`LADYBUG' FLIES AWAY HOME

Readers of the "Ladybug" column that is a fixture in the Home section of this newspaper each Wednesday were informed by its author, Mary Blue, that the gardening column is ending.

The column has been in the paper week in and week out for the past 35 years. It has chronicled new advances in horticulture along with familiar references to tried-and-true gardening. Each week the column has been a steady source of useful information and interesting tidbits for readers interested in things that grow, even if some readers didn't have gardens of their own.

But Mary Blue's association with this newspaper stretches even further back than 35 years. She started in 1941 as a part-time proofreader and, over the years, became involved in nearly every facet of the news department.

Now that she has made the decision to end the column after its long and popular run, Mary and her husband, former Southeast Missourian editor John Blue, will be able to devote even more time to their many other interests and pursuits. All of her faithful readers, old and new, wish her the best.