Stories from Wednesday, December 2, 1998

A doorswag made of nandina and white pine can spruce up a home for Christmas. Marilyn, my bride of almost 32 years, is by profession a registered nurse, but she is really an interior decorator. I found this out the second Christmas of our marriage. While going to school, we lived on a Christmas tree farm. I traded work on the farm for an inexpensive place to park our mobile home...

The Retired Senior Volunteer Program is celebrating 25 years of faithful service to the region. The program has far-reaching benefits, from helping children to senior citizens and providing volunteers for 110 not-for-profit agencies. It began in 1973 in Chaffee with 20 senior citizen volunteers. ...

Nationwide, juvenile crime rates have surged in recent years. Unfortunately, the types of crimes these young people commit are becoming more violent and gruesome. Like many other counties, Cape Girardeau has outgrown its juvenile detention center built in the 1970s. ...

There was nothing but positive vibrations at the Cape Girardeau City Council's public meeting Monday night on information and plans to move ahead with the River Campus and South Side economic development plans. In a packed room of almost 150 people, not a negative remark was heard...

Easter Seals 1998 "Christmas in Missouri" ornaments are available for purchase. With this year's ornament, local artist Don Greenwood has captured a scene from the Trail of Tears' winter of 1838-1839...

Herman Weaver, a former member of the Detroit Lions NFL team, will speak to students in Southeast Missouri this week during a visit to the area. His visit is being sponsored by members of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International chapter...

Seifert's Store for Women, a fixture at West Park Mall since the shopping center opened more than 17 years ago in 1981, is closing. James F. Seifert Sr., chairman of the women's fashions chain, headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, announced this week Seifert's would close its 45 stores in eight states...

The past year has been one of noteworthy accomplishments for the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. Doug Groesbeck, district manager, Union Electric at Cape Girardeau, and current chairman of the chamber board reported recently that the majority of priorities, goals and objectives within the 1998 Business Plan had been met...

An SRO crowd filled overheated Academic Auditorium Tuesday night to hear a sweaty but pleasing performance of "Messiah." The performance by the Choral Union, University Chorus and University Symphony Orchestra had people standing at the rear of the auditorium, both on the main floor and the balcony, a first in this reviewer's memory...

To the editor: Last year the American Medical Association kicked off a two-year campaign to educate the country's doctors on how to better care for terminally ill patients. Education for Physicians on End-of-Life Care will attempt to reach every doctor in the United States in a grass-roots, train-the-trainer program. ...

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education will hold public forums next week to meet finalists for school district superintendent. However, the board doesn't know yet who those finalists will be. The board met Monday, Tuesday and is scheduled to meet tonight in closed session to review applicants and select two or three finalists...

Our Bag O' Christmas has been emptied for another year, its contents strewn about our home in as tasteful a manner as possible. I think one's feelings on the holiday season are dictated by one's upbringing. My parents didn't think much of it. As a result, every bit of our Christmas decor can -- and does -- fit into a trash bag, and we wouldn't have that much if it weren't for The Other Half...

Beating your arch rival as you play your first game in your brand-new gymnasium. For Notre Dame High's basketball Bulldogs, it doesn't get any better than that. "Our first game in the new gym and beating Cape Central," said a smiling Zach Miller. "It's a great feeling, about as good as it gets."...

Like it or not, the Ohio Valley Conference season gets started this week and we are on the road for games at Austin Peay Thursday and Tennessee State Saturday. I really don't like playing conference games in December, but it is necessary to get in all the league games and everybody is in the same situation. I'm sure every OVC coach would like to have a few more games under the belt before starting league play...

The first 250 people coming through the ticket gate wearing orange for Friday night's De Soto at Cape Girardeau Central boys basketball game will receive a seat cushion from radio station B-98.

FARMINGTON -- One game into the season, the secret is out. Beware Jackson High's girls basketball team's inside game. Cherish Tillman and Melissa Palmer combined for 50 points as Jackson turned aside North County 80-60 in a semifinal game in the Farmington Tournament. The contest was Jackson's season opener...

Funeral for Pearl F. Bevill of Cape Girardeau will be held at 10 a.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. Dr. Clayton Smith will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park. Bevill, 91, died Sunday, Nov. 29, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Jan. 3, 1907, in Cairo, Ill., daughter of William and Anne Rice Franklin. She and Albert L. Underwood were married in 1923 in Cairo. He died in 1925. She and Howard H. Bevill were married April 30, 1937, in Cairo. He died in February 1978...

DEXTER -- Joyce Baker of Dexter died Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1998, at her home. Watkins and Sons Funeral Home at Dexter is in charge of arrangements.

CAIRO, Ill. -- Nancy N. Frey, 62, of Cairo died Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Barkett Funeral Home.

PARMA -- Graveside service for Vertie Lee Williams will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Park Cemetery in Malden. Watkins and Sons Funeral Home at Dexter is in charge of arrangements. Funeral was held Tuesday at New Hope Funeral Chapel in New Hope, Ala. J.B. Whitaker officiated...

Robert J. Sander, 67, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1998, at Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Services. He was born Oct. 24, 1931, in Cape Girardeau, son of Henry W. and Emma Neumeyer Sander. He and Mary H. Cotner were married Sept. 23, 1950, in Piggott, Ark. She died Dec. 4, 1993...

JACKSON -- Marie L. Lichtenegger, 88, of Jackson died Monday, Nov. 30, 1998, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. She was born Jan. 18, 1910, at Pocahontas, daughter of Andreas H. and Ida Wallmann Koeberl. She and Arthur Theodore Lichtenegger were married April 3, 1932, at Pocahontas. He died March 15, 1993...

The 1999 budget for the City of Jackson is being finalized by the City Council and city staff. The budget will be balanced but progressive as our needs continue to expand with the growth of Jackson. Jackson continues to enjoy excellent financial stability, and we intend to maintain this position to ensure the future of our community...

JACKSON -- The annual Jackson Christmas Parade will begin at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in downtown Jackson. This year's theme is "Dreaming of a White Christmas." About 75 entries will begin the parade along South High Street. Among them will be marching bands from Jackson, Oak Ridge, Delta and Meadow Heights high schools...

JACKSON -- In just a matter of months, the students in Harriet Martin's third grade classroom at Orchard Drive Elementary School have improved their reading with the help of a computer program. Some students have read more than 60 books in just three months. Others have moved up to more difficult reading levels than where they first started at the beginning of the school year...

Twenty years ago when I started a cookbook collection, it never entered my mind that a hobby would someday develop into a career for me. As I look back, there was never any planning for a food-related career, it just seemed to naturally fall into place...