TWO-STEP TO SOUTHEAST SHOWCASE

Pull out your cowboy hats and dust off your boots for "A Taste of Country," at the fourth annual Southeast Showcase on Thursday, Nov. 19, at the Show Me Center.

The event, sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Hospital Foundation, will showcase food and beverages from more than 35 local restaurants and vendors. The Showcase features the band Lariat, which will provide a foot-stomping salute of America's most favorite country music.

"It's like a cocktail party for 1,200 of our closest friends," said Charles Stotz, Southeast Missouri Hospital Foundation director.

The Showcase features bite-sized portions of the most delectable cuisines from area restaurants and bakeries. Beer, wine and variety of non-alcoholic beverages will be on hand to wash down the tasty tidbits.

Guests will be entered in a drawing to win a three-day, two-night trip to historic San Antonio, Texas, courtesy of AAA Travel of Cape Girardeau and The Marriott Corporation.

Lariat, an up-and-coming Texas group, imparts its own fiddle-driven flavor to every style of country music.

The band earned a Cashbox Magazine award as Independent Group of the Year, and has performed as the opening act for performers such as the Oak Ridge Boys, Asleep at the Wheel and Sawyer Brown.

Along with the scheduled entertainment, expect the unexpected, Stotz warns.

"We could have a surprise visit from some `roughneck' cowboys during the course of the evening," Stotz said.

When the Showcase charity event began four years ago, the event played host to 700 people and was held in the A.C. Brase Arena Building.

Since then, it has grown to well over 1,000 guests per year and has been relocated to the Show Me Center.

Last year's Showcase attracted 1,400 guests and raised more than $35,000 to go toward patient care developments at the Southeast Missouri Hospital's Regional Heart Center and Regional Cancer Center.

Stotz expects 1,200 guests to attend the 1992 Showcase and to raise about $22,000 targeted for patient care in the new A.C.C. Clinical Building.

"Through Showcase, we're inviting people to be both a partner in health care and a `pardner' in an old-fashioned good time," Stotz said.

Tickets for the Southeast Showcase are $30 each and can be obtained by calling the Southeast Missouri Hospital Foundation office at 651-5510 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.