SENIOR FUN FEST '95 SLATED FOR MAY 20

Banners, balloons and Big Band sounds will highlight Senior Fun Fest '95 May 20 at the Show Me Center.

The event is a regionwide salute to the elderly and will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This year's celebration is built around the theme, "A Banner Day for Seniors...the Heart of Our Community."

Corporate sponsors are Mercantile Bank of Cape Girardeau, Schnucks, the Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging and Southeast Missouri Hospital.

More than 3,000 people are expected to attend the Fun Fest, which is free to adults, 55 and older.

Fun Fest steering committee member Donna Gerard said, "Senior adults are a vital part of our communities and Senior Fun Fest is one small way of letting them know how special they are."

Guests are treated to a complementary picnic-style lunch and are then invited to spend the afternoon playing bingo for prizes donated by area merchants, dancing to the Big Band sounds of the 1930s and 1940s, watching clowns, singers and other performing artists and visiting an exhibition area.

Guests this year will be greeted by the jazzy sounds of Water Street Six, one of the top Dixieland jazz groups in the area.

Headlining the entertainment will be the Jerry Ford Orchestra.

Rob Huff, "the Master of Mystery and Amusement," will also entertain participants. Huff was named the top magician at the 1992 St. Louis International Brotherhood of Magicians' stage contest.

Special activities include a Karaoke sing-along, a photo booth and a "make a special phone call" booth sponsored by Ameritech.

Free tickets to the event are available at various ticket outlets, including:

Cape Girardeau -- Area Agency on Aging, Mercantile Bank, Schnucks, Del Farm, Southeast Missouri Hospital Doctors' Park Outreach Services and the Nutrition Center.

Jackson -- Southeast Missouri Hospital Outreach Services, Schaper's IGA Foodliner and the Jackson Senior Citizens Center.

Sedgewickville - R.C.'s Corner.

Marble Hill -- Chandler Drug, Twin City Pharmacy and the Nutrition Center.

Patton -- Security Bank of Bollinger County.

Sikeston -- Mercantile Bank and the Senior Center.

Perryville -- Herbst & Co. Jewelers and the Nutrition Center.

Chaffee -- Medicap Pharmacy, Chaffee IGA and the Nutrition Center.

Scott City -- Baker's Bestway, Economy IGA, Medicap Pharmacy and the Nutrition Center.