Stories from Friday, November 30, 2012

Most everybody loves a parade. Those Bourbon County residents who braved the brisk wind and nippy temperatures to see the Christmas parade on Main Street, sponsored by the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce, this week got plenty to cheer and applaud with the various motorized and horse and donkey-drawn entries...

100 YEARS AGO (1912) J.A. Dennen and son Ed left this morning for a trip north along the Osage and other rivers, buying furs and trapping. They expect to spend the winter months in that business and have equipped a wagon to be used for their camp. They will carry a large number of traps which they will use at each of the camping places. ...

I have decided to begin accepting applications for the enviable position of Bill Kalmar's Best Friend Network. What with phone calls, emails, lunches, birthdays, anniversaries, holiday and Christmas cards and other social events I have too many friends and thus I need to cull the herd, so to speak. In 2013, I really need to spend more quality time with a smaller group of friends. I know you will understand...

Mary E. Helms, 64, of Nevada, Mo., passed away at her daughter's home in Admire, Kan., on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012. Mary was born March 13, 1948, in Nevada, Mo., to Emer Donald and Nola Merel Holsinger Lawson. She was unmarried at the time of her death...

Mary Francis Brooker, age 81, a resident of rural Fort Scott, Kan., lost her battle with cancer Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, at St. John's Hospital in Leavenworth, Kan. She was born March 30, 1931, in Chariton County, Mo., the daughter of Edwin Munson and Edith Ellen Lunceford Munson...

Mary Jane (Connie) Crain, 86, of Fort Scott died Tuesday morning, Nov. 27, 2012 at her home. She was born April 8, 1926, in Pittsburg, Kan., the daughter of Chester Francis and Ruth Mary (Jones) Connet. She married Donald William Crain April 11, 1953, in Pittsburg, Kan...

David L. Robertson, age 70, a resident of Fort Scott, Kan., died Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, at the Fort Scott Manor in Fort Scott, Kan. There was cremation. Private burial will take place at a later date at Eufaula, Okla. Services were under the direction of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, Fort Scott...

Stephen Robert Graham, 44, Redfield, was arrested at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday by the Bourbon County Sheriff's Office for possession of opiates, opium or narcotic drugs, distribution of certain hallucinogens, possession of drug paraphernalia, and aggravated endangering of a child and is still being held at this time...

During the Civil War in the winter of 1862, it was decided that the southern approach to Fort Scott was the most vulnerable to attack and that it should be fortified to protect and defend the town and the vast amount of "Union" supplies located there. ...

Last week I wrote that my three communication classes are studying about self-concept by focusing on how we compare ourselves to others. A second theory we studied, called the "Reflected Appraisal Theory," was one these high school juniors had no problem memorizing...

For the next several weeks, we (the 15th and Crawford Street Church of Christ) will be stating several Bible principles and asking the questions: Have you heard? Do you agree? Do you follow? And would you like to know more, giving everyone the opportunity to hear and believe (Romans 10:17). It is also an opportunity to learn (Acts 8:30-35). If you would like to write in, email any questions, or responses to be answered or published feel free to do so...

All members of the Fort Scott Scottish Rite, 110 S. Main, Fort Scott, are asked to attend the stated dinner and meeting, Thursday, Dec. 6. The dinner menu includes ham, potato casserole, green beans, Jell-O salad, hot rolls and cherry crisp. All 50-year and 60-plus year members will be presented with certificates. Those wishing to attend should call (620) 223-1330 or email fsscottishrite@sbcglobal.net...

Jase Robertson, of "Duck Dynasty" and Duck Commander fame, will be in Fort Scott Dec. 9. The event starts at 7 p.m. at Memorial Hall, 1 E. Third St. It is free and first come, first served. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and stay open until there are no more seats. Robertson's appearance is hosted by Adam and Jennifer LaRoche and Fort Scott Nazarene Church...

With the pressure to buy more, do more and eat more during the holiday season, Mercy is asking folks this year to take a moment to count their blessings. There's even a website to add your blessings to the tally -- www.OurBlessingsCount.com. By doing so, it's inevitable you will reduce your stress and find some peace, psychologist Dr. Doug Walker, clinical director of Mercy Family Center in New Orleans and an expert in coping with stress, said in a news release...

Speaking from her office in the depths of the Bourbon County Courthouse, Terri Coop said she is looking forward to serving Bourbon County as its new Emergency Manager. Her office, which resembles a bunker of sorts, with shelves upon shelves of manuals and concrete wallpapered with maps, is the home base where Coop will manage emergency resources for the entire county...

If there's one thing experienced hunter Scott Engstrom has to say about hunting alligator it might well be, "It wants to eat you as much as you want to eat it." Engstrom, who began hunting white-tail deer , raccoons and coyotes as a young boy, this September shared an alligator hunting expedition in Louisiana with his two sons, Brayden Engstrom, 10, and Taylor Engstrom, 13, and his father-in-law, Rick Tucker...

Bourbon County District Judge Mark Ward heard several motions in the case of a local man expected to go to trial for his alleged involvement in a deadly 2011 house fire during a pretrial hearing Thursday morning in Bourbon County District Court. Motions that have been filed in recent months ranging from a change of venue for the trial to the endorsement of several witnesses were discussed during the first of a planned series of pretrial motion hearings in the case of Brent Bollinger...

WILLARD, Mo. -- The two schools that have played in each of the 25 editions of the Willard Classic faced off Thursday night in the opening round of the annual round-robin tournament. This time, host Willard took a sweep of Fort Scott in the annual battle of the Tigers...