Stories from Tuesday, July 23, 1991

Geneva Hartle, president of the Noon Optimist Club of Jackson, is the newest recruit to Optimist leadership. She has been presiding over the recently-chartered club for only a few months. Hartle said she first became interested in joining the club when she heard a new service club was being formed in Jackson that would be meeting at noon. The time was perfect, she said, because it would require no evenings away from her family...

Kelly Faircloth knows what it's like to be one of the guys. Faircloth, president of the Excelsior Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau, leads an all-female club in a traditionally male-dominated domain. Faircloth has been a board member or executive of the Excelsior group since it was chartered three years ago. She said she looks forward to continuing work on club projects...

Many people have trouble maintaining their optimism at 6:30 in the morning, but members of the Breakfast Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau don't seem to mind early meetings. The Breakfast club's meeting time makes it unique among its area counterparts...

Kinsey Russell, Breakfast Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau's president, has been involved with youth-oriented activities for several years. Russell, who joined the breakfast club three or four years ago, had been active with Boy Scouts and church youth groups prior to his involvement with the optimists...

Although the Noon Optimist Club of Jackson is only a few months old, it already has received two important distinctions. Organized on March 27 and officially chartered on May 13, the club was the first to be established this year in the East Missouri District...

The Patriotic Club at Cape Girardeau Central High School joined the ranks of Optimist International last spring. The club was chartered as Patriotic Octagon, a high school chapter of the Noon Optimist Club. The high school club sponsor, Jack Grisham, and seven student members attended a Noon Optimist meeting on May 23 for the chartering ceremony...

The following article about the Cape Girardeau Optimist Club appeared in Optimist International's September 1926, newsletter: At eleven o'clock A.M. on October 21 there might have been seen leaving the business section of St. Louis, Missouri, as car having as passengers one Lieutenant Governor, Rev. ...

Craig Billmeyer, president of the Noon Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau, knows how to mix club business with pleasure. "My first and foremost reason for being a member is the guys in the club," Billmeyer said. "We have a lot of fun, but we also do good works. Membership in the club is not overwhelming, but we have a purpose that makes us feel good."...

Picture this: grown men chasing glow-in-the-dark golf balls across a golf course in the dark of night. It may sound unusual, but it's also worthwhile. The Noon Optimist Glow-Ball Tournament is one of the various activities sponsored by the 55-member Noon Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau. The tournament raises money to benefit the youth tackle football league, which is one of the club's major programs...

Almost every club has at least one member who is known for displaying peculiar behavior, and the Optimist Club of Jackson is no exception. The member who draws raised eyebrows from the more conventional members of this group, however, is the club's president, Larry Ream...

With members including an Optimist International district governor and several lieutenant governors, the Optimist Club of Jackson couldn't be prouder of its organization. The Optimist Club of Jackson was founded in 1939, and its original membership of 17 has grown to 65...

When the Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau received its charter several decades ago, it was the only group of its kind in the area. Now, 65 years later, the Cape Evening Optimists are among five fellow clubs in the region, and Optimist growth never seemed more likely...

Growing up in an inner-city neighborhood can teach a child to appreciate the services provided by groups such as Optimist Clubs, as Bob Hafford can well ~attest. Hafford, president of the Cape Girardeau Optimist Club, hails from the Bronx borough of New York City. He said his primary reason for becoming an Optimist was to reciprocate the kindness he received as a youth...

Over six decades of Optimism will be celebrated this week when the Cape Girardeau/Jackson Optimist Clubs come together Thursday for a joint dinner meeting. The special meeting, to be held at the Drury Lodge, will commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau. This first club spawned the other five area clubs, and the clubs now collectively boast more than 350 members...

The Excelsior Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau is the second youngest club in the area, having joined the ranks of local Optimism in 1988. Sponsored by the Breakfast Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau, the Excelsior club was chartered with 52 members. The club's biggest endeavor of late has been the co-sponsorship of a girl's basketball league. ...

Water consumption in Cape Girardeau hit a record high this month, thanks in part to the July heat wave. A spokesman for Union Electric's water department said Cape Girardeau residents have been using between 5.8 million and 6.1 million gallons of water per 24 hour day so far this month...

Entertainment for the 1991 edition of the Southeast Missouri District Fair takes on a decidedly country flair this year with headliners Ricky Skaggs and Shenandoah. Other grandstand entertainers include contemporary Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman, and a team of rising country stars, Joe Diffie and Neal McCoy...

Traffic signals will be installed in the coming months at heavily used intersections in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, a Missouri Highway and Transportation Department official said Monday. Next month, signals will be installed at the intersection of Route K and Silver Springs Road in Cape Girardeau. Signals will go up at the intersection of East Jackson Boulevard and Donna Drive in Jackson this fall...

TCI Cablevision of Missouri has failed since 1986 to comply with financial disclosure requirements set out in its franchise agreement with the city of Cape Girardeau, a city staff inquiry shows. The report on the cable television company's failure to comply with the franchise agreement was given to members of the Cape Girardeau Cable TV Citizens Committee Monday by City Attorney Warren Wells...

BENTON - After nearly four decades in public office and with his 74th birthday approaching, state Sen. John Dennis has decided to leave politics. He will not seek a fifth term in the Senate next year. "I'm not going to run any more; 40 years is long enough," Dennis said Monday morning. "I'd kind of like to be in there another four years, but I turn 74 the end of July and it's time to leave. It's been on my mind back and forth the last few months ... about a month ago I decided to retire."...

BENTON - Sometime around 1949, Scott County Sheriff Early Malcom touched off a political feud with the Dennis family. John Dennis made a promise to Sheriff Malcom to remove him from office. "I told him I'd get him an opponent or run myself," recalled Dennis...

ANNA, Ill. -- Shawnee Community College officials have outlined plans to open new extension centers in two communities at Anna and Cairo this fall. "We're looking forward to these cooperative endeavors," said Dr. Jack Hill, president of Shawnee College, during visits to the two communities Monday. "These centers will open the doors to residents of the Anna and Cairo areas, as well as some counties in West Kentucky and Southeast Missouri."...

An investigation is under way to determine the cause of a residential fire at 411 S. Pacific Monday. The blaze caused extensive damage to a rear bedroom and upstairs area of the house. Assistant Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Paul Kesterson said the back bedroom and upstairs of the 1 story, wood frame structure were fully involved in smoke and flame when firefighters arrived...

SCOTT CITY -- About 275 people in Scott City are being asked to change their address so that the city will have a consecutive house numbering system. Changes will be in house numbers only, said Mayor Shirley Young, and not street names. She added that the changes, though inconvenient, are necessary...

U.S. Sen. John Danforth of Missouri has stepped into the breach of history with his stewardship of Clarence Thomas's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. A Danforth protege from years back, Thomas is only the second black nominated for a seat on the nation's highest court, which enhances the historic significance of his appointment. ...

SIKESTON - Louella Gentry of Sikeston died Monday, July 22, 1991, at Incarnate Word Hospital. She was 73. Her body is at the Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Sikeston, where arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later.

Gladys Irene Scheper, 67, 1109 rear Merriwether, died Monday, July 22, 1991, at her home. She was born Aug. 18, 1923, at Bloomfield, daughter of Otto and Mary V. Haynes Baylor. She married Charles F. Scheper May 17, 1942. He died in 1982. Scheper had worked at St. Francis Medical Center 28 years, and was a member of First Assembly of God Church...

SCOTT CITY -- Charles E. Brawley, 64, of Scott City, died Sunday, July 21, 1991, at Ellis Fischel Cancer Research Center in Columbia. He was born May 10, 1927, in Ellington, son of Thomas L. and Liza Brown Brawley. He and Jean Niswonger were married Sept. 22, 1951, in Piggott, Ark...

Clara E. McCune, 68, 1711 Stoddard, died Sunday, July 21, 1991, at St. Francis Medical Center. She was born Oct. 2, 1922, in Johnston City, Ill., daughter of Matthew and Rosalie Agnitch Stritzel. She married Homer Leslie Huskey March 16, 1940, who died June 28, 1968. She later married James Andrew McCune June 6, 1972, who died Dec. 17, 1984...

BLOOMFIELD -- Mida Ruth Metcalf, 70, of Bloomfield, died Monday, July 22, 1991, at Bloomfield Nursing Center. She was born Aug. 28, 1920, at Bell City, daughter of Levi David and Cecil Mae Reynolds Lewis. She married Ray Edward Metcalf Dec. 13, 1941, at Bell City...

CHARLESTON -- Icelee King, 60, of Charleston, died Thursday, July 18, 1991, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. She was born Nov. 12, 1930, in Tupelo, Miss. Survivors include her husband, Robert; a son, James Sampson of San Diego, Texas; three brothers, James W. and Orlie Sampson of Memphis, Tenn., Olie Sampson of Miami, Fla.; four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren...

Grace Anderson, 87, died Monday, July 22, 1991, at the Lutheran Home, where she had resided since December 1989. She was born May 1, 1904, in Newton, Iowa, daughter of Alex J. and Eva Cooper Waddell. She married August Anderson May 28, 1923, who died July 25, 1959...

Ray Warren Call, a civic leader and long-time president of Missouri Utilities Co. here, died Monday, July 22, 1991, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was 78. He was president of Missouri Utilities Co. from 1960 until retiring in 1977. He was also president of Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce from 1955-57...

A major step for the proposed Mississippi River bridge at Cape Girardeau was achieved last week, an official of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department said Monday. District 10 Engineer Bob Sfreddo said the environmental assessment for the bridge right-of-way through Cape Girardeau was approved Friday by the Federal Highway Administration in Washington...

DELTA -- Two "slow orders" on the St. Louis-Southwestern (Cotton Belt) Railroad Monday likely saved the life of a rural Chaffee woman whose car was struck by a freight train east of Delta. A spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol said Betty J. Hicks, 48, of rural Chaffee, was not injured when the train struck her car at a railroad crossing of Cape Girardeau County Road 249...

BENTON -- A Scott County Grand Jury has ruled that two Scott City police officers did not disregard the law nor were they negligent when they failed to take a young boy to the police station after they arrested and jailed his grandfather. Scott County Prosecuting Attorney David Dolan said the ruling was made last week...

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City School District officials say they will need to cut personnel and salaries to compensate for a $125,000 shortfall in state funding this year. "Our state revenue sources are diminishing," said district Superintendent Bob Brison. "And we seem to be getting the message that this will become a permanent thing."...

The Salvation Army, 701 Good Hope, is serving Meals with Friends from 4:30-6 p.m. through Friday. The menu is: TUESDAYHamburger casserole, peas, tossed salad, jello, bread & butter. WEDNESDAYBeef stew, cucumbers, biscuits & butter, fruit cup. THURSDAYBarbecue hamburger, baked beans, coleslaw, applesauce...

I AM THE person that had traffic tied up at Kingshighway and Independence Thursday afternoon around 4 p.m. My transmission quit working at that moment. I could go in reverse but not forward. I want to thank the gentleman that got out his pickup truck to help push my car to the side. ...