Leadership Cape graduates pitch TV show, leashless dog park

The class of 2005 made project presentations at the First Friday Coffee.

Imagine a half-hour television program that highlights scenic vistas and off-the-cuff interviews with local characters, all with an underlying theme of promoting Cape Girardeau.

Or imagine an area where our canine companions can run free, untethered by leashes in their own city dog park. Or imagine a downtown made more vibrant by people who live there or taking a jog on an improved Cape LaCroix Trail.

Just imagine.

The latest class of Leadership Cape has done more than imagine these possibilities -- they've done the research. Members of the class of 2005 made their project presentations at the First Friday Coffee using catchy -- and in some cases, humorous -- videos, bringing in cute puppies and backing up their pitch with potential funding sources for the projects.

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce started Leadership Cape in 1985. The project is a seven-month leadership training program for prospective community leaders that is capped off by the presentation of these group proposals. Participants work in teams to develop community improvement ideas.

"I think the presentations were just excellent," said Paul Short, project coordinator and a member Leadership Cape's steering committee. "In some cases, these projects can come to fruition."

The skate park was an idea of one of the groups a few years back, he said. So was a city water park. Voters decided they didn't want to pay for the water park.

"But it was on a ballot," Short said. "A Leadership Cape group was the first to think of it."

Noting that there isn't a dog park within 120 miles of Cape Girardeau, Team Barkin' Park thought it would be a good idea to create a park setting for dog owners to socialize and exercise their dogs off-leash in a safe environment.

The team suggested that the park be built directly behind the Osage Community Centre near the trail, property already owned and maintained by the city's parks and recreation department.

In their proposal, the park would be two square acres completely fenced and include two shelters, fountains, a pond and large grassy areas for dogs to frolic. The group estimated construction costs at $82,455.

The team Discover Cape proposed a half-hour television program to inform viewers about the area and to be used as a promotional tool. A five-minute video previewing the program hinted at interviews with St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, longtime KFVS anchor Mike Shain as well as programming that features scenic areas around Southeast Missouri.

The show, which would be called "Discover Cape," would be a 30-minute community focused program in a news magazine format. Production of "Discover Cape" would be undertaken by the Department of Communication at Southeast Missouri State University. The group has already partnered with KFVS and UPN, The Beat to secure a spot for "Discover Cape" on the first Friday of each month at 6:30 p.m.

A third project, "Living it Up Downtown," consists of a promotional video and brochure to help promote the downtown as a place to live.

The fourth project, "The Cape LaCroix Development Program," calls for a few enhancements to the hiking and biking trail, such as more lighting, more water fountains, making it uniformly wide and adding benches, more bathroom facilities and exercise equipment.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137