MULE DAYS, YARD SALE, RITES SET

The "Dizzy Bat" race is one of 15 events planned at Saturday's Heartland Mule Riders Club's "Mule Days" at Black Diamond Ranch near Jonesboro, Ill.

"It's a fun race," said Gary Scott, club member and show coordinator along with his son, club president William Scott.

The Dizzy Bat race begins with a baseball bat in a bucket. Participants place their foreheads against the bat and are spun around a few times before heading off to ride a mule.

"This makes the participant dizzy," Scott said. "Sometimes the rider may not make it back to the mule before stumbling or may fall off shortly after getting on the mule."

The race is timed, and the rider with the best time wins.

Black Diamond Ranch is about two miles north of the Routes 127/146 intersection west of Jonesboro.

Mule Days is one of a variety of area events during the Memorial Day weekend, starting today with a 100-mile-long yard sale from Jackson to Kennett along Missouri Highway 25.

Veterans will be honored Saturday at the National Cemetery at Mound City, Ill., and Monday at Cape Girardeau's Osage Centre and at the Old Jackson City Cemetery.

There's more

Tractor pulls and egg tossing contests are among events at Old Timer's Day in Altenburg, Mo.; strawberries will be aplenty at the Mid-America Teen Challenge Strawberry Festival at Teen Challenge north of Cape Girardeau; and many people will be on Missouri's lakes.

Some will opt for auctions, with sales scheduled today, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and the River Explorer passenger boat will be docked from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday in downtown Cape Girardeau.

Mule Days will serve as a fund raiser for the Diamonds In the Rough youth program conducted by Black Diamond Ranch owners Larry and Sandy Nance.

The youth program is for children with special needs and includes activities such as horse riding, hiking and working with crafts.

"We're hoping for a big crowd," said Sandy Nance. "The Heartland Mule Club has members in Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, and a lot of them follow the mule shows."

The mule shows, like horse shows, feature the musical chair race, the back-to-back race and the "Dolly Parton" race.

Veterans rites set

Illinois' two U.S. senators and two of its U.S. representatives will attend the annual Memorial Day program from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the National Cemetery.

Besides Sens. Richard Durbin and Peter Fitzgerald and Reps. David Phelps and Jerry Costello, National Cemeteries Administration official Roger Rapp will speak.

The roll call will include the names of deceased veterans from six wars and conflicts. Among the names read will be Gen. and Mrs. John B. Turchin, who are interred at the cemetery. The Turchins, Russians who fought in the Civil War, will be portrayed by Mike and Anna Strelka of Arlington Heights, Ill., during the program's cemetery history segment.

Nadine Turchin was the first woman to command a U.S. military regiment, She was a nurse with her husband on his Civil War campaigns when she assumed command of his regiment after he became seriously ill during the early months of conflict in Tennessee. She led the 19th Illinois Regiment into one of its fiercest battles during the spring of 1862, remaining in command for 10 days. Nadine Turchin was the daughter of a commander in the Russian army.

The Turchins moved to Southern Illinois following the Civil War.

There will also be a special presentation of the deed for 3.64 acres of land to the Department of Veterans Affairs from the Mound City National Cemetery Preservation Commission for expansion of the National Cemetery.

Cape County events

The Altenthal-Joerns American Legion Post 158 and the American Legion will sponsor the Jackson Memorial Day services beginning at 9 a.m. Monday. The program will be at the Old Jackson Cemetery, and the Rev. Daniel Hale, pastor of First Baptist Church, Millersville, Mo., will speak. The Jackson Municipal Band will play patriotic selections. In case of rain, the program will be moved to the American Legion Hall on North High Street.

Sam McVay, executive director of the Missouri Veterans Commission, will speak at the Osage Centre Memorial Day service at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

Two fun-time events will be held Saturday at the Mid-America Teen Challenge Center north of Cape Girardeau and at Old Timer's Day at Altenburg.

The Strawberry Festival will be held at Teen Challenge, featuring a tractor-wagon tour of the facility. Strawberries picked today will be used for the annual festival to be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The festival features clowns, puppet shows, strawberry shortcake, barbecue and mini-concerts by the Teen Challenge Choir.

At Old Timer's Day, beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, antique tractors will be on parade, and there will egg-tossing and skillet-throwing contests. Other events include a craft show, apple butter-making demonstration and an old-timers softball game.