Vendors report increase in traffic

Crowds of people line Main Street on Saturday during the annual Good Ol' Days street festival. The event included street vendors, live music, food, a carnival, as well as a variety of games, activities and live entertainment. (Jason E. Silvers/Tribune)

It was a good year at the 34th Annual Good Ol'Days Festival.

"The vendors said the crowd was bigger this year," said Rhonda Dunn, chairwoman of the the Good Ol' Days steering committee. "The traffic was up this year."

There were rides, songs, games, contests, tournaments, theaters, shopping, displays, food, dances and a parade for all ages at Fort Scott's biggest event, held each year on the first weekend in June.

Elsa Bishop, Fort Scott, does a chalk drawing during the children's fair Saturday at the Empress Event Center. The fair was a part of the Good Ol'Days event downtown. Children and their parents made crafts, did interactive activities, listened to a story teller, performed before an audience and built with giant blocks. The event was funded by a W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant and put together by a coalition of early childhood agencies in Bourbon County. (Loretta George/Tribune)

Vendors lined Main Street and Skubitz Plaza and nearby environs.

Fort Scott National Historic Site featured 19th century outdoor activities in collaboration with the festival.

New this year to the list of activities was Dueling Pianos, a music comedy act with audience participation.

"The dueling pianos show was a very big hit," Dunn said. "People asked to invite them back another time."

Comedian hypnotist Tom Thompson worked his magic with the audience.

"The hypnotist was well received, and people asked us to ask him back for another year, too," Dunn said.

The children's fair was created by a coalition of early childhood agencies staffs and funded by a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Grant. There were 10,000 building blocks under a tent on Main Street for families to build together, make-it-and-take-it crafts, fun activities for families to play together, a story teller, a face painter and a nursing mothers quiet room. Fort Scott High School drama students, under the direction of teacher Angie Bin, offered dress-up improvisations for children and a children's theater where her students re-enacted nursery rhymes.

"The children's theater was a huge hit," Dunn said. "It was busy all the time with opportunities for younger children. There was a lot of positive feedback for that."

"The cookie truck was very popular," Dunn said of the King Arthur Flour truck that made cookies. Money made was funneled back into the community. "The (cookie truck) girls were from the East and were excited to be here and enjoying a small-town atmosphere," she said.

Human Foosball, a new event as well, was fun, and needed a little work, Dunn said.

"It was fun," she said. "We are going to do more work on it. Maybe organizing as a tournament."

Dunn herself played Human Foosball.

"It was hot," she said. "We lost 11 to 20, but it was fun."

The street dance on Friday and Saturday nights were "successful" Dunn said.

"The streets were full of people. There were a lot of people at the street dances.

"It was a very good year," she said.

Public evaluations are requested to be sent to fortscottgoodoldays.com. Click on 2015 Evaluation button at the beginning of the page.

"We are always listening and changing," Dunn said.

The steering committee is comprised of Dunn, Kellye Barrows, Holly Samborski, Melissa Wise, Leah Bowman, Judy Renard, Millie Lipscomb, Janet Braun, Bill Fischer, Kayla Tinsley, Holly Vanhooser, Pat Bishop and Shawn O'Brien.

The committee will meet soon to take a look at all feedback, Dunn said, then take the month of July off. In August planning begins on next year's Good Ol'Days festival.

Fort Scott Police Department Capt. Shaun West said Monday the weekend was a smooth one for law enforcement officers monitoring the festivities.

"Most of the arrests over the weekend were warrant arrests," he said. "Nothing stemmed from the events themselves. It was pretty peaceful."