Community digest 04/12/04

VFW Post 3838 holding poppy pageant

VFW Post 3838 in Cape Girardeau will hold a pageant open to newborns through 12th-grade girls and boys at noon Saturday at the post. One buddy poppy, which can be picked up at the post, per outfit is required. Dress must be patriotic. For more information, call Debbie Griffin at 204-0254.

Red House Interpretive Center opens Saturday

The Red House Interpretive Center will be open for visitors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday beginning this week. Groups may call the Convention and Visitors Bureau at 335-1631 to schedule a date and should allow three to five days' advance notice.

Relay For Life meeting scheduled for Tuesday

Only two months remain before the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life is held at Cape County Park North. The next meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Westfield Shoppingtown at the southeast entrance near J.C. Penney. For more information, call chairman Tim Hahn at 225-2121 or the American Cancer Society at 334-9197.

Jackson Area Arts Council meets at library

The Jackson Area Arts Council will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Community Room on the third floor of the Jackson Public Library. On the agenda are the Arts Council newsletter and link to the city of Jackson Web page, StarCatcher Theatre update, 2004 tourism grant funding and July 4th Art in the Park. For more information, call 204-8848.

Class on baby-sitting to be held at St. Francis

St. Francis Medical Center's Safe Sitter Basic program, a national program, will provide information to prepare boys and girls ages 11 to 13 for baby-sitting from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 24. The program stresses the importance of recognizing medical emergencies and knowing how to appropriately handle them. Handling specific age groups, safety precautions, injury prevention, rescue breathing and choking treatments are among the topics for discussion.

Health care subject of annual Low Lecture

Abran Salazar of the University of Rhode Island will discuss the effectiveness of health care and how health-care campaigns hinge upon the effectiveness of communication during the ninth annual Joseph H. Low lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Southeast Missouri State University Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Glen Williams at 651-2493.

Kelly Parents As Teachers meets Tuesday

The Kelly Parents As Teachers group meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the elementary school library. Storytime, learning to make homemade books and the opportunity to order Usbourne Books are on the agenda.

Fund-raising dance to benefit hockey teamA fund-raising dance for the SEMO Wildcats hockey team will be held from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Cape Skate Center in Cape Girardeau. The event is for ages 10 to 18; there will be no skating.

Whitewater Masonic Lodge lays cornerstoneThe public is welcome to a cornerstone-laying ceremony at 2 p.m. Saturday at Whitewater Masonic Lodge 417.

Riverside Regional Library holding book saleFriends of the Library will hold its annual book sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 24 and from noon to 2 p.m. April 25 at Riverside Regional Library in Jackson. For more information, call 243-8141.

Jackson library gets magazine donationTen two-year subscriptions to the magazines Budget Living, Computer Games, Cosmo Girl, Country Living Gardener, Creative Woodworks & Crafts, Disney Adventures, ESPN, Home, Movie Line and Teen Vogue, valued at about $660, were donated by Jackson American Family Insurance agent Janey Foust to Riverside Regional Library in Jackson. The publications can be found in a special display shelf located in the video department.

-- From staff reports