Heard on the Street

MALL SPA. The La Belle day spa is expected to open in the Battlefield Mall by the end of this month, according to Michael Romstad, the mall's general manager. He said the spa will occupy about 4,000 square feet in the mall, near Famous Barr. Dr. Dan Park owns the spa with his wife, Hunni Park, a stylist who will be in charge of the business. Dan Park said the spa will offer a wide variety of services, including hair styling, manicures, pedicures, body wraps and massages. He said the spa will also carry more than 50 full lines of professional retail salon products. Dan Park said the spa has 33 stations and three massage rooms. He said the spa will open with a staff of about 10, but he noted that his wife hopes to have 30 to 35 employees by the end of the year.

MORE ADS. The Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau's board of directors revised the bureau's budget by $491,549 at its December meeting, making the total operating budget $1,920,294. The increase comes from funds the bureau received from the Missouri Division of Tourism, said Tracy Kimberlin, CVB executive director. The money will help support a cooperative TV advertising campaign the CVB participates in with Fantastic Caverns and Bass Pro Shops. The television campaign has been ongoing for three years, Kimberlin said, and the ads run on The Nashville Network. This year's campaign is $600,000 worth of advertising, while the first year's was $300,000. The remainder of the budget adjustment will support other cooperative advertising campaigns.

ERIN GO E. BRAGH. Robert E. Smith, local artist and downtown gadabout, is the grand marshal for this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade. The 2000 parade is set for March 18, with the procession itself beginning at 2 p.m. The event this year will benefit the Gillioz Theatre restoration project. Artwork for the event's poster and T-shirt are based on paintings by Smith. His art will be on display at the Gillioz throughout the day, and the paintings for the poster and T-shirt will be auctioned. Among the day's events are music, activities and food and merchandise booths on Park Central Square, beginning at 11 a.m. The McSwain Brothers will perform on the square during the day. Following the parade, awards will be handed out at the Gillioz, concluding with a concert by Tullemore, a Celtic band from Kansas City.

DAG NAB IT. James V. O'Connor, president of a Northbrook, Ill., public relations firm, thinks the widespread use of expletives, profanity and cuss words is keeping us from communicating well. "Swearing is so commonplace, even in public, that many people think it is accepted, but it is only tolerated," O'Connor said. To help us all break the cursing habit, he has written a book, "Cuss Control: The Complete Book on How to Curb Your Cursing." The book comes after O'Connor founded the Cuss Control Academy, with its Web site,

www.cusscontrol.com.

"It helps to develop a healthy and positive outlook, to stop criticizing and complaining about things you can't change," O'Connor said. "The goal should not be to become a person who doesn't swear, but a person who doesn't need to swear."

DIGITAL BOVINE. Elsie the cow, the marketing creation for Borden dairy products, now on the Internet, at

www.elsie.com,

allows the illustrated cow to "spread the word about the wholesome goodness of Borden cheese products," according to a release from Dairy Farmers of America. Elsie is 60 years old, but hip to the new medium. "The site opened to visitors early in December, and we've already had several thousand hits. In January (Elsie's home page) was listed as the top site on Yahoo's daily picks,'" said Julie Carlisle, assistant product manager for Borden Cheese.

BAGGAGE. The board of the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport announced Jan. 19 it's starting $9.2 million in improvements. The project was designed by the LPA Group from Columbia, S.C. Walton Contruction of St. Louis, which will serve as general contractor, was low bidder for $7.6 million in capital improvements. The work includes expansion of the baggage claim area, as well as parking lot expansion, changes in the roads around the airport and an intermodal facility. Officials said the project would be complete in about 14 months.

SLICE OF NICE. North Springfield Betterment Association holds its Eighth Annual Old Fashioned Chili Supper 6-8 p.m. Feb. 17 at the Sheraton Hawthorn Park Hotel Ballroom. Tickets are $3, which includes chili, a hot dog, pie and a drink. Live entertainment will be featured. This year's theme is Honor the Past, Imagine the Future. Proceeds go to educational projects. The group makes annual scholarships to Hillcrest, Central and Ozarks Technical Community College students. For more information, call Lisa Nally at 862-5567.