Stories from Monday, October 23, 2006

Being a lifelong resident of Southeast Missouri, it is very obvious to me we live in an agricultural area. Farmers provide food and goods we appreciate very much. With more efficient and larger equipment requiring less labor to operate, farms provide fewer jobs than they once did. Working on a farm was once a big part of employment in this region...

Attached is a copy of the poem I wrote and presented as part of our 50th year Sikeston High School reunion. It is about some of my experiences and recollections about growing up in Sikeston Don Nicholson "WHEN YOU'RE GROWING UP" When you're growing up...

POPLAR BLUFF - Robbie Brigance Janis, 89, died Oct. 21, 2006, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Born Aug. 21, 1917, in Arkansas, to the late Elisha and Mary Floyd Lowery, she had lived for many years in Poplar Bluff where she was a homemaker and a member of the Little Brown General Baptist Church...

DEXTER - Byron Scism, formerly of Bloomfield, died Oct. 22, 2006, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Arrangements are incomplete with Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home of Bloomfield.

EAST PRAIRIE -- Margie Lou McKnight, 51, died Oct. 23, 2006, at her home in East Prairie. Arrangements are incomplete at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie.

PARMA - Vera Beatrice Cagle, 97, died Oct. 22, 2006, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Born Sept. 14, 1909, in Calhoun City, Miss., to the late John and Minnie Crawford Moore, she was a for 75-year resident of the Parma area, where she was a homemaker and member of the Parma General Baptist Church...

CHARLESTON - Helena Vernetta Duenne, 88, a resident of the Texas Bend Community north of Charleston, died at 4:15 a.m. Oct. 22, 2006, at the Charleston Manor. Born May 7, 1918, at Mounds City, Ill., to the late Lester Thaddeus and Mamie Rue Eiceman Rodgers, she had lived in Mississippi County most of her life where she was a co-owner and operator of the Duenne Fabric Store in Charleston. ...

A very special thanks goes out to the following people who participated in the clean-up of the Armour Cemetery. Frances and Ira Sims of Ward, Ark.; Janie and Paul Aters of Miner; Diane Stinnett of Sikeston; Donna Eaker of Benton; Barbara Haubold of Bertrand; Terri Burns of Matthews; Bob and Chris Stinnett of Sikeston; David and Cheryl Stinnett of Springfield, Ill.; Danny Stinnett of Wyatt; and Jim and Jimmy Lynn Glover of Sikeston...

I would like to respond to the caller who complained about the temperature of the soft drinks at the Sikeston football games. I have volunteered to work at the concession stand numerous times for the Sikeston football games on the booster side of the stadium. ...

SIKESTON - Mr. and Mrs. Roy Hughes are parents of a son born Saturday. --- SIKESTON - Mrs. Irtie Smith, with 15 years experience as a beautician, has opened Smitty's Beauty Shop at 234 Dorothy St. SIKESTON - SeMo Rabbit Breeders Association was awarded first place in the United States for the best promotional observance of National Rabbit Week in July. David Hughes of Sikeston Route 2 is president of the organization...

Girl Scout Troop 79 member Jayci Williams, 8, decorates a window at Sikeston Sporting Goods Saturday morning as part of the Elks Lodge/SACC DARE window painting contest. The Girl Scouts were one of several groups that participated in the event.

SIKESTON - The curtain closed on the four-day run of Sikeston Little Theater's production of "The Beverly Hillbillies," but before the actors could say their final good-byes another set had to be dismantled. Watching it all come down is a heart-breaking reality for those who spent many hours assembling and perfecting the set...

SIKESTON -- A St. Louis teenager turned himself into authorities Sunday for shooting another teen in the foot at a party this weekend in Sikeston. According to the Sikeston Department of Public Safety at 11:30 p.m. Saturday officers responded to a call that shots had been fired around 820 William St. in Sikeston...

COLUMBIA -- Rain washed away Kelly's chance to finish its softball season on a winning note Saturday, as all four third-place games were canceled at the Rainbow Softball Complex. Kelly finished its season 25-7. The Hawks and third-place opponent Marion C. Early each will be awarded third-place trophies and individual medals. This was the 10th trip to the state final four for Kelly, and the fifth time the Hawks have brought home third...

SPRINGFIELD -- Sikeston's Jenni DeWitt finished fourth in the 2006 Class 1 Missouri State Tennis Tournament. DeWitt, a Sikeston High School junior, won her first round and quarterfinal matches to advance to Saturday's semifinals against Visitation Academy sophomore Corinne Walther, the eventual runnerup...