'Today's' Roker forecasts weather from Cape riverfront

Editor's note: The name of the Black Student Union at Southeast Missouri State University has been corrected below.

About 100 Cape Girardeau residents lined up on the steps facing the Mississippi River at 5:30 a.m. to welcome Al Roker and the "Today" show, many holding poster board signs.

"It was 100 super-enthusiastic people," Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau public-relations director Stacy Dohogne Lane said. "I hope the 'Today' show remembers that they came to Cape Girardeau, and they got a great welcome."

Missouri was the 22nd state in the Rokerthon, in which the veteran weather forecaster is attempting to break a world record for fastest time reporting the weather in all 50 states. He broadcast live at about 6 a.m.

"We watch Al almost every day," Betsy Franklin, who was in the front row of the crowd, said. "I love his sense of humor, and he relates to so many different types of people."

Mara Uhls, Jenna Potter, Laiara Reagans and Gabby Penca were there about 5 a.m. They held signs featuring Al Roker bitmojis.

"We saw the Al bitmojis, and we had to run with it," Uhls said.

Uhls, Potter, Reagans and Penca also wanted to show support for the Southeast Missouri State football team. Each of their husbands is an offensive coach for the team. English professor Chase Dimock also was there, supporting his university.

"I just have a lot of Redhawk pride, and I have to show it on a national scale," Dimock said. "If I could associate myself with a hip, happening celebrity like Al Roker, maybe my students would gain some appreciation. In class it's all about Drake, Rihanna ... and Al Roker."

Not all the signs were lighthearted. Members of the university's Black Student Union also had signs that supported students at the University of Missouri-Columbia who have been protesting racist acts on campus, including graduate student Jonathan Butler, who was on a hunger strike until University of Missouri system president Tim Wolfe resigned Monday.

"Their fight is not only their own," senior Kevin Windham said. "We want to show we stand with them. The struggle doesn't stop with the resignation of the president."

Windham said most of the members of the black students' union hail from the St. Louis area, and they held a protest event over events in Ferguson, Missouri.

"Some of the responses we received were pretty disgusting," Windham said of reaction to the protest.

There were a couple of young fans in the audience. Six-year-old Wyatt Timberlake of Whitewater was among the attendees who stood on the steps before dark. His mom, Amber Timberlake, said he watches "Today" every day before school. He was going to school later in Delta.

"Between the 'Today' show and 'Meet the Press,' all this kid watches is news," Amber Timberlake said.

Nine-year-old Reagan Randolph, a Prodigy Leadership Academy Student, said she is interested in weather and possibly becoming a weather forecaster. She had seen Roker on "Today," the Weather Channel and in the movie "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."

"He's kind of famous," she said.

Dohgne Lane is unsure whether the "Today" could inspire more national events in Cape Girardeau, but the Convention and Visitors Bureau relished the opportunity.

"How often do you get to show off Cape Girardeau on national TV?" she asked.

"Today" producers declined a request for an interview with Roker.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

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