[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 34 (Thursday, March 23, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATING HARRY G. SHARP, III, OF SIKESTON, MO. ON HIS RECOGNITION 
                       BY THE DAUGHTERS OF SUNSET

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JO ANN EMERSON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 23, 2000

  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, March 25, 2000, Pastor Harry 
G. Sharp, III is being honored by the Sikeston, MO Daughters of Sunset 
at their 16th Annual Recognition Program. I would like to extend my 
congratulations to Harry who is being recognized on this day for his 
community involvement.
  Harry is the son of Ruth Felker and the late H. Garwood Sharp, Jr. 
and is one of six generations of the Sharp family who have lived and 
been involved in the community of Sikeston, MO. Harry is the pastor of 
the Smith Chapel United Methodist Church in Sikeston. As the pastor of 
Smith Chapel and an active member of the Sunset community, Harry 
appreciates the work of those generations that helped make Sikeston a 
better place to live.
  Graduating from Sikeston High School, Harry attended and earned a 
degree from Westminster College and Florida State University. He is a 
Vietnam era veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers, has taught 
mathematics at Florida State and Spelman College, operated a consulting 
business in Atlanta, taught physics at Sikeston and Kelly High School, 
and consulted with the Sharper System. After two tours in the Army, 
Harry joined IBM Corporation in St. Louis.
  During most of his adult life, Harry has been involved in mission and 
outreach activities in countries from Korea to Russia, Haiti to Hayti, 
and he has found that people are much the same everywhere. His travel 
experience includes passing a peace pipe with the Menominee Indians one 
year before our Nation's bicentennial and talking about what this 
country has meant to each of us. Whether it was working with folks in 
the coal mining regions of Appalachia, hurricane ravaged people in the 
Caribbean, orphans in Korea, or refugees from Nicaragua, Harry found 
that volunteer hands accomplished much more than government programs.
  An early supporter of Sikeston area organizations such as Weed & 
Seed, Bootheel Healthy Start, and Save Our Children, Harry has 
continued his family's active involvement in their community. Harry has 
observed that his involvement as the pastor of a church in Sunset has 
prompted many people who didn't know each other to meet, enjoy 
fellowship, and strengthen ties across the community of Sikeston. To 
quote Harry's words, ``There are very few problems here, or anywhere, 
that cannot be solved if we just sit down to a meal of fellowship with 
one another.''
  Harry and his wife Anita returned to Sikeston in 1993. His son, 
Woody, brought his family to Sikeston the following year providing the 
enjoyment of three grandchildren. Anita's son and daughter attend 
college in Georgia, and the couple has an adopted Russian daughter who 
has been part of Sikeston and has hosted Anita and Harry in Russia.
  Congratulations, Harry, on your recognition by the Daughters of 
Sunset. Your lifelong dedication to family, community and fellowship is 
an inspiration to us all.

                          ____________________