Stories from Monday, April 11, 1994

The adage, "It's amazing what one person can do when he or she puts her mind to it" was put to good use by sororities and fraternities at Southeast Missouri State University Sunday. In fact, both organizations have taken that very saying and multiplied its worth by the hundreds...

Imagine an aviation hub so ideally located, the sky seems limitless. And the strange thing is, virtually nobody knows about it. Can't be? Try telling that to Cape Girardeau Airport Manager Randy Holdman, who believes he is sitting on top of a treasure chest just waiting to be pried open...

The Southeast Missourian asked people what they thought about a Virginia lawyer's desire to produce for pay-per-view television an "execution of the month." Melvin Van de Ven: "I don't really like the idea. I think there is enough violence in the world without us portraying the selling of cases with people. However, the choice of seeing it, if someone wanted to, would be all right."...

Although artesian wells are no rarity in this area, they could easily fit into the "few and far between" category. "They're really something to see," said Jane DeSpain, who operates Hide-A-Way Restaurant near Marquand, about three miles from an artesian well in Bollinger County. "The water comes gushing out -- about 50 gallons a minute -- and there's no pump."...

To the Editor, How ironic that columnist Cal Thomas calls surgeon general Dr. Joycelyn Elders "sex obsessed." The stern anti-sex moralists suffer more of a sexual obsession than do those who advocate greater sexual freedom. Fierce morality is generally a reaction against lustful emotions...

At one of President Clinton's town hall meetings last week, a soft-spoken young woman from Charlotte, N.C., asked him about Whitewater. She said many Americans were "having a hard time with your credibility" because of the controversy and the reports that first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton turned a $1,000 stake into a $100,000 profit in the commodities market...

"Longjeans" the clown will be cavorting throughout Cape Girardeau Monday to pave the way for the Great American Circus. Longjeans is the advance clown who works for Allan C. Hill's Great American Circus, which will be holding two shows, 5:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Friday, April 15, at the Cape Girardeau Airport...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Ray H. Lingle, 76, of Dongola, Ill., died Saturday, April 9, 1994, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Marion, Ill. He was born Jan. 23, 1918, in Pulaski County, Ill., son of Everett and Dora Resch Lingle. He married Geraldine Ford, Oct. 8, 1944. She died Oct. 7, 1984...

JACKSON -- Elsie VanDeven, 81, of Jackson, died Saturday, April 9, 1994, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born March 14, 1913, near Pocahontas, daughter of Martin C. and Aymer Torrence Kieninger. She married Herbert VanDeven, May 30, 1948. He died July 16, 1964...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Burse L. Thomure, 51, of East Prairie, died Sunday, April 10, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born march 19, 1943, at East Prairie, daughter of Floyd V. and Alice Ishmael Bell. She married Claud Thomure, Aug. 25, 1961...

CHARLESTON -- Eric "Mann" Dewayne Houston Jr. died suddenly April 8 at home. Eric Houston Jr., infant son of Eric and Miesha McGee Houston, was born Dec. 24, 1993 in Chicago, Ill. In addition to his parents, he is survived by a sister, Keawanna LeTay Houston of The Home, maternal grandparents Sam and Farris McGee Clark of Chicago and paternal grandparents Abraham and Katherine Houston of Unity, Illinois...

Tractor Supply Company, the nation's largest retail farm store chain with more than 150 stores in 21 states, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newest store last week. The 18,750-square-foot store at 501 S. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau is just across the road and down the street from its previous location, which opened in Cape Girardeau a dozen years ago...

Herbert Clark Hoover, an avid angler and the first U.S. president born west of the Mississippi River, once said: "Presidents have only two moments of personal seclusion. One is prayer. The other is fishing And you can't pray all the time." Many Americans apparently share Hoover's interest in fishing...

Coming Up: April 19 -- Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours, 5 to 6:30 p.m., Show Me Center. May 6 -- Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee, Drury Lodge, 7 a.m. May 10 -- Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Membership Drive Kickoff Breakfast, 7:30 a.m. Wrapup of one-day membership blitz, 4:30 p.m. Drury Lodge...

Jack Higdon, a former manager of West Park Mall, is moving south. Higdon, group manager for Centermark Properties Inc. Midwest Region at St. Louis, will become manager of the Oaks Mall, a Centermark shopping center at Gainesville, Fla. "The mall has five large department stores and 185 other stores," said Higdon, who will assume the position May 1...