A true Cape Girardeau fairy tale

By Cliff Rudesill

Once upon a time, there was a bus driver in a large Midwestern city during the Depression. As he made his daily runs through the busy streets, he saw what raising a family in a large city could mean for his children: kids playing in the streets, gangs pressuring them to join, high crime rates.

He and his wife decided to search for a small city with good churches, schools, parks and a safer environment in which to raise a family. They found Cape Girardeau and decided, "This is the place."

They came to Cape Girardeau and started a small business. The wife joined a church circle and helped in the store. The husband worked long hours and gradually built a successful soft-goods business.

Things were tight, so for Christmas the wife baked cookies to use for tree ornaments. The trouble was that the three sons would eat the ornaments.

The good, small-city environment paid off, and the three sons, seeing the work habits of their parents, also developed good values and habits.

All three sons chose different directions. One expanded the soft-goods business to include furniture and expanded into additional outlets. One went into a related fabric business that has customers around the country. The third son tried politics for a while but found it wasn't for him. He bought a small weekly newspaper.

His long hours, good work habits and nimble mind paid off. He now owns dozens of newspapers in small cities and towns in the Midwest.

These three sons -- and now their children -- employ hundreds of workers. Their companies bring millions of dollars in commerce to Cape Girardeau.

In case you haven't guessed by now, the big-city bus driver and his wife who left Detroit for Cape Girardeau to raise their family were Wayne and Eva Rust.

Their three sons were Harry, Gary and Jim Rust. Now Wayne and Eva's grandchildren are taking over -- all because a couple wanted a better environment to raise a family.

That's the rest of the story.

Cliff Rudesill of Cape Girar-deau is a retired businessman.