Group advocating youth activities in Fort Scott amps up fundraising efforts

FORT SCOTT, Kan.- Organizers of the Youth Activities Team said the group wants to make the most of its 2008 success.

Following the success of last year's world-record breaking Pennies for the Park project, YAT members have planned a week of activities next month that are designed to update the community on the group's fundraising plans for 2009, according to YAT co-convener Clayton Tatro.

"We're trying to show folks that the dream is still alive, that we're still committed to the project...that we're moving forward," Tatro said.

Last summer, thousands of individuals, dozens of organizations, a handful of YAT members, and one Guinness World Records representative built a 40-mile chain of pennies in the parking lot of Fort Scott Middle School. Prior to the event, the group had spent the last several months collecting nearly four million pennies that were used to achieve the record-setting feat.

The penny project was the group's first of many planned efforts to raise funds for several additions at Ellis Park, including a miniature golf course, batting cages, walking trails, and other improvements.

Tatro said the YAT group will make various presentations in the community the week of April 6-10 to inform community members about the group's continuing plan to raise money for the Pennies for the Park project.

"We want to continue and rejuvenate the excitement, and show the community this (park project) can still be a reality," he said.

Activities scheduled during the group's public awareness week include a Pennies Night Out from 5 to 8 p.m., Monday, April 6, at McDonald's Restaurant. Attendees will be able to eat with YAT members and watch a presentation involving local resident Sean Durnal, who set a world record by eating five McDonald's Quarter Pounders in less than three minutes during the penny project last summer.

The group will make a presentation on their updated plans to the Fort Scott City Commission during the commission's regular meeting on Tuesday, April 7, and to area schools on Wednesday, April 8.

YAT members will host the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Coffee on Thursday, April 9, at Ellis Park. That event will include a ground breaking ceremony for the proposed new park and the presentation of the latest design drawings for the park. At 6 p.m. that evening, YAT will host a public event at FSMS to allow local residents to view the group's world record certificates and to watch a DVD of photos compiled on the event.

The YAT group will conclude its week of activities by making a presentation to the Bourbon County Commission on Friday, April 10.

The Ellis Park renovation project is expected to cost about $4 million. The YAT group currently has more than $34,000 in the bank from the Pennies for the Park project -- seed money the group plans to use to garner more resources that will fund park renovations, Tatro said.

"In an overview conversation with the architect, it was determined that it is a $4 million park," he said. "It's not going to cost us $4 million. There's been a lot of in-kind work, labor, commitment and donations. It will take a lot of money, but it's a project that can be done in phases. The pennies (project) gave us the publicity and community support that we needed to get started."

Tatro added there is currently no timeline set for the completion of the park project.

"We're purposely not putting any dates on it because we don't want to create arbitrary deadlines," he said.

Local residents and YAT set two world records during last year's Pennies for the Park project -- one for the longest chain of end-to-end pennies laid, and the other for the fastest mile of pennies laid. The records will be published in the 2010 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. YAT was formed last year to create a community group that is designed to research and plan facilities that will ultimately benefit youth in Bourbon County.