STRICTLY BUSINESS: CALLING ALL JIM OR JAMES BEAMS

The search is on for "Jim Beam."

Booker Noe, a master distiller for Jim Beam Bourbon, is conducting a $100,000 search for all Americans bearing the same name as his legendary grandfather, Jim Beam.

Noe, who is planning a 200th anniversary celebration of Jim Beam Bourbon, wants to be surrounded by Jim (or James) Beams for this momentous occasion in Clermont, Ky., this year.

Noe also wants to divide a $100,000 "inheritance" among all the Jim Beams who join him at the bourbon company's anniversary party Oct. 13.

"My grandfather played an important role in my life," Noe said. "He's the one who taught me the family's secret bourbon recipe. Because of all this, I'm excited to meet Americans who bear the name of this great man."

To collect their share of the inheritance, Jim Beams are required to arrive at the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont Friday, Oct. 13 promptly at 11 a.m. EST.

Noe's great-great-great grandfather, Jacob Beam, started the family's bourbon-making traditions in 1795 when he created his first barrel of bourbon.

Noe will meet with his "long-lost Jim Beam relatives" on the front porch of the historic T. Jeremiah Beam home on the distillery grounds.

He will equally share $100,000 among all the Jim Beams who arrive to celebrate the anniversary.

More than 1,000 people are expected to participate in the festivities.

The "Search for Jim Beam" awards ceremony will kick off a weekend-long celebration of Jim Beam Bourbon's 200-year-old family history.

Registration for the Jim Beam contest opened Jan. 1 and will continue through March 31.

To be eligible for a share of the "inheritance," Jim or James must be the FIRST given name and BEAM the surname. To enter, anyone 21 or older named Jim or James Beam may call 1-800-747-8643, extension 4200, or send name and address to Search for Jim Bean, P.O. Box 11172, Chicago, Ill., 60611.

An official contest entry will be forwarded to each Jim Beam who calls or writes.

All entries must be accompanied by signed copy of the official contest registration form, a notarized copy of the contestant's birth certificate, along with a recent photograph.

Boat notes

Gamblers visiting the Casino St. Charles now have a selection of two casinos.

St. Charles Riverfront Station opened its second casino, Casino St. Charles II, last week. The new casino is on a permanently docked barge and adjoins the Casino St. Charles riverboat casino.

St. Charles Riverfront Station received special permission from the state to offer dockside gaming.

The new casino doubles the gaming space and number of sessions available in St. Charles. The two casinos offer a total of 18 gaming sessions a day with a capacity of 4,000 people -- 2,000 in each of the two operations.

The company recently hired almost 400 new employees.

Casino St. Charles II is the third gaming operation in Missouri to remain dockside.

The Admiral on the Mississippi River front in downtown St. Louis, is also a dockside operation. One of two casinos in Kansas City operates dockside.

A total of six casinos currently operate in Missouri.

Boyd Gaming Corp. representatives will be in Cape Girardeau Jan. 11 to start contract talks with city officials for a riverboat gambling casino here.

Boyd Gaming, which the city selected to operate a riverboat casino, has announced plans for a $51.1 million operation along the Mississippi River in the downtown area.

More than half the cost of the project -- $26.4 million -- will be for the land-based parking garage and operations center. Boyd representatives have indicated they would like to start construction soon.

Meanwhile, the Boyd Group has already started construction on its riverboat casino project at Kansas City.

Gift taxes can creep up, up, up

You'd better be careful when you play Santa Claus.

Bart A. Basi, a Southern Illinois University-Carbondale tax professor tells why.

The tax law says you can give as many people as you want up to $10,000 a year without any problem.

"But, if you give any one $10,001, suddenly you owe a gift tax," says Basi, who is also an attorney and public accountant.

While the tax applies only to the amount more than $10,000, if you don't pay up, "you'll pay the piper," Basi said.

Penalties are cumulative and can total up to more than the gift itself.

Not to worry, you say? You're not in the habit of handing out $10,000 gifts.

People can be more generous than they think without realizing it.

Some examples:

Some parents pay their children's college expenses. Figure it up. If you're paying tuition, fees, room and board, books, clothes, plus gifts on holidays, that can hit $10,000 in a hurry.

Some parents give their children a car at graduation from high school. Even if you're talking about a small car, it can total about $10,000. Throw in birthday and Christmas gifts, and you'd be surprised how fast it all mounts up.

And, the IRS puts two and two together, Basi said.

In one case, the IRS visited a college and asked the registrar for a list of students. Then, it selected parents, probably at random, and checked to see if they had filed gift returns. Those who hadn't could be audited if the IRS found the parents had paid more than $10,000 a year.

Married people have a little more leeway. Each spouse is entitled to give an unlimited number of $10,000 gifts a year. So, if you bought that small compact car for your son when he finished high school last May, and are now forking out college tuition, you and your spouse can shell out $20,000 worth of stocking stuffers before the gift tax kicks in.

In future columns we'll take a look at other taxes and IRS tax rules and regulations

Heard on the street

-- The grading work along Broadway and West End Boulevard is for a 190-car parking lot of Southeast Missouri Hospital.

-- Jeremiah's, 127 N. Water in downtown Cape Girardeau, has reopened. A lunch menu will be added soon. Dan Grimm is owner-operator.

-- The new business to be located in the old J.C. Penney Co., Inc. building at 5 N. Main will open about Feb. 1. Betty Moore of Poplar Bluff has purchased the former J.C. Penney Co. Inc. building at 5 N. Main St., and will open it as a flea market trade center. Dealer space will be available. Additional information is available by calling (314)-686-6664.

-- LaBamba, a Mexican restaurant at 123 N. Main, has closed. Owner Mike Sams has listed the restaurant for sale.

Business briefing

Dr. Shanon T. Kirchhoff, orthodontist, has expanded his practice.

The orthodontist has installed a satellite office at Jackson.

Kirchhoff's main office is at 1461 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau.

The Jackson office is the third satellite office for Kirchhoff. Other satellite offices are at Chaffee and East Prairie.

ABC Home Health Services Inc. has a new name.

The home health provider has changed its name to First American Health Care.

The name change reflects the company's expansion into a broader spectrum of health industry activities, said Robert Mills, chairman and chief executive officer.

The company, which has more than 400 home health agencies in 21 states -- including Cape Girardeau -- with more than 14,000 employees, was founded in the mid-1970s. The business now includes services for home care services, hospitals, rural health clinics and other ventures.

Somewhere in the midst of all the pre-Christmas shopping activity a record was recorded by Visa International.

The credit card company, headquartered in San Francisco, reported its busiest day ever Friday, Dec. 23.

Consumers charged more than $1 billion that day to Visa International card.

At one point, Visa was recording 1,400 transactions a second.

BLOOMFIELD -- Voters will go to the polls in April to give their opinion on Sunday sales.

The Stoddard County Commissioners agreed recently to put the "Blue Law" issue on the April 4 ballot

Several businesses, say the commissioners, are operating in violation of the law.

Local House of Fabrics officials declined to comment on whether the Cape Girardeau store at 289 S. Broadview, will be effected by the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

House of Fabrics, headquartered in Sherman Oaks, Calif., is closing a number of its So-Fro Fabric sewing stores in the St. Louis area.

Efforts to reach Robert Bruce, district manager, have been unsuccessful.

House of Fabrics filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Nov. 2. Since then, more than 200 stores have been closed nationwide.

House of Fabrics has 427 stores and about 9,000 employees in its different divisions -- House of Fabrics, So-Fro Fabrics, Fabricland and Fabric King. In fiscal year 1994, House of Fabrics had national sales of $547 million, but reported a loss of $12.5 million.