PLENTY OF HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES FOR ONE AND ALL

Anyone in this area looking for an all-American Fourth of July didn't have to search long. Cape Girardeau and Jackson each drew thousands of patriotic residents, along with dozens of smaller celebrations and fireworks displays throughout Southeast Missouri.

The Cape Girardeau event on the downtown riverfront was important for a lot of reasons.

One was that there was an organized celebration at all. Local members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who had been putting on fireworks displays at Arena Park in recent years, was having more and more difficulty each year in organizing the event and raising funds.

This year, the city kicked in $10,000 and the Convention and Visitors Bureau raised another $10,000 from generous sponsors.

The fact that the fireworks display was on the river was a good reason for thousands of people to come downtown, an area where several groups are currently working hard to maintain a vital shopping and entertainment district.

Meanwhile, Jackson's annual celebration continues to grow. Organizers estimated the total attendance of the all-day activities at over 40,000, capping the evening off with another spectacular fireworks extravaganza.

A big thank you to everyone who had a hand in organizing these celebrations of our nation's birthday, and a big thank you to all those who made it possible financially.