Community Calendar

The Community Counseling Center of Cape Girardeau will host a one-day behavioral health conference on July 23.

The free “Thriving Together Conference” is open to the public and designed for community members, including educators, leaders, caregivers, and individuals interested in learning about behavioral health. Topics covered will include mental health, substance use, suicide prevention, family dynamics, resilience, and wellness.

Two renowned speakers, Josh Varner and Rebekah Gregory, will headline the upcoming event. Both speakers bring compelling expertise and personal stories to inspire and empower audiences.

• Josh Varner, a trauma-informed speaker and mental health professional, has delivered over 400 presentations nationwide. His session, “Managing the Unmanageable,” offers practical, science-based strategies to reduce stress, prevent burnout, and build resilience.
  
• Rebekah Gregory, Boston Marathon bombing survivor and founder of Rebekah’s Angels, shares her journey of resilience in her keynote, “I Wasn’t Supposed to Survive.” Through humor and strength, she inspires audiences with her story of healing and overcoming adversity.

The one-day conference will take place on Wednesday, July 23, from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

For more information, visit:
Thriving Together - Community Counseling Center

The Missouri Department of Conservation will host a Civil War in Southeast MO Hike on July 23.

Southeast Missouri was a hotbed of Civil War dispute. This 2.5-mile hike on Holly Ridge Conservation Area will explore the unique habitat of the area and its impact on the Civil War. After the hike, attendees will drive to the Stoddard County Civil War Memorial Cemetary to view grave markers.

The free hike will take place on Wednesday, July 23, from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Nature Center.

This hike traverses moderately challenging terrain and is not ADA accessible. Participants will need to pack their own sack lunch and sufficient water. All registrants for this event must be age 12 and older by 7/23/2025.

To register, visit Events | Missouri Department of Conservation or call (573) 290-5218.

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Band’s next concert will be July 23. The special guest entertainment will be the Jerry Ford Orchestra.

The free concert will take place Wednesday, July 23, at 7:00 p.m. at the Dan Cotner Amphitheater in Capaha Park.

Be sure to bring your blankets or lawn chairs.

The program will include:
My Fair Lady, Alan Lerner and Frederick Loewe, arr. Robert Russell Bennett
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Karl King **tuba feature
Them Basses, G. H. Huffine
The Syncopated Clock, Leroy Anderson
America from West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein, arr. Johnnie Vinson

The Cape Girardeau Parks & Recreation Department will host Riverfront Yoga each Saturday through September 27.

Fitness instructors will lead a yoga flow built for all levels and ages. No experience is required, and modifications will be offered. Attendees should bring a towel, a mat, and water.

Riverfront Yoga will take place this Saturday from 7:30-8:30 a.m. at Riverfront Park in downtown Cape. No registration is required, but there is a small fee of $4 to attend.

Cape Riverfront Yoga | Facebook

The Missouri Department of Conservation will host Wade Fishing Whitewater Creek on July 26.

This “learn to fish” program will teach how to wade shallow, clear streams and catch hard-fighting smallmouth bass. Transportation will be provided to and from the fishing location, and all fishing gear and lures will be provided. Participants should expect to be wet from the waist down and dress in quick-drying fabrics and secure athletic sandals, water shoes, or old sneakers. Participants must be age 14 or older.

Wade Fishing Whitewater Creek will take place on Saturday, July 26, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Cape Girardeau Nature Center.

To register, visit Events | Missouri Department of Conservation or call (573) 290-5218.

Riverside Regional Library will host “Historic Photos in Cape Girardeau County” at its next Genealogy Series event on July 26.

Marybeth Niederkorn, Cape County Archive Center Director, will share historic photos of Cape County and discuss how photos can aid in genealogy research.

“Historic Photos in Cape Girardeau County” will take place on Saturday, July 26, from 10-11 a.m. at the Riverside Regional Library Main Branch in Jackson.

Free event; best for ages 18+.

This month, we’ll discuss the non-fiction book “The Dress Diary: Secrets from a Victorian Woman’s Wardrobe” by Kate Strasdin.

About “The Dress Diary: Secrets from a Victorian Woman’s Wardrobe”:

In 1838, a young woman was given a diary on her wedding day. Collecting snippets of fabric from a range of garments - some her own, others donated by family and friends - she carefully annotated each one, creating a unique record of their lives. Her name was Mrs Anne Sykes.

Nearly two hundred years later, the diary fell into the hands of Kate Strasdin, a fashion historian and museum curator. Using her expertise, Strasdin spent the next six years unravelling the secrets contained within the album's pages, and the lives of the people within. Her findings are remarkable. Piece by piece, she charts Anne's journey from the mills of Lancashire to the port of Singapore before tracing her return to England in later years. Fragments of cloth become windows into Victorian life: pirates in Borneo, the complicated etiquette of mourning, poisonous dyes, the British Empire in full swing, rioting over working conditions and the terrible human cost of Britain's cotton industry. This is life writing that celebrates ordinary people: not the grandees of traditional written histories, but the hidden figures, the participants in everyday life. Through the evidence of waistcoats, ball gowns and mourning outfits, Strasdin lays bare the whole of human experience in the most intimate of mediums: the clothes we choose to wear.

Program for ages 18+.

To receive a Zoom invitation, contact Eunice at 573-243-8141 or eschlichting@rrlmo.org.

The Crisp Museum will host a Large Market Basket Making class on July 29 and 30.

The class will be led by Laura Klaus, who has over 30 years’ experience as a weaver. Attendees will make a large basket perfect for the farmer’s market. There is a fee to attend. Please register by July 22.

The basket making class will take place on Tuesday, July 29, and Wednesday, July 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Crisp Museum on Southeast’s River Campus. 

For more information on the class, visit Education | SEMO.

To register, visit Crisp Museum.

The Saint Francis Auxiliary will help area children get ready for school with a “Back to School Supply Drive” from July 30-August 7.

Community members can drop off school supplies at marked donation barrels throughout Saint Francis Medical Center and offsite Saint Francis locations.

The “Back to School Supply Drive” will take place Wednesday, July 30, through Thursday, August 7.

Traditional school supplies are needed and include:

• two-pocket folders
• pencil sharpeners (small, handheld)
• backpacks
• scissors
• markers
• crayons
• #2 lead pencils
• wide-ruled notebooks
• pencil tip erasers
• glue sticks
• colored pencils
• black and red ink pens
• index cards
• hand sanitizer
• Clorox wipes
• quart sandwich bags
• gallon zipper bags

The Crisp Museum will host a Large Market Basket Making class on July 29 and 30.

The class will be led by Laura Klaus, who has over 30 years’ experience as a weaver. Attendees will make a large basket perfect for the farmer’s market. There is a fee to attend. Please register by July 22.

The basket making class will take place on Tuesday, July 29, and Wednesday, July 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Crisp Museum on Southeast’s River Campus. 

For more information on the class, visit Education | SEMO.

To register, visit Crisp Museum.