BEST WISHES TO DEPARTING ARTS COUNCIL DIRECTOR

Beverly Strohmeyer's departure as executive director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, based here in Cape Girardeau, ends an era of her personal dedication to arts activities in this community.

Strohmeyer, who has been arts council director for 12 years and affiliated with the council for more than 20 years, is leaving for a job with the Missouri Arts Council in St. Louis.

The change is jobs means she will be spending more time with her husband, Donald Strohmeyer. The Strohmeyers have resided in Cape Girardeau for more than 30 years, but for the past few years Donald has worked in St. Louis during the week and returned to Cape Girardeau on weekends. Now both will be working in St. Louis.

Over the years that Beverly Strohmeyer has been at the arts council, it has fostered programs that involved the community in all sorts of special activities, from concerts to craft fairs to hot-air balloon festivals.

The arts council here in Cape Girardeau has been one of the top councils in the state. It receives the second-largest funding from the Missouri Arts Council of all the outstate councils.

The arts council's board is in the process of hiring a new director, and the aim is to continue to provide the best opportunities for a community that has long supported the arts.

Best wishes to Beverly Strohmeyer as she shifts gears in that effort, now on the state level.