Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Headline Article Date: Mon, 26 Oct 92 14:37:03 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION;AMERICAN SCENE;SOUTH \BY FROM WIRE DISPATCHES AND STAFF REPORTS S=NEW STORY Minnie Pearl touched by tribute NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Grand Ole Opry humorist Minnie Pearl wept when she saw an advance screening of a cable TV special in her honor, her husband says. The 2 1/2-hour show, "Hats Off to Minnie: America Honors Minnie Pearl," will be broadcast tonight on the Nashville Network. "It made Minnie cry because every one of those people came to the show because of their love of her, people from all over the country," her husband, Henry Cannon, said. Miss Pearl, who turned 80 yesterday, suffered a stroke in the summer of 1991 and has not performed publicly since. She has been largely bedridden and has not regained mobility on her left side. The tribute, hosted by Barbara Mandrell, features Pee Wee Herman, Jim Nabors, Amy Grant, Vince Gill and Reba McEntire. S=NEW STORY Dummy helps pumpkin parachute to safety MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Is there a way to drop a pumpkin from the roof of a 10-story building without turning the squash into squash? Yes, but it eluded quite a few of the junior high, high school and college students who tested their ideas Friday at West Virginia University's College of Engineering. Only 10 of the 35 entries landed intact. Pumpkins entered in the school's annual charity fund-raising event had to be at least eight inches in diameter; packing material had to be biodegradable and no electronic devices were allowed. The winning design was created by electrical engineering senior David Stout of Elkview, whose contraption was a washing machine box attached to a three-story pole. When the pole struck the bull's eye, a dummy dressed as a football player shot from the box and parachuted the rest of the way down. The pumpkin was in the dummy. He earned $50. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM