Summer has hit Cape hard. We’ve been in the 90s the past few days, and I’m already hearing the people who complained about the cold winter wishing it would come back. I’ve been watching stuff happening on the northeast side of Cape Splash for several weeks.
(You might remember that this is just about where I thought the Heisler Heifer Highway came out.)
Five flumes
The Missourian reports that what I’m seeing is a new slide with five flumes: a three-lane mat racer this is 319 feet long and has a 30-foot-tall tower; a 265-foot partially enclosed free-fall slide, and a 259-foot triple-drop slide. The story says that the cost of the project, including a contingency allowance, is $1.27 million.
The first thing that strikes me (other than the cost) is the amount of hot concrete there is to walk on. Wife Lila, who just did her first mile swim of the year, says that white concrete isn’t hot.
I defer to her wisdom (we’ve been married since 1969, so I’ve gotten good at that), because I rarely walk around outside barefoot. I stepped on a bee when I was about two years old and came to the conclusion that shoes were invented for a reason.
Looks like a chain gang
After shooting the first two photos, I wondered what the heck those folks were doing? They appeared to be walking back in forth with grim determination. They looked like older folks, but didn’t care enough to walk back to the car for a longer telephoto lens to confirm that (you DID hear me say the temps were in the 90s, right?).
Since there was no splashing or frivolity going on, I could only conclude they were walking in water as a Good For You Exercise, not for fun.
Click on the photo to maker it larger to see if you agree.
Other water parks
Long before Cape even thought about a water park, my kids slid down the Lickitysplit Water slide halfway between Cape and Jackson. Of course, even before that, we had Hubble Creek in the Jackson City Park to frolic in.
While looking for a picture I had taken on one of our vacations back to Cape, I ran across this 2006 picture of a Missourian under my van. Who knows why I shot it? Maybe I wanted to gripe if it was a pattern.
That got me thinking about my changing newspaper habits. When I used to go on a road trip, Wife Lila would give me a $10 roll of quarters to drop in newspaper vending machines outside motels and eateries along the way. I gradually stopped doing that when dinky dailies wanted a buck or more for 12 pages of mostly advertising and press releases.
I realized the other day that I left West Palm Beach on March 17, and, so far as I can remember, haven’t bought a single paper along the way. Even when I was in motels that gave them away free, I didn’t bother to grab one from the lobby.
Still a news junkie
Papers for Ken’s Paper Route 1961
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a news junkie. When I get up in the morning, I check for email and Facebook messages, then I turn to the USA Today ap on my tablet (I’m not crazy about USA Today, but their ap is clean and easy to use). After that, I check out Google News. If I have a lot of time, I’ll visit Digg. The other day The New York Times offered me three months of digital access for $5. I’ll cancel it just before it jumps to five bucks a week.
I’ll dip into The Missourian’s website (which I pay for) and take a quick glance at The Palm Beach Post’s headlines.
Even with my employee discount, The Post subscription costs enough that Lila and I debate renewing it now that has become the Incredible Shrinking Newspaper. The other night I told her she could stop saving them up for me like she’s done on all my other trips. “I’ve already seen the world, state, and regional news and comics online, and I don’t care about who was shot or in a car wreck overnight.”
The Three Bs
Post Editor Eddie Sears used to say that newspapers would survive because of the Three Bs: Breakfast, Bathroom and Beach. I’m OK with the first two and never go to the beach, so I’m not so sure survival is in the cards.
Southeast Missouri State University, which claims to have a historic preservation program but tears down local landmarks, should take a lesson from guys like Chad Hartle and Rick Hetzel.
Rick rescued the historic Kage School from collapse and has made it into a guest cottage for daily, weekly or monthly rental. You can get more information on the property’s website.
I first photographed Kage School in 1966, the year it closed. After the turn of the century (it’s always cool when I can say that), I was drawn back to the building time and time again. To be honest, I was afraid that every visit would be the last one before the brick building collapsed from neglect.
Here’s what it looked like during the grand opening and through the years. Click on any image to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move through the galleries.
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
Kage School grand opening 05-10-2015
1966 before school closed
The school had a fascinating history. It was unusual because of its racial and economic diversity. Enrollment included white children from well-established families, the district’s African-American students from as far back as 1889 or earlier and children from the County Poor Farm. The original school was built in 1880 for $1,200 (changes and additions bumped that up to $1,600).
I never noticed the initials and names scratched in the walls until Brother Mark pointed them out to me. Here are some examples, plus some photos showing the condition of the school. I pointed out when these were taken in 2010 that “the bricks in the chimney are beginning to crumble and there are cracks above a window on the southeast side. If anyone is going to step up to preserve this historic building, they’d better do it soon.”
Kage School 03-17-2010
Kage School 03-17-2010
Kage School 03-17-2010
Kage School 03-17-2010
Kage School 03-17-2010
Kage School 03-17-2010
Kage School 03-17-2010
Kage School 03-17-2010
Kage School 03-17-2010
Kage School 03-17-2010
Kage School 03-17-2010
Kage School 03-17-2010
2013 before renovations
When I checked out the school in the fall of 2013, the back door was standing open. Since the property wasn’t posted, I took that to mean that I was invited inside to look around. Time, termites and gravity had not been kind, but parts of it were in good shape.
What I found particularly interesting was what was left behind. You’ll see some of the objects – like the green dishes, pencil sharpener, light fixtures and some of the books in the renovated school.
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
Kage School 10-19-2013
A work in progress
By the spring of 2014, Rick Hetzel had purchased the property from Keith Deimund, who had attended the school about 75 years ago. He launched an army of workmen to repair almost every part of the building, while leaving as much of it intact as possible.
The pine floors were refinished and reinstalled. The original windows were replaced with energy-efficient glass, and foundation stones under the floor were used to create a flower bed out front. Even a baby squirrel discovered by workers Justin Wissmann and Wes Langston was relocated.
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014
Rick Hetzel – Kage School 04-02-2014
Rick Hetzel – Kage School 04-02-2014
Justin Wissmann – Kage School 04-02-2014
Wes Langston – Kage School 04-02-2014
Wes Langston – Kage School 04-02-2014
Headed for the finish line
When I went back in the fall of 2014, most of the exterior work had finished and walls were starting to go up. Hetzel had the exterior walls sprayed with an insulation that had a high R-value and provided a good moisture barrier
Workers found a wooden block capping one of the interior columns that had the initials of the contractors who built the original school, including the date 1880. I wonder if they ever expected anyone to find it?
If I’m reading the news stories correctly, this is the big year for cicadas in Missouri and the Midwest. The 13-year brood is hitting the southeast part of Missouri at about the same time the 17-year variety is showing up in the northwestern part of the state. They get their names from the number of years they spend underground before coming out and creating a deafening noise.
Click on the photos to make them larger.
Won’t happen for another 221 years
An Associated Press story quoted Rob Lawrence, a forest entomologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation, as saying that this is the only time in this century that the two sets of insects will appear at the same time. After this visit, it’ll be another 221 years before they show up together again.
I’m going to trust the experts who say that broods can contain as many as 10,000 to 1.5 million cicadas per acre. I tried to do a count, but couldn’t decide if I was counting 100 different insects or one bug 100 times.
As loud as a lawnmower
Road Warriorette Shari and I spotted these guys in the treeline bordering the Mississippi River bank in the ghost town of Seventy-Six. The insects are harmless to humans, but they can startle you if you don’t know what they are. They were as plentiful as bees flitting around a rose garden.
The noise is made by the males trying to attract the attention of potential mates. The chorus can reach 90 decibels, as loud as a lawnmower.