Heard on the Street

PROFESSIONAL. The best advice we can offer for those wishing to commemorate Professional Secretaries Day is none at all. Rather, we suggest you ask the secretaries and administrative assistants themselves how they would prefer to mark the April 21 event, part of Professional Secretaries Week, April 18-24. That's what the International Association of Administrative Professionals says to do go to the source. Of course, the IAAP has some suggestions to get the discussion rolling, and it doesn't include flowers, cards or simply saying thanks. Consider a seminar on office technology, supervision of staff, negotiation skills or interpersonal communication. What about a subscription to a business, computer or professional magazine? Or, to truly show your appreciation, consider purchasing new computer stuff or ergonomic furniture. The IAAP founded and sponsors the professional secretaries events. The organization is based in Kansas City.

OPEN HOUSE. The Forrester Group is celebrating its fifth anniversary 12-3 p.m. April 22. That's also Earth Day, and staff members will hand out free trees to all who attend the open house at 605 N. Boonville. Ray and Rachel Forrester started the environmental management consulting company in 1994. The Forrester Group now has 16 employees and another office in St. Louis. Tours of the company's building will be a part of the event. The building was constructed in 1947 to house KGBX, back when it was an AM station and Sherman Avenue ran free, for those of us who still care.

THE MAN II. Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan proclaimed April 16 Stan Musial Day. As mentioned in this space last week, Musial was honored by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame with its Missouri Sports Legend Award on the same day. The sting of April 15 was lessened a bit by the knowledge that the day after Tax Day was Stan Day.

NOW, FOR NEWS. Paul Harvey will speak in Springfield April 30, co-sponsored by radio station KWTO-AM and Silver Dollar City. The radio fixture is making his appearance to benefit Students In Free Enterprise and its three chapters in Springfield at Southwest Missouri State University, Drury College and Evangel University. Kenneth Meyer, who owns KWTO-AM (where Harvey's radio broadcasts can be heard in the local market), is a national board member of SIFE. Harvey will speak at Hammons Student Center on the SMSU campus at 7:30 p.m. Reserved seats are available for $15, $17 and $20 through the Hammons Student Center ticket office.

GUARANTY DIVIDEND. Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc., the holding company for Guaranty Federal Savings Bank, April 12 announced third-quarter net income of $823,000. Year-to-date for the quarter that ended March 31, Guaranty Federal had net income of $2.4 million. In 1998 Guaranty Federal had third-quarter net income of $843,243 and $1.95 million in net income for the nine-month period. Earnings per diluted share for the third quarter were 15 cents. For the nine months so far, earnings were 43 cents per diluted share. Guaranty Federal announced it will close its Walnut Street operation July 2 "due to its limited growth potential." The company is traded on the NASDAQ market under the symbol GFED.

COMMERCE EARNINGS. Commerce Bancshares Inc. April 14 announced earnings of $38.7 million in its first quarter, an increase of 12 percent from earnings in the first quarter of 1998. Earnings per share for the quarter that ended March 31 were 62 cents, up 11 percent from last year's first-quarter performance. The quarter represented the 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in earnings per share, according to a release from the company.

SLICE OF NICE. Members of the Springfield Police Department will face the Federal Medical Center guards in the annual Guns vs. Guards charity football game. Proceeds from the game will benefit Family Violence Center's new child-care center. The game is 7 p.m. April 24 at the Parkview High School JFK Stadium. Tickets are $5 per person. For more information, call 837-7700.

TWICE OF NICE. The Springfield area donor/recipient quilt will be on display at the Brentwood Library until April 30. The display began April 5. The quilt is a project of Mid-America Transplant Services and is comprised of squares that have been made by the families of organ or tissue donors or by transplant recipients. For more information about organ and tissue donation, call Mid-America Transplant Services at 886-2500.

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