Stories from Wednesday, November 21, 2001

POPLAR BLUFF -- Sikeston's wrestling team opened the 2001 season with an impressive 49-27 win over Poplar Bluff Tuesday. The Bulldogs won seven of the 14 matches by pinfall and had to forfeit just one weight division. "I thought we really wrestled really well for the first match of the year," said Sikeston coach Chris Hodgkiss. "Not everybody is set in their weight class, but we're going to be pretty solid from top to bottom. We don't really have a weak area."...

SIKESTON - Mrs. Ted Joyce entertained a group of children at her home Sunday afternoon in honor of her son, Dale, who celebrated his sixth birth anniversary. The guests were: Bobby Dean Crawford, Barbara and Linda Wilkerson, Bobby and Linda Gregory, Charles Gwaltney, Bryon Larson, Joy Kindred and Virginia Ruth Hambrick...

POPLAR BLUFF - New Madrid County Central Middle School's seventh grade basketball team dropped to 1-3 on the season Tuesday, losing to Poplar Bluff, 29-18. NMCCMS scorers were Dontrey Washington (8), Matt Whitehead (2), Shamar Davis (2), DeAnton Brown (2), and John Carlisle (4)...

SIKESTON - Since 1994, the Sikeston Bulldogs basketball team had opened the season with a win over Blytheville just one time. The Chickasaws, who begin practice two months before Missouri teams are allowed to start, usually have two or three games under their belt by the time they take on the Bulldogs...

ST. LOUIS -- New Madrid County Central rode its big-play offense to the state championship this year, putting up 39 points per game. Now they get to face a defense that has given up just 70 points all season. In a battle for the 3A title, NMCC and undefeated Platte County meet Friday at the TWA Dome in St. Louis...

They dominated the state championship last year and they've been favored to repeat all season. They've won 27 games in a row, 39 of their last 40, and have trailed for just three minutes all year. They're the undefeated, No. 1 ranked Platte County Pirates. So New Madrid County Central, do you want a shot at the state's best 3A team?...

CHAFFEE - Harley Eugene Davis, 70, died at 5:20 a.m. Nov. 20, 2001, at his home. Born April 2, 1931, in New Madrid, son of the late James Ralston and Lola Violet Morrow Davis, he was a retired welder for Missouri Dry Docks in Cape Girardeau and member of the First Assembly of God Church in Chaffee...

SCOTT CITY - Wilma Ethel Dakin, 77, died at 9:10 a.m. Nov. 20, 2001, at her son's home in Olmsted, Ill. Born July 12, 1924, in Fornfelt, daughter of the late Louie E. and Rosie Jane Belk Menees, she was a secretary for the Columbus Hospital in Chicago, Ill...

WORDEN, Ill. - Anna V. Steele, 64, died at 5:27 a.m. Nov. 10, 2001, at her home. Born March 3, 1937, in Perkins, Mo., she was the daughter of the late Robert and Lora Elfrank Gulley. On Aug. 6, 1962, in East St. Louis, she married Charles Edward Steele who survives of the home...

I don't know who's responsible to fix the big hole in front of the Sikeston Post Office, but someone is going to tear up a tire or something else in that place. It certainly needs to be placed. So someone, fix it, fix it, fix it. You didn't say if the hole is in the parking lot or on the street in front of the Post Office. The location of the potential hazard would determine who is responsible for its repair....

SCOTT CITY - Dora Lee Lampkins, 85, died Nov. 20, 2001, at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

DEXTER - Pallbearers at services conducted Tuesday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home for Sherry J. Tilley, 28, who died Nov. 17, 2001, were: Scott Tilley, Bob McClure, Billy McClure, Derek Lemon, Charles Tilley and Tim Bruce.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. - Eleanor Tatum Welch, 62, died Oct. 30, 2001, at her home. Born June 23, 1939, at Deventer, Mo., she was the daughter of the late Dee Tatum and Helen Evans. Survivors include: one son, Robert Welch of Moline, Ill.; two daughters, Kerri Mayer of Addison, Ill., and Tracey Welch of Cape Girardeau, Mo.; two sisters, Norma Johnson of Sikeston, Mo., and Dorothy Laster of Altamonte Springs; three brothers, Frank Tatum of Sikeston, Bobbie Tatum of East Prairie, Mo., and Dee Thurman Tatum of Westland, Mich; and six grandchildren.. ...

MAPLEWOOD - Sharon "Sherry" Byrd Stark, 52, formerly of Sikeston, died Nov. 13, 2001, at IHS in Valley Park. Born Nov. 13, 1949, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of the late James E. and Betty Byrd, graduated in 1967 from Sikeston High School where she was a member of the concert choir. ...

BENTON - Scott County commissioners discussed remodeling the former county prosecutor's offices that have remained vacant since a 1998 fire but are still "gathering ideas before we put anything out for bids," according to Commissioner Jamie Burger...

SIKESTON - Amid all the confusion and fear in the world today following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, one can't help but wonder what tomorrow will bring. Yet as uncertain as the world is, many residents remind us there is still plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving...

As a society and a community, we have much for which we should be thankful. Given the nature of these turbulent times, some may find it difficult to give thanks in the wake of our national tragedies. But these events should give us additional opportunities to give thanks...

SIKESTON -- Because of the Thanksgiving Day holiday, the Standard Democrat will not be published on Thursday and the office will be closed. The office will reopen at 8 a.m. Friday and the paper will resume publication.

SIKESTON -- After the tragedies of Sept. 11, many local residents answered the call when asked to donate blood, money and other items for the victims of the attacks. Unfortunately, however, there is also a need closer to home to help those less fortunate celebrate Christmas...