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NewsMay 10, 1998

Life is sweet when you are 97 years old and get your daily dose of ice cream. Carol Jones makes sure that is the case. The Cape Girardeau woman and her 97-year-old mother, Bernice Clark, visit Capaha Park almost daily. But first they drive through Dairy Queen to get some ice cream...

Life is sweet when you are 97 years old and get your daily dose of ice cream.

Carol Jones makes sure that is the case.

The Cape Girardeau woman and her 97-year-old mother, Bernice Clark, visit Capaha Park almost daily. But first they drive through Dairy Queen to get some ice cream.

Jones parks the car near the Tot Lot at Capaha Park. She and her mother sit there for an hour or more in the middle of the day, watching the energetic children at play or the ducks begging for food.

"She really enjoys it," Jones said of her mother. "She likes to watch people."

The location has other advantages too: It offers a good view of the LifeBeat helicopter taking off and landing across the street at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

From her vantage point in the parking lot, Clark also can see a buckeye tree. It is a reminder of her native state of Ohio. Clark lived in Lima, Ohio, for most of her life.

She has lived with Carol and Bob Jones for the past three years. But she still receives her hometown newspaper as well as the bulletins and newsletters from her church back home.

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Annette Trout is a neighbor of the Joneses. She said they are a caring, Christian couple.

Trout describes the daily outings to the park as "a random act of kindness."

Carol Jones and her mother rarely miss an outing.

Sometimes, Jones parks the car in front of the Broadway floodgate so her mother can gaze at the Mississippi River flowing by. Other times they take a drive to Trail of Tears State Park or visit Arena Park.

But Capaha Park remains Clark's favorite spot. "She calls this her dining room," said Jones.

They visit the park rain or shine, even in winter.

On Wednesday they could be found at their favorite park. Clark ate her strawberry sundae and admired the scenery.

"It is nice out here," she said.

Carol Jones couldn't agree more.

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