WEED AND SEED DISTRICT BEING IDENTIFIED IN SOUTH CAPE; SIGNS DESIGNED TO SHOW AREA SEEKING IMPROVEMENTS

Lillie Watson lives in the Weed and Seed district of Cape Girardeau. She believes the green and white signs that designate the area should help its residents become aware of opportunities the program offers.

Without much fanfare, green and white road signs have been added to the South Cape landscape. The signs don't point out a tourist attraction or put restrictions on where cars can go, but Lisa Lane hopes they communicate the idea that South Cape is in motion.

"We want to allow people to see that they live in a Weed and Seed area," said Lane, executive director of Southeast Missouri Weed and Seed.

Weed and Seed's goal is to encourage residents to better their own neighborhoods while supporting increased police activities to ward off drugs and crime. It is funded by the U.S. Justice Department in more than 300 communities nationally.

But after more than a year and a half of activities in five Southeast Missouri cities, most residents in Weed and Seed-targeted neighborhoods don't know what Weed and Seed is, Lane said.

On his way to work at Wright's Garage at 916 Elm St., Dean Wright noticed a Weed and Seed sign.

"I kind of wondered what it was about," said Wright, who works with his father, Harold. The elder Wright started the garage in South Cape in 1951.

A survey conducted by Southeast Missouri State University students in conjunction with Weed and Seed this spring found Wright's lack of knowledge about the program was common. A sample of 64.8 percent of residents living in the targeted neighborhood showed they did not know they lived in a Weed and Seed community.

Lane and police Cpl. Rick Schmidt want the signs to help change this.

"I hope this makes people more aware in a positive sense," Schmidt said.

The boundaries for the neighborhood are Independence Street, West End Boulevard, the Mississippi River and the south city limit.

The signs are not designed to label the targeted area as a crime zone but to show that it is an area actively seeking improvements, Lane said.

"The greatest benefit would be that people see the signs and realized this is a place that the federal government is taking time to put money into," she said.

The signs could encourage other federal agencies such as Housing and Urban Development, to become more active in South Cape, Lane said.

Nine signs have been placed at major thoroughfares at the targeted neighborhood's boundaries.

Viola Bagby, who lives at 805 S. Pacific St., like the signs. They might encourage residents to take more pride in their community, she said.

"If you get one person to do more to keep up their house and yard next to you, then maybe others in the neighborhood will start, too," she said.

When the house next to the Bagbys sat empty for years, she said her husband, Austin, started cutting the grass next door. When new neighbors finally moved in, they appreciated the care, Austin Bagby said.

After 14 years in their home, the Bagbys say they've experienced sporadic crime. But the presence of police patrols has increased in recent years, and they welcome it.

Harold Wright said he has suffered about four break-ins at his garage over the years. Only candy and sodas were stolen from vending machines.

"We're not talking about big criminals," Wright said.

Weed and Seed or any other program like it will be successful only if it punishes lawbreakers, Wright said. With this in mind, he recalled a sign in his garage that read: "Trespassers will be shot; survivors will be shot again."

Lillie Watson spends more time now at her South Cape home at the corner of Hickory and Ranney streets. She retired from Lone Star Industries in January after 20 years, and most of her time is devoted to caring for foster children.

Watson said she knew little about Weed and Seed except that it had lost its federal funding for a few months last year. But the program's mission to rejuvenate neighborhoods and rid them of crime is a worthwhile message, she said.