Community digest 12/03/01

Christmas events at Cape public library

At 3:30 p.m. Dec. 5, children ages 3-7 are invited to celebrate and learn about reindeer at the Cape Girardeau Public Library's Reindeer Animal Roundup. There will be stories, crafts and games.

All ages are invited to the library at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 11 to learn about old and new holiday traditions through games, stories and discussions. Refreshments will be served.

At 3:30 p.m. Dec. 18, children in grades 1-5 are invited to design their own wrapping paper. They can create a one-of-a-kind design with stamps, stencils and markers, then use the creation for Christmas or birthday gifts.

For more information on these holiday events, call the library's Youth Services department at 334-5279.

Woman honored at fall convention

La Donne Snavely of Farmington, Mo., was honored as Woman of the Year 2000-2001 Nov. 3 at the fall District 9 convention held at the McKendree United Methodist Church in Jackson, Mo. She was presented with a plaque by Elaine Wilthong, Ninth District president, in recognition of her service as chairman of the Sophomore Pilgrimage Committee for the past 10 years. The annual Sophomore Pilgrimage is a state-wide project sponsored by GFWC of Missouri Inc., which offers sophomore delegates an opportunity to visit the state capital.

Snavely is state chairman for crime prevention and is active in three federated clubs in Farmington: The Fort Nightly Club, Federated Club of Farmington and the Monday Club, of which she is currently president. She has been a member of GFWC since 1973.

Taco John's to give 100 food baskets

Local Taco John's restaurants will contribute 100 food baskets to the Salvation Army during this holiday season. In addition, each restaurant will encourage customers to donate their change from any order to Salvation Army kettles places on the counters of each restaurant. Taco John's restaurants in Cape Girardeau and Sikeston, Mo., will participate, as well as restaurants in Paducah, Princeton, Murray, Mayfield and Benton in Kentucky; Carbondale, Carterville, Herrin, West City, Anna, Marion, Murphysboro, DuQuoin and Pinckneyville in Illinois; and Union City, Tenn.

Sigma Shootout raises over $1,000 for charity

Sigma Sigma Sigma social sorority recently held its annual Sigma Shootout Tournament, raising over $1,000 through entry fees and a cheerleader auction. This year's winners were the men of Delta Chi. Phi Delta Theta came in second place, and third place went to Lambda Chi Alpha and Sigma Phi Epsilon. The money raised will go to Tri-Sigma's national philanthropy, the Robbie Page Memorial, which provides play therapy for terminally ill children.

AARP seeks volunteers to help with taxes

For Missouri's 2000 tax season, AARP volunteers helped more than 53,000 people with their tax returns. Each year, the demand for assistance goes up and volunteers must be added. AARP is seeking more volunteers to serve as tax-aide counselors during the 2001 tax-filing season.

New volunteers will receive free training from AARP in cooperation with the Internal Revenue Service. In addition to federal and Missouri income tax returns, the volunteers help eligible seniors to file for property tax credits (often referred to as Circuit Breaker). They will be asked to serve at least four hours per week from Feb. 1 through April 15 at one of the main preparation locations near them.

For information on how to join the AARP Tax-Aide team, call (888) 227-7669 or go online at www.aarp.org/taxaide.

-- From wire reports