Members of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce were treated to a panel discussion with two "Community Champs" at this month's First Friday Coffee.

Jay Knudtson, chairman of the chamber board and a former Cape Girardeau mayor, led the panel that featured political commentator, author and lawyer David Limbaugh and Gary Rust, chairman of the board of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian.

After listing each man's accomplishments, Knudtson asked Rust to describe how he came to be co-owner of Rust and Martin Home Furnishings.

Rust said his father, who left high school as a sophomore, moved to Detroit from Arkansas as a teenager during the Depression.

After making a little money, he came with Rust's mother to Cape Girardeau, where he eventually got into the home-furnishing business.

While the Rust family is synonymous in the area with upholstery and furniture, Knudtson commented, the Limbaugh family is synonymous with law.

"Was that something that was just a given, that you were always going to be an attorney?" Knudtson asked Limbaugh.

"Believe it or not, yes," Limbaugh said, "but not because I was pressured. Just because of respect for my grandfather and my dad and my uncle."

Limbaugh said he became an author because he always enjoyed the research and writing aspects of practicing law.

"I know politics is your passion," Knudtson said, addressing Rust. "You served three terms (in the Missouri House of Representatives), so you've got a taste of, at least Missouri, politics. Why (are you) not serving at another level? Why not run for another office? ... Why have we not seen 'Sen. Gary Rust?'"

But Rust was quick to correct Knudtson: "Politics is not my passion."

He said he once asked his wife what his passion was.

"She said, 'Your passion is the truth.' And that's sort of what got me into the political arena."

Both Limbaugh and Rust spoke fondly of their families.

Rust, upon being asked what he thought had contributed to his children's success, largely credited his wife, Wendy Kurka Rust, who once was named Missouri Mother of the Year and was a national finalist for the title.

Limbaugh spoke about the chamber's Rush H. Hudson Limbaugh Award, named for his grandfather.

"Well, most of what I have accomplished in my life is a direct result of nepotism, so I greatly appreciate that -- I'm accused of it; I might as well own it­," Limbaugh joked. "But my grandfather was amazing as everyone knows. ... He practiced law almost until he died at 104, and he taught us that the law profession is a profession before it's a business. And he instilled in us legal ethics and the way to treat people, and that law is actually a service. Now, sadly, it no longer has that reputation. ..."

Knudtson called the Rust and Limbaugh families' contributions to the area "amazing."

"And I think we all owe you a debt of gratitude" for carrying on the legacy, Knudtson said.

The sponsors for December's First Friday Coffee were Canedy Sign and Graphics and Element 74.

kwebster@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3646

Pertinent address:

777 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, MO