Forecast dry for this weekend's Scenic Drive

Dr. Frank Nickell is happy to see no rain in this weekend's forecast.

Nickell hopes this weekend's 17th annual Mississippi River Valley Scenic Drive will be a bit dryer than in past years.

"It almost always rains on the scenic drive," Nickell said. "We've done this for 17 years, and we've probably had rain for 12 of those."

Nickell is director of the Southeast Missouri State University Center for Regional History, which has organized the drive since its beginning as a way to showcase the historic and scenic assets of the region. This year's drive will take place Saturday and Sunday at locations in cities and towns around Southeast Missouri.

"The idea was this would provide an opportunity for all the small towns that don't have a tourism budget to connect to some sort of umbrella event that highlights what they have," Nickell said.

Twenty-eight locations are highlighted on scenic drive maps that are distributed throughout the area. Those locations range from Marquand and Patton in the west to Commerce in the south to Brazeau in the north and Trail of Tears State Park on the east.

Nickell's favorite example of a town experiencing success with the drive is Brazeau, a Perry County town of about 52 people that draws in 2,000 to 2,500 on the scenic drive weekend.

"They realized that people, to their surprise, really enjoy the little town," Nickell said. Brazeau has fully embraced the weekend, Nickell said, utilizing its museum, winery, blacksmith shop and bed and breakfast to attract tourists, and supplementing those places with activities like live music and crafts displays.

Marble Hill in Bollinger County also coordinates several enticements for tourists. Both the Bollinger County Museum of Natural History (featuring the official Missouri state dinosaur), the 114-year-old Wisecarvers Store and the 138-year-old Massey Log House open their doors to visitors, while the Cat Ranch Art Guild presents an arts and crafts fair with live music. The community also comes together over a chicken and dumpling dinner Saturday at the Marble Hill Senior Center.

"We've just got a lot of things to offer visitors," said Jeanie Eddleman, president of the Cat Ranch Art Guild. At the Cat Ranch the public is welcomed for free, and musical performers and artists don't charge Eddleman to take part in the festivities. Eddleman said she's met tourists from Wisconsin and Florida on the scenic drive weekend, and she sees the scenic drive as a way to attract more of those tourists to Southeast Missouri, and maybe keep them coming back.

Nickell said this year an extra incentive has been added to get tourists, local and otherwise, out in the communities. Those participating in the scenic drive can get a sheet stamped for each town they visit, and if they visit 10 they will be entered into a drawing for prizes.

For more information on the scenic drive, call the Center for Regional History at 651-2555 or the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau at (800) 777-0068.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182