Stories from Sunday, November 29, 1998

To the editor: Nov. 16 was a tough night for the people of Scott City, especially for the large crowd who traveled to St. Louis to watch the high school football team plan in the state quarterfinals. Although the Rams jumped to an early lead, the team from Lutheran North ultimately prevailed with a one-touchdown victory in an exciting, hard-fought game that was not decided until the final moments. ...

The 1999 meeting of the Fulbright Family Association will be held in Cape Girardeau on June 25-27, 1999. The association is an organization of over 300 people who can trace their lineage from either Johann Wilhelm Vollbrecht (Fulbright), who emigrated to America in 1740, or Andreas/Andrew Fulbright, who emigrated in 1764...

25 years ago: 1973 Kevin Wagner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roland Wagner of Jackson, has been called by First Presidency of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve as missionary in California south mission; after week of orientation at Missionary Home in Salt Lake City, Utah, he will depart for mission headquarters in Anaheim, Calif., Nov. 29; Wagner is junior at Brigham Young University majoring in electrical engineering...

Orchard Elementary School in Jackson will be hosting its "Breakfast with Santa" fund raiser on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 8 to 11 a.m. at the school. Ticket prices are $3 for adults and $2 for children 7 and under. There will be a home cooked breakfast of eggs, biscuits, sausage, bacon, gravy and drinks...

The city of Jackson and area Girl Scouts will host the a~nnual Festival of Lights on Monday, Nov. 30. The courthouse ~~will be blanketed ~in luminaries from 6 to 7 p.m.. Each year the area Gi~rl Scout Se~rvice Unit hosts this event after Thanksg~iving to spread holida~y cheer to the communit~y...

These area residents have been fighting diabetes. November is National Diabetes Month. Vicki Abernathy, team captain, second from right, and friends and employees of Lee-Rowan were on the winning team in the recent America's Walk for Diabetes. The team raised close to $5,000...

Southeast Missouri State University will confer degrees on 495 students at fall commencement on Dec. 12. Dr. Gary Miller, Southeast music professor, will deliver the commencement address. The commencement ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Show Me Center...

Did you or a member of your family travel long distances to be together this holiday weekend? If you did, you traversed safer roads than just a few years ago. Specifically, they are safer than in 1995, when the new GOP-majority Congress abolished the federally mandated 55-mph speed limit, itself an important step in restoring our freedoms...

(Warning; If you are a public official, or aspire to become one, or one who aspires to another higher office, this column may be harmful to your digestive tract.) If you are still reading this, the chances are pretty good that you don't belong to any of the groups mentioned above. ...

Republican governors and governors-elect, who number 31 and who either govern or soon will govern nine of the 10 largest states, met last weekend in New Orleans for their annual confab. With the congressional wing of their party widely viewed to be going through its problems, it is to these chief executives that many Americans are looking for leadership. ...

Newly re-elected to a second term after carrying 25 of 26 counties, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, has won a seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. The selection came this past week, as congressional Republicans made their decisions on committees...

To the editor: I would like to address this letter to the person who was talking about real Republicans. The first part you raised was about Mr. Clinton's chance to answer the charges. Where have you been? The man had seven months, and he lied every time he was asked. He went on national TV and lied to the entire nation. Only when a DNA test was done did he finally confess. If it hadn't been for that, he would have probably gone on lying about everything...

To the editor: I'm writing in response to the recent letter you published from John Patterson in which he pointed out deficiencies in Kent Library's holdings. Since beginning my position at Kent Library in July, I've been gratified that students at Southeast Missouri State University are vocal in their support for developing good library collections and services. ...

Degrees will be conferred on 495 graduates during December commencement exercises scheduled for Dec. 12 at Southeast Missouri State University. Leading the class of undergraduates is Terri Watcher of Altenburg, along with Don Carter of Dutchtown and Jessica Nelms of O'Fallon...

They call it "Murphy's Law," the worst thing that can happen at the most inconvenient time. The Apostle Paul would call it a reason to give God thanks. "Give thanks in all circumstances," wrote Paul in First Thessalonians 5:18, "For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."...

Motorists pumped $672 million into the coffers of the Missouri Department of Transportation, and city and county governments last year. That's $381 million more than was generated a decade ago, Department of Revenue figures show. The money was generated by the state's 17-cent tax on gasoline and diesel fuel. The Missouri Department of Revenue levies the tax on fuel distributors, who then pass the cost on to service station operators and ultimately the driving public...

With temperatures in the 70s, it's not really beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. However, operators of Cape Girardeau Christmas tree lots say the lack of the traditional seasonal climate isn't hurting sales. While some lots got an early jump on the season by opening a few days before Thanksgiving, most opened for business Friday...

Bowing out this year as chairman of the Christmas parade he helped establish six years ago, Dennis "Doc" Cain isn't worried about the event's future. "I think it has become a Cape Girardeau tradition," he said. The 1998 Downtown Merchants Association Christmas Parade of Lights will begin at dusk today at Capaha Park, winding down Broadway and Main Street. Downtown merchants will hold open houses from 1 to 5 p.m. today, and many will remain open after the parade...

Thousands of shoppers spent the weekend selecting their holiday gifts for friends and relatives. But for some children in Cape Girardeau, receiving a gift from their Christmas list wouldn't be a reality without Toybox. Toybox is a joint program of the Cape Girardeau Jaycees and the Southeast Missourian. It began 24 years ago as a way to provide toys and gifts to needy children...

An elderly woman refuses to let her impoverished circumstances dampen her spirits. Each day, she fixes her hair, dresses up in hose and heels and prepares to tackle what lies ahead. Another elderly woman, who spent much of her life caring for others as a foster mother, looks for help as illness saps her strength and resources...

You easily can spot parents during the holidays. They're the ones you see ushering their children and their friends' children into the movie theater for one of those feature-length cartoons. It's not that we want to go see these movies. It's just that it beats picking up gum off the living room carpet or watching the same Barney tape for the zillionth time...

Visitors to the Glenn House these days will find the Victorian home decked out as if the year were 1900 and a family was preparing to welcome holiday guests. The outside rails, roofs and fencing are festooned with many layers of roped greenery and red bows. Inside the table is set for an elegant party, and six very different Christmas trees make the house a wonderland of twinkling lights and handmade ornaments...

Jackson High's perennially strong wrestling team figures to be solid once again -- although coach Steve Wachter believes it might take the Indians some time to get to that point. The Indians had another typically impressive campaign last year, going 8-2 in dual matches and qualifying six grapplers for the state meet. Jackson had a 48-dual match winning streak snapped a year ago...

The season didn't end quite like they had envisioned -- but nobody can take anything away from what the St. Vincent High football Indians accomplished this year. It was truly a dream season for the Indians, who reached heights that most teams across the state can only dream about...

Cape Girardeau Central High wrestling coach Drew Lilledahl is not about to say that his program has gotten over the hump. But Lilledahl, entering his third season at Central, does believe the Tigers are definitely moving in the right direction. "Last year we finished the season with about 20 or 25 kids in the whole program," he said. ...

LAKE CHARLES, La. -- Southeast Missouri's women's basketball team bounced back from its first-round loss in McNeese State's Cowgirl Classic to defeat Texas-Pan American 77-53 in consolation action Saturday. McNeese State won its own tournament, defeating Alcorn State 65-61 in the championship game...

NEW MADRID -- Cape Central boys basketball team opened its season with a 63-51 loss to Memphis East Saturday afternoon in the New Madrid River Bend Classic. Kelly Illers scored a game-high 22 points for Central and Donnie McClinton added 15. Raynardo Curry, 20 points, and Jason Tunstull, led Memphis East's attack...

Cape Girardeau Central High boys swimming coach Dayna Powell hopes a big senior class will pay off in the form of a successful season. The Tigers placed just 14th at the state meet last year, one of their lowest finishes in quite a while. But, armed with 12 seniors -- led by two-time state runnerup Jason Owen -- Powell expects the Tigers to be able to make some noise this season and return to the top 10 at the state meet...

The calendar may show Thanksgiving Day as having been only three days ago but many Missouri deer hunters have been thankful for the past two weeks. Missouri's 11-day firearms deer season began on Saturday, November 14, and ended this past Tuesday, November 24. Hunters were thankful for lots of sunshine and balmy temperatures that made it feel more like spring turkey season than fall deer season...

JEFFERSON CITY -- After sending antlers to the taxidermist, some hunters despair of turning the remainder of trophy deer into first-rate table fare. But if you keep the following tips in mind, any whitetail can enrich your menu. Back to the grind. Old deer tend to be tough. Sometimes the easiest way to avoid rubbery meat is to grind it up into burger or sausage. Grinding twice-once with a medium screen and once with a fine screen-is most effective...

BERNIE -- Walter Edward "Bus" Jewett, 80, of Bernie died Saturday, Nov. 28, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born on March 25, 1918, son of Edward Vance and Estella May Miller Jewett. He was a construction worker and a member of the Bernie United Methodist Church...

STATESVILLE, N.C. -- Deane Elizabeth Woodson Edwards, 94, of Statesville died Saturday, Nov. 28, 1998, at Maple Leaf Health Care. She was born on July 11, 1904, at St. Louis, daughter of James Edward and Bessie Jane Wageley Woodson. She graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with honors in 1926. She taught math and science at Kennett High School as well as at Chaffee prior to her marriage...

ANNA, Ill. -- Albert A. Sturgeon, 88, of West Vienna, formerly of Union County, died Friday, Nov. 27, 1998, at Hillview Health Care Center in Vienna. He was born on March 15, 1910, at Cobden, son of Wilburn Allen and Minnie Hufstetler Sturgeon. He was a retired carpenter...

St. Louis -- Kittye Miller, 94, of St. Louis died Friday, Nov. 27, 1998, at the Memorial Nursing Home in St. Louis. She was born April 21, 1904, at Wyatt, daughter of Henry and Minnie Vowles Johnson. She taught in public schools in St. Louis and Southeast Missouri before her retirement...

Dorothy Marie Siemers of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Nov. 27, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was 58. She was a resident of the Lutheran Home. She was born Oct. 13, 1940, in Andover, S.D., daughter of Erwin and Flora Becker Boeschen. She married Jack C. Siemers Aug. 17, 1979, in Cape Girardeau. He died Aug. 28, 1994...

CHAFFEE -- Homer C. Imhoff of Chaffee died Friday, Nov. 27, 1998, at his home. He was 89. He was born June 19, 1909, son of Leonard T. and Margaret Reichrath Imhoff. He married Henrietta Davis May 2, 1931, at Brookfield. She died March 28, 1984. He married Evelyn Smalley Davis May 7, 1987. She survives...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Theron A. Pritchett Jr. of Cairo died Saturday, Nov. 28, 1998, at Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah, Ky. He was 86. He was born in Cairo Sept. 19, 1912, son of Theron and Jane Cowell Pritchett. He was preceded in death by his wife, Margaret, in 1984...

Almaretta Miller, a former resident of Puxico and Dexter, died Friday, Nov. 27, 1998, at the Rosewood Care Center in Swansea, Ill. She was 92. She was born Jan. 18, 1906, daughter of John William and Margaret Phipps Fortner. She married Orvil Lee Miller in Puxico on Aug. 26, 1928. He died July 9, 1993...

The university's observatory north of Cape Girardeau includes a telescope with a rolling shed. Girl Scout Alison Roth got a close-up look at the moon with a telescope at the Southeast Missouri State University observatory. Physics professor Dr. Michael Cobb likes to be in the dark. It makes it easier to spy the stars...