NUMEROUS CLUBS, ORGANIZATIONS SERVE THE REGION WELL

CLUB SPONSORS SUMMER PICNIC FOR CHILDREN: The Cape Girardeau Zonta Club celebrates a summer picnic with children and parents from the VIP Industries and Parkview State School on Sept. 29, 1981. Member Janet Ruopp leads the afternoon recreation. (SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN)

FLIPPING PANCAKES: The Cape Girardeau Lion's Club hosts its annual Pancake Day each spring. Above, members cook flapjacks on March 18, 1981 during the 43rd annual event. (SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN)

Throughout its rich and colorful history, Cape Girardeau has been blessed with a variety of service organizations that work to raise money to benefit the community and national and world charity organizations.

The Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau was the first service club in the area when it was founded March 1, 1919. Rotary International was the first service organization in the world when it was established in 1905.

Early on, the Cape Girardeau Rotarians established the Easter Seals Society and were instrumental in the founding of the Cape Girardeau Country Club.

One of the major projects of Rotary International is the financing of a student exchange program for graduate and undergraduate college students.

In the mid-1980s Rotary International raised millions of dollars to benefit Polio Plus, which - through the guidance of the United Nations health organization - allowed people all over the world to be immunized against the silent killer. The Cape Girardeau club raised more than $30,000 to benefit the cause.

John Blue, a longtime member of the Cape Girardeau Rotarians, said that today the club raises money through two dances per year.

"Membership is spread across the whole business spectrum through a classification system," Blue said. "Doctors, lawyers, educators Rotary works to represent the whole gauntlet of business and professional people in the area."

Blue said the Rotary Club tries to spread the club to as many businesses as possible. No more than 10 percent of the total membership can be from any one group.

The Cape Girardeau Lions Club was established in 1921, and is believed to be one of the oldest chapters in the country. The club is a businessmen's organization.

The Lions Club is perhaps best known for its annual Pancake Day, when local businessmen trade their suits and ties for aprons and pancake turners.

The first Pancake Day was in spring 1939. The idea to hold such an event was brought to the Cape Girardeau club by a transfer member from Poplar Bluff. For some years proceeds of Pancake Day were used to support a milk fund for needy schoolchildren.

The Lions Club raises money to benefit several diverse organizations in Cape Girardeau and in the region. Calvin Chapman, current president of the Cape Girardeau Lions Club, heads the group of 110 active members and 53 members at large.

"We're here to serve," Chapman said, defining the Lions' purpose in the community.

"Our big thing is eye tissue banks and providing glasses for needy people," Chapman said. "We also fund searches for eye donors."

A newer organization was established June 4, 1976, with the founding of the Zonta Club. Women in executive positions from Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City and Perryville are eligible for membership in the club.

Its first businesswomen members, inspired by service organizations like Kiwanis and Rotary for men, felt that, with the passage of the Equal Suffrage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and with the record for service made by women during World War I, women should participate in a world in which they were rapidly growing in stature and responsibility.

Zonta, which is a derivative of the Sioux Indian word meaning honest and trustworthy, was organized in 1919, and includes more than 700 groups in 47 countries.

Through the years, the Zonta Club has worked to provide assistance to needy mothers, raise money and collect clothing for victims of house fires, and sold candies to raise money. Most recently Zonta has worked with local fire departments to install fire alarms in the homes of needy people free of charge and has taken the Women's Safehouse in Cape Girardeau under its wing.

"Service is our bag," said Dorothy Gilbert, former president of Zonta.

Dr. Janet Ruopp, a former service committee chairman, said, "We must all be involved; that's why we joined Zonta to begin with."

The Jaycees movement began in 1910, when the Herculaneum Dance Club was formed to socially elevate its members. The Herculaneum was so successful in providing the proper atmosphere for social relationships that it and other groups formed the Federation of Dancing Clubs.

The early leader of the Federation, a young bank cashier named Henry "Hy" Giessenbier, played a significant role in changing the dance groups into a dynamic national organization.

Giessenbier wanted to develop the business skills and the reputation of young men. This approach was a bit unusual, but became the hallmark of Jayceeism.

At a gathering at the Mission Inn in St. Louis in 1915, 32 young men agreed to form the Young Men's Progressive Civic Association. After several name changes, this association became the Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1920.

On Aug. 16, 1984, the Tulsa Jaycees organization voted to allow women ages 18-35. Other chapters soon followed suit. In 1987, the age factor was amended to allow membership between the ages of 21-39.

The Cape Girardeau Jaycees were the second such organization in the state. Today, they are ranked fifth among the Missouri chapters.

La Rae Moore, the first woman to serve as president of the Cape Girardeau Jaycees, said Cape Girardeau's proximity to St. Louis affected the early development of the Jaycees organization in this area.

The Cape Girardeau Jaycees work with the Southeast Missourian every Christmas in Toybox, which supplies toys to needy families.

This year the Jaycees raised more than $38,000 to benefit the children of St. Jude's Children's Research Center.

The Cape Girardeau Kiwanis, which was founded in 1942, performs several services for the community.

It's largest function by far is the Kiwanis Learn To Swim seminars held every summer. Last year the Kiwanis instructed more than 600 children on swimming techniques during a nine-week period.

This Saturday the Kiwanis will sponsor its annual '50s Dance, a primary fund-raising event.

Joe Anders, a member of the Kiwanis, said that the group has donated money or manpower to nearly every charitable organization in the city over the past 50 years.

"We do the same thing the other service clubs do," Anders said. "We work to serve the city."

In 1992 the Kiwanis donated $100,000 to the Salvation Army Building Fund. The club made this donation atop its yearly duties as bell-ringers for the Salvation Army, standing outside area businesses during the Christmas season.

Kiwanis has traditionally purchased playground equipment and financed the construction of picnic shelters in parks in the community.

The Cape Girardeau Optimists is a subdivided service organization in Cape Girardeau. The first group of Optimists, the Evening Optimists, were founded in 1967.

Since then the Breakfast, Noon and Excelsior Optimists have formed new clubs. The names of each group depict the time of day when they meet. The Excelsior group meets at the same time the Noon club meets.

Bruce Cherer, a member of the Noon Optimists, said the primary function of the Optimists is to serve youth of the community. Each club has its own goals and services, Cherer said.

The Noon Optimists sponsor a youth tackle football league, oratorical and essay contests, Boys and Girls State, a youth golf league and several other youth-oriented charity events.

To raise money to fund the youth services, each group holds its own special events. The Noon Optimists hold an annual chili dinner and an 18-hole golf tournament.

The Optimists also raise money at concession stands at the football league games, and they have sold coupon books.

One of the other things the Optimists sponsor is subsidiary clubs of youths called the Octagon Club.

The Optimist Club is open to everyone, Cherer said. "We have people from all walks of life as members of the group," he said.

Each serves the city in its own special way, but all could not exist without the dedication and support of the people of Cape Girardeau.