HEARTLAND WOMEN'S SHOW: SHOPPING, WORKSHOPPING & HUNKS

LOS ANGELES -- Barbara Donnell has heard it before: that some women groan at the soap opera hunks and the romance novel cover boy who are the star attractions at this weekend's Heartland Women's Conference.

Donnell ticks off the names of some of the workshops -- on health, finances, self-protection, children's services, for instance -- that will be offered during this weekend. "Seminars and education are wonderful," she said, "But they do not sell tickets."

J. Eddie Peck, who plays "Cole" in the soap opera "The Young and the Restless" and grew up in Joplin, will sell tickets.

The CBS soap opera has a 60 percent share of the local market, Donnell says.

"That's extraordinarily high."

The Heartland Women's Show begins Friday at the Show Me Center and continues through Sunday. Friday's star attraction will be Steve Sandalis, who appears on the covers of Topaz Romance Novels. "The Topaz Man," who is being billed as the new Fabio, will be featured at 7:30 p.m.

Also appearing that night will be Southeast Missouri historical romance novelists Linda Ladd, Constance Bennett and Robert Vaughan. Ladd is from Poplar Bluff, Bennett from Dexter and Vaughan from Sikeston.

At 1 p.m. Saturday it's Peck's turn, followed at 1 p.m. Sunday by Judson Mills, who has the role of "Hutch" in "As the World Turns."

Each will be introduced, and the audience will be able to ask them questions about their careers, personal lives and the plots of the soap operas themselves. "It's often a good time for people who are fans of soaps to give them input about what they want to happen," said Michelle Rooney, the company's promotions director.

Afterward they will sign autographs.

Before his appearance Saturday, 26 people will win lunch with "Cole" at a Taco Bell, one of the event's sponsors.

Donnell owns Donnell Productions, which produces 11 trade shows annually throughout the Midwest. When she started, the shows were geared toward the 50 percent of American women who were working. They focused on "dry subjects" like finances and careers.

Now, 90 percent of American women work, and that has enabled Donnell to open the shows up considerably.

"Now everyone's working, so now it's, How can we have a family; how can we be efficient in our homes, career and social life and be able to do it all?"

The second annual show will offer everything from free food samples and cooking demonstrations by many of Cape Girardeau's restaurants to a self-protection workshop by karate experts Lisa and Michael Simmons working with Cape Girardeau police officer Jeannie Dailey.

Many vendors will be selling their wares, and Barbizon will be searching for models.

In the seminar room, patrons can learn about acupuncture, tires, insurance, financing a home, child support collection and dressing for success, among other topics.

The promoters say more than 10,000 people attended last year's show, a sizable number of them males. "Men have a great time, too," said Rooney.

Admission is $4, with children under 8 admitted free.

Donnell says a show such as hers proves how much women's lives have changed in general.

"The working part of a woman's life now is just part of her life because so many women are doing it," she said.