SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

Celebrations Restaurant and Bar in Cape Girardeau has been honored with the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2003. There are only 3,360 restaurants in the world, representing more than 40 countries, to be honored with this award. To wine a Wine Spectator Award, a restaurant must offer a wine list that includes wines appropriate to its cuisine and an ambience that will appeal to a wide range of wine lovers. The wine list must provide complete and accurate information. It must include vintages and appellations for all selections. Award winners are announced in the Aug. 31 issue of Wine Spectator and are listed on its Web site for the year, beginning Sept. 1.

Gary G. Johnson, Ph.D., CPA, of Cape Girardeau, has been elected chair of the Missouri Society of Public Accountants, an organization of 8,000 certified public accountants in public practice, industry, government and education. He will serve a one-year term. Johnson is a professor of accounting at Southeast Missouri State University. He has been a member of the MSCPA since 1984 and has served on the society's board of directors since 1999. He was the chair of its educational foundation and has been active on the finance committee and education-related committees. Currently, he serves on several society task forces. The MSCPA is the largest professional association dedicated to advancing CPAs in Missouri. Established in 1909, the organization provides members with continuing education and governmental advocacy, while working to further the future of the accounting profession through student-focused initiatives.

Paul Meier of Jackson owns five bulls listed in the 2003 Fall Sire Evaluation Report published by the American Angus Association, which has headquarters in St. Joseph, Mo. Issued in both the spring and the fall, the new report features the latest performance information available on 6,409 sires. Mike Kasten of Millersville owns nine bulls listed in the report.

Domino's Pizza is celebrating its 20th year in Cape Girardeau. The first Domino store was on North Frederick Street across from the post office. The store moved to 1028 N. Sprigg St. A second store was added in 1989 on North Kingshighway. Both locations were recently recognized by the parent company, Domino's Pizza LLC, as a "Five-Star Store," the company's highest rating. The stores were evaluated on product quality, service, image and cleanliness. Both locations had average delivery times of less than 24 minutes, ranking among the best in the company. Domino's Pizza is owned by Danny and Tammy Lynn of Cape Girardeau. Danny Lynn started as a delivery person and then become a store manager. He bought the Domino's franchise rights for Cape Girardeau in 1983.

State bank examiner Cheryl Essner of Benton attended the commissioned Examiner Seminar in July at the FDIC Training Center in Arlington, Va. The seminar, sponsored by the FDIC, is designed to facilitate further development of recently commissioned examiners. A graduate of the University of North Texas at Denton, Texas, Essner has been with the Missouri Division of Finance since January 1999.

Ronald Ledbetter of Essex, a representative for Modern Woodmen of America, is one of a small percentage of life insurance agents worldwide to achieve membership in the Million Dollar Round Table this year. Membership is one of the highest professional honors a life insurance representative can obtain. MDRT members demonstrate high level client service and production. Modern Woodmen of America is a fraternal financial services organization based in Rock Island, Ill. Modern Woodmen serves more than 750,000 members nationwide, offering life insurance, annuity and investment products along with fraternal member benefits for families and their communities.

Donald Voelker, M.D., FACC, of Poplar Bluff, was elected a fellow in the Society of Cardiac Angiography and Intervention. Membership is allowed only to those physicians and scientists who have become experts in the field of cardiac catheterization and angiography. In order to merit such distinction, a physician must be board certified in interventional cardiology or have performed at least 1,000 procedures. Medical director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, he is co-chief of cardiovascular services at Three Rivers Health Care. Also he is an associate professor of medicine at St. Louis University. Voelker founded the Heart and Vascular Institute of Southern Missouri in Poplar Bluff.

Several employees of the SEMO Health Network were honored during the quarterly staff meeting in August at Rone Exhibition Hall near Portageville. Honored as Gold Star Employees were Terrie Cowan, billing clerk, Effie Hensley, med tech, and Carolyn Mungle, license practical nurse, all at the Bernie Clinic; Ann Lawrence, LPN at the Lilbourn Clinic; and Erma Moore, LPN at the New Madrid Clinic. Garland Hughes of Associated Electric gave a presentation on fire safety. Tammy Gwaltney from Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence was the guest speaker.

Dr. Zenon Duda of Cape Foot Clinic in Cape Girardeau recently attended the national meeting of the American Podiatric Medical Association. Although a national meeting, podiatric physicians from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C., in order to attend lectures and workshops teaching new techniques for a variety of foot disorders. Duda attended lectures on diabetes, surgical reviews, new technology developed for acute and chronic wounds, diabetic neuropathy, peripheral vascular diseases, heel pain, osteoporosis and bunion surgery. Duda completed a workshop involving a new treatment for heel pain using cryotherapy and became familiar with new equipment developed for its use.

Dr. Aaron Andrews of Ruopp Chiropractic and Associates in Cape Girardeau has passed the examination for Advanced Fellowship status of the College Board of Chiropractic Neurology. He is beginning his third of four years of postgraduate education to be a certified chiropractic neurologist. This advanced education will allow Andrews to accurately diagnose and co-manage certain neurological disorders like stroke, peripheral nerve entrapments, herniated discs, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, brain injuries and other conditions.

Chartwells Dining and Catering Services at Southeast Missouri State University has been named 2002-2003 Regional Account of the Year for the Central Region. This is the third consecutive year that Chartwells has received this honor. Chartwells is now in the running for National Account of the Year, which will be awarded in November in Orlando, Fla. In addition, Chartwells was also awarded the "100 Club" for 100 percent client satisfaction and the "Five Star" award. In any given week, Chartwells serves 20,000 meals.

Cheryl Mothes of the financial services firm Edward Jones in Jackson recently won the firm's exclusive Century Award for outstanding performance during 2002. John Bachmann, the firm's managing partner, calls Mothes a leader in the firm and an example of what a dedicated Edward Jones investment representative can achieve. She was one of only 191 of the firm's more than 9,000 brokers to achieve the award. The largest firm in the nation in terms of branch offices, Edward Jones currently has more than 8,000 offices in the United States and through its affiliates in Canada and the United Kingdom. Plans call for expansion to 10,000 offices in 2003.

Jeff Grindstaff, Clay Pope and Kelly Hitt have received personal trainer certifications through the Interactive Fitness Trainer Association. Hitt and Pope have been affiliated with Southeast Missouri Hospital Main Street Fitness in Jackson for two years. Grindstaff has been a staff member for three years. Pam Adams, a wellness activity specialist at Main Street, has received certification as a group fitness instructor though IFTA. Millie Aufdenberg has earned certification as a children's fitness specialist through the American Fitness Professional Association. She has been with Main Street three years.

Lonnie Lusk, CPA, accounting supervisor with Schott & Van de Ven, Certified Public Accountants in Cape Girardeau, attended an IRS nationwide tax forum. The three-day training was sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service and held in St. Louis. In addition to presentations by IRS personnel, the National Association of Enrolled Agents, National Association of Tax Professionals, National Society of Accountants and National Society of Tax Professionals presented seminars and hosted information booths. The training included tax law changes, electronic filing, electronic payments, tax exempt applications, compliance issues, alternative dispute resolution options, customer service, retirement plans, offers-in-compromise, payroll issues, education tax incentives and earned income credit issues.

CPAs Cheryl Morris and Michael Radake, of Schott & Van de Ven Certified Public Accountants in Cape Girardeau, recently attended an accounting and auditing current developments seminar. The course provided an overview of new developments in the area of accounting and auditing as well as changes in compilation and review standards. New Financial Accounting Standards Board standards for special-purpose entities and guarantees were included in the class.