WITH A BANG: JACKSON FESTIVITIES TO HIGHLIGHT HOLIDAYS

JACKSON -- The hub of July 4 revelry in the area will be at Jackson, where a full day of activities are planned to recognize area troops who served in Operation Desert Storm and to celebrate the nation's independence.

The Independence Day festivities will be sponsored by the Jackson Jaycees, local veterans groups and the United Way Desert Storm Task Force Committee.

Highlighting the day's activities will be a parade dedicated to Desert Storm troops and other veterans. A Desert Storm honor ceremony will follow the parade at the city park band shell.

The parade will begin at 9 a.m. and will wind through town to the band shell, situated south of Highway D.

The daylong event is the only major Independence Day observance in Cape Girardeau County this year.

Don Strohmeyer, chairman of the United Way Desert Storm Task Force Committee, said the ceremony will be an opportunity for area residents to exhibit their pride in local Desert Storm troops.

He said the cooperation of the Jackson Jaycees and city administration has helped to put the ceremony together.

"It's been fun," Strohmeyer said. "When the task force started looking around for a way to welcome the troops home, we couldn't really find a good date to get them all together."

He said President George Bush encouraged cities across the country to recognize the troops July 4. "We decided to combine the ceremony with the Jackson Jaycees celebration," he said.

Strohmeyer said the Jaycees and the city of Jackson have "bent over backward" to assure a good homecoming for the troops and a successful Independence Day celebration.

"They always have a good turnout anyway, and there should be an exceptionally large turnout this year," he said. "These troops will bring their families.

"You can really see the pride in faces of the wives and fathers and mothers. It really shows."

Strohmeyer said the ceremony will be a prime opportunity for Southeast Missouri residents to "come out and cheer" the returning troops and veterans of past conflicts.

"We're asking for all the veterans to walk in the parade," he said. "We're going to recognize all the Desert Storm troops by name, and then all the other veterans by conflict and by the branch of military they served in."

Strohmeyer said veterans also will be brought to the event from the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau.

He said many of the members of the Desert Storm Task Force are Vietnam veterans who wanted to recognize the efforts of Desert Storm troops.

"The Vietnam vets were instrumental in putting this together to make sure the Desert Storm troops got a better homecoming then they had," he said. "All the veterans groups have been involved from the start.

"That's one of the reasons we want to recognize the other conflicts. I think if the Vietnam vets march in this thing, they'll get a big cheer."

Final details of the ceremony will be discussed Thursday in a public meeting at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce building.

Strohmeyer said the event will include speeches by U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson and Blair Moran of Sikeston, a veteran. Also, three Desert Storm veterans will relate their experiences in the Persian Gulf.

Mary Ann Maloney of KFVS-TV will be the master of ceremonies for the event, which will feature Mrs. Missouri Melody Hutson, an invocation by Chaplain John Ferguson and entertainment and a patriotic presentation by veteran Jimmy Cox of Cairo, Ill.

Anyone interested in participating in the parade or needing additional information may contact Patty Reisenbichler at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce at 243-8131, or Strohmeyer at 335-8764.

Other activities at the Jackson celebration include an auto show, horseshoe tournament, mud volleyball, children's and adult games, live entertainment, concessions, a tractor pedal pull and a band concert. It will conclude with a fireworks display over the park lagoon.