Susan Bancroft is the new Fort Scott Finance Director. Submitted photo.
Susan E. Bancroft, 44, started as the new City of Fort Scott Finance Director on October 9.
However, Bancroft is not new to the City of Fort Scott.
“I left the City of Fort Scott as Assistant City Manager/Finance Director to work for USD 234 as the Business Manager in 2012,” she said. “I was employed by them for three years when I realized I wanted to chase my career. I then went to work for NPC International as HCM Director in Pittsburg. NPC employs roughly 40,000 employees and is the largest franchisee for Pizza Hut and Wendy’s in the nation.”
Bancroft’s husband died this summer, which changed her life priorities.
” Unfortunately, life threw me a curveball when I lost my husband in June of 2019 in a car accident east of town,” she said. ” My life’s priorities changed and I started looking for something closer to home. I am thankful that the City of Fort Scott welcomed me back to work in the position of finance director. I have a lot of catching up to do but am very excited to be back.”
Bancroft replaces Rhonda Dunn, who resigned for a job in private industry.
Bancroft earned her bachelor of science degree from Missouri Southern State University in business administration.
Her family includes daughter, Bailie Hughes and son-in-law Victor Hughes; son- Gunnar Brown: step-daughter – Kynleah Bancroft and daughter – Allie Brown.
Several weeks ago, my wife invited her family to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. She’s happy and excited to find out that all sixteen of the Haywards will be attending — not one will be missing! Some, realizing the importance of the occasion, even went to the effort of making special work arrangements in order to come.
Jesus sent out invitations to the greatest celebration that will ever be given — “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9). This is an occasion you and your loved ones will not want to miss! These invitations didn’t go to just a few prominent people. They were sent, and are still being sent, to the entire world. “Whosoever will” may accept and come to the feast. There are only two responses: whosoever will and whosoever won’t. Unfortunately, there are many who are not interested, don’t believe it, or are too busy with their lives to accept His invitation.
Jesus gave a parable recorded in the book of Luke 14:16-23 NKJV: “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses.” When God’s invitation arrives, we should accept it immediately because He deserves our highest priority. Procrastination is one of the devil’s best tools. If we make excuses and put off responding until it‘s too late, we’ll miss our opportunity to receive an inheritance in the Kingdom of God. There’s no such thing as a self-sufficient person because everyone has an appointment with death. Everyone has sinned and needs to be forgiven — that‘s why Christ Jesus died a sacrificial death so that sin could be forgiven.
Any reason you have for not responding to Jesus’ invitation will be nothing more than a pathetic excuse when you’re facing Him at the judgment. Anyone who winds up in hell is there because of his own foolish and selfish choices in life. Don’t ignore Jesus’ call to eternal life. You may try to dismiss Him, but you’ll find that He’s everywhere. He’s in the sunrise and the sunset. He’s in the first breath of a newborn baby and the last breath of the saint. If you want to enjoy the awesome supper in heaven, RSVP to the invitation now and accept God’s only Son as your Lord and Savior.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Past tense — He’s already done it! The ball is in your court; what will you do with it? “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20 NKJV).
The Bottom Line: Make sure you’ve sent an appropriate RSVP to Jesus’ invitation ASAP.
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
When Amanda and I first got married, we bought an old used refrigerator. It was the kind with a freezer which we had to defrost regularly. It lasted only about a year. It would have lasted longer, but one time when I was defrosting it, I used a sharp knife to chip away at the ice…
We needed a new one anyway.
Amanda hated that refrigerator, and the one we bought to replace it, because of no ice-maker. We had to use plastic ice-trays. It was a hassle to get ice from the trays, fill them back up with water, and put them back in the freezer. It wasn’t so much a hassle for me because I never refilled the trays. I had a habit of getting ice and putting the empty tray back in the freezer which infuriated Amanda.
Last year, we remodeled our kitchen. We went to the appliance store where I embarrassed the life from my wife in my effort to bargain with the salesman. Finally, after I noticed a small scratch on the back, I got the store to discount the price on a brand-new side-by-side refrigerator-freezer with a built-in ice-maker.
To save money, I opted to install the refrigerator myself. I spent the better part of a Saturday running the new water line. After everything was hooked up, I pushed the refrigerator into place and announced to Amanda that her fantastic husband had given her the ice-maker of her dreams.
The next morning, there was no ice.
“No problem,” I said, “I know what’s wrong. I will have it fixed in no time.” After “no time” hours, I confidently pushed the refrigerator back into place and informed Amanda that her wonderful husband had done it again.
The next morning, there was no ice.
“It must take time for the first batch to make, that’s all,” I assured her and started working on it again.
The next morning, there was no ice.
I went back to the appliance store and the salesman said, “Mr. Collins, you need a new what-you-may-call-it, but they are on backorder.” Six weeks later, the what-you-may-call-it showed up in the mail. I pulled the refrigerator from the wall, reached up to turn the water off, and made an incredible discovery. I had never turned the water on in the first place.
No water, no ice. No wonder, no ice.
If you think I looked foolish there, it is nothing compared to what God sees when He looks at people and our efforts to make life work without His power.
The point is: A Christian who forgets the Holy Spirit is like an ice-maker with no water.
How can we forget the infinite, personal Holy Spirit lives within us to guide us and give us power? The answer is regretfully clear. The power is off. When we are preoccupied with the pleasures of the world, we miss the power that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. His Spirit enables us to fulfill His purposes, but we must stay plugged in through prayer, reading God’s Word, and having complete reliance on His power – not our own.
Is the power flowing in your life?
James Collins is a pastor at First Southern Baptist Church. He can be reached through the website www.thepointis.net or by email at [email protected].
Sending the email below on behalf of Chamber member Historic Preservation Association of Bourbon County.
Thank you for your Chamber partnership!
Greetings,
HPA in the past has had good success with our Homes for the Holidays Tour, but as of late attendance has dropped due to it being increasingly difficult to secure new houses or at least homes that have not been on the tour 4-5 times. In response to this we have decided to try something new this year.
We are proud to announce our first annual
HPA Holiday Dinner Theater!
HPA has partnered with FSCC Drama and Choir to put on an hour-long program.
This will be on Friday, December 13th beginning at 7pm at Liberty Theatre and will feature entertainment, good food and drinks. Also, a live auction of some historic memorabilia. This will be an exciting event to attend!
As this is our only fundraiser for the year we are trying get sponsors for the program. As a local business we appreciate all you do in this county and would love if you would choose to help us out on the inaugural event. We are offering several levels of sponsorship’s, Platinum $500+ Gold $200+ Silver $100+ Bronze $50+. Your tax-deductible gift will stay local and help maintain our historic presence in Bourbon County and Fort Scott. We love our history and know you all do as well.
Below is a little about what we do and who we are.
Bourbon County HPA:
The Historic Preservation Association of Bourbon County, Inc. is an organization formed by citizens interested in the preservation of historic sites, display records, objects & documents of historical importance to the County of Bourbon, State of Kansas, & the United States of America.
The largest preservation project by HPA has been the purchase of the Congregational Church at 5th & National Ave. The church is the meeting place of HPA, but also is the venue for weddings, musicals, programs, and has been leased for church services.
HPA has been involved in storefront grants, walking tour grants, pocket museums, Homes for the Holidays tours & celebrations, moving the MK&T freight house from the floodplain, stabilizing the roof of the Union Block building, sponsorship of the FSHS Jr. History Club, published/promoted several books on Fort Scott and Bourbon County and helped to sell them, established a Facebook page to promote interest in local history, and in general has tried to instill interest in history that we live around every day! HPA at one time had a museum, finances and logistics now don’t favor that, but we try to display some of our artifacts at the Bourbon County Courthouse and businesses so the public may enjoy them.
This is part of a series that highlights young entrepreneurs, under 30 years of age, in Bourbon County. If you would like to nominate a young entrepreneur, submit to [email protected] the name and email/phone number of the person, along with why you are nominating them and your name.
Taylor Qualls, 22, is the owner of her own business, Hazel Bee Ink.
” I create customized gifts and hand-lettered products,” Qualls said. “I have also created wedding invitations, signs, and decor. I have made a little bit of everything. I mostly do calligraphy, but I also make custom dip mugs and coasters, pet portraits, home illustrations, and wall signs. I have also made wedding invitations and I address envelopes! “
Qualls is currently attending Pittsburg State University and will complete her bachelor of music education with an emphasis in vocal music in December 2020. She and her husband are living in Pittsburg. She is from Fort Scott and graduated with an associate of arts from Fort Scott Community College in 2016.
“I have always been one of those people who doodled in their notebooks,” Qualls said. ” During the summer, I would change my handwriting, and then practice it over and over again until it became muscle memory just because I thought it was fun.”
Some of Qualls creations. Submitted photos.
Her first job using her penchant for drawing was for a friend.
“My first hand-lettering job was for a friend, Kristian Brennon’s, wedding,” she said. “After that, I got married and ended up making all of the signs, wedding party gifts, bouquets, programs, and centerpieces for my own wedding.”
“I honestly didn’t plan on pursuing it until my husband, family, and friends began encouraging me to,” Qualls said.
In January 2019, another young entrepreneur, Delynn Abati. asked her to make a cake topper for a customer of hers. She is a local Fort Scott baker.
“Then she asked me to make a couple more,” she said. ” One day, she asked me if I had a business name so that she could tag my page in it. That’s when I finally decided to go for it.”
Eight months later, the business has grown “beyond my wildest expectations,” she said.
Some of Qualls creations. Submitted photos.
“I used to dream about having my own business one day, and now it’s a reality. I am so thankful for all of the support and encouragement I have received from my people on this wild journey of mine. I would list them out, but there really are so many important people that helped me create Hazel Bee Ink.”
Qualls has no employees, “but my husband, friends, and family have helped me out tremendously!”
Qualls is expanding her business to retail.
“I recently started selling products at a store in Pittsburg named Sonder & Co. and it has been such a blast,” she said. ” If you haven’t heard of them, I would highly recommend looking them up. I have started looking into opening an Etsy store and I will hopefully be setting up booths at some craft shows and festivals in 2020!”
Her family consists of her husband, Levi Qualls and their pup, Hazel.
Her extended family include her parents-Travis and Tina Schilling,
grandparents-Dale and Donna Schilling, Ed and Ladonna Cox and her in-laws, Rex and Michelle Qualls.
A portrait of her dog, Hazel. Submitted.
Qualls was recommended by Kasey Eaton.
“She did a cake topper for my daughters graduation cake,” said Eaton. “She is very talented and artistic.”
announces this year’s Halloween Parade will be held Saturday, October 26th, 2019 at
11:00 a.m. in Downtown Fort Scott.
Prior to the parade, starting at 10:30 a.m., there will be special activities including pictures with a spooktacular backdrop at the City Scales building on North Main, facepainting by Fort Scott High School thespians, and fun music by local DJ,
The Hull Experience.
The parade trick-or-treats merchants along Main Street, starting at La Hacienda, south to 2nd Street, crossing the street then heading north back to Skubitz Plaza.
Any businesses or organizations in the community, not located along Main Street, are welcome to set up a table on the sidewalk also providing treats, coupons, or other handouts for kids.
Children are encouraged to bring a sack or bag to collect treats along the parade route.
Following the parade, a free hot dog lunch will be served to kids in costumes.
Special thanks to donors 5 Corners Mini Mart, Bids & Dibs, The Hull Experience, FSHS PRIDE & Thespians, Walgreens, and all participating organizations and merchants offering treats.
The Chamber would also like to recognize the parade committee Darcy Smith, Chair, Crystal Mason, Vonnie Rickerson, and Angela Simon.
For more information contact the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce at 620-223-3566.
