Many people, events beneficial to Cape Girardeau

It has been a very busy and exciting month. I want to highlight several different functions and issues in this column. Each in its own way becomes very important to our community and our citizens.

Gayle Conrad, our longtime and very efficient city clerk, was installed last week as the president of the Missouri City Clerks and Finance Officers Association in Columbia, Mo. She also received the "City Clerk of the Year" award for the state of Missouri that evening. Scott Meyer, Loretta Schneider, several staff members and I attended that important function. We are very proud of Gayle, her accomplishments and also the dedication of all our hard working city staff.

---

Drs. Bert and Mary Ann Kellerman were recognized and honored with a state of Missouri Historic Preservation Award for their efforts in restoring the Oliver House on North Street here in Cape Girardeau. This is the home of the Missouri State Flag created by Marie Oliver. Scott Meyer and I attended the ceremony in the Rotunda of the Missouri State Capital which included comments from our own Peter Kinder, Missouri lieutenant governor. The Kellermans have long been active in preservation in our Old Town Cape area and richly deserve this recognition.

A groundbreaking was held Monday for the relocation of the Melvin Gateley Memorial Garden to be reconstructed in Murtaugh Park across from the Red House on South Main. This garden was originally constructed in the early 2000s behind City Hall to honor Melvin's longtime commitment to Cape Girardeau and particularly his leadership in Vision 2000 in the late 1980s through the '90s.

This garden will be much more visible and enjoyed by many more citizens and visitors in its new location. I want to personally thank Melvin again for his continued dedication to the city of Cape Girardeau.

---

We are currently hosting several open house events at our Cape Girardeau police station. We want our citizens to observe the outdated conditions at this facility. The last of the current open house events will be held this evening from 5 to 8 p.m. This will feature a tour of the facility from 5 to 6 p.m. There will be a building insight and review presented by chief Wes Blair and staff from 6 to 8 p.m.

I strongly urge citizens to attend this event to gain knowledge of the current conditions of our station and the need to replace this building.

---

I keep referring to the many "destination events" that we continue to host in our city that add to tourism and our regional hub base.

The Father-Daughter Dance held recently and hosted by our parks and recreation department was extremely successful, drawing more than 1,000 participants.

A farm show hosted by Anderson Broadcasting-C106-1 Radio was held at Arena Park recently. It featured a wide array of farm equipment and booths along with special guest Max Armstrong, an agricultural broadcaster from Chicago. Agriculture is a very important industry for Cape Girardeau and this two-day event drew a large crowd from around our region.

Congratulations and thank you to our staff at parks and recreation and also to Bill "Cousin Carl" Anderson for hosting these very successful events.

Finally, a reminder to all our citizens that the entire month of April will be designated "Clean Up Cape Month." I urge all of our citizens, businesses and commercial property owners to use this month to improve your personal property. Also, the annual Friends of the Park Day will be April 26. Thanks to all for making our city of Cape Girardeau a great city in which to to live and to visit.

Harry E. Rediger is the mayor of Cape Girardeau.