

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Dale Richard Johnson
Dale Richard Johnson, age 85, a resident of Ft. Scott, Kansas, passed away Friday, June 24, 2022, at his home at the Presbyterian Village in Ft. Scott.
He was born August 26, 1936, in Hillsboro, Kansas, the son of Carl G. Johnson and Marjorie E. Pavey Johnson. The family moved to Wilson County in southeast Kansas in 1938.
Dale obtained his elementary education in one-room country schools. He graduated from the Neodesha, Kansas High School in 1953. Dale began his career with Kansas State government in the Fall of 1953 when he was hired by the Kansas Highway Commission as an engineering aide. He worked as an engineering aide in construction offices at Independence and Dighton, Kansas.
On June 5, 1955, Dale married Betty June Berg. She remained his best friend throughout their life together. In 1961, the family moved to Topeka where he continued his career in State government until retiring in 1993.
The last twenty-five years of his career were spent in management positions in the computer field. In 1979, Dale was President of the International Highway Engineers Exchange Program, an organization dedicated to the exchange of information regarding the use of computers in planning, design, and construction of highways.
Dale and Betty retired to Ft. Scott in 2002. They have always been active in the ministry of their local church. Dale had taught Sunday school for many years.
He was currently a member of Community Christian Church. Dale and Betty enjoyed being actively involved in the Ft. Scott community. Dale was a member of the Bourbon County Art Council, the Ft. Scott Kiwanis Club, the Bourbon County Garden Club, the Pioneer Harvest Fiesta Committee and also volunteered his time at the Beacon and at the Ft. Scott National Historic Site. He was also an active supporter of Ft. Scott High School athletics.
Survivors include his wife of sixty-seven years, Betty, of the home at the Presbyterian Village, a daughter, Brenda (Eric) Deeter of Kansas City, Kansas, and two sons, Bret Johnson of Spokane, Washington and Bart (Pam) Johnson, of Chattanooga, Tennessee; four grandchildren, Michael (Heather) Deeter of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Dana (Joe) Patton of Kansas City, Kansas, Sarah Maike of Ft. Scott and Avery Johnson of Chattanooga, Tennessee and six great-grandchildren, Jacob (Andrea), Christopher (Madison), Judah, Brody, Ava and Brooklyn. Also surviving is a sister, Carol (Joe) Newby of Thayer, Kansas.
Rev. Dusty Drake will conduct a memorial service at 11:00 A.M. Saturday, July 9th at the Community Christian Church.
Burial will take place at a later date at the Star Cemetery near Thayer, Kansas.
Memorials are suggested to Show-Me-Christian Youth Home or to Community Christian 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.
Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes

Suzy Turner Named 2022 Lowell Milken Center Fellow

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The Lowell Milken Center (LMC) for Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott, Kansas, an international educational non-profit, has awarded its prestigious Fellowship to Suzy Turner, a Talented and Gifted teacher and National History Day advisor at Nashua-Plainfield Jr/Sr High School in Nashua, IA. Suzy arrived in Fort Scott on June 26th for a week of collaboration with LMC staff.

 

The LMC Fellowship is a merit-based award for educators of all disciplines who value the importance of teaching respect and understanding through project-based learning. The Center selects exemplary teachers from the United States and around the world who will collaborate on projects that discover, develop, and communicate the stories of Unsung Heroes in history.

 

Suzy Turner, a teacher and National History Day advisor for the past 18 years at Nashua-Plainfield Jr./Sr. High School in Nashua, Iowa, has earned many teaching honors due to her students’ extraordinary successes, including National History Day (NHD) in Iowa Teacher of the Year (2009, 2013, 2020), and NHD Senior Division National Teacher of the Year (2020). The secret to Suzy’s project-based learning success is helping her students find topics connected to their personal interests, facilitating research opportunities at university libraries and archives, and providing project interview support. In 2021, after winning 1st place at the NHD national contest for his project on the Ghost Army of World War II, one of Turner’s students began lobbying for the Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act. On February 1, 2022, his efforts achieved success when President Biden signed the bill into law, providing long overdue recognition for this top-secret deceptive unit.

 

Suzy has presented on history and history education topics at state and national conferences, facilitated professional development sessions for K-12 social studies teachers from eighteen area schools, and served as a guest blogger for PBS: History In The Classroom. As a scholar participant in programs sponsored by National History Day, the World War I Centennial Commission, and American Battle Monuments Commission, Turner has honored the memories of military veterans and fallen soldiers. She has helped improve understanding of the meaning of sacrifice by presenting graveside eulogies, writing silent hero profiles, and authoring published lesson plans for teachers. Most recently, Turner has lent her time and talents to elevating education about marginalized groups in history by authoring a lesson on the Americans with Disabilities Act for Building A More Perfect Union and a lesson plan book jointly published by the National Endowment for the Humanities and National History Day in recognition of our nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary. In her spare time, Suzy likes playing Scrabble and competitive golf with her family, as well as running road races.

LMC Executive Director Norm Conard says, “Suzy is a superior project developer and will have much expertise to share with our 2022 Fellows team. We look forward to working with Suzy and learning from her vast array of successes and experiences.”

While in Fort Scott, LMC Fellows gain knowledge, educational resources and support in helping students cultivate a passion for learning through the creation of projects that initiate positive change. Fellows will be equipped to develop Unsung Heroes projects with their students, applying and evaluating the stories of these role models who have changed the world

throughout history.

 

Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes

Josha Sietsma Named 2022 Lowell Milken Center Fellow

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Josha Sietsma Named 2022 Lowell Milken Center Fellow

The Lowell Milken Center (LMC) for Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott, Kansas, an international educational non-profit, has awarded its prestigious Fellowship to Josha Sietsma, a teacher at Corderius College in Amersfoort, Netherlands. Josha teaches Social and Political Sciences, Holocaust Studies and Classic Japanese literature. He is also head of the Humanities department. Josha arrived in Fort Scott on June 26th for a week of collaboration with LMC staff.

 

The LMC Fellowship is a merit-based award for educators of all disciplines who value the importance of teaching respect and understanding through project-based learning. The Center selects exemplary teachers from the United States and around the world who will collaborate on projects that discover, develop, and communicate the stories of Unsung Heroes in history.

 

Josha Sietsma is a high school teacher at Corderius College in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The last ten years, he has organized and taught study trips related to the Holocaust. With a personal connection (family members were murdered in Dachau), he takes his students to former extermination camps, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Dachau and Bergen Belsen. One aspect that highlights his classrooms is the use of books. Through classic stories, beautifully written lines and a good cover, books have the power to connect a learning community.

 

Characteristic to the work of Josha Sietsma is the interdisciplinary aspect. His last project connects the Nebraskan State Capitol with Philosophy of Architecture and the origin and validation of Human Rights. Important in all his teaching and work is the continuing call for articulation of underlying values. Nebraska has had his attention since he read a small article on the Sandhills in the early nineties, and he dreams to one day live (in) the Good Life.

 

Outside of his professional education field, Josha owns a small publishing company that specializes in historical baseball scorebooks, stickers and lapel pins. He is also the founder of two foundations: a thinktank serving local politicians by providing research and the JAS-san foundation. The latter is a foundation to promote the use of Classic Japanese literature in the classroom.

 

LMC Executive Director Norm Conard says, “We are extremely excited to have Josha as a member of our 2022 group of Lowell Milken Center Fellows. His vast experiences as an outstanding educator in the Netherlands, a leader in Holocaust education, and an expert in Japanese literature bring new dimensions to our knowledge base. It is a certainty that we will all gain much from the opportunity to have Josha on our team.”

While in Fort Scott, LMC Fellows gain knowledge, educational resources and support in helping students cultivate a passion for learning through the creation of projects that initiate positive change. Fellows will be equipped to develop Unsung Heroes projects with their students, applying and evaluating the stories of these role models who have changed the world throughout history.

 

 

 

Bourbon County, Fair, Food

Register for the Bourbon County Fair Baking Contest

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King Arthur Flour has been sponsoring a baking contest for the open class at the Bourbon County Fair for several years.

This year the adults will be making Cranberry-orange Italian Biscotti and the youth (under 12) will be making simple sugar cookies.

To enter into the contest you will need to fill out the entry form found in the fair paper and mail to Jackie Warren by July 1st, or call her to register.

Jackie’s address is 1906 Maple Road, Fort Scott, KS 66701 and her phone number is 620-224-8161.

The recipes and King Arthur flour will be available to pick-up July 2nd at the Yeager Building on the fairgrounds from 9:00 – 11:00 am Saturday morning.

King Arthur flour will provide winners with gift certificates for their products.

Items can be entered at the fair on Monday July 18th from 2:00 -6:00 pm at the Meyers building.

Judging will by on the 19th.

The King Arthur Flour baking contest has been a popular class, so don’t miss out, register soon.

Opinion

No Rhyme or Reason by Carolyn Tucker

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Keys to the Kingdom

By Carolyn Tucker

 

 

Many years ago, I was visiting with a neighbor on her property and she was explaining the layout of her front-yard landscaping. She said, “The ground is so rocky that we simply planted the trees where we could dig a hole, so that’s why there’s no rhyme or reason to them.” Since she mentioned this, I suspect she was a little disappointed with the final outcome. Everybody has 20/20 hindsight. Any decisions we make, or neglect to make, today will always affect the future sooner or later.

 

Believers really need to live our lives on purpose and not helter skelter. We can’t just wing it and hope everything turns out OK; we have to be intentional. Flying by the seat of your pants  usually means you’ve got a hole in them and have lost your cell phone, wallet, key, etc. Maybe you’re a squared-away person and write a to-do list every morning and meet all your goals by supper. If so, that’s great and you deserve a pat on the back. I sure hope God shows up somewhere on that list.

 

When you were created in your mother’s womb, God wasn’t just haphazardly throwing a bunch of stuff together in some wild and crazy experiment. You were fearfully and wonderfully made with a purpose! Your Creator had a rhyme and reason to your layout. As Christ followers, we were designed to bear good fruit. So we must stay very close to the Master Gardener so He can prune us in order for us to grow strong in Him.

 

When we live for God with a purposeful heart, one of our main objectives is to bear fruit. “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things” (Galatians 5:22,23 NLT). Developing the fruit of the spirit never goes out of style and will continue as long as we belong to Christ Jesus. “When you produce much fruit, you are My true disciples. This brings great glory to My Father” (John 15:8 NLT).

 

We are to constantly abide in Jesus, so we must make our personal relationship with Him our #1 priority. The following quote was written in one of my journals: “If we don’t make time for friends, we won’t have any.“ If we aren’t diligent about making time for Jesus, we won’t have any fruit. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in Me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned“ (John 15:5,6 NLT). Basically, if we choose to live an unproductive self-absorbed life, we’ll end up in a worthless stick pile because we‘ve disconnected from the life-giving Vine.

 

Jesus didn’t come to give us religion, He came to give us a genuine personal love relationship with the Father through Him. “So you must remain in life-union with Me, for I remain in life-union with you. For as a branch severed from the vine will not bear fruit, so your life will be fruitless unless you live your life intimately joined to Mine” (John 15:4 TPT).

 

The Key: Make sure your relationship with God has a daily rhyme and reason, and  prepare to be pruned.

Opinion

Freedom by Gregg Motley

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It seems to be a pattern in our culture to chip away at personal freedoms in order to protect people from themselves.  We heard about an example of this in New York City when the mayor at the time pushed through an ordinance banning the sale of drinks larger than 16ozs; the pushback was so intense that the law was repealed in short order.  The attitude seems to be that we are wiser and better educated than you and we have drawn some firm conclusions on how you should conduct your life; freedom and civil debate are stifled.

 

Do you remember learning that there are nine planets, sometimes using a clever sentence to remember them in order?  Pluto was recently demoted from the ranks, lowering the number in our solar system to eight. Thankfully, none of us lived in the 18th Century when bloodletting was a common practice and the probable cause of death of our first President.  If science closed off research and free debate on the topics, we would still be under these misimpressions.

Free debate must be encouraged to get to the truth.

 

Why do I believe this to be so important?  On a macro level, the American experiment in freedom has delivered the most powerful, the most economically successful nation in human history.  Yes, those truths are diminished somewhat by the poor choices free people make; slavery is a glaring example.  We mourn the consequences of poor choices people make with the privilege of Constitutional freedom, but the free expression of ideas eventually led us to the right conclusions.

 

This process of reevaluation often plays out on the local level, including Bourbon County.  When people use whatever means possible to silence those with whom they disagree, we all lose.  When we try to shout down local candidates we don’t like because of personal reasons, or they are not part of our particular “faction,” we all miss out on the free expression of ideas and appropriate debate.  Instead, we write and share social media posts with trivial negativity and half-truths about our fellow citizens.  We use whatever personal leverage we might have to discredit or discourage opponents instead of engaging them in healthy discourse.

 

What Bourbon County needs more than anything is a free people in an earnest quest for truth to reestablish the trust we are now missing, to our great detriment.  Our public forums and debates must keep the quest for truth through the free expression of ideas at the center.  Otherwise, we will not arrive at solutions that represent our best.

 

Before you attack, demean, pick apart and generally criticize someone with whom you disagree, examine your motives and the general impact it will have on the culture and wellbeing of our community.  Certainly, politely call out those who are stifling open discourse through half-truths and nit-picky acts of disrespect. Let us depend upon the honest exchange of ideas through free and civil discourse in order to arrive at the best solutions for Bourbon County.  Let us reestablish trust through respecting one another’s freedoms.

 

 

 

 

Bourbon County, Government

Bo Co Commission Agenda for June 28

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Agenda
Bourbon County Commission Room
1st Floor, County Courthouse
210 S. National Avenue
Fort Scott, KS 66701
Tuesdays starting at 9:00
Date: June 28, 2022
1st District–Lynne Oharah Minutes: Approved: _______________
2nd District–Jim Harris Corrected: _______________________
3rd District–Clifton Beth Adjourned at: _______________
County Clerk–Ashley Shelton
MEETING HELD IN THE COMMISSION ROOM
Call to Order
• Flag Salute
• Approval of Minutes from previous meeting
• Eric Bailey – Road & Bridge Report
• Mary Pemberton/Mark McCoy – Transient Guest Tax
• Justin Meeks – County Counselor Comment
• Susan Bancroft – Chief Financial Officer Comment
• Shane Walker – Chief Information Officer Comment
• Public Comment
• Commission Comment
1pm – 4pm: Department Budget Reviews (open to the public)
Justifications for Executive Session:
KSA 75–4319(b)(1) To discuss personnel matters of individual nonelected personnel to protect their privacy
KSA 75–4319(b)(2) For consultation with an attorney for the public body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney–client relatio

Fort Scott, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce

What’s Happening in Fort Scott June 24 Newsletter

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What’s Happening in Fort Scott!
June 24th Weekly Newsletter
So much fun coming up in Fort Scott,
share with your friends & family!
UPCOMING CALENDAR OF EVENTS
________________
TROLLEY TOURS,
ON THE HOUR FROM THE CHAMBER!
Friday 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm
Saturday 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm
$6 adults, $4 children 12 & under
50-minute narrated tour of Historic Fort Scott!
6/24-6/27 ~ The Lavender Patch will be open from 9am-1pm, click here for their website.
6/24-6/26 ~ FSHS All School Reunion,
click here for info.
6/24 ~ FSHS All School Reunion
Registration, FSHS Gym, 9am-4pm
Reunion Parade, Downtown, 5pm
Chicken Dinner, FSHS Commons, 6pm
Open Road Band, Liberty Theatre, 8pm
6/25 ~ Farmers’ Market, 8am to noon, Skubitz Plaza in front of the Fort.
6/25 ~ FSHS All School Reunion
Registration, FSHS Gym, 9am-12pm
Tiger Honor Luncheon, FSHS Commons, 11:30
Teacher Reception, FSHS Commons, 3pm
Rock Sanctuary & Bourbon County
Revival Live, Liberty Theatre, 8pm
The Stolen Winnebagos – 80’s-90’s Era Band,
3rd & Main, 8pm
The Crayons – 60’s-70’s Era Band,
Skubitz Plaza, 8pm
6/25 ~ Fort Scott Kiwanis Youth Scholarship Golf Tournament Fundraiser, 3-person scramble, Woodland Hills Golf Course, 8am
6/24-6/26 ~ Adam LaRoche 16U Tournament, LaRoche Baseball Complex
6/25 ~ Dirty Bourbon Band, Live at Sharky’s, 9pm to 1am
6/26 ~ St. Mary’s Catholic School Reunion, 705 S. Holbrook St., 11am
6/30 ~ Chamber Coffee hosted by Bourbon County Garden Club @ Heritage Park Pavilion, rain location is Hedgehog.INK! Book Store, 8am
7/1 ~ Uniontown Independence Weekend Bash, sponsored by Union State Bank, click here for details.
7/3 ~ Lake Fort Scott Fireworks Display – Put on by various residents, after dark.
7/3 ~ City of Fort Scott Annual Fireworks Display, Behind FSCC, after dark.
7/2-7/4 ~ Independence Weekend Celebration, Fort Scott National Historic Site, click here for schedule.
7/4 ~ Burke Street Classic Whiffle Ball Tournament, 4 people per team – All ages welcome, 1320 Marblecrest Dr., First pitch at 1pm, click here.
7/4 ~ 40th Annual Burke Street Parade, Starts at 10th & Burke St., 10am, click here for details.
7/4 ~ Uniontown Annual Fireworks Celebration
7/7 ~ Informational meeting on Chamber Blue Health Insurance to be offered to members effective 1/1/23, an interest survey will need to be completed in August to potentially take the insurance. Come learn more at 12pm, Sleep Inn conference room.
7/8-7/9 ~ ACRA/IPRA Rodeo, BB County Fair Grounds, tickets on sale now at the Chamber. Click here for details.
7/9 ~ Woodland Hills 2-person Scramble Golf Tournament
7/7-7/10 ~ John Hill Summer Showcase Baseball Tournament
7/8 ~ Gordon Parks Fundraiser Event featuring Charlie Redd & Luna Voo Doo Music Performance, The Liberty Theatre, doors open at 7pm, click here for more info.
7/10 ~ Charity Partner Spades Tournament, Empress Event Center – 7 N. Main St., 1pm
SAVE THE DATE:
7/15 ~ Chamber Golf Classic, Woodland Hills Golf Course, 10am-4pm, click here.
7/15-7/16 ~ Beat the Heat Downtown Shopping Event
7/18-7/22 ~ Bourbon County Fair
_____________
SHOPPING ~ SUPPORT LOCAL!
Boutiques-Antiques-Flea Markets & more!
Clickhere for Chamber member
specialty shopping & other retail in
Downtown & other areas of the community.
Fort Scott Area
Chamber of Commerce
620-223-3566
In This Issue
Chamber Highlights
Click here for our
Membership Directory.
We THANK our members for their support! Interested in joining the Chamber?
Click here for info.
Thinking of doing business in or relocating to Fort Scott?
Contact us for a relocation packet, information on grants & incentives, and more!
Seeking a job/career?
We post a Job of the Day daily on our Facebook page, distribute a monthly job openings flyer, and post jobs on our website.
Many opportunities available!
Housing needs?
Click here for a listing of our Chamber member realtors.
Click here for our rental listing.
FSHS ALL CLASS REUNION SCHEDULE
KIWANIS YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP GOLF TOURNAMENT FUNDRAISER
BURKE STREET CLASSIC WIFFLE BALL TOURNAMENT
GORDON PARKS CELEBRATION FUNDRAISER
CHAMBER GOLF CLASSIC TOURNAMENT
FORT CINEMA SHOW SCHEDULE THIS WEEKEND
THANK YOU TO OUR CHAMBER CHAMPION MEMBERS!
Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce
231 E. Wall Street
Fort Scott, KS 66701
…
COVID-19, Health Care

COVID-19 Vaccine Available For 6 months to 6 years

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Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines will now be available for Kansas Children Ages 6 Months to 6 years

TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) today announced that Kansas has adopted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) authorization for administering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 6 months to 5 years old and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 6 months to 6 years old.

“The vaccine remains the best way to protect from serious illness. This important development will help keep children safe and stop the spread of COVID-19,” Janet Stanek, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. “We encourage all parents or guardians of eligible Kansans to discuss this with their healthcare provider or the medical professional at the location where you receive care about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and booster shot.”

These vaccines have undergone clinical trials specifically for people ages for children ages 6 months to 6 years old to determine that the vaccine is safe, effective and appropriately dosed to minimize possible side effects.

The two vaccines are expected to arrive later this week to Kansas providers, at that time children ages 6 months to 6 years old will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine from a large network of vaccine providers across Kansas, including doctor’s offices, retail pharmacies, local health departments, and clinics.

In addition, many community partners and schools may also offer the COVID-19 vaccine for Kansas children. Information on locations offering vaccines for children ages 6 months to 6 years old will be available at vaccines.gov, and we recommend calling your local provider to confirm availability as well.

More information can be found at kansasvaccine.gov/.

Bourbon County Local News