COUNTY PARK LIGHT NOW GREETS VISITORS

After Gerald Jones missed the Cape County Park entrance one night last December, he knew it was time for better lighting.

"I was taking my mother-in-law to see the lights and slid right past it," the now-presiding commissioner of the county said. "I couldn't see."

He took office in January 1995 and, having received calls from other Cape Countians concerned about the entrance, started working to make it safer. It required cooperation with the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department because the light site was on the department's right of way.

The street light was erected on the corner of the park entrance, and Jones hasn't had any complaints since.

Neither have the Cape Girardeau police, who patrol Highway 61 past the park. The intersection wasn't labeled dangerous even before the light, Sgt. Carl Kinnison said, although there have been two cases of vehicles hitting deer near there this year.

But humans traveling through the Christmas light displays inside the park, along with the displays themselves, should be safe and sound, Park Superintendent Bruce Watkins said.

The park entrance is locked at 11 p.m. nightly and a park employee patrols the grounds until 7 a.m. the next day. He is instructed to call the Cape County Sheriff's Department if anything looks suspicious.

The number of displays keeps growing, Watkins said. Last year there were a total of 115. As of Monday, there were 137 in the park with promises of more before Christmas.

A traffic monitor borrowed from the city indicated 13,751 cars had visited as of Monday morning. The biggest nights are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

"There are so many cars at times, it may take 30 minutes to get through," Watkins said. "People need to be careful. I know the displays are nice to look at, but you need to watch the cars in front of you."

No rear-end accidents or destruction of displays have been reported, so people must be looking out, Watkins said.

He said the County Commission is considering putting a temporary sign up at the entrance for next year's display, but the idea's success will depend on getting more right-of-way space from the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department.