FYI 2-23-20

Safe Families for Children introduction

If you've heard about Safe Families and would like more information, please join us as we discuss:

• What is Safe Families for Children?
• What role can I play in Safe Families?
• What role does the Church play?
• Who does Safe Families serve?
• How does Safe Families serve?

Dinner will be available for purchase. Drinks and snacks provided.

Meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at My Daddy's Cheesecake, 265 S. Broadview in Cape Girardeau.

Calling All Owls to be held

Learn about owls of Southern Illinois from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at Cache River State Natural Area, Cache River Wetlands Center in Cypress, Illinois. After the indoor programs, head out into the cool night on a walk to listen for their sometimes-eerie calls with natural heritage biologist Mark Buetersioh leading, calling all owls along the way. For more information, call (618) 657-2064.

The center is located at 8885 State Route 37 South, Cypress, Illinois.

Parkinson's support group will meet

This is a regional support group for persons who have Parkinson's Disease and for caregivers and friends of persons who have Parkinson's Disease will be held 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. The monthly meetings consist of educational programs and support group sessions on a variety of topics related to Parkinson's Disease and chronic disease management.

For more information call (573) 651-2678 or email: dreno@semo.edu.

Dinner and auction planned

The St. Denis School Dinner Auction will be held Saturday in the St. Denis Parish Center in Benton, Missouri.

Doors open at 4 p.m., dinner served at 6 p.m. and oral auction begins at 7:30 p.m. For tickets call Shannon Mack at (573) 703-4014.

Franklin Elementary chili supper

The Franklin Elementary School PTA will hold a chili supper fund raiser 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the school.

The menu includes chili, hot dog, nachos, baked potato, dessert and drink.

Take out orders available.

Each grade level will have a small performance:

Kindergarten and 5:30 p.m.; first grade at 5:45 p.m.; second grade at 6 p.m.; third grade at 6:15 p.m.; and fourth grade at 6:30 p.m.

All proceeds will go to Franklin Elementary renovations.

Red Wine and Chocolate Pairing to be held

Come see for yourself when the SoutheastHEALTH Ambassadors host a Red Wine and Chocolate Pairing on from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday at Port Cape. The antioxidants found in red wine and dark chocolate are considered beneficial to heart health, so what better way to kick off the SoutheastHEALTH Ambassadors' HeartStrong campaign. HeartStrong provides smoking cessation programs, scales and pedometers to congestive heart failure patients, Automated External Defibrillators, CPR kits and training and also supports the Mended Hearts program.

Tickets are available online at SEhealth.org/winechocolate.

Pickle ball exhibition games planned

Come help raise money for cancer and watch some of the best in the world show you about the game. It will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at Jackson High School old gym.

A fun night is planned to entertain you with local celebrities and other top 5.0 players in the state. Please come out and show your support. We will be giving away some free paddles and other things. So come help us give money to cancer research. 100 % of all money made from this event will go to Cancer Research. If you have never heard of pickle ball or just want to watch some great talent plus local celebrities, then this night is meant for you.

Lindsey Newman has been playing since 2017 and has had a big impact on the sport. Some of the things she has accomplished in 2019 Mixed pro: gold at Vail, Silver at Nationals, Bronze at Us Open. She won Gold in singles in Chicago and in Hawaii. She also earned Sliver in women's doubles at Tournament of Champions.

Kasandra Gehrke has been playing for a while now and has the pickle ball bug so bad she gave up her job as an elementary physical education teacher to follow her dream to make this sport her life. She has a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education. She has been on the medal stand in major tournaments since 2016 from Nationals to the U.S. open. She is teaching pickle ball all over the country now.

Free event for senior citizens

Growing Older and Wiser is for seniors who are seeking an adventure in mental wellness and who want to reject the notion that older age means decline and dependency. It will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday at Cape Girardeau Public Library.

There will be discussion about memory, mental health and alertness, life changes, and choices for living. Learn to embrace the later years of life. Held in the Penzel Conference Room.

Pickle ball tournament to benefit cancer research

The second annual SEMO'S Chemo Smash Pickle ball Tournament and Raffle to benefit cancer research will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 29 and March 1 at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex. All proceeds from this tournament will go to Washington University School of Medicine for Cancer Research.

To register for the tournament go to PickleballTournaments.com. The competition events from skill level 2.5 to 5.0 are: mens' doubles, womens' doubles, and mixed doubles. There will also be age level events: senior mens' doubles, senior womens' doubles and senior mixed doubles.

All families have been touched by cancer and we hope you will join with us this year to again make this a successful tournament to raise money to be used in the research to fight this disease.

The business community of Southeast Missouri, as well as, many individuals have donated many fantastic items for the different bucket raffles.

Please stop by to see what pickle ball is all about. Spectators get in free. Drawing of raffles will be at noon on Sunday.

For more information call or text Doug Brown at (573) 579-9182.

Rustic house planter paint and plant party to be held

The Crafty Lab Paint Parties and Glass Gardens by Stacy have joined together for a rustic house planter paint and plant party to be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Feb. 29 at The Crafty Lab located at 821 North Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau.

Spring is coming. This beautiful project is here just in time to make sure you are ready.

This party includes a 20-inch tall rustic wood house planter sign, three plants of your choosing, and decorative rocks and fillers.

First you will paint your house planter sign the colors of your choice. We will walk you through each step and show you how to get that beautiful rustic look we all love. Then we will add your house numbers and Welcome word if you so choose.

After your sign is completed, Stacy will guide you through the next step to fill your planter with a selection of low light and/or high light plants depending upon your lighting situation, along with all the dirt and rock fillers provided.

Here is the link to sign up: https://www.facebook.com/events/204709754023948/.