PANEL WILL PLAN CITY'S BIRTHDAY

Melvin Gateley, chairman of one of the city's newest citizen advisory boards, the Bicentennial Commission, wants residents to know they're needed to plan and prepare a celebration of Cape Girardeau's heritage.

The commission was established in July to begin preparations for a bicentennial celebration of the establishment of the community of Cape Girardeau in 1792-1793.

It was at that time that Louis Lorimier received a commission to set up a trading post in the area of what in 1806 officially became the city of Cape Girardeau.

Gateley said the commission, which has held two meetings since its inception, already has begun to receive information from people interested in helping research the city's history and prepare for the bicentennial event.

"The goal of the commission is to get all the members of the community involved in the planning of the super-duper celebration of the good life brought to us by the city's founding fathers," Gateley said.

He said the commission already has adopted a list of reasons and objectives for the celebration.

"We wanted the commissioners to get a feeling as to our background and develop a set of goals and objectives before we started planning a lot of activities," Gateley said. "We've got a lot of time to do that and, with the help of members of the community, we should get a lot of public participation in that."

Some of the preliminary objectives for the bicentennial celebration include:

20Renew and refresh the public's knowledge of Cape Girardeau's heritage and the conditions of its founding.

Gain a better understanding of the elements of daily life here in the late 18th century.

Emphasize that the research of the heritage shouldn't be restricted to the city's present boundaries.

20Foster a "sense of community" and become "true neighbors."

Gateley said some of the early ideas for the celebration include publication of the city's history in magazines, invitations to former residents to "come home" for the event and possible reproduction of Lorimier's historic "Red House."

He said the commission also will seek volunteers from the community to serve on several committees that will consider everything from financing, activities and public relations, to research and advertising.

"All the commission will do is give guidance, motivation and assistance," Gateley said. "We will have a whole series of committees working on ways and means of having a successful bicentennial celebration.

"This belongs to the community and we want everyone to get involved in it."

Gateley said he expects activities in recognition of the bicentennial likely will "kick off" in the fall of 1992 and continue through 1993.

"We welcome, and we're going to seek, the involvement of many community leaders and individuals," he said. "We expect a lot of participation from the community.

"We've got plenty of time to plan well for this. We'll be getting a structure set up through the committees, but from there, we'll let the community decide what it wants to do."

Gateley said the commission meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall on the second Tuesday of every month, and the public is invited to attend. He also said the commission is considering whether to publish a questionnaire in the newspaper seeking volunteers for the various committees.

Other members of the commission include: Martha Bender, Gary Bunting, Francis Miner, Helen Miner, Patty Mulkey, Sharon Sanders, Julia Kridelbaugh and Jim Riley.