By Beccy Tanner For 124 years, the Gray Photo Studio has overseen developments in downtown St. John. Named after William R. Gray, the photographer who took photos in Stafford County for more than three-quarters of a century, the building has long been a landmark. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in […]
This is the audio from our monthly radio show: Focus on Stafford County. The show aired in February, 2024. Topics include an upcoming Lunch & Learn book discussion of “Thirteen Ways to Kill your Community;” updates on Stafford County’s commercial kitchen, childcare; Gray Photo Studio grant, art auction and renovation; EPIC grant projects in Stafford County and the Sttafford train depot.
By Beccy Tanner Four years ago, Glora Batten started her journey into canning. A friend asked her to come over to their house and help can pickles. “We got started and made a batch of pickles and I just thought it was very fun,” the 29-year-old St. John woman said. That moment started her thinking […]
By Beccy Tanner Two teams and four St. John High School students are the county winners in this year’s Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge. Ryer Ward, placed first in the contest, which was held Feb. 7 at the Stafford County Annex. He receives $750 and a chance to compete at the state competition on April 16th at […]
By Beccy Tanner After being involved in education for nearly 30 years as both a teacher and principal, Jo McFadden decided to take a new direction in her life. “I retired and this is my retirement gig,” McFadden said. “I was looking for a job. This came up on my radar and I thought it […]
This is the audio from our monthly radio show: Focus on Stafford County. This show aired live Thursday, Jan. 25. Topics included a $50,000 HEAL grant that was awarded to the W.R. Gray Studio in St. John and a $50,000 loan from SJN Bank for the studio’s renovation. Other subjects included the Stafford County Port Authority, updates on the upcoming Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge; the county’s commercial kitchen, childcare, the Community Fair Building and new housing construction.
By: Ryan Russell Gray Photo Studio (GPS) is soon to be renovated and will soon after open it’s art studio after receiving a $50,000 matching grant from Kansas Commerce Historic Economic Asset Lifeline (HEAL) program. SJN Bank of Kansas, which is always looking for ways to help develop Stafford County, has provided GPS with it’s […]
By Beccy Tanner There may be a new/old look coming soon to the northwest corner of St. John’s Square. A $45,000 matching grant awarded by the Kansas Creative Arts/Industries Commission – a division of the Kansas Department of Commerce—will portion some of that grant to St. John for use in building a Victorian-type gazebo. The […]
This is the audio from our monthly radio show Focus on Stafford County. This show aired in December. It includes discussion on Giving Tuesday, Stafford County’s commercial kitchen, the partnership between Stafford County Economic Development and the Ida Long Goodman Memorial Library’s Lunch and Learns, a new gazebo for the St. John Square and some upcoming grant writing workshops.
By Beccy Tanner When Connie and Tim Gross retired in 2015, they moved to Stafford County. For both, it was a coming home. Connie was born and raised in Stafford County; Tim, from Pawnee County. They moved to her family’s fourth-generation homestead located six miles north of St. John, off US-281. The property was originally […]
