CITY GEARS UP FOR RIVERFEST

Riverfest Association President Tom Ross took a break Thursday evening under the awning of Jayson's Jewelers to survey the preliminary work being done for Riverfest 1995.

By 3 p.m. today, Cape Girardeau's downtown business area will be transformed into an open-air festival with booths, arts and crafts, live entertainment and carnival rides.

All the attractions are offered free.

On Thursday evening, Ross, wearing his Riverfest T-shirt, was wondering about where to park the trailer holding the main stage until traffic let up later in the evening.

"You can think of us like ducks," Ross said. "We look calm on the surface, but we're paddling like crazy underneath."

More than 100 volunteers will have spent time making the 17th annual Riverfest happen before the weekend ends. Events culminate Saturday with a huge fireworks display, which is scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m.

The fireworks will be shot off from a river levee in Southern Illinois.

Already on Thursday, picnic tables lined the courthouse terraces and porta-potties lined Water Street. The carnival rides were being assembled in the downtown parking lot.

Because downtown parking is limited, shuttle buses, which are free, will take passengers from the West Park Mall and the Show-Me-Center to the activities.

The shuttle service begins at 4 p.m. today and the last downtown pickup will be at midnight. On Saturday, the service will start at 9 a.m. and will run continuously until midnight. The shuttles will run at 15-minute intervals.

The floodgates at Water and Broadway can't be opened until the river falls below 37.8 feet. The gates at Water and Themis can't reopen until the river is below 35.6 feet. The Mississippi River was at 42.7 feet Thursday.

This is the first year in memory the floodgates won't be open for Riverfest, but Ross said the event won't be negatively affected. The only river event planned was a replica of the Nina, Christopher Columbus' ship, that can't get to Cape Girardeau because the river is closed to traffic.

Riverfest visitors can see three performances of the Bud Light Air Show, concerts Friday and Saturday nights, the annual Miss Riverfest Pageant, a Civil War encampment and children's activities.

A perennial Riverfest favorite, the turtle races, will take place Saturday at 3 p.m.

Children must be 12 or younger to compete. Turtles must be hard-shelled box turtles. No exceptions.

The race is followed by a best-dressed turtle contest. Competitors can't use paint, nail polish or anything else that might harm the turtles.

A release to the woods' program will be offered for turtles who would need to find a new home.

Before the turtle races, the Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau is kicking off its Key to Discovery literacy program with St. Louis storyteller Dan Rubright.

He will be performing sounds and stories of inventions. He offers a one-man show complete with guitar accompaniment.

The storytelling takes place at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the children's activities area on the northeast section of the Common Pleas Courthouse terraces, near Griffins.