Thursday as snow day

Monday, wash day; Tuesday, ironing day; ... Thursday, snow day?

During the past two months, Thursday has become almost synonymous with snow for residents of Southeast Missouri.

The region has seen fresh snow on four out of the last six Thursdays -- a trace on Jan. 2, then 2.5 inches on Jan. 16, a trace on Jan. 23, and a little more than two-tenths of an inch Thursday.

The winter weather trend has made life difficult for local clubs and organizations that hold meetings on Thursdays.

"I was just writing in my journal, 'It's Thursday ... snow again,'" said Rosie Davis, member of the Colonial Senior Citizens, a group of 11 area residents age 70 and older who meet every first Thursday of the month at the VFW 3838 in Cape Girardeau.

Davis said the Colonial Senior Citizens used to meet every first and third Thursday of the month, but poor weather last winter influenced them to reduce the meetings to just one per month. Even so, they haven't been able to hold a meeting since November because of snow and slick roads.

"We're seniors, so we don't want to get out because of the dangers of falling or having an accident," Davis said. "It's odd that it snows so much on Thursdays."

Bill Meyer, a member of the High Noon Toastmasters Club, which meets every Thursday at the Church of Christ, said he too is frustrated by the weather pattern.

"We haven't been able to meet for the past month," said Meyer, a 30-year member of the Toastmasters, which consists of roughly 10 people devoted to improving communication and speaking skills.

"We were really looking forward to meeting this Thursday, but it didn't happen," Meyer said. "It seems unusual for it to snow so much on Thursday."

School's out again

The winter weather has also caused problems for local school districts. The most recent snowfall marked the fifth day of canceled classes so far this school year for students in the Cape Girardeau School District.

The missed days, which will be added on to the end of the academic year, combined with an early start of Aug. 13 for the next school year, will mean a very short summer of only 64 days for students and teachers in the district -- compared to 102 days of summer vacation last year.

Superintendent Mark Bowles said the Cape Girardeau School Board will most likely designate June 5, 6 and 9 as makeup days. The remaining two missed days will not be made up because of extra days built into the calendar.

Bowles said the short vacation does pose a problem, especially when it comes to completing summer maintenance tasks.

"Each building will develop a prioritized list of maintenance requests so that the most essential things get done first in case we run out of time," Bowles said. "It's just something we're going to have to deal with this year."

Jackson School District has also missed five days due to winter weather. Assistant superintendent Dr. Rita Fisher said makeup days are scheduled for March 21, April 17 and April 21, with the remaining days, and any future cancellations, tacked onto to the end of the school year.

Scott City School District has missed seven days so far this year, one of which students made up by attending Jan. 20 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

According to Superintendent Diann Bradshaw, the other missed days will be made-up Feb. 17, April 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Bradshaw said at their next meeting on Feb. 19 the Scott City School Board will decide when the seventh day, and any other unscheduled cancellations, will be made up.

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128