Community
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Aaron Horrell: Not your average butterflyThe butterfly in this photo has a wingspan of about 1 inch. The wildflower it is sitting on is a daisy fleabane, which has several small flowers when it blooms. This little butterfly is called a red-banded hairstreak. It is easy to see the red or orange diagonal streak on the underside of its wings. Many kinds of butterflies have fake eyes on the underside of their wings. The red-banded hairstreak goes one better and shows off a fake head. It even has small fake antennas on the back end of its wings. When the butterfly dips its head to sip nectar it may appear to a bird that the butterfly’s tail is its head. The bird gets a mouthful of nothing and the red-banded hairstreak gets to live another day. You may find the red-banded hairstreak in southern Missouri near wet or muddy areas. I found this one Sunday, April 21, in a grassy field near a pond. Once you spot this butterfly, it may be difficult to get close enough to get a good photo. Approach it very slowly. Horrell is an artist and outdoorsman. He lives in Chaffee. He owns Painted Wren Art Gallery in Cape Girardeau.
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Robert Hurtgen: An ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ momentI have had an "It’s A Wonderful Life" moment. If you are unfamiliar with the movie, let me briefly recap it. George Bailey dreams of traveling the world and building majestic structures. However, after his father’s sudden death, he reluctantly embraces his family and community responsibilities by remaining in his hometown of Bedford Falls, managing the family business, the Baily Brothers Building & Loan.
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Shawn Wasson: Confusing correctionIf you follow social media, you may have heard about a Christian men’s conference that had a shirtless male sword swallower entertain the audience by climbing a stripper pole on center stage. Yes, that is correct, a homoerotic performance at a Christian men’s conference.
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Rennie Phillips: Old timer’s coffeeWe had a get together at Church the other day celebrating a couple events in the lives of some who attend and the ladies had made coffee in one of those 50 or 60 cup aluminum percolators. I wouldn’t have a clue how much coffee to add to make a decent cup of coffee. Most of the time I make my coffee a cup at a time. When I drink that one cup I have to make another cup. But there is also a 12 cup coffee brewer at church which heats the water a squirt at a time which drips down on the coffee grounds and as it filters through the grounds it makes coffee. Slow is the name of this coffee pot. Maybe even “Really Slow”.
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Senior Center menus for April 29 through May 3Cape Girardeau/Scott City Monday: Sweet and sour meatballs with rice or pineapple chicken, seasoned carrots, almond broccoli, whole-grate hot roll and chilled pineapple or berry crisp. Tuesday: Chicken salad with whole-grain crackers or sub sandwich on bun, spinach salad, sweet and sour beets and Mandarin oranges or lemonade cake.
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Adopt Rayla 4-27-24Rayla is a female guessed to be 2 years old and not great with cats and dogs. She would be better to be an only pet. If you have room in your heart and home for Rayla or any other pet, visit us at 359 Cree Lane near Jackson any weekday or weekend from 8 a.m. to noon. Visitors are always welcome to play with our pets...
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David Dickey: A tragedy in JacksonIn 1963, tragedy struck the town of Jackson, its high school, a teacher and a family. Richard Burton Partridge was born June 20, 1925, in Evanston, Illinois, and married Martha Weaver in 1954. Partridge received a master’s degree from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He and his wife, along with their five children, moved to Jackson in 1960, when he become the director of music at the Jackson School District. He passed away Friday, June 9, 1989, just nine months after his wife, Martha.
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Beverly Hahs: A lady of noble lineageOf the many people I’ve read about, there are many ladies I would have loved to have known. Zerilda Byrnes is one of those ladies. The tales she could have shared about her life as a young girl growing up near the Neely’s Landing area among the Shawnee and Delaware tribes would have been fascinating.
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Rebecca LaClair: Victoria’s Creamery has ice cream worth leaving the house for (4/25/24)2I categorize soft-serve ice cream in my head as a treat, a sweet I can’t make at home that I must deliberately travel into the world to attain. Some folks may own an ice cream machine that creates a version of this cold sweet, but not me. Two weeks ago, I waxed poetic about soft serve, but this time, I’m going the other direction. Hand-dipped ice cream, or hard ice cream, is premade, put into a container, and is then scooped out into a formed ball, if you’re good at it. This is the kind of ice cream I can buy at the grocery store and keep in my freezer. But sometimes, hand-dipped ice cream is worth leaving the house for. ...
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Tom Harte: Einstein in the kitchen (4/25/24)1“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” So said the great American inventor Thomas Edison. Having tried nearly 3,000 filaments before landing on a successful one for his light bulb, he obviously knew what he was talking about. Similarly, when it comes to inventing recipes, trial and error is usually involved. ...
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Susan McClanahan: Rhubarb season has begun (4/25/24)One of the many special gifts of spring is new-crop rhubarb. Early in the season it is still young and tender, sweet yet slightly tart and so very delicious. There are so many different ways to use rhubarb, I had a hard time narrowing down the many recipes I found to use it. But I managed to select a few that I think you’ll enjoy. ...
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Ramblewood Garden Club celebrates Arbor Day (4/25/24)Ramblewood Garden Club celebrated Arbor Day with the Fourth Grade students at Franklin Elementary School on Friday, April 5, Missouriâs Arbor Day. Students learned about the founder of Arbor Day, J. Sterling Morton, who began planting trees on the first Arbor Day in 1872, and gave responses on the importance of trees. Six of the students read poems about trees. The students also learned how to plant a seedling tree from the Missouri Conservation Department which was given out to each of the students and teachers. The selected Willow Oak (Quercus phellos) tree, a native to Missouri, will be planted in the fall for better watering opportunities. The garden club also gifted the school two books on trees for their library.
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Bill Eddleman: Online resources for genealogy: Some basics (4/20/24)Many of the resources contemporary family historians consult are available online, with more digitized every year. I will focus in the next columns on finding and using online sources.
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Rennie Phillips: Time: Starting with the last frost (4/20/24)This time of year most of our friends as well as Marge and I are in the beginnings of gardening “time.” One of the most important things to do is to put everything on a calendar. I start with two dates on the calendar. One is the average date of the last frost where I live as well as the average date of the first freeze in the fall. These two dates determine the time we have to garden. Here in Scott City, Missouri our last frost in the spring is around April 15 and our first freeze in the fall is around October 13. These are approximate dates. So we have about six months to garden which is our garden “time”.
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Ellen Shuck: Your summer is coming (4/20/24)Of course, summer is coming. Your summer is coming. There are many different views as to whether summer is a time of joy or is it a sweltering balloon of heat trying to burst and spread its humidity and discomfort throughout the world? I reside within the Southeast Missouri area and there are different opinions of what summer means to each person. Neverthealess, I believe most look upon summer as a time of beauty, seeing the results of spring’s new birth, and relaxation.
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Garden club announces April yard of the month (4/20/24)1Ramblewood Garden Club awarded the April Yard of the Month to Gabriele Eckart and husband Terry Heins who garden at 1403 Bertling Street. They have been planting trees, shrubs, and flowers for over 20 years at their home in Cape Girardeau. In fact, the couple was given a Yard of the Month certificate in 2008 from the Cape Chamber of Commerce. The yard continues to be a delight in the spring with blooming flowers, trees, and shrubs. Much has changed since then according to aGabriele, as previously the front yard was planted with a profusion of tulips and hostas which were all eaten by the many deer who wander through their neighborhood.
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Aaron Horrell: Something from a tree (4/20/24)I took this photo Thursday, April 11. What you see here are tiny berries growing on the limb of a native North American red mulberry tree. In early April the red mulberry tree begins to put on new leaves along with new fruits.
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Club news 4-20-24 (4/20/24)__Town & Country FCE Club__ The Town and Country FCE club met Thursday, April 11 at the home of Shirley Heise. Pledges to the American and the State of Missouri flags were recited in unison by club members. Darlene McCain presented a game, Spring Trivia. Sue Jones won the game. Roll call and minutes from March were read by Jones, secretary. Linda Thompson gave the treasurer’s report. Both reports were approved as read. Pennies for Rural women were collected.
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Senior Center Menus for April 22-26 (4/20/24)Cape Girardeau/Scott City Monday: Lasagna or chicken tetrazzini, glazed carrots, garden salad, whole-grain garlic bread and citrus fruit salad or cook’s choice desssert.
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Faces of Southeast Missouri: Gerry Keene (4/19/24)When introducing new people to caving, Gerry Keene advises them to channel their inner eight-year-old. He says caves are dark and dirty, full of streams and tough terrain that cavers need to crawl over, under and through. “As an adult, you’re like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ But if you look at it like a kid, you’re like, ‘Yes! Go for it!’” Keene says. “You've got to reprogram your sense of adventure back to what it was as a kid, what was really fun, and then you can really enjoy the environment.”...
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Meet the Experts: Find the right fit in an assisted living home with Megan Steimle, Andy Blagg and Kim Wilcox (4/18/24)Capetown and Auburn Creek are all-inclusive, pet-friendly senior living homes in Cape Girardeau locally-owned out of Sikeston, Mo. Capetown, a larger environment, and Auburn Creek, a smaller environment, focus on family values and resident choice. They cultivate this feeling through efforts like serving breakfast made-to-order at whatever time a resident wakes up and decides it’s time for breakfast. Residents order lunch and supper from a menu restaurant-style...
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Mary Ann Castillo: City Tavern: Belly up to the bar after Sunday service (4/18/24)Just when I thought I’d run out of new restaurants to try, a friend with good judgment suggested I might want to take a quick road trip over to City Tavern in downtown Perryville for some good old homestyle cooking. I was intrigued by the suggestion, and immediately squeezed the visit onto my Sunday "to do" list, right between church and grocery shopping. ...
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Susan McClanahan: Recipes to kick off baseball season (4/18/24)I found a fun collection of recipes that I think will be a great way to kick off the start of baseball season. Taste of Home had 45 Ballpark Copycat Recipes in a collection that I just could not pass up. I think the author said it perfectly in introducing the recipe collection, “Take a crack at these grand-slam recipes inspired by your favorite ballpark snacks and treats. You've always got home-field advantage when whipping up these nachos, pretzels, popcorn, hot dogs, nuts and more, right in your own kitchen.” ...
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Community Cookbook: Rice casserole with Debbie Crane from Dexter, Mo. (4/14/24)Debbie Crane grew up in Dexter, Mo., but somehow, she says she didn’t know what Branson, Mo., or Silver Dollar City were until her mother asked to take a vacation there. Debbie made arrangements with a travel agency and visited the park for the first time with her mother Virgina Crane in 1996...
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Meet the Experts: Create a DIY gift for someone you love with Brittney Swicionis, owner of Board & Brush Creative Studio (4/14/24)Brittney Swicionis, owner of Board and Brush Creative Studio in Cape Girardeau, believes in giving back to the community through her business. She has done so through initiatives such as donating DIY projects to the Red Cross to incentivize people to give blood during last year’s blood shortage, teaching about entrepreneurship to young people, and utilizing Board and Brush’s social media accounts to help animals waiting to be adopted find families. ...
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Rennie Phillips: Eclipse and other memories (4/13/24)Just watched the Eclipse. Pretty darn neat. I had a good friend tell me when to start watching and when the total eclipse would be, and he was spot on. Thanks! I watched the other eclipse several years ago, but it wasn’t as cool as this was. Today Marge and I were at the picnic table eating dinner and checking on the sun that was still showing. Marge commented about what the old timers back when must have thought when something like this happened. Who knows? We enjoyed it. Our neighbor’s donkey went to braying and another’s roosters went to crowing. We can look back and brag that “We saw that.” Precious memory!
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Adopt Luna 4-13-24 (4/13/24)Luna is a approximately 2-year-old female. Her babies were adopted and she is now waiting to go home. If you have room in your heart and home for Luna or any other pet, visit us at 359 Cree Lane near Jackson any weekday or weekend from 8 a.m. to noon. Visitors are always welcome to play with our pets.
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Aaron Horrell: A plant with funny blossoms (4/13/24)This is a springtime wildflower native to the eastern half of North America reaching far into Canada. It is called Dutchman’s Breeches because the plant’s flowers reminded the American naturalists who found and documented it of a Dutchman’s breeches hanging on a line to dry.
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Robert Hurtgen: Are you planning for the future? (4/13/24)I want to speak with you about planning for your future. When someone talks about making future plans, they typically revolve around finances and time management. Certainly, to plan for future you need to have a solid financial plan. In order to make the most of your days you need to practice a time management system. However, how you use your time and resources are secondary to self-leadership. Leading yourself will have a greater impact on the quality of your life and future than any strategies for time management and financial planning.
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Bill Eddleman: Murder most foul: The killing of John M. Daniel (4/13/24)2The sensational case of the murder of John M. Daniel by Isaac Whitson on Dec. 12, 1832, is a rare local example of an early capital crime. John M. Daniel first appeared in the area in 1818 when he bought land near Hubble Creek just north of Jackson. In 1828 Daniel married Amantha Hector, likely his second wife. Daniel became a prominent businessman, owning nine local town lots and over 600 acres of land by 1830.
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I categorize soft-serve ice cream in my head as a treat, a sweet I can’t make at home that I must...
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Just when I thought I’d run out of new restaurants to try, a friend with good judgment suggested I...
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Scattered across the country are tiny family-owned restaurants that took up the cast-off shell of...