Stories from Sunday, November 19, 2006

SIKESTON - Shannon and Paul Jimerson are the parents of their first child, a daughter, born at 9:01 a.m. Sept. 29, 2006, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Colleen Nicole Jimerson weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces, and was 20 inches long. Maternal grandparents are Charles and Gwen Swain of Lilbourn...

PORTAGEVILLE -- Mr. and Mrs. Steve St. Mary Jr. have announced the engagement of their daughter, Bethany Jane, to Barry L. Richardson III, son of Mr. and Mrs. Barry L. Richardson Jr. of Portageville. A 2003 graduate of Portageville High School, the future bride will graduate in May 2007 from Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in elementary education. She is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Hayes and Mr. and Mrs. Steve St. Mary Sr...

NEW MADRID - Lisa Godwin and Julie Victor of New Madrid R-1 School District recently attended the 58th Annual Missouri School Counselor Association Fall Conference held at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, Lake of the Ozarks. This year's conference theme was "School Counselors...the Essential Piece". ...

SIKESTON - Charter Communications will once again offering free standard professional installation to new customers in exchange for toy donations for the holidays. Through the toy collection drive, which runs from now through Dec. 15, Sikeston-area residents who are considering signing up for Charter service need only purchase a new toy valued at $10 or more. They must then present the toy to the technician who installs their service. The toy does not need to be wrapped...

I attended the National TEAMS (Travel, Events and Management in Sports) Conference in Las Vegas from October 11-14. Here, I was able to promote the sports venues in Sikeston and Miner and share information about these venues ability to host our events...

SIKESTON - Chazie Blu has a favorite place when Regina Guthrie is at work - right between her feet. The West Highland white terrier knows just a bit of a bump by him or a slip of the fingers by her will yield a tasty morsel as Guthrie bakes up her specialty treats...

DEXTER -- Carl Book, 86, died Nov. 16, 2006, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Born Nov. 26, 1919, at Malden, son of the late Samuel J. Tildon and Dora Woolard Book, he was a member of the First Church of the Nazarene in Dexter, a retired Nazarene minister and the former owner of Madison One Hour Cleaners in Madison Heights, Mich...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Connie Yvonne Wright, 48, died Nov. 17, 2006, at her home. Born Feb. 23, 1958, in Sikeston, daughter of the late Harley Leo and Wanda Louise Northern Wright, she lived most of her life in Mississippi County and had been employed with Wallace Greenhouse and Gates Rubber Company. She was a member of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Sikeston...

CLARKTON -- Paul Everett Baker, 82, died Nov. 16, 2006, at his home. Born Oct. 12, 1924, at Shelbyville, Ark., son of the late James and Alberta Herring Baker, he was a U.S. Army Air Force veteran serving during World War II. On March 20, 1944, at Powhatatan, Ark., he married Mary A. Lawson who survives of the home...

NEW MADRID -- Donald Ritchie died Nov. 17, 2006, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at the Richards Funeral Home.

BLOOMFIELD -- Dorothy W. Vandeven, 91, died Nov. 16, 2006. Born Jan. 9, 1915, at Leopold, daughter of the late John Herman and Mary Hulshof Elfrink, she lived most of her life in the Bloomfield Community where she retired in 1977 from Elder Manufacturing. She was a member for the past 46 years of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Dexter...

DEXTER -- John Smith, 56, died Nov. 16, 2006, at the Golden Living Center in Dexter. Born April 25, 1950, in Dexter, son of the late Thomas H. and Faye Harris Smith, he had lived all his life in Dexter and St. Louis. Survivors include: one brother, James D. Smith of Dexter; one sister, Cathy Hebblethwaite of the state of Illinois; and one nephew and his wife, Thomas E. and Tina M. Smith of Dexter...

RISCO -- George Baker, 96, died Nov. 17, 2006, at his home. Born Nov. 10, 1910, in Manilla, Ark., son of the late Alex and Pearl Dry Baker, he was a farmer before his retirement. He was also preceded in death by four sons, Bobby Baker, Jerome Baker, Troy Baker and Don Baker; one daughter, Georgia Lee Fielder; and four brothers and seven sisters...

SIKESTON -- Nearly 30 years after a mysterious package showed up on her family's front porch Christmas morning, Marie Harwood still doesn't know the identity of the gift giver. But Harwood does know it was her best Christmas ever. It was Christmas Eve 1977 when Harwood's family from Blodgett decided to do a little window shopping at Kingsway Plaza Mall in Sikeston...

SIKESTON -- If you haven't received your personal property tax statement yet, it is time to track it down. County collectors for Scott, New Madrid and Mississippi counties confirmed Friday that all their personal property tax statements have been mailed...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A Sikeston man has pled guilty to felony drug trafficking charge. Bart Smith, 28, entered a plea of guilty to two felony counts of conspiracy to distribute the controlled substance cocaine, U.S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced Friday following Smith's appearance before U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel in St. Louis...

CHARLESTON -- A Memphis, Tenn., man who turned himself in for shooting a Sikeston man Monday night in Charleston has been released on bond. Eddie Mills, 31, turned himself in Thursday for his alleged involvement in shooting Olando Sheron, 28, of Sikeston, according to the Charleston Department of Public Safety...

I would like to thank the good Samaritans who helped my daughter and nephew that were stranded on the Interstate south of Cape last Saturday. Just want to thank them again. I know they live in Sikeston, but we didn't get their names. Again, we thank you. That is one reason we like to live down in the Bootheel, there is good people down in this area. Thank you again...

SIKESTON - Adverse weather conditions have hampered collection of Scott and New Madrid county crops. If the weather continues inclement, some of the crops may never make it from the field. SIKESTON - A meeting of the St. John's Bayou Basin Drainage District will be Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the Fabick Bros. Building on South Main Street. The meeting will be sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Soil Conservation Service...

NEW MADRID - Plans are under way for the Riverbend Chapter of Ducks Unlimited annual fundraiser and banquet. Bill Henry, chairman, called the fundraiser an important way for area residents to show their support for the environment and the future. "In North America every nine minutes, a wetland the size of a football field vanishes," said Henry. "The money raised through events like ours helps fund the restoration of wetlands at a faster pace than they are being lost."...

DEXTER - The Dexter Lady Bearcats basketball team will have a good mixture of youth and experience for the upcoming season. Dexter has the made the Class 4, District 1 final the past four seasons and head coach Gavin Miller is building one of the strongest programs in the area...

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Bulldog wrestling team has had problems filling the roster the past couple years. While the 2005-06 season will still have open slots to fill, new coach Chris Crosby says the program's numbers are on the rise. "It's getting better -- we've gone from four up to 17," said Crosby. ...

SIKESTON -- Melissa Pauline Wise and Simon Chardin Dirnberger were united in marriage during a 4 p.m. ceremony Nov. 3, 2006, at The Fairmont Banff Springs, situated on the banks of the scenic Bow River and cradled by the heart of the Canadian Rockies in the Banff National Forest, Alberta, Canada...

SIKESTON -- Meredith Ann Goodwin and John Alden Field were united in marriage Aug. 14, 2006, at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Mosca, Colo. The bride is the daughter of Patricia Goodwin of Port Orange, Fla., and Cecil Goodwin of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., and the stepdaughter of Jean Hilton Goodwin of Jacksonville Beach. Parents of the bridegroom are Kay and John Field of Sikeston...

Since it's Thanksgiving week, let's take a minute and note the reasons our community should be thankful. Believe me, I will omit some things from the list but you can include your own. We can be thankful for the abundance of clubs and service organizations that work tirelessly to provide financial assistance and manpower for others. ...