The Profiler - Don Greenwood

Each issue of OFF! highlights a someone who has achieved success in his/her field. This issue's pick is Don Greenwood of Cape Girardeau.

Stats: 50 something. Kids: OMG! 5 kids! Marital status: very happily ensconced with his love of the last 14 years, Dr. Rosanna Whitlow, in their 100+ year old house in downtown Cape (they had it BEFORE it got trendy to buy the gracious old ones). Occupation: artist and engraver for Cape Art Die, also doubles as sales manager

I caught up with Don at Broussards one Monday night. He was redoing the mural on the wall near the bandstand. He told me I could have a little time before he got started. Getting him to sit still long enough to talk was another matter entirely. Don nearly crackles with energy.

Everybody in town seems to know who he is, and a lot of them have a "Greenwood Story" to tell. He has been very involved in the arts community of the Cape area for a long, long time. He even has a wall of napkin art at Port Cape.

People from all over the country request his art. He gets commissioned for some of the most important engraving work around. And if the people who know him are right, he has such a keen artistic eye that he could make a fortune as a counterfeiter. I have seen lots of examples of his work and it truly is spectacular. I have also seen a lot of his "fun" stuff. I wear a piece of his work often (he did the T-shirts for the City of Roses festival).

It seems to me that those in the creative field have more than one outlet for their creativity. Greenwood also plays in at least two different bands. A consummate drummer (bongos, congas and tumbas) he has been playing since 1959 when he was just 15. He started in the old beatnick-coffee houses where bongos were the "instrument du jour". He wrote poetry and would recite it while playing the bongos. I have images of smoky rooms filled with people dressed in black, snapping their fingers instead of applause.

Greenwood still writes poetry. He is currently working on a collaborative effort with another well known Cape resident (I won't say who since I didn't have the opportunity to ask his permission). They alternate doing one line and then e mailing it to the other. Don explained, " Only twice in my lifetime have I been able to write with someone. It is a rare thing to be able to compliment another person's writing in that way."

Over the years Don has done many things for the art and music areas of this town. He continues with his music and plays at least twice a week. He told me music is his outlet. Don can be heard on Sunday nights at Port Cape in the Waterstreet Blues Band. Don also plays in another band called Buster the Mover; you can find them around town often. Check your favorite club. AND he is in another band...nameless, with Mustafa, himself and Fara McSpadden. "We just call it Fara, Mustafa and Don because we could never decide on a name," he told me.

In the 70's and 80's he had a "gang" called S.P.A.N.K. (I'm not telling what it stands for) the Chairman of the Board was the owner of the old Mule Lip Saloon. They held two parties a year, spring and fall. "It started at Trail of Tears. Then the Good Rangers politely asked us not to do that anymore," he grinned. They moved their soiree to a bean field north of town. They held the first wet T-shirt contests in the area (and lots of other interesting games) and with donations from partygoers and member donated the proceeds to local charities. Don told me that there is someone in town who has the SPANK logo tattooed on his body.

Greenwood did the illustrations for the River City Review, which was a precursor of OFF!. Paul Walker of the Southeast Missourian was the editor.

Today Don is very involved in the City of Roses Festival. Not only did he do the T-shirt art but he also jumps right in for the grunt work too. For those of you who braved the rain and cold to attend last year - you saw him picking up trash, whizzing by in the electric car, radio around his neck, going wherever he was needed, and giving the rest of us some giggles to keep our wet soggy spirits lifted.

Whether artist, engraver, poet, or drummer; Don Greenwood is a creative force. And you can guarantee if he is around, fun is right behind him.