FYI

Genealogical society to hear research how-to

The Cape Girardeau County Genealogical Society will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center at 112 E. Washington St. in Jackson.

The program, "So You Want to Start Your Genealogical Research?" will be presented by Dr. Bill Eddleman, and will offer resources to begin family history research.

The Cape Girardeau County Genealogical Society meets bi-monthly. Non-members are welcome at all meetings. Membership is $10 per year.

More information is available by calling Drew Blattner at 573-576-0451.

Wesley United Methodist sets Bible school

Wesley United Methodist Church in Fruitland will hold vacation Bible school from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. July 20 through 24 for children from ages 4 through sixth grade.

Dinner will be served at 6 p.m.

With a weird-animal theme, the week will include Bible stories, crafts, music and snacks.

More information is available by calling 573-243-5948 or 573-334-1883.

Parish picnic scheduled

The St. Lawrence Parish Annual Picnic will be from 5 to 11:30 p.m. Friday and from 3 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday. The parish is in New Hamburg, Missouri.

The event includes beverages, food, petting zoo, games, raffles and bingo.

A washer tournament will be at 6 p.m. Friday; a horseshoe tournament will be at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Heartland Talent Contest is open to those ages 6 through 22 with junior and senior divisions. Deadline for entry is Thursday; entry forms are available by calling Laura at 573-887-6112 or Marlene at 573-979-2291.

Dinner, to be served from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday in the Parish Center, includes fried chicken, dumplings, roast beef and gravy, corn, green beans,slaw, dessert and drink. Cost is $8.50 for adults and $4 for children ages 6 through 12; children age 5 and younger eat for free.

Turtle races -- participants must bring their own turtle -- begin at 6 p.m. followed at 7 p.m. with a children's tractor pull. An antique tractor display is planned. Those who would like to show a tractor may call Otto Kern at 573-545-3265.

Quilts to be presented to veterans

Quilts will be presented to area military veterans at a meeting of The River Heritage Quilt Guild of Cape Girardeau at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

The guild pieced quilt blocks as part of the Quilts of Valor program initiated by Kevin Huffman of St. Louis, also known as Kevin the Quilter. The blocks were assembled into nearly 200 quilts for presentation to veterans.

Those receiving quilts will be Desert Storm Navy veteran Kenneth Rushton of Poplar Bluff, Missouri; Lawrence Tucker and Johnny Gast, both Air Force veterans of the Vietnam War and both of Jackson; Robert Wills of St. Louis, an Army veteran of the Vietnam War; and Cape Girardeau resident Terry Simms, a Navy veteran of the invasion of Grenada.

More information about Quilts of Valor is available at kevinthequilter.blogspot.com; more information about the event, which is open to the public, is available by calling 618-559-7298.

Walkers places second in global challenge

Saint Francis Medical Center's Fitness Plus placed second in the Worldwide Walking Challenge sponsored by the Medical Fitness Association. Fitness Plus recruited more than 700 participants who took a total number of 50,377,895 steps during the week-long challenge. Fitness Plus will be recognized for the accomplishment at the organization's Annual International Conference in Orlando, Florida, in November.

The competition encouraged participants to walk 70,000 steps in seven days during Medical Fitness Week, April 28 through May 4. Each wore a pedometer and kept track of the number of steps taken each of the seven days.

The UNC Wellness Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., placed first in the challenge with 68,447,927 steps. The Fitness Plus team placed second in 2013 as well, with more than 38 million steps. That year, the winning team had 49 million steps.