KENNY ROGERS TO VISIT CEREBRAL PALSEY CENTER NAMED IN HIS HONOR

SIKESTON -- Tom Nunnelee is looking forward to showing Kenny Rogers the Cerebral Palsy Center he helped build.

"He can only take an hour from his busy schedule to come to Sikeston, but it will be good to show him what he has done for a lot of kids in the Bootheel," said Nunnelee, who is helping to organize Wednesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony. "This will be the first time Kenny has seen the center."

The Kenny Rogers Cerebral Palsy Center was built in 1979.

Rogers will participate in the ceremony Wednesday from 1 to 2 p.m. to help celebrate the center's expansion, which includes an additional 3,000 square feet of space.

Nunnelee first met Rogers when the singer was the headliner for the Sikeston Bootheel Rodeo in 1977.

"Kenny Rogers came in advance of the rodeo to do some commercials for the event," Nunnelee said. "When he found out that the Sikeston Jaycees were putting the money they raised back into worthwhile projects, he said he wanted to help out."

Rogers donated an Arabian horse to the Jaycees. A year later the horse was auctioned for $75,000.

"When the Beach Boys' Al Jardine, who has Arabian horses of his own, found out that Kenny was donating the horse, he decided to donate $15,000," Nunnelee said.

By 1979 some $300,000 was raised for a Cerebral Palsy Center in Sikeston. Nunnelee estimates the expansion will cost $200,000.

"None of this would have happened without Kenny Rogers' interest," Nunnelee said. "He's the catalyst."

The center serves more than 100 children from the Bootheel.

"These aren't just kids who have cerebral palsy," Nunnelee said. "There are children who have developmental disabilities being helped there, too."