GROUP JETS UP MONEY FOR CHARITY

It started out as a dare, something just for fun.

Now, it's a fund-raiser -- and still fun.

An annual New Year's Day of jet skiing for six Cape Girardeau area men helped raise over $250 for the Parkview State School in Cape.ro

"This is the fourth year we've been doing this on New Year's Day, but this is the first time we've tried to collect donations from it," said Scott Williams, who coordinated the project with Brian Hahs.

"We started talking about the idea in the fall and thought it would be great to get donations and give it to something worthy. We finally decided on Parkview State School, because we knew it would be put to good use."

Williams and Hahs -- along with Todd Rowland, Gary Kester, Tim Borgfield and Marshall Stein -- spent about 45 minutes Jan. 1 riding jet skis on the Mississippi River.

Money was collected at several area businesses; Express Cycle provided the six jet skis, Honkers Boat Dock provided a ramp. RC Cola and Nip Kelley also lended a hand.

"It started out as a tradition four years ago and we just want to keep doing it," Williams said. "This year, it was cold, but the temperature was in the upper 30s, so it wasn't too bad.

"We'll do it all again next year, hopefully with more proceeds to give."