Category: Photos around Cape

These two boys must have stopped by my house on their way back from fishing on Cape LaCroix Creek. I see my old toy tractor on the left behind them and the family’s 1959 Buick LaSabre station wagon on the right.

I think the fellow on the left is one of the Fiehler boys and the fish killer on the right is Kent Verhines‘ brother (Brad?).

A lesson in photography

I ran into this boy on Broadway at Capaha Park. It was a rainy day around dusk, do I debated whether to shoot him with flash or available light.

The flash photo is crisper and more contrasty, but the raindrops reflected light back at the camera and the background went almost all black.

Available light photography

The available light shot isn’t quite as sharp, but it more accurately captures the “drowned rat” look of the kid. I almost avoided flash whenever possible. After all, if God wanted you to use flash, he’d have lit the world with lightning instead of the steady light of the sun.

More kids in the rain

These kids were walking along splashing in puddles right about the time I saw the fisherman. You can tell it was shot with flash because of the light reflecting off the raindrops. That’s the reason why you don’t drive with your high beams on when it’s snowing or foggy. The light will reflect back off the snow or fog.

I saw a mention of an Air Festival  on the City of Cape Girardeau Facebook fan page. That, in turn, led me to the Cape Air Festival 2010 homepage.

Follow that link to get tickets for the 2010 Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival to be held June 19 and 20. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will be among the performers.

10,000 attended 1963 Aviation Day

Sounds a whole lot bigger deal than the July 26, 1964 Aviation Day I covered. I don’t have any details because that week is missing from the Google Archives. An advance story said that about 10,000 people attended the show in 1963.

Today’s tower looks more substantial

I don’t know if the thing that looked like a plywood tower in the old photos was something cobbled together for the air show or if it WAS the tower.

Municipal Airport Terminal

Today’s Cape Regional Airport has a modern tower, but I don’t think it’s populated. In fact, I’m not sure there are any commercial flights coming into Cape these days. I can remember climbing onto those old lumbering DC-3s for the Ozark Airlines hop into St. Louis.

Airport Security 1964-style

Flying was still special

Flying in those days was still special.People dressed in their Sunday go-to-meetin’ clothes and were greeted by stewardesses (they were all young women then) who were actually pleasant. Kids were given tours of the cockpit and given pilot’s wings, among other things.

Airlines worked hard to hook young fliers by promoting discounted “student standby” flights. I recognize my caboose has expanded since those days, but I believe the seats WERE larger back then.

I cheated a bit with the shot on the right. It wasn’t taken at Cape. We talked an airline into letting us shoot an illustration of some kind on one of their jets while it was at the gate at Palm Beach International Airport.

My son, Adam, who was used as a model, took advantage of the opportunity to see what’s behind the curtain.

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport

When I was in Cape this fall, I made a run out to the new Central High School. It’s not exactly on the beaten path. I had to pull out my GPS to find it. It’s a far cry from a neighborhood school where a good percentage of the students live within walking distance.

I didn’t spend too much time there. I popped in long enough to shoot something specific for a piece I’ll be running in the future.

Phil Ochs came to mind

The place is so spread out that a line from Phil Ochs‘ I’m Going to Say It Now popped into my mind, “To get around this campus, why you almost need a plane.” It takes an aerial to get a good overall photo of the place. (I would have created this using Google Maps so you could pan and zoom into it, but the most recent photos there had a big cloud obscuring the school.)

School cornerstone says 2002

I think this might have been the cafeteria.

The school’s cornerstone is dated 2002, so I guess it’s only us old farts who think of it as the “New” Central High School, much like the students who went to the Central High School on Pacific Street probably still call our school on Caruthers “New” Central.

Wonder if we could tour “Our” Central?

The reunion organizers have scheduled a tour of the new school, but to be honest, I’d rather prowl the halls of the building that houses OUR past. Wonder if it could be arranged?

I spent the better part of a day in the “Old” Central High School on Caruthers and a couple of days in the the Central High School on Pacific. I’ll be posting those pictures before too long.

It was astounding how well maintained Central was. The halls and walls were shiny and clean.