Stories from Tuesday, October 1, 2002

MINER - Amanda Gail Riley and Jeffrey James Quigley exchanged wedding vows in an April 20, 2002, ceremony at the Miner Baptist Church. The Rev. Dwayne Coleman performed the double-ring ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Mike and Gail Riley of Blodgett and her husband is the son of Tim and Nancy Quigley of Cape Girardeau...

SIKESTON - Tommy and Melba Bonds will be honored with a reception at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Sikeston American Legion hall in commemoration of their 50th wedding anniversary. Relatives and friends are invited to the celebration and a dance will begin at 8 p.m...

ORAN - Sharon Ann Hennemann of Benton has announced the engagement of her daughter, Jill Ann Todt, to Corey Dale Seibert, son of Charles Patrick Seibert of Oran and Anita Darlene Sauceda of Morley. The future bride is the daughter of the late Garry Wayne Todt...

LEOPOLD - Yvonne Jansen and James David "Jamey" Crawford, along with their parents, have announced their engagement. The prospective bride is the daughter of Dora Jansen of Leopold and the late Simon Jansen, and the prospective bridegroom is the son of James and Beatrice Crawford of Morley...

I have watched, with interest, the reaction of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and the staff of the Missouri Department of Transportation, including Director Henry Hungerbeeler, to the rejection of Proposition B. I have also carefully sampled all of the newspaper reaction from around the state...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston's soccer team pulled out a 2-1 win over Farmington on Monday, earning their second victory of the season. "I thought it was a really big win for us," said Sikeston coach Derrick Long. "We've been struggling getting wins this year, and we played a pretty tough Farmington team. They were senior loaded, they had 14 seniors, kind of like we were last year. We were going against that kind of experience and we played them pretty tough."...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston's softball team lost to Farmington at home on Monday, 10-3. The Lady Bulldogs committed three defensive errors in the first inning, allowing Farmington to score four runs. That set the tone for the rest of the game as Farmington rolled to an uncontested victory...

NEW MADRID - A New Madrid County resident is one of eight persons appointed by the governor to represent Missouri on the Delta Regional Authority. New Madrid County Port Authority Executive Director Timmie Lynn Morgan Hunter will serve on the commission, which seeks to increase economic opportunity through development in eight states along the lower Mississippi River. ...

SIKESTON - In recent years, obtaining shipments of the influenza vaccination was as much of a headache as the illness itself, but things are looking up for the 2002-2003 vaccination season. Manufacturers report vaccine production is proceeding satisfactory and area health departments are ready to help residents arm themselves against the flu...

SIKESTON - Back in 1999 when Jim Poyner came to the Standard Democrat with tales of flying fish from China with eyes on their bellies jumping into his boat by the dozens, staff reporters were a bit skeptical. OK, we laughed for two days. "A lot of people out there thought I was crazy, just plain nuts," said Poyner...

SIKESTON - The Sikeston junior varsity football team lost to Blytheville (Ark.) on Monday 26-22 at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium. Sikeston rallied from a 20-6 halftime deficit but came up short in the end. All of that despite the Chickasaws playing several juniors and a few seniors in the contest...

SIKESTON - Mrs. Louise Trickey has accepted the position as stenographer in the law office here of Bailey and Bailey. She replaces Miss Bonnie Hazel, who has taken a position in the area office of the Farm Security Administration. SIKESTON - Crowned Queen of the American Legion's 18th Annual Cotton Carnival Saturday noon was Miss Kathryn Day of Charleston, who was crowned by Warren E. ...

To the person or persons who insist on assimilating false information concerning mixed breed puppies, your statement in the Sept. 17 SpeakOut is just flat out erroneous. I checked the Web sites of AKC, UKC, CKC, ACA and other registries. The latter two organizations make a little more than protective entities for puppy mill breeders and there is no, none, nada recognition of a french pub. ...

SIKESTON -- Sikeston lost a tough conference match to Scott City on Monday, falling in three sets. The Lady Bulldogs were able to win the first set 15-10, but lost the second 11-15, then dropped the third 6-15. "This was an important conference match," said Sikeston coach Steve Beydler. ...

CHARLESTON - The Sikeston girls tennis team fell to 5-5 on the season with a 3-6 loss to Charleston on Monday. Sikeston will play at Fredericktown today at 4 p.m. They will be back home on Thursday when they take on Kennett. Sikeston picked up one extra victory from the last time it met Charleston, but the Lady Bulldogs still came up short...

ST. LOUIS -- Sikeston's cross country team competed in the biggest cross country meet in the Midwest over the weekend, competing along with 79 other teams in the Hancock Invitational. Dale Ham came back from somewhat of a disappointing race last week to run an excellent race in the 3A division. He finished ninth place out of over 160 runners with a time of 17.21 over the tough Jefferson Barracks Park course in St. Louis...

I don't think I've ever been more ashamed of this community than I was following the Cotton Carnival parade Saturday morning. The amount of trash left from spectators is a disgrace by any definition. I've participated in or watched probably 40 Cotton Carnival parades through the years and never, ever have a seen such a display of trash...

SIKESTON - Theon F. Grojean, 78, died at 2:30 a.m. Oct. 1, 2002, at his home, following an extended illness. Arrangements are incomplete at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Florence Vashti Fitts, 91, died Sept. 28, 2002, at the Baptist Hospital in Memphis. Born May 15, 1911, in Hardin County, daughter of the late James Bobe and Florence K. Alexander Fitts, she was a teacher for Hardin County Schools for two years and worked in the Regional Post Office Department in Washington, D.C., and Memphis before retiring. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Savannah...

DEXTER - Philip D. Montgomery, 60, died Sept. 29, 2002, at the Beverly Health and Rehab Center in Dexter. Born Oct. 4, 1941, in Gideon, son of the late Garfield and Francis Reed Montgomery, he was a lifelong resident of Dexter. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, he was employed by the Purolator Company in Dexter before retiring and attended the Assembly of God Church in Bernie...

SIKESTON - Jesse Whittley Jr., 52, died at 2:25 a.m. Sept. 30, 2002, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, of injuries sustained in a traffic/train accident. Born Feb. 7, 1950, in Sikeston, son of Glenda Kirby Whittley of Sikeston and the late Jesse Whittley Sr., he owned and operated the J.R. Whittley Trucking Company. A veteran of the U.S. Army, he was of the Baptist belief...

CHARLESTON - Pallbearers at services scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston for Willie Morrow Fletcher, 87, of Bertrand, who died Sept. 30, 2002, will be: Fray Morrow, Steve Morrow, Matthew Morrow, David Kellett, Grover Morrow and Ottis Morrow...