Stories from Saturday, November 27, 1993

Norman W. Farrar, 66, 1129 S. Ellis, died Wednesday, Nov. 24, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was born April 19, 1927, in Oak Ridge, son of Herschel and Estell Irby Farrar. He first married Freida Bufford. He later married Dollie Jones July 5, 1957, in Tupelo, Miss...

With medical technology enabling people to live longer, healthier lives, it's estimated the number of elderly will double in the next 30 years. As a result of the aging population, doctors now are operating on patients once considered too old for the scalpel...

The Cape County Chapter of the American Red Cross will participate in the 1993 World AIDS Day Wednesday. The yearly event is designed to encourage public support for programs to prevent the spread of HIV infection. Classes on HIV/AIDS education will be offered free of charge during December. For more information, call the Red Cross at 335-9471...

The Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis, a 5K run and 1 mile walk, will be held Dec. 5, starting at 1 p.m. The race begins and ends at St. Francis Medical Center. Participants will raise money for the Arthritis Foundation by collecting pledges. In addition to the race, a holiday costume contest is planned. All runners and walkers are encouraged to participate. Costumes will be judged on originality, holiday theme and humor...

A blood drive will be held Wednesday at the Cape Girardeau Vocational-Technical School from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the multipurpose room. Blood donors are in short supply during the holidays. To be eligible to give blood in Missouri, potential donors must weigh at least 110 pounds, be at least 17 years old and in good health. Donors should bring their driver's licenses with them...

A training meeting will be held for all long-term-care ombudsman volunteers Dec. 9 at 10 a.m. at the Baptist Association Building, Interstate 55 and Stout Road. The agenda includes projections for the Ombudsman Program by Carol Scott, state long-term-care ombudsman. Other topics include hospital-related, extended-care units, Retired Senior Volunteers and assisting residents of long-term care during periods of change...

SEDGEWICKVILLE -- Funeral service for Helen M. Eaker of Sedgewickville will be held at 1 p.m. today at Liley Funeral Chapel in Patton. The Revs. Luther Rhodes and Clark Sitze will officiate, with burial in Baker Cemetery at Marble Hill. Friends may call at the funeral home from 9 a.m. to service time...

The Big Show is back at the Show Me Center tonight as the Southeast Missouri State basketball Indians open the regular season against the Purple Aces of Evansville. The Otahkians take to the parquet floor for their home opener on Monday against Cleveland State...

CHARLESTON -- Louie Rowden, 90, of Charleston, died Wednesday, Nov. 24, 1993, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born Dec. 25, 1902, at Wolf Island. Rowden was a retired farm laborer, and member of St. Matthew Baptist Church. Survivors include his wife, Alazer; three sons, Billy Coleman and Leroy Henderson of Charleston, and Sherman Henderson of Michigan...

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Michael McDowell of Jackson, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 2:47 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, 1993. Name, Kyla Janie. Weight, 7 pounds 2 ounces. First child. Mrs. McDowell is the former Nancy Vandeven, daughter of Sylvester and Mary Vandeven of Marble Hill. Mr. and Mrs. McDowell are employed at Lee-Rowan. He is the son of the late Cecil McDowell of Cape Girardeau and the late Barbara McDowell of Jackson...

It's one of those enduring symbols of Christmas: tree lots stacked full of evergreens of all shapes and sizes, exuding that pine-needle aroma. It's a symbol that's very visible these days in Cape Girardeau where parking lots have been transformed into mini-forests of Christmas trees...

A bit of Cape Girardeau history went up in flames Friday as the Hobbs Chapel United Methodist Church burned to the ground. The blaze was reported to the East County Fire Department around 9 a.m., but when the volunteer firefighters arrived, the church and adjoining education center were fully engulfed in smoke and flames...

A cold, drizzling rain slowed the rush of post-Thanksgiving shoppers early Friday. But once the sun popped out at mid-morning, anxious shoppers, loaded with lists and advertising circulars, started hitting the stores in Cape Girardeau. Retail stores throughout the city were swamped by bargain hunters, window shoppers and others wanting to get a jump on holiday shopping...

MAP - More than half way into the filing period, the at-large mayor's race and three city council races remain wide open in Cape Girardeau. The three ward seats up for election include Ward 1, in the city's northeast side; Ward 2, east and southeast Cape Girardeau; and Ward 6, on the west side. Candidates have until Dec. 10 to file election petitions at city hall...

JACKSON - Most of the 34 county departments or agencies that are part of Cape Girardeau County's annual budget have submitted their requests for 1994. During early December, the county commission will be carefully scrutinizing those requests, including a plan to upgrade the county's computer system...