EX-PITCHER TO ADDRES SIXTH PRAYER BREAKFAST

A former all-star pitcher will relate his story of inspiration and courage to a sell-out crowd of 1,200 Friday at the sixth annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast.

Dave Dravecky, a former pitcher with the San Francisco Giants, will keynote the gathering. At the height of his career in 1988, a malignant tumor was removed from his pitching arm, but Dravecky staged a dramatic and unexpected comeback Aug. 10, 1989 - pitching a 4-3 victory over Cincinnati.

His comeback, however, was short lived. Five days later, pitching against the Montreal Expos, Dravecky broke his left arm. The tumor had reoccurred and treatment was unsuccessful. His arm was amputated in June 1991.

The Christian Business Men's Committee (CBMC) of Cape Girardeau is bringing Dravecky to town. After word of his appearance spread about a month before the breakfast, requests for tickets poured in, said Dr. Bill Terry, a retired Cape Girardeau urologist. Within a matter of weeks, all tickets were sold.

Terry said this is probably one of the largest gatherings in town - just for the purpose of prayer and acknowledgement of God through Jesus Christ. "We need this as a community to come together to acknowledge there's more to life than having fun and making money ... not that both of those are unimportant."

Terry said: "We so often get caught up in our day-to-day activities that we forget that we are finite people. And we forget that a significant part of our very being is the spiritual side of life."

The prayer breakfast began six years ago with 500 participants. It had been averaging around 800. But this marks the first year all tickets have been sold.

Terry said there are pluses and minuses to selling out. "It's nice to fill up the place, but the sad part is there are a lot of nice people who want to come but we don't have any space." The Show Me Center staff diagrammed as many tables as they thought could be handled for the event.

"We expected a good response because Dave is certainly a well-recognized figure, and is just a model of inspiration and motivation for young and old alike," he said. "We felt very fortunate to have him here. He limits his public speaking to just twice a month."

Cape Girardeau County Collector Harold Kuehle, another member of CBMC, had hoped the group would sell at least 1,000 tickets this year. The sell-out, he said, was a pleasant surprise - and a credit both to Dravecky and to the community.

"He is a sports figure who is truly a role model for anybody to follow. Sometimes in today's society role models are hard to come by," said Kuehle. "We're really pleased so many people will come and hear his testimony."

Terry said: "We're very pleased how the community has responded to this, and we feel it's a good thing for the communities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson to come together for an occasion like this."

Terry explained that the CBMC of Cape Girardeau is comprised of a small group of local business and professional men of various vocational and denominational backgrounds. "Our purpose is to encourage morality and ethics in the lives of all people, especially those in positions of leadership, business, government and the professions," he said.

In addition to the annual prayer breakfast, Kuehle explained that the CBMC holds four quarterly meetings - inviting business and professional people from all walks of life to hear the word and testimonies of people affected by turning their life over to Jesus Christ. The group also sponsors Bible studies.

Kuehle said with the hectic pace most people keep today, religion sometimes gets put aside. "We feel any way we can get the message of Jesus Christ out is well worth it. That's the whole idea behind CBMC."