JUDITH WILFERTH GETS ZONTA AWARD

Cape Girardeau businesswoman Judith R. Wilferth has been named the 1997 Woman of Achievement by the Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau.

Wilferth received the honor at a ceremony Tuesday at the Holiday Inn.

The award is presented annually to a woman who exemplifies the ideals of Zonta in improving the legal, political, economic and professional status of women.

Since 1973, Wilferth has been owner and manager of Children's Bazaar and Boy's Corner retail clothing stores. She is also owner of The Crossroads, a retail-office center; and Sandy's, a women's clothing store, all in Cape Girardeau.

In 1996, she was named to the St. Francis Medical Center board of directors. She has been active in the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, serving as chairman of the board in 1985 and on the board of directors from 1983 to 1986. She chaired the chamber's university relations committee from 1989 to 1991.

Wilferth has been instrumental in raising money for organizations in Cape Girardeau. She served as chairman of the Cape Girardeau Parks Development Foundation and assisted in raising $300,000 for Osage and Shawnee parks. She served as co-chairman of the Salvation Army Capital Fund Drive in 1992 and chairman of the board for Southeast Missouri University Foundation from 1990 to 1992.

She has served as vice president of the St. Francis Medical Center Foundation Board and has been a member of the Chateau Girardeau Foundation board of directors.

Wilferth received the St. Francis Medical Center Womancare Award in 1991 and the Southeast Missouri State University Friend of the University Award in 1994.

She and her husband, F.R. "Rock" Wilferth, have been married 35 years and have four children and three grandchildren. They are members of LaCroix United Methodist Church.

A longtime supporter of the Cape Girardeau Area Zonta Club, Wilferth has offered the services of her retail businesses to the annual Zonta Fashion Show for 19 years. Proceeds from the show are used to support more than 25 local community organizations.

The local Zonta club's members include more than 60 professional and executive women from Cape Girardeau, Scott and Perry counties.