New telephone books printed, being delivered

Need the new phone number of your friends in Farrar or your sister in Sturdivant? No matter how small the community, the new SBC phone books that will be delivered within the next few weeks cover the gamut.

"The phone book is really important to folks, wherever they live," said Marsha Haskell, SBC's regional director for external affairs. "New businesses check to make sure their listing is there. It's something that people look forward to."

From Advance to Zalma, the new 486-page phone book covers 45 communities in what it calls the Cape Girardeau region, and all are listed on the cover.

In Cape Girardeau, Scott City and Jackson, the directories are being hand delivered. In the rest of the featured cities, they're being mailed. Haskell said everyone should have their new phone books by the end of the year.

"In some of the smaller locations, there's so much area and P.O. boxes and rural routes, it's better to mail it," Haskell said.

Jerris Painton's last name is on the cover because she lives in Painton, Mo. -- population 53. Her husband Al's grandfather founded the farming town in 1913. She said some of the lesser-known names on the front of the phone book are familiar to her.

"We like seeing our town on the phone book," she said. "We also used to have a weather watcher who reported in to KFVS. Al thought that was just grand that Painton was on the weather map. It's nice to be recognized considering you can blink your eye and be through Painton."

About 95,000 copies of the new edition have been printed and will be delivered to about 50,000 different sites because some places like banks get multiple copies. The phone books are nine pages longer than last year.

There are a few changes, including that restaurants can now add their menu to their Yellow Pages ad. Only one did this year -- Mazzio's Pizza, page 171. Also, so-called bleed bars have been added. Purple is for doctors, light blue is for dentists, bright pink is for automobiles and lawyers are brown.

"Each section has its own color," Haskell said. "That's a neat addition."

Each new directory also includes a Homeland Security Guide, which offers tips on assembling a supply kit, developing a family communications plan and staying informed.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137