Stories from Sunday, July 23, 2000

In retrospect, Kevin and Debbie Schearf seemed destined to own the Joseph Williams House at 425 North High Street. Long before Kevin, not yet married, bought the house at auction in 1995, the brick Queen Anne beauty had drawn both him and Debbie. Kevin had seen it advertised for sale by owner Virginia Seabaugh a year earlier. ...

The Jackson Rotary Club provided an outfield fence for Leonard Sander Field in Jackson recently. The Rotary Club raised money with its annual Pancake Day in March. A matching Wal-Mart grant of $1,000 allowed the $1,900 fence to be put in place. "It was a way for the local club to work with Wal-Mart and do even more for the community," said Chris Weiss, past president of the Jackson Rotary Club...

RAINBOW GRILL STAFF: Employees at the Rainbow Grill restaurant during the 1970s included (from left) Georgia Green, Freda Schweer, Alma Proffer, Greg Colyer, Jen Sievers, Celia Sewing, Sherry Sievers and Linda Chaney. For three generations, the Sievers family had a presence on the corner of High and Main streets, operating the Ideal Grocery, Palace Theater and, later, the Rainbow Grill...

Saxony Lutheran High School's lst Annual Golf Tournament will be held at Bent Creek Golf Course in Jackson, Sept. 25. This four-person scramble will have a 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. shotgun start with a noon lunch. Mulligans are available. Special prizes will be awarded. Deadline to sign up is Sept. 11. Registration form are available from Albrecht-Hodges, Inc., 1418 Kurre Lane, P.O. Box 1628, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702. Tel: 3348665 and ask for Cheri Stembel...

An incredible story made the news recently. I listened in shock and amazement, not quite believing what I heard. The reporter was saying that a father became upset at a children's sports event and attacked and killed the father of another player. This took place in public, while the children looked on. My mind shouted a loud, unbelieving, "What?" quickly followed by "Why?"...

Several new titles are available at the main Jackson branch of the Riverside Regional Library. New titles in the Adult category include Lightposts for Living by Thomas Kincaid, Complete Cardiokickboxing by Thomas Seabourne, In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson, Abilene Lawmen by Larry Underwood, Sex and Shopping by Judith Krantz, Young Wives by Olivia Goldsmith, Midnight in Ruby Bayou by Elizabeth Lowell, A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton, Listen to Your Heart by Fern Michaels, All Rivers to the Sea by Bodie Thoene and Magic Terror by Peter Straub.. ...

HARD WORK: Michelle Wright of Rolla (left) and Victoria Ramsey and Jana and Mary Walther of Jackson got down and dirty to help rehab the historic Curfew Center in St. Louis. RESTORATION WORK: MO-RULES participants gave a much-needed interior facelift to the elegant, historic Curfew Center - thought to have originally been a YMCA - in downtown St. Louis...

NATIONAL STARS: Jackson FBLA members proudly display their National stars received at the National Leadership Conference July 11. From left to right are Catie Myers, Alicia Alderson, Abby Grossheider, Amanda Bollinger, Melinda Burnett, Josh Pfefferkorn, and Emily Unverferth...

Jackson Area Optimist Soccer Association will hold its fall walk-in registration July 29 and Aug. 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Another will be held Aug. 2, 6-8 p.m. Forms have also been sent in the mail to those who participated in the spring, 2000 season. Newspaper forms may also be mailed in. ...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Community Counseling Center Foundation is sponsoring its third semi-annual Antique and Collectibles Show, Oct., 8. Now is the time for dealers to sign up and reserve a space. All proceeds from the event will go to the Community Counseling Center Foundation to be used for providing improved facilities, equipment and services for persons with mental illness. ...

Five Christian groups will rock the Jackson Bandshell on July 29. Music Fest 2000, brainchild of Southeast Missouri State University student Ryan Harper, will feature five Christian bands of various contemporary styles. The free concert will begin at 2 p.m. at the Band Shell. The band will have merchandise tables and T-shirts. The up-tempo music will be geared toward youth, but adults are invited, as well. A variety of styles will be played...

When Kevin Schearf bought the brick Queen Anne home at 425 North High Street he and his soon-to-be wife Debbie bought more than brick and mortar. They also bought into a family legacy. Born during the Civil War, Joseph Welling Williams received dual bachelor's degrees in education and arts from the University of Missouri in 1884. ...

John Truman, great-grand-nephew of the late President Harry S. Truman, spoke in support of Gov. Mel Carnahan for the U.S. Senate during a whistlestop campaign in Cape Girardeau Saturday. Mick Grace was eager for the train carrying Mel Carnahan's entourage to arrive in downtown Cape Girardeau Saturday...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- The menu was down-home good -- country fried corn, crowder peas, ham hocks and white beans, thickened new potatoes, cucumber salad, blackberry cobbler, pecan pie, and "girdle-busting" chocolate creme cheese pie. Mable Bain calls it her annual "Country Corn Fry."...

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Ernestina "Tina" Hinojosa came from a family of 12 children, but somehow she always managed to be the center of attention. "She was so funny," recalled her sister Rosie Robillard. "She could mimic just about anyone, but her best was the witch from the 'Wizard of Oz.' She would just make us all laugh."...

Whenever Ryan Ewing plays catcher, he never thinks of arguing calls with the umpire. "I don't argue with people," said Ewing, 21. "It's a waste of time." He tries to get along with everybody, he said. Even umpires. Ryan's Cape Girardeau Storm was one of 11 regional softball teams that played in Cape Girardeau on Saturday for the Special Olympics district tournament...

Phone home. Just don't do it when you're driving, federal officials say. Those fine folks at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are worried that we're too distracted when we drive our cars. Of course, we are. But don't blame cellular phones. They're just the latest in a long line of distractions ranging from car stereos to fast food...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- It's probably only fitting that top-seeded Chaffee Medicap Pharmacy and second-seeded Dunklin County will play one final, winner-take-all game to decide the American Legion District 14 Tournament championship. Those squads proved to be by far the district's best teams during the regular season and they will square off at 1 p.m. today at Hillhouse Park. The winner earns a berth in this week's Zone 4 Tournament in St. Louis...

I always have had the utmost respect for major-league hitters who routinely crush baseballs out of the park. For years, I've watched SportsCenter and marveled when one slugger after another mashed 400-plus-foot home runs -- and often a lot longer than that -- out of spacious (or, these days, sometimes not-so-spacious) stadiums...

After a doubleheader with the McDowell Capahas Saturday afternoon, Evansville Outlaw pitcher Nate Shepherd probably would've done anything to have had better defense behind him. And when he got up this morning, he probably would've done anything for an ice pack, a couple of Advil and a tube of Bengay...

MARSHALL, Mo. -- The Jackson Senior Babe Ruth baseball team defeated Southwest Ozark 13-4 Saturday to move into the winner's bracket final of the Senior Babe Ruth State Tournament. Winning pitcher Whit Thornborough allowed just four hits for Jackson (26-3), which will face Booneville at 1 p.m. today...

Every year, during late spring and early summer, conservation agents receive numerous calls concerning juvenile wild animals. It is a natural reaction that most people, especially young people, want to take home adolescent animals when they come in contact with them. Baby animals are so cute and seem so helpless that it is a normal response...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Mary Carolyn Arnold Forhan, 52, of Scott City died Friday, July 21, 2000, at Scott City. She was born Jan. 1, 1948, at Cape Girardeau, daughter of William Lloyd and Rosebud Lillian Markhart Arnold. She and Larry J. Forhan were married Nov. 24, 1982, in Cape Girardeau...

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- A St. Louis man died in a head-on collision Saturday morning on Highway 51, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. Kevin Millerman, 37, was driving his 1971 Dodge pickup north about 10:45 a.m. when he struck a southbound pickup driven by Thomas Lytle of Clarksville, Tenn. The wreck occurred about 10 miles south of Marble Hill. The collision spun Millerman's pickup around so that it struck another northbound vehicle driven by Roy Lewis, 75, of Wappapello, Mo...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Betty Sizemore, 65, of New Madrid, Mo., died Friday, July 21, 2000, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Sept. 14, 1934, at Hickman, Ky., daughter of William P. and Alice Mast Pierson. Survivors include a son, Terry Glenn Sizemore of Chattanooga, Tenn.; a daughter, Nancy Lynette Blanchard of Tracy, Quebec, Canada; two brothers, Ernest Pierson of Shreveport, La., and Jimmy Watson of Simpsonville, S.C.; three sisters, Norma Adams of Pomona, Mo., Dixie Barnett of Battlefield, Mo., and Beth Moore of Oklahoma City, Okla.; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.. ...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Charles H. Parker, 54, of Perryville died Friday, July 21, 2000, at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis. He was born Nov. 13, 1945, at St. Louis, son of Charles H. and Mary Elizabeth Scott Parker. He and Sherry Anderson were married Oct. 26, 1997, in Perryville...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Louis Christian Goehri Jr., 53, of Sikeston died Friday, July 21, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Nov. 24, 1946, in St. Louis, son of Louis C. and Carolyn W. Oepping Goehri Sr. He and Joyce Dial were married May 28, 1993, at Sikeston...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Paul V. Wilson, 67, of Olive Branch died Friday, July 21, 2000, on arrival at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born Feb. 10, 1933, in Thebes, Ill., son of Willis "Chick" and Leona Bedwell Wilson. He married Florene Stevenson, who died in 1970. He later married Georgia McClellan...

Joseph "Jay" Myers, 71, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, July 22, 2000, at the Missouri Veterans Home. He was born Nov. 26, 1928, at Pontiac, Mich., son of William Francis and Jessie Irwin Myers. He and Helen McGraw were married July 15, 1955. She died Jan. 22, 1979...

Mary Alice Haman, 88, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, July 22, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Aug. 24, 1911, at Seventy-Six, Mo., daughter of Albert L. and Mary Elizabeth Farrar Swan. She and Cletus "Pete" Childers were married in 1940. He died in 1963. She and Lawrence Haman were married in 1965. He died in 1980...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Hazel E. Hennecke, 83, of Jackson died Saturday, July 22, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born Aug. 25, 1916, in Dunklin County, daughter of Edward Eakins and Zelma Summers. She and Walter J. Hennecke were married Dec. 16, 1931. He died April 5, 2000...

Son to Mark E. and Kim C. Simon of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 4:04 p.m. Monday, July 17, 2000. Name, Conner Stephen. Weight, 8 pounds 3 ounces. First child. Mrs. Simon is the former Kim Fujimoto, daughter of Debbie Wood of Fredericktown, Mo., and Ron and Jan Reeves of St. Louis. She is a personal banker at Firstar Bank. Simon is the son of Evelyn Wisler of St. Charles, Mo., and Bill and Doris Broyles of St. Peters, Mo. He is a service representative with Southwestern Bell...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Arthur "Sonny" Jenkins, 65, of Dexter died Saturday, July 22, 2000, at Dexter. Jenkins was born Aug. 3, 1934, at Poplar Bluff. He was owner and operator of Sonny's Place in Dexter. He served in the U.S. Marines during the Korean War. Survivors include a son, Jim "J.J." Jenkins of Dexter; a brother, Bob Jenkins of Dexter; a sister, Doris Robinson of Dexter; and a grandson...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Joseph Russel Triplett, 85, of Southhaven, Miss., died at Memphis, Tenn. Friday, July 21, 2000. Triplett was born Feb. 4, 1915, at Essex, Mo., son of George W. and Amanda Waters Triplett. He and Edith Black were married May 2, 1936. She died May 13, 1998...

I suspect if someone could ask each of the 273 million inhabitants of the United States to give the precise moment of America's finest hour, there might be more answers than citizens. The exact moment at which this exceptional, often fractious society of ours reached its finest point may, according to many, have already been achieved. On the other hand, others undoubtedly believe the best is yet to come and that the American new millennium is still just around the corner...

Among the most disturbing facts of the Clinton presidency is his affinity for, and frequent use of, executive orders to enact policies that Congress won't approve. Recall the Clinton aide who quipped: "Hmmm. Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Cool." A habit more un-democratic, nor one more inimical to American liberty, is hard to imagine...

So now the decision is President Clinton's. It is the chief executive who will decide, in this election year as Washington's budget surpluses swell stupendously, whether Americans will receive tax cuts. Republican majorities in the House and Senate have delivered to his desk not one, but two significant tax cuts before the summer is half over. Nice work...

I am calling about the person who said he was picking up trash from his yard near a convenience store. He should be over here in the 400 block of Benton Street. The neighbors have trash all over. They dump it on the sidewalk and on the curb. It gets out in the street. ...

Midsummer. The sweet corn and peaches are in, the tomatoes are fabulous and an uncharacteristic break in the stifling heat has us all thanking God for small favors. (The global-warming crowd, call your office.) As this writer packs for a week in Philly at the GOP national convention, herewith a few ruminations on the state of the 2000 campaign...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Dwight and Golda Smith of Perryville will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary today with their family. An open house and reception will be held from 2-4 p.m. at Saline Lodge Masonic Hall in St. Mary, Mo.

"Now for your First-Day-of-School dresses, we're going to trim them with soutache braid," Mama told her eight and ten year old girls, Lou and me. "Soo what?" we asked in unison, big eyed and alert. "Soutache," Mama repeated. "S-O-O-T-A-S-H." She didn't spell it right but how did we know or care? We sensed something new...

McCLURE, Ill. -- Mr. and Mrs. Albert Holtzclaw of McClure celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a dinner July 5, 2000, at Woodards in Jackson, Mo. Hosts were their children and grandchildren. Holtzclaw and Mary May McKenzie were married June 13, 1940, in Morganfield, Ky...

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Kimberly Ann Welker and Timothy William Stevens were married March 10, 2000, at Chaffee Nursing Center. Judge Hense Winchester performed the double ring ceremony. Music was provided by Chris Schetter of Oran, Mo. Parents of the bride are Robert and Mary Jackson of Chaffee. The groom is the son of Earl and Opal Stevens of Dutchtown, Mo...

Priscilla Lynn Owens and Gregory Scott Holzbauer were united in marriage July 3, 2000, in a private garden ceremony at the home of the bride's parents. Hal Greene performed the double ring ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Mike and Jo Rodgers of Cape Girardeau. The groom is the son of Donald and Judith Holzbauer of Milwaukee, Wis...

Penny Ann Blandford and Scott Williams were married Nov. 27, 1999, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Chapel. The Rev. Barry L. Pfanstiel performed the ceremony. Music was by Nicole Buehrle of Jackson, Mo., and Tracy Haggerty of Cape Girardeau. Parents of the couple are Chalmer and Norma Blandford of Perryville, Mo., and Dean and Dorothy Williams of Anna, Ill...

ESSEX, Mo. -- Terry and Karen Blair of Essex announce the engagement of their daughter, Melissa Ann Blair, to Travis Leo Hitt. He is the son of Dennis and Glenda Hitt of Advance, Mo. Blair is a 1997 graduate of Richland High School. She is employed at First National Bank in Sikeston, Mo...

Joseph and Jane Stahly of Cape Girardeau announce the engagement of their daughter, Jodi Michelle Stahly, to David Scott Hefner. He is the son of Donna Hefner of Jackson, Mo., and Scott and Connie Hefner of Perks, Ill. Stahly is a 1994 graduate of Central High School, and a 1998 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University. She is a sales representative with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Winifred and Lane Dokes of Macon, Ga., and Paul and Linda McLean announce the engagement of their daughter, Kimberly A. McLean, to Michael S. Rhodes. He is the son of Ralph and Linn Rhodes of Crump, Mo. McLean is a 1992 graduate of Jackson High School, and is attending Southeast Missouri State University...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Stephen and Marcia Hendrix of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Kyleigh Noelle Hendrix, to David La. He is the son of Hung La of Cape Girardeau and Muoi Tang of Orlando, Fla. Hendrix is a 2000 graduate of Jackson High School...

JACKSON, Mo. -- David and Carolyn Beasley of Jackson announce the engagement of their daughter, Janet Lea Beasley, to William Ray Silliman, both of Columbia, Mo. He is the son of Bill and Violet Silliman of Dexter, Mo. Beasley received a bachelor of science degree from Southeast Missouri State University. A senior vice president with Union Planters Bank in Columbia, she is marketing and human resources director...

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Mark and Leah Fisher of Scott City announce the engagement of their daughter, Heidi Michelle Fisher, to Christian Alan Griffin. He is the son of Alan and Angela Griffin of Joplin, Mo. Fisher is a graduate of Scott City High School. She is pursuing a bachelor of science degree in behavioral science at Bartlesville Wesleyan College in Bartlesville, Okla...

You won't want to change a thing is this immaculate four-bedroom home in Cape Girardeau's Northfield Subdivision. From the well-groomed exterior to the newly remolded basement and everything in between, this well-kept home is ready for a new family...