Stories from Sunday, August 14, 1994

Elva L. Englehart, 92, of 2010 Thilenius, died Saturday, Aug. 13, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center. Arrangements were incomplete at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Chapel.

The Jackson Heritage Association's third annual Victorian Driving Tour will feature a German theme. Set for Aug. 28, the tour will begin at Pioneer Orchard where guests will enjoy hearing a history of the orchard and feast on apples in a picnic setting...

Randy Quade, park maintenance, showing a milstone crane used to lift the one-ton grindstone off for cleaning and dressing. Eric Glatthaar, a seasoned tour guide, explains a roller mill to James, Mark, Debby and Ron Brandly of Troy. Donna Allen with a 19th century fanning mill used for cleaning grain...

One of the best things about living in a small town are the gatherings -- Christmas parties, community picnics and Fourth of July celebrations -- where just about everyone knows everyone. On Aug. 7, Gordonville residents had the opportunity to participate in one of these old-time fun times at the Gordonville Area Volunteer Fire Department's annual picnic...

An event that began in 1908 as a promotional idea of Jackson merchants will continue for its 86th year this year. According to Bill Poe, chairman of the American Legion-sponsored event, Homecomers was the brainchild of a few Jackson merchants who sponsored the event to draw people back to town and into their stores. It has always been held around the county courthouse near the city's downtown...

Dave Miller of Jackson tightens a headlamp on his rebuilt 1937 Ford flatbed truck. The 1930s era holds a special fascination for miller ever since he read John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath." The Miller clan, from left, Dave, Jennifer, Ashley, Sandy and Austin enjoy a picnic at Capaha Park. This fall they plan to picnic at unusual and hard to reach spots in the countryside, as they travel old dirt roads in their '37 Ford flatbed truck...

Local professionals and volunteers who work with juvenile offenders hope to establish a transition home for troubled male juveniles who are released from state custody. The home, which would be called the Eagles' Nest, would be at an as-yet-undetermined site in the Cape Girardeau area, said Jeffrey Krantz, volunteer chairman of a group planning for the home...

An Ice Cream Pig Out block party and the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Picnic in the Park will highlight opening week activities at Southeast Missouri State University. The Student Activities Council will sponsor the free pig out at 7 p.m. Friday in the Student Recreation Center. Featured entertainer will be Tom DeLuca, who twice has been named College Entertainer of the Year by the thousands of colleges and universities that make up the National Association for Campus Activities...

The specter of state governors who go to Washington, D.C., hat in hand, seeking some favor or another from an omnipotent federal government, is becoming all too familiar. That is what Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan did last month as he sought a Medicaid waiver from the feds. We sympathize with the governor on this one...

There comes a time when a country must come face to face with stark reality. The United States has had to confront reality many times: isolationism and inadequate military preparedness before World War II, a divided nation during the Vietnam War, a searing constitutional crisis during Watergate and at other times as well...

Jackson area residents got the chance to see firsthand the services provided by the Jackson Senior Center during an open house held Aug. 7 in observance of the center's 17th anniversary. Over 80 area residents attended the open house to learn about the history of the center, tour the facilities and learn more about the programs available there...

When readers make convincing arguments, they should be heeded. This is exactly what happened last week. John C. Bierk, who is a regular contributor to the opinion columns of this newspaper, made his point quickly: Editors shouldn't make so many changes in material submitted by readers for publication...

LOUDEN, Tenn. - Louise Nunnelee Snider, 83, of Louden, Tenn., formerly a resident of the Southeast Missouri area, died Friday, Aug. 12, at her home. The body is being returned to the Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston, where funeral arrangements are pending...

Lucille M. Sides, 80, of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, Aug. 12, 1994 at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Nov. 21, 1913, the daughter of John and Rosa Ostendorf Herbst. On July 8, 1940, she married Eugene Sides in Cape Girardeau. He survives...

WHITEWATER -- Daniel Frank Jones, 91, formerly of Whitewater, died Saturday, Aug. 13, 1994 at Hunter Acres Caring Center in Sikeston. He was born Feb. 4, 1903 at Crump, the son of Joseph and Mary Jones. On Nov. 28, 1926, he married Geraldine Wilson in Cairo, Ill. She preceded him in death May 14, 1989...

PERRYVILLE - Emma M. Gibbar, 100, of Perryville, died Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Perry County Nursing Home in Perryville. She was born Dec. 16, 1893, in Perry County, to Felix B. and Isabella Brewer Kline. On April 13, 1914, she married Clell A. Gibbar. He preceded her in death on Aug. 9, 1986...

ALTO PASS, Ill. - Margaret T. Trexler, 75, of Alto Pass, Ill., died Friday, Aug. 12, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 7, 1918 at Hackensack, N.J., to John and Carmella Gillespie Palmisano. On Dec. 15, 1945, she married John F. Trexler at Fort Monmouth, N.J. He preceded her in death on Sept. 5, 1992...

EAST PRAIRIE - William J. Edwards, 69, of Sikeston, formerly of East Prairie, died Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Funeral arrangements are pending at the Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie.

Jerry Lee Thorne, 58, of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, Aug. 12, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Feb. 22, 1936, at Burfordville, to Herbert and Iva Allen Thorne. On Oct. 29, 1956, he married Margaret Brown. She survives of the home...

Alvina A. Jones, 81, of Cape Girardeau, died Friday, Aug. 12, at the Fountainbleau Lodge. She was born in Chaffee, on Feb. 12, 1913, to George and Lena Lux Glueck. She married Vernon Jones in 1957, in Kansas City. He preceded her in death in April 1991...

DONGOLA, Ill. - Theodore Penrod, 88, of Dongola, died Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Hillview Nursing Home in Vienna. Funeral arrangements are pending at the Crain Funeral Home in Dongola.

A teen-ager fresh out of high school, George Dordoni wanted to see sitar master Ravi Shankar. He quit his summer job and bummed a ride to Woodstock 1969. He joined 350,000 others celebrating peace and love and music in an upstate New York farmer's field...

A free picnic today from 1-4 p.m. caps off events of the first River Heritage Regional Black Family Reunion. The picnic will be held at Arena Park and is open to anyone. Organizers say they are prepared to feed 1,000 people. On Saturday, an estimated 2,000 people attended events at Arena Park that included a number of workshops, carnival rides and appearances by new musical artists and even a new Power Ranger...

When NASA astronaut Linda Godwin spoke to the East Missouri District Optimist Convention on Saturday about her 11-day voyage into space, she brought along something special. Godwin, a native of Jackson, returned the East Missouri District Optimist International banner that went with her aboard the space shuttle Endeavor last spring...

Few speakers at a Cape Girardeau First Friday Coffee have generated as much comment as John "Woody" Cozad's address Aug. 5. His speech, which dealt with affirmative action, has generated dozens of phone calls to the chamber office and prompted chamber President John Mehner to send two memos to coffee attendees...

The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri will hold a candlelight vigil Aug. 20 at 8 p.m. at Arena Park in Cape Girardeau. The vigil is being held in recognition of National Homeless Animals Day to call attention to pet overpopulation in the United States. The event will feature readings and music. For information, call 334-5837...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Magnolia Manor will hold its first luncheon of the fall season on Sept. 6. Reservations must be made by calling (618) 734-0201 during business hours. The deadline for reservations is 5 p.m. Sept. 4. Serving time is from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The luncheons are hosted by the Cairo Historical Association and are held to support the four-story mansion...

BENTON -- Joe and Kevin Holt weren't having much luck with their family farm east of Benton. Like many farms in the area, the ground was sandy, and it kept producing marginal crops. That is when they turned to the University of Missouri Extension Service...

JACKSON -- Final preparations are under way for Tuesday's opening of the 87th edition of Jackson Homecomers sponsored by Jackson Altenthal-Joerns American Legion Post 158. The five-day Homecomers, which is free, runs through Saturday in uptown Jackson...

Motorists traveling Cape Girardeau streets are treated to inspirational or thought-provoking messages in four lines or less. Message signs, often intended for advertising, have taken on a new role at a number of area churches and businesses. Signs read "Laugh at yourself before someone else can" and "Moses found the perfect 10" and "The vitamin for friendship is B1."...

Sometimes, if I losen my firm grip on the relationship between butterflies and phlox, the awareness of the pecking order at the bird bath, the identification of bird song, I slip into what I call the Dismal Pond of trying to understand the philosophies of old Plato, Socrates, Aristotle and others. I can barely keep my head above water in such a pond of intangibles, abstractions and brain blowouts...

JACKSON -- The annual Homecomers Queen Contest will be held Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on the courthouse stage in Jackson. Thirteen contestants will vie for the title. Each contestant represents her hometown. The contest is a traditional part of Jackson's Homecomers event, which starts Tuesday and will continue through Saturday in the downtown area...