MISSISSIPPI QUEEN TO STOP HERE

The Mississippi Queen is scheduled to stop in Cape Girardeau from 8 to noon Sunday.

A German band composed of members of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band will greet the paddle wheeler.

Contrary to its previous schedule, the boat will not stop in Cape Girardeau on Wednesday during its return down the Mississippi.

Whether townspeople will be allowed aboard the boat Sunday won't be decided until it arrives, said Kim Groves, group tour planner for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Mississippi Queen's last stop in Cape Girardeau was July 9.

This time the boat will be coming from Paducah on its way to St. Louis.

Groves said a Cape Girardeau stop by the new American Queen on July 24 had to be shortened because the boat was having mechanical difficulties and had a destination to make.

"We were very disappointed that they cut their time short but we were glad they stopped," she said.