Local woman's new service will shuttle the younger set around town

Sharen Karraker has been baby-sitting since she was a teenager, and now, at 38, she has a teenager of her own. She's been called a taxi mom from time to time, having done her share of escorting children around the community. Now she is ready to make the title official.

Karraker is starting a shuttle service Thursday called Cruisin Kids Club exclusively for young people in Cape Girar­deau up to age 16.

"I've seen so many people in a panic trying to get their kids around town, whether it's to school, to grandma's, to the movies and so forth," said Karraker, who will drive a Pontiac Montana minivan with car seats.

The taxi service will be available all week from 6:45 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., which should cover afterschool activities, she said. Parents will need to sign a permission slip in advance and the person with whom the child is being left with must know a code word as a security precaution.

The service will cost between $3.50 and $4 one-way, depending on what section of Cape Girardeau the customer lives in. She said she's willing to give weekly discounts for regulars.

Karraker's 15-year-old daughter, Kayla Pickens, is going to help her with the service, walking the children to the door so children aren't left alone in the vehicle.

"I think there's definitely a need for the service," said Tom Mogelnicki, interim executive director of the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority, which last year took over public transit services within Cape Girardeau and began a scheduled bus route that runs six days a week. He said he thinks Karraker will do all right.

A home day-care service has been Karraker's primary source of income since 1999. She has references and said parents are welcomed to meet with her beforehand.

Tracy Martin of Cape Girardeau, a mother of two, said she would feel comfortable using the service as opposed to a regular taxi because Karraker has dealt with children.

"For a family to survive, it usually takes two parents working, which doesn't leave much time to get kids to where they need to go," Martin said. "I would most definitely use the service, and I think it would benefit a lot of families."

tkrakowiak@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137