STRICTLY BUSINESS: DOWNTOWN A BEEHIVE OF ACTIVITY

On a certain day in late June, a downtown retailer reported one of its best sales day.

Another downtown merchant was swamped, with as many as 200 shoppers at one point.

A lot of people have swarmed to the downtown area over the past few weeks, drawn by boat traffic on the Mississippi River.

All three "Queens" -- the American, Mississippi, and Delta -- of the New Orleans-based Delta Queen Steamboat Co., have been recent visitors to Cape Girardeau.

Joining the crowd have been visits by the R/B River Explorer, a floating hotel and touring vessel headquartered in New Orleans, and a week's visit by the Navy's mine sweeper vessel, the USS Black Hawk.

All this translates into more than 2,000 people in passengers and crew.

Another 2,500 to 3,000 people toured the Black Hawk while it was docked here.

And, several thousand more people visited the riverfront area to watch the boats.

"We've had a lot of feet on the riverfront since mid-June," said Lin Jones, group sales director for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Next on the riverfront will be the Mississippi Queen, when it cocks here August 3 and the River Explorer which will be here Aug. 6.

Riverboats and bus tours are a source of many visitors to the Cape Girardeau area each year. . Each of the riverboats carry more than 200 passengers. Riverboat dockings result in more than 2,500 visitors to the city during the summer months, and bus tours account for another 2,000-plus visitors.

Country honesty

We almost didn't stop.

The small vegetable stand was a hundred feet off the road, and there were no cars present.

But, the windows were up at the shed, and we could see sweet corn, onions, squash, greenbeans and few other vegetables.

We wheeled in.

We didn't see anyone, but prices of the items were posted.

We selected a half-dozen ears of sweet corn.

Another couple drove up. And, a third.

But, who do we pay?

Looking over the fresh vegetables, we noticed a metal bucket. A closer look revealed money in the bucket.

We packaged our six ears of corn, our greenbeans and onions, figured up the tab, and tossed money in the bucket.

The Sunday incident reminded me of another era, a "retail stand" we visited a number of years ago in Oklahoma.

I was stationed across the Oklahoma state line, in Arkansas, and often left the base on weekend for an afternoon's outing along the streams in nearby Oklahoma.

Along the way, we learned of a baitshop, always open, and always equipped with baits of your choice minnows, wrigglers, artificial jigs, etc.

"Take what you want, drop the money in the bucket," said a sign hanging over an old wooden bucket.

The owners periodically emptied the bucket, but there usually a few ones and some change in it.

We finally met the owners one day.

"This is a good way to do business," said the owner. "Once in a great while someone may not pay. And, on even rarer occasions, someone may take a buck out of the bucket. But, overall, the business was not labor intensive, and proved to be pretty lucrative."

Farm tour

Missouri may not be counted among the top vegetable-growing states, but you wouldn't know it by visiting farmers' markets and roadside stands.

Missouri truck farmers till more than 35,000 acres a year in vegetables, and more than half of that acreage 19,000 acres is in Southeast Missouri. Farmers' markets and/or roadside stands are commonplace from May through October.

A tour of some of the most successful vegetable farms in Southeast Missouri will be held next week to show farmers how vegetable production can turn a profit in the Bootheel.

"We want to show where we're at in the region as far as vegetable production, and what our potential is," said Lewis Jett, vegetable crops specialist at the University of Missouri. "We want to promote the industry by showing how successful producers grow vegetables and how they market them."

The tour July 18 starts at 8:30 a.m. at Rone Exhibit Hall at the Missouri University Lee Farm about four miles east of Portageville on Route TT.

The tour will be via air-conditioned bus, starting at Diebold's Orchards in Benton. Diebold Orchards is a grower and retailer of mixed fruits and vegetables, and will discuss vegetable marketing..

"They'll be packing sweet corn for the market, and we'll be able to see that as well as the different kinds of sweet corn they grow." said Jett. "They will give a good assessment of what it takes to grow vegetables successfully in the area."

One key to Diebolds' success, said Jett, is the "the volume of traffic that moves up and down Interstate-55. They don't rely strictly on local markets. They realize the interstate highway system is a valuable asset."

From the Diebold operation, the tour will visit the Jim Clevenger farm in Bertrand. "We'll have an opportunity to see a retailer-wholesaler who is skilled at value-added marketing," Jett said. "A lunch there, provided by Jim," will include catfish as well as fresh fruit and vegetables.

Following the lunch, the group will proceed to Choate's Farms in East Prairie, Mo., the largest sweet corn producer in the state.

The tour is free, but those wishing to attend should register now, by contacting Rita Gerke on the MU campus in Columbia, telephone, (573) 882-7511, or e-mail, GerkeR@Missouri.edu

Additional information is also available by calling Jett, (573) 884-3287, or Tim Baker, (573) 888- 4722. Baker is a regional horticulture

Not all the vegetables are found at farmers' markets; many of the potatoes raised in Southeast Missouri -- 6,000 to 7,000 acres -- are sold to potato chip companies.

Nationally, U.S. growers are expected to harvest about 218,000 acres of 13 selected fresh-market vegetables this year. Head lettuce is a big spring crop, at 41,900 acres, Sweet corn is second on the list at more than 37,000 nationally, and tomatoes area third, with more than 30,000 acres. Cantaloupe, honeydews and watermelons are grown on more than 150,000 acres.