WEEKEND EVENTS KEEPING CITY MOTELS AND RESTAURANTS BUSY

The "no vacancy" signs are out at Cape Girardeau Motels.

The city's more than 800 motel rooms have been full or almost full the past two weekends. Vacancies will be scarce for the next three weeks as well.

One of the major factors in the influx of visitors to Cape Girardeau the past two weeks has been the Southeast Missouri State University athletic program.

More than 800 college athletes were in Cape Girardeau on a recent April weekend, when the university was host to its annual SEmotion Relays.

Add coaches, officials, families and sports fans and the relays provided a tremendous impact on area restaurants, hotels, shopping areas and service stations.

Marvin Rosengarten, who served in a number of capacities during his 29-year career at Southeast Missouri State University, including track and field coach, athletic director and director of activities, conducted a survey during the early 1990s that revealed the relays provided from $600,000 to $750,000 to the community's economy annually.

"People this year had to seek motel rooms in Perryville and Sikeston during the relays," said Mary Miller, director of the Cape Girardeau Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Last weekend's collegiate gymnastics National Invitation Tournament attracted almost 100 athletes from eight universities. Attendance at the gymnastics topped the 1,300 mark.

"The students were out of town for Easter," said Ron Hines, of the sports information center. "We felt the attendance was good."

Motel owners are expecting some more "no-vacancy" days in future weekends. Spokesmen for two of the motel groups here confirmed they were full, or almost full, for the next three weekends.

This weekend will be a big one, as more than 1,500 people converge on the city for the annual Ohio Valley Track & Field Championships Saturday.

"We'll have more than 500 athletes," Hines said. "Eight men's teams and nine women's teams will be here. Although the track meet is held Saturday, the athletes will arrive here Friday."

Hines said the annual championships usually attract more than 1,000 fans.

"There are also a number of things on this weekend's schedule," Miller said in reference to the two-day, Saturday-Sunday Mississippi River Valley Scenic Drive that showcases historic points in Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties, and the Saturday-Sunday, Spring Working & Traditional Craftfest at Black Forest Villages.

The annual Paducah Quilt Show, April 27 through 30, which attracts thousands, has created motel room searches from Paducah to Carbondale, Ill., and Cape Girardeau.

The Tour de Girardot Cycling Classic will also be held here the final weekend in April.

Competitive cycles and bicycle racing teams from the Midwest are expected to attract more than 200 entries for the race, sanctioned by the U.S. Cycling Federation.

The race is just a part of the first Cape Sports Festival being sponsored by Universal Physique Fitness Center on Mount Auburn Road. Other activities during the weekend will include a 5K run, racquetball competition, karate demonstrations and a sand volleyball tournament.

In addition to all the activity here, the tourism bureau continues to bring in motor coaches.

"We have three motor coaches here this weekend," Miller said.

Another big sports weekend will be May 6 and 7, when more than 1,000 young athletes converge on the city for the annual City of Roses Soccer Tournament. Southeast Missouri State University graduation ceremonies will be held the same weekend.

One of the smaller events, which has attracted young athletes here for the past six weekends, is the Young Americans Bowling Alliance. It attracts more than a dozen young bowlers and their families here every weekend through eight weeks. The YABA still has two weekends left on its tournament.