Monday, December 18 -- My wife, Kathy, and I spent part of the weekend baking all sorts of Christmas cookies...sugar, chocolate chip, peanut butter (with Hershey's Kisses) and my personal favorite, snicker doodles. We've also been stocking our pantry and freezer with all kinds of goodies as we prepare for the arrival of friends and family over the next couple of weeks. (Even as I write this blog entry, UPS is delivering a food gift basket to our home.)...

Thursday afternoon, December 8 - Okay, I'll admit it. The news this morning of Albert Pujols' departure from St. Louis put me in a sour mood. I was having a hard time wrapping my arms around the fact that next year, for the first time in more than a decade, No. 5 wouldn't be at 1st base at Busch and wouldn't be hitting gargantuan home runs for the Cardinals for the rest of his career...

Denise Wimp is a problem solver. Every week she talks to scores of area people who need her help and many of them don't know where else to turn. Denise and her part-time assistant, Christy Templeton, are "solution experts." They are the voices on the other end of the line when people call the local "First Call For Help" office in Cape Girardeau...

Wednesday, November 23 - Just a quick note today in recognition of the great work done on a daily basis by the Salvation Army, another of the United Way's funded partners. Tomorrow, Thanksgiving, the Salvation Army (and an "army" of volunteers) will serve turkey and all the fixin's to hundreds of needy individuals and families at SA's Cape Girardeau headquarters at the intersection of Good Hope and South Sprigg streets...

Tuesday, November 8 - The scene outside Franklin Elementary School on Cape Girardeau is abuzz with activity shortly after 3 p.m. The dismissal bell rang a few minutes earlier and children have congregated outside, waiting for their busses or parents to pick them up...

Thursday Afternoon, November 3 - The first thing that struck me when entering the APPLE office in Cape Girardeau were the number of decorative pieces of apple artwork throughout the waiting area. There were framed "still life" photos, drawings and paintings of apples and fake apples could be found on shelves and in baskets...

Thursday morning, November 3 - Walking into the Jackson Senior Center shortly after 10 a.m., I was struck by the sense of constant activity all around me. Although lunch wouldn't be served for around an hour, there were scores of people in the large, inviting dining area, some of whom had arrived as early as 8 o'clock. Groups of smiling men and women were clustered throughout the room...talking, laughing, playing cards and so forth...