REGIONAL QUILT ON DISPLAY DURING WEEKEND SCENIC DRIVE

A dozen quilters have combined to prepare a special "Regional Quilt" for this weekend's Mississippi River Valley Scenic Drive.

Representatives from each of the 12 communities featured on the 131-mile tour prepared a "block" from "their town," which appears in the finished quilt.

"A drawing will be held for the quilt on May 6," said Evelyn Boardman, of downtown Cape Girardeau. "Tickets are available for the drawing at several stops along the weekend tour." Proceeds go toward the cost of sponsoring the annual tour.

Quilts will be in the spotlight at two locations along the two-day tour Saturday and Sunday.

Quilts are already on display in downtown Cape Girardeau at Heartland Antique Emporium, 5 N. Main, and will remain on display through the weekend.

"Quilts of all types are on display," said a spokesperson from the River Heritage Quilters Guild, which has more than 60 members. "You can see old quilts, new quilts, baby quilts, full and queen size quilts."

Quilts will also be on display at the Wallis Family Store in Marble Hill during the weekend.

More than a dozen villages and towns are cooperating to showcase the region's beauty and heritage during the two-day, self-conducted tour coordinated by the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University.

Towns along the drive include Cape Girardeau, Pocahontas, Altenburg, Wittenberg, Frohna, Biehle, Patton, Sedgewickville, Marble Hill, Burfordville and Jackson. Several side trips may be taken. Booklets describing the route, including side trips, are available at the three main entry sites of the tour Biehle Exit, Interstate 55; 5 N. Main, Cape Girardeau and Junction 51-34 at Marble Hill.