Heard on the Street

WORKING GIRLS

The 10th annual Take Our Daughters to Work Day is April 25, and the Missouri Department of Economic Development's Missouri Women's Council encourages Missourians to bring their daughters to the workplace, or to serve as sponsors for other young girls. The Women's Council is a division of the DED's Division of Workforce Development. Take Our Daughters to Work Day started in 1993 as a citywide program in New York. Created by the Ms. Foundation for Women, the day is now an annual, national event designed to give young girls new ideas about careers and work, and to encourage them to be strong, confident and remain in school. You go girls!

NO WHITE ELEPHANT, BUT ...

Springfield's Dickerson Park Zoo will this summer be home to one of only 30 known true albino alligators in existence today. The rare white alligator, which, aside from its lack of skin pigment, looks like any other American alligator, will be at the zoo from May to August. The fair alligator is visiting our fair city on loan from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Fla. The zoo's summertime visitor will have plenty of shelter from the sun in the winter alligator room. Cute little reptile, isn't it?

SUPPORT YOUR SUPPORT STAFF

April 21-27 is Administrative Professionals Week, a time set aside to honor the accomplishments of administrative assistants, secretaries and other support staff. The week-long observance dates back to 1952, when it was called National Secretaries' Week and it was focused on attracting people to the secretarial profession. The name change signifies the changing field in 1952, secretaries an-swered phones, took dictation, arranged schedules and typed letters for individual executives.

These days, administrative professionals work more independently and handle more tasks, many of which utilize advanced office technology.

The International Association of Administrative Professionals tells us there are more than 3.9 million secretaries in the United States, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While we'd like to remind you to take time to say thanks to your own administrative support staff, we at SBJ would like to offer a well-deserved thank you to our own administrative assistant, Amanda Cheffey, whose bright smile and hard work make all of our jobs easier. Thanks, Amanda!

LEADERS SUMMIT' UP

The third regional summit of the Ozarks Regional Economic Partnership is slated for 8 a.m.-1 p.m. April 25 at the Willard Com-munity Center, 222 W. Jackson. Leaders from Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Greene, Lawrence, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster counties in southwest Missouri will focus their efforts on economic prosperity, the theme of this year's summit. Participants will discuss ways that different groups can work together on shared concerns. The Ozarks Regional Economic Partnership is a program of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Associated Electric Cooperative Inc.

SLICE OF NICE

American Dehydrated foods is sponsoring the Fourth Annual Ozarks Food Harvest 5K Run/ Walk to raise funds to feed the hungry. The race will be held at 9 a.m. April 27 at Ritter Springs Park, rain or shine. Preregistra-tion for the event is $12; registration on the day of the race is $15. All proceeds will benefit OFH's food bank, which serves 37 Ozarks counties. For every dollar raised, OFH can distribute seven pounds of food. So far this year the organization has distributed more than 1.2 million pounds of food, which represents a 22 percent increase in demand from the same period in 2001. Race registration forms are available from Ozarks Food Harvest, 615 N. Glenstone Ave., Ridge Runner Sports, 3057 S. Fremont Ave., or online at www.ozarksfoodharvest.org. The event is open to runners and walkers of all ages. Harvest is a project of the Council of Churches of the Ozarks.