OBSERVANCE PITCHES TOURISM

If you've been looking forward to celebrating Missouri Day, it's too late.

Missouri Day was Wednesday.

Missouri Day has existed since 1915, when the Missouri General Assembly set apart "a day commemorative of Missouri history to be observed by the teachers and pupils of schools with the appropriate exercises."

Nobody gets off work for Missouri Day either.

Some students were invited to celebrate Missouri Day at the River Heritage Museum in Cape Girardeau Wednesday. The event sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Convention & Visitors Bureau offered displays by the CVB, Trail of Tears State Park, Bollinger Mill State Historic Site and the University Museum.

Missouri Day is a good day to take stock of the state's resources and to promote Missouri tourism, according to a statement from Lt. Gov. Roger Wilson.

But to some extent, each region of Missouri competes against the others for tourist dollars. In that competition, a survey in some dispute showed, Southeast Missouri ranks last, says Trish Wischmann, the CVB's newly hired group coordinator.

St. Louis, Kansas City, Branson and even Hannibal outstrip the region because they have their own built-in attractions, she says.

The River Heritage Association, an organization composed of volunteers from 10 Southeast Missouri Counties, is trying to improve the situation by publicizing each other's calendar of events, among other efforts.

"History is our No. 1 attraction," Wischmann said. "That and the river."

She said the region is just starting to orchestrate its tourism efforts. "Ste. Genevieve is our calling card," she says.

The region's rich Mississippian culture, well represented by Southeast Missouri State University's Beckwith Collection, also sets it apart. Dr. Jenny Strayer, director of the University Museum, came out for Missouri Day to hand out copies of the museum's spring schedule.

That schedule includes the annual Beckwith Lecture April 5, which this year will be presented by Dr. Herman Viola, a former member of the Smithsonian board.

Tourists from outside the state sometimes bring with them misconceptions about Missouri.

"In 1993, people thought the entire state was flooded," Wischmann said. "They thought Branson was flooded."

People from the West marvel at the sight of the river," says Donna Allen, a tourist assistant at Bollinger Mill State Historic Site.

They like to come to the mill because it's an idyllic picnic spot with the water going over the dam, she says.

Susan Reinagel, a tourist assistant at Trail of Tears State Park, said the park's recreational attributes are promoted alongside its place in Cherokee and U.S. history.

The park's nature programs are one of its draws.

People who come to Missouri and Southeast Missouri for one reason can always find other reasons to stay, said Wischmann, whose family owns a bed and breakfast in Jackson.

"People are amazed at how many other things there are to see and do," she said.

Some questions about Missouri

1. What four rivers form parts of Missouri's border?

2. What does the word Missouri mean?

3. The year 2004 marks the centennial and bicentennial anniversaries of what two events?

4. How much did tourists spend in Missouri last year? a) $55.4 million b) $186 million c) $583 million d) $11 billion

5. During the California Gold Rush, what Missourian described a gold mine as a hole in the ground with a liar standing on top of it"?

6. How many theater seats are in Branson?

7. Near what town was George Washington Carver born.

8. For what Missouri newspaper did Ernest Hemingway work?

9. Recent estimates based on U.S. Census data place the population center of the U.S. between what two cities?

10. What is the state slogan (on the license plate)?

ANSWERS: 1) Mississippi, Missouri, St. Francis and Des Moines 2) "Land of the Big Canoes" 3) Centennial of St. Louis World's Fair, Bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark Expedition 4) $11 billion 5) Mark Twain 6) More than 50,000 7) Diamond, Mo. 8) The Kansas City Star 9) Steelville and Salem 10) The Show Me State.