THOUSANDS FLOCK TO SEE WARES AT CAPE HOME SHOW

Dreary morning skies and a chill in the wind Saturday didn't stop thousands from thinking about spring and accompanying home improvements.

Organizers estimated 7,000 people had been to the 16th Annual SEMO Homebuilders Association Home and Garden Show by mid-afternoon. They expect more people at the Show Me Center today, when the home show will be open 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Visitors from all over the area squeezed through displays of cabinets, gutters, vacuum cleaners -- nearly everything needed to make a home attractive and comfortable. Cindy Gage, home show coordinator, said the 20 new displays and a full schedule of seminars helped attract the crowd.

"This time of year they are thinking about spring," Gage said. "Anything that has to do with spring, they want to see it. And everyone just wants to get out of the house."

That was true of Jim and Elizabeth Stultz of Poplar Bluff, who said they were looking for something to do on a Saturday afternoon and heard an advertisement for the home show.

The couple wants to buy a home soon and hoped to get ideas on various fixtures and options, they said.

Rex and Joyce Watson stopped in on their way from St. Louis to their home in Piggott, Ark.

"It's really nice," Rex Watson said. "We like to look around and get some ideas. We may need some windows later on."

The home show's regional appeal is what convinces many businesses to set up displays. More than 100 of them set up exhibits, most returning after many years of success at the show.

Blake Duckworth of Dutch Guttering in Jackson said his company's display, the "gutter helmet," was attracting a lot of attention Saturday. It featured streams of water constantly draining across a device that traps leaves and debris to keep them out of the gutter.

Because Dutch Guttering's territory reaches to cities like Carbondale, Ill., Perryville, Sikeston and Patton, the home shows in Cape Girardeau are a good way to meet potential customers from other towns, Duckworth said.

"We have had a great response," he said. "Actually, it has been a lot better than we expected."

John Peters of Peters Heating & Air Conditioning in Cape Girardeau said most of his business generated from the show isn't immediate, although he may get one or two customers right away.

The results of showing come later, he said, after people's furnaces and air conditioners break down and they need replacements.

"People can come out here and look at the actual units instead of seeing a picture," Peters said. "We have the opportunity to meet them and show them what we have."

Admission to the show is $2.50 for adults and free for children under 12.