1999

Janet Hopkins has been appointed to serve as a pastor and lay minister for the Third Street United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau; it is her third such appointment, having previously served Zion United Methodist Church in Old Appleton; Hopkins is a Cape Girardeau County native; she and her husband, Terry, operated the Little Ole Opry.

A nearly 6-foot-tall concrete statue of C.F.W. Walther, known as the “American Martin Luther”, is dedicated at an afternoon ceremony at Saxon Lutheran Memorial in Frohna; Walther is probably best known among local residents for his participation in a public debate held at the log cabin college in 1841; he was the first instructor at that college in the Dresden settlement; the college now sits in Altenburg.

1974

Spurred into action by reports that animals in the care of the city animal shelter are victims of inhumane treatment, the Cape Girardeau Central High School Student Council Wednesday unanimously passed a proposal calling for the establishment of a humane society here; the council will circulate petitions among the high school student body and the community, which will then be presented to the City Council.

The final report on Cape Girardeau’s Traffic Safety Study, given to the City Council last night, proposes to turn Broadway into a one-way eastbound street from North Pacific to Lorimier; motorists would continue to travel west on Independence, Themis or Bellevue; Mayor Howard C. Tooke said there would be public hearings on the consultants’ proposal.

1949

Harried directors of the SEMO District Fair, weary from the tribulations of staging a fair when there was rain virtually every day, are tabulating receipts, after the rain-soaked exposition ended Saturday night; directors say the fair, which had the makings of one of the biggest in the history of the fair association, was a losing proposition, due to rainy and chilly weather which prevailed all week.

Madison County, its quota set at $500, becomes the first in the district to attain its goal in the 12-county campaign for $10,000 to equip a Southeast Missouri physical therapy treatment center for polio patients at Saint Francis Hospital.

1924

Rain yesterday and threatening weather early this morning keeps thousands of farmers and their families away from the Cape Girardeau Fair; a warm sun breaks through in the afternoon, bringing hundreds of Cape Girardeans to Fairground Park; many businesses, the public schools and Teachers College close at noon for the fair; fine weather is predicted for Saturday, the closing day of the exposition.

Sadie Kent, Teachers College librarian, was elected president of the faculty women’s organization, created as a result of a supper which the faculty members held on the west slope of the college campus Wednesday evening; other officers elected were Martha Shea, vice president, and Christine Randolph, secretary-treasurer.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at semissourian.com/history.