REBORN SCOTT CITY RESIDENT WORKS TO BETTER COMMUNITY

SCOTT CITY -- Just about 10 miles south of Cape Girardeau off Interstate 55 is a town some of its residents call just a bedroom community of the larger city.

And sure enough, every weekday at just after 5 p.m. the town's one thoroughfare from the interstate quickly becomes backed up with cars of people trying to get home after a long day at work.

Some think of Scott City as an industrial center of its own. And they count being near the interstate, Cape Girardeau's airport and the Mississippi River as just a few of the assets of the small city.

For a list of the town's other assets, just ask Edith Davidson.

Once a dweller of the "big city," Davidson moved back to Scott City in 1986 after teaching school for 30 years in St. Louis. She grew up in Bell City, and her children and their families still lived in Cape Girardeau and Scott City. She thought it would be a nice place to enjoy retirement.

In the last six years, Davidson has become not only a Scott City resident but one of the town's strongest supporters.

"In Scott City, I know my neighbors, and if I needed help they'd be here for me. There's just more kindness in a small town," she said.

Davidson said when she first moved to Scott City she intended to relax and enjoy a leisurely retirement. But after a year, she said, she became bored.

"I was unhappy when I quit teaching," she said. "I was all right for about a year, but after that I prayed and asked the Lord to give me something to do."

And now she has plenty to do.

Davidson, 76, is the founder and president of the town's Community Betterment Association. It's one of the accomplishments she is most proud of because it is an organization that gives back to the community.

She said she had a friend who was involved in the Community Betterment Association in Dexter. She got some friends together and decided to form her own association in Scott City.

When Davidson isn't working to "make Scott City a better place," she's probably working with senior citizens, the town's historical association, the Garden Club, or volunteering at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

She is even in the midst of serving a term on the Scott City Council, filling in for a councilman who resigned. She was appointed by the mayor. And she recently was elected to the board of the Chamber of Commerce.

In November she was one of 10 people in the state to received a Leadership Award from Gov. John Ashcroft.

When asked why she enjoys staying so busy, she said it's because she likes people.

"I love people and I love being around them. What's great about Scott City is you can't even go down Main Street without running into a friend. That's nice."

Davidson said she doesn't miss the big city.

"I'm a small-town person," she said. "Scott City is great because everything you need is either here or within driving distance. And you have the pluses of a small town."