Cape Girardeau History and Photos

February 3, 2012

Missouri Highway Patrol

I’d rather see these Missouri Highway Patrol troopers here than in my rearview mirror with their red lights spinning. The negative sleeve is dated January 5, 1967, but I didn’t see it in the paper around that date. I thought it might have been taken for the 1967 Achievement Edition and, in fact, there was a story about the Troop E in the February 21 paper. These aren’t the photos that ran with the story, though.

At some time or another, I ran into just about every trooper that worked the counties around Cape, but these guys don’t look familiar. The trooper I knew best was Norman Copeland. He should have been a recruiting poster for what a Highway Patrolman should look like.

How NOT to shoot a photo

This is not how to shoot a photo of a bunch of people. I violated the newspaper rule of thumb that a person’s head should be at least the size of a nickle in the print. The subjects are way too small.

My fashion faux pas

I should have remembered that lesson when I moved to Ohio.

The society editor at The Athens Messenger went to a lot of trouble to round up some college girls to model some clothes for a fashion shoot. I don’t like to set up pictures and my idea of fashion is blue jeans and Red Wing boots, so I probably should have handed the assignment off to Bob Rogers, the other photographer. Still, I loaded the gals into my car and we headed off to a state park where we had a great afternoon shooting all kinds of artsy stuff.

The next morning, I dropped off the prints and waited for the praise for a job well done. Marge Straight, the soc editor, looked at them and, in her usual quiet, diplomatic way, said, “Ken these are very nice, but the idea of a fashion shoot is to show the clothes.” Luckily the models were amenable to another day frolicking in the woods.

I used to tell my staff that I’d never ask them to shoot an assignment that I hadn’t shot or wouldn’t be willing to shoot. I lied. I dodged every opportunity to go to New York for the annual fashion shoots.

February 2, 2012

The Tea Party in Cape

Cape’s a pretty conservative town (home to Rush Limbaugh and Terry Jones), so it shouldn’t surprise you that it had an active Tea Party all the way back in 1967.

No, not the political Tea Party, the lower case tea party where little girls dress up in their mother’s clothes. The Missourian ran four of these photos in the August 22, 1967, edition. The cutline, paraphrased, said, At a a dress-up tea party this week, the eye of the camera caught a group of little girls in the act of being their mothers. In the first and second photographs, Kimberly Bowers, left, and Ginger Minton actively engage in conversation.

Kimberly and Ginger

The conversation continues.

Shari Minton and April Farrar

In the third photograph, Shari Minton and April Farrar are shown partaking in party fare between sentences.

Perfecting the heel-slip

Shari, demonstrates the popular tea-time habit of slipping-the-heel-out-of-the-shoe. April and Allison Farrar, daughters of Maj. and Mrs. B.F. Farrar of Washington, D.C., are here to visit their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Farrar, and their great-aunt, Miss Verda Farrar, who held the party on the lawn of her home at 2500 Ranchito. Ginger and Shari Minton, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Minton of New Orleans, are here to visit their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Minton. Kimberly Bowers is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Bowers, Cape Girardeau.

Tea Party Photo Gallery

Getting twenty bucks worth of photos in the paper put a spring in my step, but I had a few more shots that were cute. You’re getting them for free. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery.

February 1, 2012June 10, 2013

Scott City Fire Department #2

I was going through some of the unlabeled coffee can film this afternoon when I ran into this shot of six young men posing on a fire truck. It’s about the size of what we would use for brush fires down here, but I see it’s got ladders and hose reels, so it might have been all Scott City needed for general purpose fire fighting.

The guys look pretty young. I wonder if it might have been an Explorer Post? I’m guessing it was taken in 1966 or 1967. Click on the photo to make it larger.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

I found the original Missourian story that ran August 7, 1965, on the Youth Page. The boys are members of the Illmo-Scott City’s Second Fire Department. They are, bottom row, from left, David Hahs, Mark Hillemann, Cecil Page and Jerry Paul Dunger, chief; top row is Thomas Clymer and Don Underwood.

January 31, 2012

$2 Million Shawnee Park Center

June 17, 1959, The Missourian reported that citizens and churches were trying to raise $5,500 in operating expenses for the Smelterville Civic Center to be opened in the renovated Hartle building..

Fifty-two years later, a March 16, 2011, story by Scott Moyers said that the $2 million Shawnee Park Center was going to open March 28. Quite a contrast. (Click on any photo to make it larger.)

For years, residents in the central area had the Arena Building for activities; the Osage Center and the water park was built later for the northern part of the city. South Cape, always the municipal step child, was pretty much neglected until the Shawnee Park Center was built at 835 S. West End Blvd, next to the Shawnee Sports Complex..

14,541 square feet

The 14,541 square-foot facility includes:

6,500-square-foot gym.
870-square-foot fitness room.
720-square-foot activity room.
1,540-square-foot meeting room that can be divided into two rooms.
A full-service kitchen.

Stories about old Civic Center

June 17, 1959 – A special committee composed of 70 Cape Girardeau groups planned to raise $5,500 for operating funds for a Smelterville Civic Center. The funds would come from three sources: many churches agreed to contribute 10 cents per communicant to provide start-up money; donations from civic clubs and industrial firms would be solicited, and a giant variety show using local talent would be held.
May 9, 1960 – Report of accomplishments: attendance increased from 15 to 20 children on a Saturday to over 100; demand grew so much that arrangements were made to use the May Greene School gym for Saturday athletic programs; a state-sponsored program taught many women in Smelterville the use of sewing machines; a quilting program had been started; the county medical society gave assistance and an eye clinic was held.
May 11, 1960 – Stephen Limbaugh, Miss Bertie Cleino and Rev. Owen Whitfield were elected to the Civic Center board of directors. Henry Ochs reviewed the center’s accomplishments and said that plans were being made to add washing machines and bathing facilities to the building. Gary Rust talked about expansion plans. Fred Thomas reported on Saturday activities. C.C. McClue announced a fundraising drive for June.
May 10, 1961 – Mississippi River was expected to crest at 39 feet, the fourth highest point since the modern record of 42.4 feet on May 27, 1943. [That compares with 48.49 ft on August 8, 1993.] Some Smelterville families move into the Civic Center when their homes flooded. The rise was unexpected. The river came up 6.9 feet in 48 hours.
Dec. 23, 1966 – SEMO students insured that Christmas presents were available to children at the Civic Center.

Links to old Civic Center photos

I’ve done two stories with photos of old Civic Center activities:

July 1, 1967 Sock Hop
February 22, 1967 Dance practice