Stories from Sunday, October 8, 1995

MARBLE HILL -- Ernest E. Darr, 72, of Marble Hill died Saturday, Oct. 7, 1995, at the Puxico Manor. He was born Sept. 26, 1923, at Sikeston, son to Charles and Mary Lawson Darr. On July 2, 1960, he married Wanda Durbin, who survives. Darr was a member of the Point Pleasant Baptist Church, Zalma Masonic Lodge, Crestwood VFW 3953 and DAV Chapter 1 of St.. Louis. He was retired from Nixdorff-Krein Manufacturing in St.. Louis...

Cape Girardeau County: Ronald and Patsy Garner to Gerald and Lisa Boyce; Morrill Development Co. to Morrill Development; Markus and Cheryl Mueller to Timothy and Susan Thompson; Patrick McDowell to Leo and Gloria Welker; Melvin and Doris Schmidt to The Doris Schmidt Trust...

This is the original group of Blue Bird Stompers, when they just did a form of dance called clogging. They decided later to aks their husbands to join so they could square dance. "Anybody can square dance," says Donna Barks of Glen Allen. Barks is the leader of The Blue Bird Stompers, a group of Jackson square dancers who have given the unique dance form a new dimension...

Norman catches a pass just before he made the first of two touchdowns against Cape Central. The Jackson Indians beat the Cape Central Tigers last Thursday night with the final score of 30-13. Jackson took an early lead and managed to keep it throughout the game...

Pocahontas Lumber Company in Jackson is inviting everyone to the Grand Opening of their "New Age of Ace" store. The celebration is planned for Oct. 11-14. Daily door prizes will be given away for all who register, with a special char-broil gas grill the the grand prize...

After reading or watching the news about the recent earthquake in California, one is reminded of the area in which we live and if we too will experience an earthquake that will disrupt our day-to-day lives. Dave Stewart of Marble Hill, is on a mission to alert everyone to that possibility and to educate one and all about our past and greatest earthquake of 1811-12...

Domestic Action Programs, which are provided by the Missouri National Guard, are definitely beneficial to the community. The Guard has built ball fields, provided access roads for public schools, commuter parking lots and several other projects that have enhanced the region...

The Jackson Marching Chiefs near the end of the parade route on South Russell Street. The Jackson Junior Chiefs band march along South High Street during the parade. The Oak Ridge High School marching band was one of the 19 bands participating the Jackson Band Festival...

So, post-O.J., how's American culture doing? Most pundits answer: lousy. We live in a country whose most famous Catholic is a singer who stole the name of the mother of God (Madonna), and whose culture is symbolized, at the popular level, by her prancing around in her underwear, simulating masturbation and singing raunchy songs. ...

I am white. Like most other whites, I thought O.J. Simpson was guilty. Had I and my white friends been on the jury, we would have found Simpson guilty -- perhaps in a record time of three or four hours. But we weren't on the jury. The 12 Californians (nine blacks, one Hispanic and two whites) who heard the case for nine months found one of two things. ...

It doesn't take a Ph.D. in political science to observe that Americans are generally disillusioned with the men and women who govern them from city halls, courthouses and state and federal capitols. We have held contempt for politicians in this country since the days of George Washington, who, despite the fact he was the most popular figure in America at the time, had a surprisingly large number of critics...

Recent news out of the University of Missouri-Columbia has been somewhat less than reassuring where the management of some resources is concerned. At the Journalism School, they have something called the Center for Advanced Social Research, which is in the business of surveying public opinion. In only two years, the center has made enough bad decisions to plunge into debt to the tune of $460,000...

Last week's announcement that Gov. Mel Carnahan had pardoned convicted killer Johnny Lee Wilson was met with dismay in some quarters, relief and jubilation in others. Wilson is mentally retarded, with an IQ of 76 and low verbal skills. He had been convicted of the 1986 killing of a 79-year-old woman and had spent 8 1/2 years in prison for a crime he always denied committing. ...

Are we really better now that the O.J. Simpson trial is over? For over a year we've waited for this day, most of us presuming guilt. After more than nine months of media hype and pre-empted soap operas, we've heard the jury render a verdict of not guilty. Personally, I was stunned. I couldn't believe it. Can we let this go and get on with life?...

BELL CITY -- Pauline G. Dalton, 78, of Bell City died Saturday, Oct. 7, 1995, in the Bloomfield Nursing Center in Bloomfield. She was born Jan. 15, 1917, in Lilbourn, the daughter of William and Bessie Taylor Gremore. On June 25, 1938, she married Blair E. Dalton Jr., who preceded her in death on Feb. 19, 1971...

STE. GENEVIEVE -- Fred Abbott, 64, of Ste. Genevieve, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, Sept. 30, 1995, at Ste. Genevieve Memorial Hospital. He was born Jan. 13, 1931, in Hamburg, N.Y., the son of Stanley and Bertha Atkinson Abbott. On Dec. 17, 1969, he married Kay Younger...

Vera Christine Humburg, 85, 2001 N. Kingshighway, died Friday, Oct. 6, 1995, at the Fountainbleau Lodge in Cape Girardeau. She was born Dec. 14, 1909, in Bedford, Ind., the daughter of Clarence and Sylvia Harris Hartman. On July 2, 1938, in Warrenton, she married Christopher Charles Humburg, who preceded her in death April 2, 1974...

BURFORDVILLE -- Oma L. Barks, 74, of Burfordville died Saturday, Oct. 7, 1995, at the family home. She was born Sept. 22, 1921, in Nimmons, Ark., daughter of the late Elain and Lena Crow Gattis. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Lucas Simmons, who died in 1946. In 1950, she married J. Lowell Barks, who survives...

RICHARDSON, Texas -- Cornelia N. Sander, 91, of Richardson died Friday Oct. 6, 1995, at the Plano Hospital in Plano, Texas. She was born Oct. 19, 1903, in Gordonville, daughter of the late Edward H. and Emma Glucksherty Kerstner. She married Lawrence A. Sander on July 27, 1929. He preceded her in death in 1951...

Edward L. Davis, 41, of Cape Girardeau, died Thursday, Oct. 5, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 11, 1954 in Cape Girardeau, son of Clifton Davis Jr. and Vermell M. Leisure. He is survived by his father and stepmother, Betty Davis, both of Cape Girardeau; three sons, Jimmy Williams of Cape Girardeau, Johnny Sam Crook of Venice, Ill., and Adam J. ...

JEFFERSON CITY -- The Southeast Missourian took 10 awards in the 1995 Missouri Press Foundation's Better Newspaper Contest, including first place for general excellence among Missouri dailies. Representatives of the newspaper accepted the awards on behalf of the staff Saturday at a ceremony in Jefferson City...

Several years ago when I heard Jimmy Buffett sing the words, "Mother, Mother Ocean, I have heard your call," I knew I had heard the person with the words that could transport me to the ocean in my mind when I can't go there physically. To this day when I'm too far from the ocean, I turn on a Jimmy Buffett tape and go there in my dreams...

Fewer people are flying out of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport on Trans World Express. Boardings of commuter flights to St. Louis from the airport are down by nearly 400 passengers through the first nine months of this year. Greg Chenoweth, airport manager, blames this year's downturn on a reduced marketing effort locally by TWE and the public's fear of flying on turbo-prop planes...

For about 90 minutes Saturday morning, Broadway turned into the Yellow Brick Road as Southeast Missouri State University celebrated its Homecoming. Alumni, students and guests saluted "The Wizard of Oz" with the celebration theme "Southeast: There's No Place Like Home."...

If it weren't for Southeast Missouri State University, the winner of the 1995 Friend of the University Award joked, "I would probably still be grubbing sprouts on a farm in Puxico." John W. Glenn, a 1952 Southeast graduate and a California business leader, received the award Saturday at the annual Copper Dome Society Breakfast...

JACKSON -- After a few hours of pacing, it was time for Jeff Moore to find a seat and sit. The manager of Ross Furniture traded hats -- or at least donned a turn-of-the century derby -- for the day to become chairman of Good Ol' Days in Jackson. It was Saturday, and he was worried about the group of fake bank robbers due at 1 p.m. who hadn't shown by 2:30...

The Youth, Education, Literacy and Learning YELL for Newspapers grant applications for community literacy programs are available. Application deadline is Oct. 27, and interested parties should contact Dorothy Klein of the Area Wide United Way, P.O. Box 562, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0562, to receive an application...

When Greg Keith started out as a paramedic in 1975, he worked with a ground ambulance crew. In 1988, his new career with an air ambulance service got off the ground. "It's a lot different, because when we respond, there's usually a ground unit already on the scene or we respond to the hospitals, and the patient's already been initially assessed and treated," said Keith, a flight paramedic with LifeBeat, Southeast Missouri Hospital's air ambulance service. ...

Children's weight-control programs often overlook their parents. When teaching children to make healthy food and lifestyle choices, it's important to include the people who buy the groceries and plan the meals, say weight-control specialists Marsha Holloway and Amy Hutson...

A lot of couples go to great lengths to have babies. A former Cape Girardeau man and his wife went all the way to China. Ralph Flori Jr., his wife, Beverly, and their daughter, Aleisha Shiaomei, recently returned to their home in Rolla. Flori's father, Ralph Sr., is the owner of Flori Sales and Service in Cape Girardeau. Ralph Jr. graduated from Cape Central High School in 1975 and is now an assistant professor at the University of Missouri-Rolla...

As summer gives way to autumn, we observe a number of changes in the natural world that surrounds us. The amount of sunlight (photoperiod) decreases by a few minutes each day and temperatures fall. The leaves of trees and other plants change from the greens of summer to sometimes brilliant shades of red, yellow, orange and purple...

Police officer Kenny Rinehart toaked to Mary Davis, left, at her home in the 800 block of South Sprigg Street about a renter's dispute. A young man, left, talked to Officers Kenny Rinehart and Kelly Kenser during a routine traffic stop on Good Hope Street...

With all the sunflower seeds the birds and squirrels eat and scatter around here, I suppose it should not be surprising that a seed should land in one of my hanging flowerpots, take root and try for a belated life of its own. I saw the little seedling pushing through the soil and thought from the very beginning it was a sunflower. You know, the sandpapery leaves...

Actress Marcia Wallace, best known for her roles as the irreverent and witty receptionist on "The Bob Newhart Show" and as the voice of Bart Simpson's beleaguered fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Krabapple, today, plays the role of a breast cancer survivor...

NAYLOR, Mo. -- The smell of coal smoke fills the air as visitors' eyes adjust to the dim light in the Clutter Blacksmith Shop Museum, the last remaining blacksmith shop in Southeast Missouri. Although no one has earned a living at the shop since 1971, it still is used for the town's fall festival and when visitors stop in for demonstrations...

GORDONVILLE -- Descendants of Christian and Doretta Kelpe Bierschwal will gather today at the Zion United Methodist Church, west of Gordonville. The reunion is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. Families are urged to bring photographs and articles. Glenn Randolph of Long Beach, Calif., will be present and is finalizing his collection for a hard cover family book...