Stories from Sunday, November 16, 2008

One of the opportunities afforded me as the executive director of the Sikeston-Miner Convention & Visitors Bureau is to participate in various seminars and conventions promoting tourism on a local, state and national level. This weekend, I will be traveling to Pittsburgh, Pa. to the National Tour Association Convention. Tour operators, event planners, meeting planners and destination marketing organizations from all around the world will be participating in this five-day event...

NEW MADRID -- Donette Clark is the new director of the Alzheimer's Care Unit at Golden Living Center-New Madrid. Clark has 15 years of experience as a caregiver and has worked with the Golden Living Center for the past seven years. She recently completed extensive training to focus on Alzheimer's disease and programs designed to enhance quality of life for residents with cognitive impairments...

SIKESTON -- A Sikeston company has launched a program to identify opportunity to reduce waste generation. The program will also improve productivity and operational cost savings. DeWitt Company, manufacturer of landscaping products and plant fabrics used by professionals in the lawn and garden industry as well as homeowners, recently began the Lean, Clean and Green program, according to Rick Potter, CFO of Missouri Enterprise. ...

HOYLETON, Ill. -- Angela Lauren Schnake and Brandon Glen Eldridge were united in marriage during a 3 p.m. wedding June 28, 2008, at Zion Evangelical United Church of Christ in Hoyleton. The Rev. Pamela Gale Smith officiated. Parents of the bride are Hank and Pam Schnake of Richview, and the bridegroom is the son of Robert and Pamela Eldridge of Sikeston, Mo...

MINER -- Megan Leigh Nelson and Jared Joseph Massey were united in marriage during a 7 p.m. ceremony June 14, 2008, at Miner Baptist Church. The Rev. Mitchell Jackson, minister, performed the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Mike and Debbie Nelson of Sikeston. The bridegroom is the son of Ray and Pam Massey of Sikeston...

SCOTT CITY -- Jami Lynne Vaughan and Brian Thomas Obermann were united in marriage during a 1 p.m. ceremony Sept. 20, 2008, at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Chaffee. The Rev. Ralph Duffner officiated. The bride is the daughter of Sheri Vaughan of Leopold and Mike and Diann Vaughan of Sikeston. Parents of the bridegroom are Thomas and Marti Obermann of Chaffee...

WINNETKA, Ill. -- Keith and LaDonna Johnson Covelle have announced the engagement of their daughter, Jennifer Covelle, to David Eastwood, son of David and Judy Eastwood of Boothbay Harbor, Maine. A graduate of New Trier High School and Boston College, the future bride is a manager in the forensic services practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Boston. She is the granddaughter of Evelyn Upton of East Prairie, Mo...

Take down the gates I know several folks that live in Keloni Court in Benton. I know from speaking to them that they feel as though they are imprisoned by the gates like they have no freedom whatsoever. If they have family or friends come for holidays or a special event they must go and get them at the gate. In this day and time gas does not need to be wasted like that. I think those stupid gates should be taken down for those poor folks so they can have some freedom...

60 years ago Nov. 16, 1948 SIKESTON - Mrs. Leonard Schumacher entertained Saturday with a party for her daughter, Charlotte Sue, who celebrated her sixth birthday. SIKESTON - Mr. and Mrs. John Langston are parents of a boy born today. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Barger of Sikeston are parents of a daughter born today...

At long last, we are now learning the details of the mortgage scam that involved dozens of homes in Sikeston and helped contribute to problem properties in our community. Indictments were announced this week against two men who carried on the scam here and pocketed an estimated $500,000 in the process...

SIKESTON -- Bertha Mae Garrett, 82, died at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 14, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete with Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston.

SIKESTON - Pallbearers for funeral services held Friday at Ponder Funeral Home for Shirley Ann Ainsworth, 77, who died on Nov. 11, 2008, were: Logan Haines, Brett Taylor, Jerry Burge, Marvin Gilmore, Phil Cannon and Randy Hulshof.

BERNIE -- Janet Maureen Humphries, 55, died Nov. 13, 2008, at her home. Born Oct. 13, 1953, at Aurora, Ill., daughter of Charlotte Green Hampson of Montgomery, Ill., and the late Glen Hampson, she was a homemaker. On Dec. 15, 1994, at St. Charles, Ill., she married Randall Dwight Humphries who survives of the home...

CHARLESTON -- Junior E. Harris, 84, died at 7:20 p.m. Nov. 13, 2008, at the Charleston Manor. Born Aug. 17, 1924, in Bertrand, to the late Estel Monroe and Florence Kitty Haley Harris, he had lived in Mississippi County his entire life where he attended the First Assembly of God Church in Charleston. ...

DEXTER -- On the night's that volleyball was played at Dexter high school this past season, the home crowd that piled into the gymnasium usually saw more than just a match from their Lady Bearcats. They saw a tandem around the net that could equally strike a ball with raw power at will. They saw a pair of players that did anything they could for a win. They saw a duo that did everything for the good of the team...

BENTON -- Four years, a few position changes, a few injuries and a few awards have proven quite a successful career for Kelly High School senior Katee Moore. The 2008 Standard Democrat Player of the Year has compiled an impressive stat line while on the diamond for head coach Rhonda Ratledge's Lady Hawks, but Moore is quick to point towards teammates and not shine in the spotlight...

SIKESTON -- Have you thanked a teacher today? Local members of the Missouri State Teachers Association are joining thousands of teachers, students and educational organizations throughout the nation in observing American Education Week. American Education Week runs through Friday...

SIKESTON -- While it may be the season to be jolly, not everyone has a ho, ho, ho for Santa Claus. And Denise Blankenship Joyce and co-author Nancy Watkins have the pictures to prove it. Just in time for the holidays, Joyce, formerly of Lilbourn, and Watkins have released their book, "Scared of Santa - Scenes of Terror in Toyland." The stocking-sized 274-page book features photos and short captions of mostly wailing children (and occasionally their parents) with Santa Claus...