PRAYER BREAKFAST: LARGE CROWD EXPECTED FOR FRIDAY'S GATHERING

A Cape Girardeau tradition for the past four years, the fifth annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, is expected to draw about 800 local business, government and civic leaders to the Show Me Center Friday.

Dr. Bill Terry, chairman of the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast Committee, said this year's guest speaker will be Ted G. Sprague, a notable consultant in the convention and tourism industry.

The Christian Business Men's Committee of Cape Girardeau will sponsor the event, which will feature a buffet breakfast and two local speakers in addition to Sprague.

The breakfast will begin at 7:15 a.m. and will conclude at 8:30 a.m.

"We're always right on time," said Terry. "People will be out of there right at 8:30."

He said the primary purpose of the event is to introduce spirituality to the business community.

"The primary emphasis is that we try to increase spiritual awareness in the business community," Terry said. "Whether we think about it or not, there is a spiritual side to life that we must be aware of."

Terry said the meeting will include prayer for local, state and national government leaders.

"We've had people help us post the colors," he said. "It's a patriotic theme as well as a spiritual one. We know our country was founded on allegiance to God."

Terry said the event continues to grow in number of participants and community acceptance.

"We're really pleased that the general public has accepted this as a worthy event in the city," he said. "We strive to maintain a high quality and something everyone will enjoy."

Terry said the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast Committee always strives to procure quality speakers.

Sprague is past president of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau from 1982 to 1991. Under his leadership, Atlanta consistently was in the top five convention destinations in the nation, and generated an economic impact of $2.5 billion annually.

Sprague was involved with bringing a number of important events to Atlanta, including the 1988 Democratic Convention, the 1994 Super Bowl, and the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Prior to his work at Atlanta, Sprague was president of the Phoenix Valley of the Sun Convention and Visitors Bureau for eight years. He also was the managing director of the Denver and Colorado Convention Bureau for three years.

Sprague's other notable achievements include:

Founding Board of Directors of the Trade Show Bureau.

International Board of Directors of the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus.

Numerous awards from trade publications for sales, service and advertising programs.

Recognition last year by "Georgia Trend" as one of the 100 most influential travel executives.

He also has served twice on the National Board of Directors of the Christian Businessmen's Committee. Sprague and his wife, Tudi, have two children.

Terry said ticket reservations are going fast and urged those interested in attending the event to make their ticket requests as soon as possible. Requests may be sent to, Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, P.O. Box 176, Cape Girardeau.

Tickets are $8.75 each or $70 to reserve a table of eight guests. For more information, contact Terry at 334-4635 or Don Rasche at 335-6962.

Past speakers at the event include Adolph Coors in 1988, Kyle Rote Jr. in 1989, Bob Vernon in 1990, and former senator Bill Armstrong in 1991.