VARIETY OF EVENTS TO TAKE PLACE DURING MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

The first holiday of the summer begins at 6 tonight as Americans mark the three-day Memorial Day weekend.

Activities include special programs on Sunday and Monday to honor veterans. In addition, there will be family gatherings, picnics, and other activities.

The National Weather Service said the weather should be normal for the last weekend in May. Forecaster Guy Tucker said there's a chance of showers or thunderstorms early Saturday and again late in the day; otherwise it will be partly cloudy with highs in the mid-to-upper 80s. Sunday's high will be in the mid-to-upper 80s, and Monday will be about the same, with a chance of showers and thunderstorms late in the day, he said.

The Lindsey Cemetery Association will hold its annual barbecue on Saturday and Sunday at the cemetery, two miles east of McClure, Ill., on Grapevine Trail Road. The annual Memorial Day service will be held at the cemetery on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Retired Missouri Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Paul R. Summers of Gordonville will be the speaker.

Air Force Vietnam veteran Ken Scheer of Cape Girardeau will speak at the Memorial Day program on Monday in Cape Girardeau. Scheer was a member of the Air Rescue Service in Vietnam in 1964, and was involved in the rescue of downed American airmen. He is a recipient of the Purple Heart and the Air Medal with Oak Leaf cluster.

The program will begin at 11 a.m. at the Veterans' Memorial in North Cape Girardeau County Park. The Cape Girardeau Municipal Band will present a 30-minute concert beginning at 10:30 a.m.

A 21-gun salute will be rendered by Headquarters Company of the 1140th Engineer Battalion and members of the 135th Engineer Group, Missouri Army National Guard, at Cape Girardeau. Leon Jones of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3838 and Bob Harper of VFW Post 63 will sound taps after the salute.

The event is sponsored by the Joint Veterans Council of Cape Girardeau. People attending should bring lawn chairs or blankets.

The Rev. Jeffrey Sippy, pastor of Hanover Lutheran Church, will speak at the Memorial Day program sponsored by the Altenthal-Joerns American Legion Post 158 and Auxiliary in Jackson. The service will begin at 9 a.m. Monday on South High Street in front of the cemetery. In case of rain, it will be moved to the American Legion Post home on Mary Street.

In Scott City, Associate Circuit Judge and former Scott County prosecuting attorney David Dolan will speak at the Memorial Day service in Lightner Memorial Cemetery. The program will begin at 11 a.m. Monday. It is sponsored by Kelso Township Memorial Post 6407 of the VFW and its auxiliary.

Other activities include a Civil War living history event Saturday and Sunday at Thebes, Ill. The Wickliffe Mounds Research Center at Wickliffe, Ky., will host a late-17th-century "River Exploration" period encampment Saturday and Sunday at the research center on Highway 51 in Wickliffe.

The re-enactment will feature a living history portrayal of early European explorers who entered the region from 1670 to 1695. The center is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., daily, including the Memorial Day weekend. For more information call 1-502-335-3681.

For many, the Memorial Day weekend means the opening of municipal swimming pools. In Cape Girardeau, Capaha Park pool will open today and remain open from 1-8 p.m. each day through Monday. Randy Barnhouse, aquatic coordinator, said if the weather gets below 70 degrees the Central High School pool will be reopened over the weekend during the same hours.

"The Central pool was closed to the public Thursday night to prepare for the removal of the bubble and to do routine maintenance," Barnhouse said. "The Central pool will remain open for the early bird swimmers, noon swimmers and the Saturday morning fitness swim for adults."

Barnhouse said the bubble is scheduled to be removed from the Central pool June 8. The pool will open for the summer season on June 11.

The Jackson pool will be open Saturday, Sunday and Monday, closed on Tuesday, and will reopen for the summer on June 2.

The Chaffee pool will not be open for the Memorial Day weekend; the pool is undergoing maintenance and being painted.

The license fee offices in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Chaffee will be closed Saturday and Monday. They will reopen Tuesday, which will be a penalty-free day for May license renewals.

There will be no driver's license examinations given on Monday at the National Guard Armory in Jackson. Testing at Jackson will resume June 7.

All federal, state, county and municipal offices will be closed Monday, as will all banking and financial institutions.

The Cape Girardeau Post Office will be closed Monday; however Express Mail will be delivered on Sunday and Monday. There will be a pickup of mail from drop boxes at the regular time on Saturday. There will be no collection of mail from drop boxes on Sunday or Monday. The next collection of mail from drop boxes will be on Tuesday afternoon.

There will be no solid-waste pickup on Monday in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City. Chaffee will operate its Monday solid-waste pickup route. Residents of Chaffee should have their trash at curbside early Monday for pickup.

In Cape Girardeau, the Monday trash pickup routes will run on Tuesday, and Tuesday's routes on Wednesday. There will be no Wednesday special pickups next week. In Jackson, Monday's trash routes will be consolidated with the Tuesday routes.

In Scott City, Monday's route will run on Tuesday and Tuesday's route will run on Wednesday.

Missouri Highway Patrol and Illinois State Police will have extra patrols over the weekend. Officers in both states will participate in Operation CARE, (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) with special enforcement emphasis on seat-belt use.

Last year during the Memorial Day weekend 737 people lost their lives on the nation's highways. In Missouri there were four traffic-related deaths over the 1992 Memorial Day holiday.