Festa Italiana downtown benefit set for June 29

The third annual Festa Italiana event in Fort Scott will feature an added bonus that should appeal to gaming enthusiasts in the area.

The evening of dinner and entertainment, scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 29, at the Liberty Theatre, 113 S. Main St., will include a number of casino-style games, such as poker, blackjack, roulette and other games at which guests will be able to test their skills. Italian-style dishes and desserts, provided by local restaurateur Mark McCoy and gourmet cook and food columnist Martha Scott, will highlight the menu for the evening, Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Downtown Division Chairwoman Cindy Bowman said.

All of the proceeds from the event, which is sponsored by the FSACC Downtown Division, are used to fund various improvement projects to the downtown Fort Scott area. In the past, these have included new lighting, signs, decorations and other projects that improve or enhance historic downtown Fort Scott.

This year, the downtown committee has not yet earmarked the proceeds from the event for a particular project, Bowman said, as committee members are waiting to find out more about projects being planned by other committees and organizations for the vacated lot at the corner of Wall and Main streets, where the burned-out facades of the Miller and Nelson blocks once stood before being demolished in March. The buildings were destroyed in a devastating March 2005 downtown fire.

Last year, the event raised a little more than $3,200 through the sale of about 180 tickets, which patrons could buy at a cost of $18 each. This year, the price of the tickets increased slightly to $25 because of the cost to add the casino games, related equipment and furniture to the evening's festivities, Bowman said.

Organizers expect at least the same number of people to attend the event this year, primarily due to the addition of the casino-themed activities, she said.

"It ought to be fun," she said.

Last year, the meal for the evening was catered by an out-of-town Italian restaurant, but McCoy and Scott will provide food and refreshments this year, Bowman said. Background music following an "Italian-Vegas" theme will set the mood for the evening. Not only will guests be able to enjoy fine dining and casino-style entertainment, they will also be able to view one of Fort Scott's most popular entertainment spots of late -- the Liberty Theatre.

The historic building, which operated as a dry goods and furniture store in the 1880s and the early 1900s, was completely renovated a little more than a year ago and has since hosted numerous community events, concerts and other entertainment shows. The theater hosted vaudeville shows and other entertainment in the early 1920s, and was later turned into a movie theater in the 1980s.

The building was first remodeled in 1927, and partially remodeled in 2005, before undergoing a complete transformation in 2006.

For more information or to get tickets to the third annual Festa Italiana, call the chamber at (620) 223-3566.