CONFERENCE ON CARING SET FEB. 8

CAPE GIRARDEAU - During her eight years in the Missouri House of Representatives, Mary Kasten has taken a special interest in seeking ways to strengthen the family unit.

During that time, the Cape Girardeau Republican has seen and experienced some of the frustration caused by a lack of coordination between agencies that deal with families in Missouri. Kasten said a lack of coordination, excessive duplication and turf battles have troubled her, prompting a search for a solution.

Convinced that the coordination had to begin at the local level, 18 months ago Kasten organized an Interagency Coordinating Committee to begin addressing the problems.

One of the first actions of the committee, made up of representatives of state, city, and private agencies that provide services related to families, was to hold a community caring conference. Over 100 people attended the first event.

On Feb. 8 the committee and Kasten, in cooperation with Southeast Missouri State University, will hold the second annual caring conference.

"Our committee is comprised of the best professionals in our area," said Kasten. "We, the original committee, have and are taking on the enormous task of empowering families to be more self-reliant, responsible, and resourceful."

She said: "Collectively, we want to be a strong force to help disfunctioning families. All of us realize that the area of social services has become so complex and cumbersome that the process had bogged down. We have got to unleash the talent that is there and allow the people who are there to do their job."

Kasten said that this year a resource book of agencies and services in the area is being prepared to distribute at the conference.

"So many people are doing a lot of good things, but there is a lack of knowledge of their services," she explained.

At a time when governmental resources are running low, and needs growing, Kasten said coordination is more important than ever to see that needs are met.

She said she was pleased to hear Gov. John Ashcroft, in his annual State of the State address last week, call for the restructuring of services to children and families under a single state division. Currently, there are at least a half dozen agencies that have jurisdiction over services to troubled children.

Along the same lines as Kasten has been suggesting, the governor said he wanted a cabinet council to complete a model plan for an agency by June that would "empower families, front-line staff and communities to tailor service packages to fit family needs instead of bureaucratic structures."

This year's conference in Cape Girardeau will focus on issues relating to interagency confidentiality as barriers to good service delivery. A panel will discuss the issues and then respond to questions from conference participants.

Serving on the panel will be: Dr. Robert Bartman, director of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; Circuit Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. of Cape Girardeau; Dr. Keith Schafer, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health; and William F. Siedhoff, deputy director of field operations for the Missouri Department of Social Services.

Kasten said, "There are many instances in which a family may be receiving services from one agency, but because of current confidentiality policies, may not be able to access needed services from another agency, or there may be duplications of services."

Those attending the conference will have an opportunity to participate in one of five community task force discussion groups. The task forces and their facilitators are: Interagency confidentiality, Jim Davis; youth-related issues, Ruth Waldon; health and mental health, Paul Schniedermeyer and Barb Stribling; legal and domestic violence, Betty Knoll, and education and family support, Richard Bollwerk and Elmer Trapp.

The task force meetings will make up the afternoon session and be followed by a summary report from each group.

Dr. Shelba Branscum, associate professor of human environmental studies at Southeast Missouri State, will deliver a luncheon talk entitled: "You Do Make A Difference: Professional Burnout, A Barrier to Quality Service Provision."

The Feb. 8 conference begins at 8:30 a.m. and will end at 4 p.m. The early registration fee is $20, which includes a luncheon.

The deadline for registering is Feb. 1. Checks should be mailed to: Community Caring Conference, 1025 North Sprigg, Cape Girardeau. For more information call 339-5896.

Other sponsors of the conference are: Cottonwood Residential Treatment Center, Division of Youth Services, Division of Family Services, Cape Girardeau Police Department, Community Counseling Center, Missouri Department of Mental Health, SEMO Area Agency on Aging, Lutheran Family and Children's Services, Cape Girardeau Public Schools, East Missouri Action Agency, and the Regional Commerce and Growth Association.

t Nunnelee Funeral Chapel after 11 a.m. today.

Adams, 61 years old, was found dead Sunday, Jan. 20, 1991, at his home.

He was born Dec. 4, 1929, at Blodgett, son of Joseph Charles and Mary Ethel Ownesby Adams. He attended Blodgett Schools, and delivered the Southeast Missourian Newspaper in Blodgett for 35 years.

Survivors include a sister, Ruth Dodson of Blodgett; two half sisters, Geraldine Huff of Albuquerque, N.M., Laura Pirtle of Phoenix, Ariz.; two nieces; 6 nephews, and several great-nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by a sister, Mary Adams.

PT14Catherine KlipfelPT2RM20

NEW HAMBURG Catherine Klipfel, 76 years old, of New Hamburg, died at 12:40 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

Arrangements were incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee.

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RM20REFURBISHED `OLIVER FLAG' TO DEBUT HERE

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Nearly two years after he launched a drive among school children to pay for restoration of the original Missouri State flag here, Secretary of State Roy Blunt will return to the city Monday to unveil the restored flag for the first time.

The state flag was designed by a Cape Girardeau resident, Marie Elizabeth Oliver, and was approved as Missouri's official flag by the General Assembly in 1913.

After the flag was approved, Oliver kept the original flag until her death. In 1961, the family donated the flag to the state and it had been displayed in the state museum until 1980 when its deteriorating condition forced its removal from public display.

"Two years ago, I asked students in Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri and all across the state to help restore one of the state's most important symbols, our original state flag," said Blunt. "Next week, we will be honoring the students' efforts by officially unveiling the flag in the hometown of Missouri's flag."

Blunt will unveil the flag at an assembly for fifth and sixth grade students at Franklin School at 2:30 p.m. Monday. Franklin Principal Ron Haggard said the secretary of state will have about a 20-minute program for the students.

Children at Franklin School were among those who helped raise money to pay for the $9,000 cost of restoring the hand-painted silk flag.

In March of 1988, the secretary of state spoke to an assembly at Washington School to kick off a fund drive among fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in Missouri to help save "an important part of Missouri's heritage."

Schools were asked to raise funds any way they wanted and all schools that raised at least $75 were given a state flag.

"This will be a proud day in Missouri history and a proud moment for the Cape Girardeau students who are responsible for preserving the work of Mrs. Oliver," said Blunt. "Cape Girardeau students have played an important role in preserving a part of their heritage, and these young people, their children and their grandchildren, will have this flag as a lasting symbol of their state's history."

As secretary of state, Blunt serves as the state's chief archivist and curator of the original flag. This summer, the flag will be placed on permanent display in the Missouri State Archives.

Blunt said it would have been easier to ask a business or the legislature to appropriate funds for the restoration. However, he stressed that since fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students are beginning to learn about the history of Missouri, this was a good way to get them involved in preserving a part of that history.

In 1908, the Daughters of the American Revolution appointed a committee to work toward the design and approval of an official flag for the state.

Oliver was a member of that committee and contacted other states about flag designs, before coming up with one for Missouri. She enlisted the help of Mary Kochtitsky, then a Cape Girardeau artist, to assist her in painting the design. The flag was made at Oliver's residence at 740 North Street.

The flag was presented to the General Assembly for approval in 1909. But while awaiting official adoption, the State Capitol caught fire and the flag was destroyed.

Mrs. Oliver, this time with the help of Mrs. S.D. McFarland, made a second flag.

In 1913, a final decision was made as legislators chose the "Oliver flag."

On March 22, 1913, Gov. Elliot Major signed the law officially designating it as the state flag.

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