AEP marks anniversary; Firstar dividends and photography exhibits hilight this week’s business viewpoint column.

Tuesday, September 21, 1999

AEP marks anniversary; Firstar dividends and photography exhibits hilight this week’s business viewpoint column.

The board of Firstar Corp. has voted a regular common stock quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share. The common stock quarterly dividend is payable Oct. 15 to shareholders of record Sept. 17.

Firstar has increased its quarterly stock dividend for 27 consecutive years. The most recent increase was Dec. 8, 1998, when the board increased it from 8 cents to its current rate of 10 cents.

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American Electric Power recently marked its golden anniversary as a New York Stock Exchange-listed company.

When the company was first listed, it was known as American Gas and Electric Co., its name since it was incorporated in 1906. In 1958, the name was changed to American Electric Power, and in 1980, the firm moved its headquarters from New York to Columbus.

If a person had invested $1,000 in American Gas and Electric stock in 1949 and reinvested the dividends for 50 years, you would own AEP stock worth almost $151,000 today. That is an average annual growth rate of 10.52 percent, said E. Linn Draper Jr., AEP chairman.

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The photography of Kate Bader of East Nassau, N.Y., is featured in an exhibit that opened Sept. 17 at Shawnee State University. Ms. Bader is a native of Portsmouth, and her mother still lives there.

The exhibit is in the Appleton Gallery of the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts and features Ms. Bader’s photographs from around the world, including many that have appeared in international publications.

The exhibit showcases 31 photographs, mainly from Third World countries, taken by Ms. Bader.

Her work has been featured in Time, National Geographic World, The New York Times and on UNICEF calendars.

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Local Muscular Dystrophy Association car wash and raffle fund-raisers earned $1,500 to help Jerry’s Kids, organizers said.

A-1 Carpet Care of Ashland, Ky., gave away the television set Thursday. The winner was John Bowe of Flatwoods.

Jennifer Allen is publisher of the Ironton Tribune.