REGION HONORS VETERANS

Area residents will join the nation Monday in pausing to honor veterans who have defended the United States in all wars.

The 78-hour Memorial Day holiday period, which begins at 6 p.m. Friday and ends at midnight, Monday, is the first major holiday of the summer season.

The weather most of the weekend will be summer-like with partly cloudy, hazy skies and a chance of scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms each day. There is a better chance of thunderstorms late Sunday or early Monday as a cold front pushes through, forecasters said.

Highs will be in the low to mid 80s with lows in the 60s. Cooler, drier weather is forecast for Monday.

In Cape Girardeau, Memorial Day services begin at 11 a.m. Monday at the Veterans Memorial in Cape County North Park. The service is sponsored by the Joint Veterans Council of Cape Girardeau County.

Guest speaker will be retired Air Force Lt. Col. Charles Woodford of Cape Girardeau.

A firing squad will be comprised of members of headquarters company of the 1140th Engineer Battalion and the 135th Group of the Missouri Army National Guard at Cape Girardeau. The program will close with the playing of Taps by buglers Leon Jones of VFW Post 3838 and Bob Harper of American Legion Post 63.

In Sikeston, residents will dedicate a new veterans park during a program at 10:15 a.m. Monday.

Weather permitting, two F-15 jet fighters from the 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron of the Missouri Air National Guard at St. Louis will begin the program with a flyover of the park. The Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Straight Arrow drill team from Southeast Missouri State University will participate in the program.

Navy Capt. Fred Crecelius will be keynote speaker. Crecelius is director of contingency planning programs in the White House. A native of East Prairie and a 1969 graduate of Southeast Missouri State, Crecelius is up for promotion to admiral.

The park is in front of the Sikeston Airport on East Malone. Work has been taking place since early January in preparing for the formal dedication.

In case of rain, the dedication service will be held in the gym of the First United Methodist Church of Sikeston.

American Legion Althenthal-Joerns Post 158 will hold its Memorial Day service at 9:30 a.m. Monday in the Old Jackson City Cemetery at the foot of South High Street. Speaker will be the Rev. Luther Rhodes of First General Baptist Church.

There will be a special salute to veterans in Advance on Monday, when a veterans memorial is dedicated in the Advance City Square. The memorial will contain the names of local people who have served in any component of the military.

The program begins at 10:30 a.m. with a flyover of jet fighters from the Missouri Air National Guard in St. Louis.

The address will be given by Navy Capt. James J. Harnes Jr., a native of Advance. Remarks also will be given by Marine Col. Frank Holder.

Ian Sutherland, assistant prosecuting attorney in Cape Girardeau County and a retired Army lieutenant colonel, will be featured speaker at the Memorial Day service conducted by American Legion Kelso Township Memorial Post 6407 and its Ladies Auxiliary.

The program will be held at Lightner Cemetery at the southeast edge of Scott City. Taps will be played by Joni Jones.

Sutherland is a veteran who first served with the 82nd Airborne Division and later with the Army's "Old Guard" ceremonial unit in Washington. He later became a member of the Army's Special Forces and served in Vietnam with the CIA. Sutherland conducted the last combat operation to recover POWs in South Vietnam in 1972. Before his retirement, Sutherland was assigned to an intelligence organization within the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran.

In case of rain, the program will be held in the post home on Main Street.

For the second year, the Joint Veterans Council of Cape Girardeau County will display flags of the branches of the armed forces and the American flag in each of the city's five cemeteries. This year the council will also place commemorative signs near the flags to honor the veterans.

The Avenue of (American) Flags will be on display Monday at the Veterans Memorial in the county park from sunrise to sunset.

Other Memorial Day activities slated this weekend include the Thebes, Ill., Memorial Day Picnic on Saturday and Sunday. Featured will be the Thebes Fire Department barbecue with attendance prizes and live music both days.

The Thebes Historical Society will present skits Sunday afternoon in the Thebes Courthouse. Home Extension will have its Star Sampler quilt on display for ticket sales. A drawing will be held Sunday afternoon for the quilt.

McClure, Ill., will host its annual Memorial Day barbecue at Lindsey Cemetery two miles east of McClure. Serving will continue Saturday and Sunday, concluding with a Memorial Day service at the cemetery on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The Cape Girardeau Salvation Army will serve free refreshments to Memorial Day weekend travelers at the Interstate-55 Fruitland rest area. Serving will begin Friday at 4 p.m. and continue until 10 p.m. Monday.

All federal, state, county and municipal offices and all financial institutions will be closed Monday.

There will be no solid-waste pickups Monday in Cape Girardeau, Jackson or Scott City. There will be a Monday trash pickup in Chaffee.

In Cape Girardeau, Monday's trash collection route will be run Tuesday, and Tuesday's route will be run Wednesday. There will be no Wednesday special pickups this week. The regular pickup schedule resumes Thursday.

In Jackson, Monday's trash route will be consolidated with Tuesday's route.

In Scott City, the next trash pickup for residents on the Monday route will be on Thursday.

License fee offices in Cape Girardeau, Chaffee and Jackson will be closed Saturday and Monday. They will reopen Tuesday.

There will be no driver's or commercial driver's license examinations given Monday at the Jackson National Guard Armory.

The Jackson swimming pool has already opened for the season. The Scott City pool opens Saturday.

A spokesperson for the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department said the Capaha Park pool will open Saturday and remain open through Memorial Day. The pool will be closed the rest of the week and will open full time after schools are dismissed for the summer.

The Central High School pool is now closed for maintenance and removal of the bubble. It is tentatively scheduled to reopen for the summer on May 30.

The Missouri Highway Patrol and Illinois State Police will participate in Operation CARE, (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) with special emphasis on major interstate, federal and state highways in each state.

In this area, enforcement activity will focus on I-55 in Southeast Missouri and I-57 and I-64 in Southern Illinois. Authorities said officers will be watching for drunk drivers, speeding drivers, and drivers who endanger the safety of other travelers. Officers will also be watching for seat-belt and child-safety-restraint violations.