I'LL BE HOME (LATE) FOR CHRISTMAS

Christmas happens everywhere...even on the road.

For Donna Dicus, it was the end of a long ride. Dicus parked her big-truck rig at the M & M Freight Co. at Bertrand, and was looking forward to only another few hours on the road before being with her family on Christmas day.

The final hours of the trip, to Cahokia, Ill., including a Christmas Eve shopping stop at Cape Girardeau, should be no big chore in her car after more than three months on the road as a big-truck driver. The final leg of that journey was cross-country from Seattle, Wash.

But at 2 p.m. Thursday, Dicus was still in Cape Girardeau. It was Christmas Day, and a frustrated Dicus was searching for a tire for her car.

"First I had trouble with the alternator belt on the car," said Dicus, who was making a telephone call to her family from Rhodes Travel Center on Nash Road, just off Interstate 55, between Cape Girardeau and Scott City. "Then, it was a flat tire, and no place open."

Rhodes Center was open, but the truck stop did not have a car tire to fit Dicus' car.

Glenn Richardson, knowing he was going to be in the Cape Girardeau area on Christmas Day, celebrated his Christmas early, with a daughter at Independence, Mo.

He first noticed Dicus' plight Thursday morning when she started asking about a garage.

"She was having a bad holiday," said Richardson, who offered a helping hand. "I suggested Christmas dinner first."

Following dinner, Richardson, and others at the truck center restaurant, started making telephone calls.

Richardson, who is working in construction in the area, contacted the owner of a nearby salvage yard, finding a belt for the alternator.

"It was then I noticed the tire," said Richardson.

A bystander at the truck center called Orley Jackson of Twin City Auto Sales, who found a tire for Dicus.

With a number of helping hands, Dicus was on the road again, en route home to Illinois and her family.

Dicus called her three daughters at Cahokia and explained that she was going to be a "little late" for Christmas. Richardson and Dicus were just a few who found room at the Rhodes Family Restaurant on Christmas Day.

"We were crowded," said Yvonne LeGrand, restaurant manager of buffet-style restaurant. "On a couple of occasions we had people lined up in the hallway. All of our regular workers were here and we had to call in some extra help."

A number of the dinner visitors were local, but many were on the road, en route to family gatherings and other destinations.

Lester Garrett, a truck driver from Benton, Mo., was one of those having Christmas dinner at the restaurant.

"This is one of the best truck centers in the state," said Garrett. "And, I visit a lot of them."

Garrett brought his family -- wife Barbara and daughter, 14-year-old Leslie -- to dinner.

Christmas was a busy day for many in the Cape Girardeau area. The restaurant at Rhodes Travel Center and the Great Wall of China Restaurant, near the intersection of 1-55 and Route K, were the only two restaurants open in the immediate Cape Girardeau, and both had periods when they were filled to capacity.

The truck center itself was a busy place Thursday.

"We've had a lot of traffic here," said Andy Sewing, shift supervisor. "A lot of motorists are buying gas, and some late shoppers have been picking up last-minute gifts."

Some of the gifts came from the booth of Ed Hill at the travel center.

Hill, of McClure, who sells industrial lighting, and makes jewelry part-time, said his wife was working at Cape Girardeau Christmas Day. He decided to open his jewelry stand, which includes hand-made rings, earrings, bracelets and other jewelry.

Hill's wife, Ginger, works at Walgreens, which was open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday.

The Walgreens parking lot was full at 3 p.m., and the store was bustling with customers, buying everything from wrapping paper, to last-minute gifts.

Even on Christmas nothing comes to a standstill. a number of service station/convenience store operations were open Thursday -- some until noon, others all day.

Today, it's back to work for about 65 percent of the United States' work force.

A survey, conducted by the Bureau of National affairs, A Washington research group, found that 36 percent of employers made today a paid holiday for their employees.

That's higher than next week, when only 10 percent will have a paid day off January 2.