CHRISTMAS HOOT MUSICIANS READY TO MAKE MERRY

Chocolate Cornflakes, Smokin' Rats, Cringing Chickens and Van Gogh's Ear might not sound like ingredients for a good Christmas party but they are.

They are among the bands that will play Saturday night at Papa Bear's in downtown Cape Girardeau at the Cape Musicians' Christmas Hoot.

The party begins at 7:30 and for the second straight year will benefit the Cottonwood Residential Treatment Center. Admission is $3.

The lineup in order of appearance is: Chocolate Cornflakes, Down 'n' Dirty, Friction/Camp, Tommy Koontz and the Smokin' Rats, Bob Camp and the New Memphis Mafia, the Acme Blues Band, Drench, Cringing Chickens, Daddy Cool, Trademark, Van Gogh's Ear, the Leiner Brothers, Bruce Zimmerman and the Shysters, Kernel Mustard and Human Zoo.

Each band will play 15 or 20 minutes. Shivelbine's Music Store and Human Zoo have donated the use of sound equipment for the night.

New Memphis Mafia and Friction/Camp both include Cape Girardeau musician Bob Camp. Camp started the hoot three years ago and is serving as a co-chairman this year along with Todd Mayberry and Scott Slinkard.

The lineup includes a number of longtime Cape Girardeau mainstays, including the Acme Blues Band, Bruce Zimmerman and the Shysters and Tommy Koontz and the Smokin' Rats.

Daddy Cool is the latest creation of Lindsey Bowerman, most recently of Brave Little Toaster. Down 'n' Dirty is a new Southern rock band led by ex-Human Zoo bassist Marcus Streeter.

Drench is an alternative band, and Kernel Mustard is a ska band with a horn section.

Chocolate Cornflakes is a new classic rock band led by Tony Varnon, and Cringing Chickens plays a variety of styles.

Van Gogh's Ear, which specializes in blues and rock, also will be playing the hoot for the first time. The Leiner Brothers is a St. Louis-based band with Scott City roots.

The rock band Trademark is the renamed Classified.

The 32 residents of the Cottonwood Residential Treatment Center range in age from 6 to 16 and have emotional or behavioral problems. Most have been neglected or abused.

Patricia Book, interim director at Cottonwood, said last year's $500 donation from the Hoot was given to residents as spending money.

"Most come from families with limited or little financial resources," she said. "They have little spending money."

The residents used the money to buy a few things for themselves at post-Christmas sales, Book said.

"It gives them a little bit of a feeling of independence."