HUNGRY TOUR TRAVELERS INVADE BRAZEAU

Brazeau, a Perry County town whose clean, country air is already sweetened by the smell of dogwood, smelled even better Saturday evening: All the women in town had to go home and bake.

Travelers through town from the Mississippi River Valley Scenic Tour ate up all the baked goods and all the ham and beans the townspeople had prepared for them.

"This is the most we've ever had," said Geraldine Leible, a lifelong Brazeau resident and one of the organizers of the festivities. "Some came late and they wanted more beans, and we didn't have any more beans."

Leible and her friends had a big iron kettle going with ham and beans much of the day. They plan to have stew today.

Other towns on the tour, which also is being held today through Perry, Bollinger, Cape Girardeau and Scott counties had good turnouts as well, said Frank Nickell, organizer of the tour. The tour, a drive-at-your-own-pace, see-what-you-want-when-you-want annual affair, is an attempt to showcase the scenery and history of the area.

In Brazeau, a group of re-enactors joined the townspeople for the tour and set up what appeared to be an 18th century fur-trapping camp. They dug a pit in the ground and roasted a turkey.

But the festivities were interrupted by sadness. Mary Alice Cody, a Cape Girardeau native who founded the town museum, was buried in the town cemetery Saturday afternoon. Cody, 94, died in St. Louis Thursday.

Leible said that not every town had festivities going. She said one couple from Cape Girardeau told her they went to Altenburg and didn't find much happening and decided to drive to Brazeau. "The prettiest sight was from Frohna to Brazeau with all the dogwoods," the couple told her.

Nickell said other parts of the drive may have been prettier. Route DD between Marble Hill and Marquand was "as green as I've seen it," Nickell said, while "the dogwoods from Marquand east to the Hideaway Restaurant were as pretty as I've seen."

The weekend for the tour was set to coincide with some of the lushest spring vegetation, but Nickell could not have planned the river stage. He said the view of the Mississippi River from Commerce was perfect. "The river's up, close by, but not threatening."

The River Ridge Winery in Commerce and the Anderson House had a steady stream of visitors. Nickell found good crowds at the antique tractor show in Marble Hill as well.

In Pocahontas, the Zion Lutheran Church had a bake sale and craft show, but most of the turnout came from a nearby auction, said Dianna Riesenbichler. Today, St. John's Lutheran Church there will have its annual kettle-cooked beef supper.

In Old Appleton, about 150 came through Rene Dallamano's pottery shop. In Jackson, a larger than usual contingent of tourists rode on the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad, said Janna Davis, who manages the shop in the train station.

The Mississippi River Valley Scenic Tour goes on today. Every one of the tour's six previous weekends was marred by rain. Saturday, the sky threatened, but never released more than a drop or two. People all over a four-county area have their fingers crossed for today.