Ole Hickory Pits building warehouses

David Knight, president of Ole Hickory Pits in downtown Cape Girardeau, is expanding his barbecue business operation.

"We got to have a little elbow room," he said from his office at 333 N. Main St.

To increase production, Knight is having two warehouses built at 406 N. Main St. next to his welding shop. The first building will be completed within the next two or three weeks, he said. Phase two of the project doesn't have a set date yet.

Ole Hickory Pits sells smoker ovens to people everywhere, from Bulgaria and Japan to the Virgin Islands. The wood-burning ovens are used by restaurants, caterers, meat processors, food service operators, contest cookers, clubs and other commercial users across the globe.

"It will impact Old Town Cape. It's going to change one of the par fives to a par three," said Knight, referring to the downtown golf tournament of Cape Girardeau.

Knight is the first person I've come across in Southeast Missouri who has been to my hometown of Geneva, N.Y.

Knight visited upstate New York for the third time in December to participate in the annual managed hunt of white deer at the Seneca Army Depot. The rare white deer herd of about 300 lives inside a 24-square-mile fenced-off area that once served as an ammunition bunker during the Cold War. The ancestry of the white deer, not to be confused with red-eyed albinos, goes back to 1941 when the U.S. military accidentally closed in deer with a recessive gene when the area was secured after serving its purpose. The gene led to one whitetail doe that was completely white. Now the Seneca Army Depot is home to the biggest herd of white deer in the world.

• A breakfast and lunch eatery called Socials Cafe & Catering is set to open March 20 on 119 Themis St., where Sidewalk Sandwich Co. used to be. Co-owners Al Priest and Allen Findley thought up the venture one day and secured the establishment within two weeks. The coffee shop/deli will also offer catering services for social events.

"We do it all," Findley said. "And we couldn't be more pleased with the location in downtown by the river."

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development office in Jackson has announced that is has grants and low-interest loans available for low-income residents in Cape Girardeau County.

The grant gives up to $7,500 to homeowners 62 years old and older who cannot afford repairs and whose total assets do not exceed $10,000.

"They put some windows in, two new doors and insulation on the upper level of the house," said retiree Joseph Archer, a recipient who lives outside of Millersville. "It worked out real good. I can sure tell the difference. They were some real nice people."

There are also low-interest loans available to all ages with a maximum amount of $20,000, an interest rate of 1 percent and up to 20 years' repayment, according to Randal Friend, Rural Development manager for the Jackson office. Those eligible are low-income homeowners in towns of up to 20,000 people in nonmetropolitan areas, according to a news release from the USDA Rural Development office. Residents inside the Cape Girardeau city limits are not eligible for the program.

Friend had one application by early last week but said they will be doing more outreach through senior centers, the rural communities and county agencies.

He encourages people to apply as soon as possible to ensure that the office will still have money to award those who qualify.

The Jackson USDA Rural Development office serves Bollinger, Cape Girardeau and Perry counties.

For more information about aid for home repairs, visit www.rurdev.usda.gov/mo/, contact Friend by e-mail at randal.friend@mo.usda.gov or call 243-3158, extension 4.

Tim Krakowiak is the business editor at the Southeast Missourian. Contact him at 301 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699, tkrakowiak@semissourian.com or (573) 335-6611, extension 137