DEMOCRATIC GROUP REORGANIZES

JACKSON - The once-prominent Byrd Township Democratic Club is getting reorganized and will have its first activity in many years Saturday.

Cape County Circuit Clerk Charles Hutson, one of the people involved in reorganizing the group, said the Byrd club has not been active since around the mid-1970s.

"Probably in past years it was the strongest political organization in Cape Girardeau County," said Hutson. "We want to try to revitalize it."

The first event for the club will be Saturday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Jackson Junior High School. A public picnic - that once was an annual event - will be held featuring Sen. Roger Wilson, D-Columbia, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

Hutson said the event will provide people an opportunity to meet Wilson and all the county Democratic candidates running this year.

The Byrd Township membership will come from four Byrd wards in the city of Jackson and one west of town and one north of town, Hutson said.

Some of the others involved in reorganizing the club are David and Judy Beussink, Mark Dambach, Mrs. Jake Drum, Nelda Hinton, Karen McCullough, and County Clerk Rodney Miller.