Capaha Park Archives

August 17, 2012

Mike Schuette Memorial

I missed Mike Shuette’s memorial service, but managed to make it by Capaha Park to see his stone and to capture city workers grading the infield. The memorial wasn’t where I thought it might be, so I asked a city worker for help. He led me right to it.

It’s sitting a little back from the field, but the guy said they are going to be making some changes to the facility, so they put it far enough back that they wouldn’t have to move it.. (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

Brad Brune’s tribute

Brad Brune posted this on the Class of 1966 Facebook fan page. I can’t improve on it.

Dear Friends of Mike Schuette,

Mike’s Wake and the internment of his memorial stone went off without a hitch. It was a beautiful Summer day at historic Capaha Park, and there was an American Legion Baseball Game scheduled for later in the afternoon. Mike was in his now permanent celebrity seating with a great view of the field by game time. We couldn’t have planned it better.

Though the weather was extremely HOT and HUMID as has been the norm this Spring and Summer here in the River City… attendees kept amply hydrated with soft and adult beverages supplied by your kind donations. Thanks again. Some fitting toasts and numerous old stories were offered and enjoyed by all. It was indeed a bitter-sweet occasion as you would guess, but I assure you the laughs and good feelings won out easily.

We had hoped Mike’s beautiful flowering cherry tree would be planted by now, however the unseasonably hot and dry Spring prevented it. I will follow up some more photos this Fall when it is added.

Unique tribute stone

With the cooperation of Liley Monument Company we were able to design and create a one of a kind tribute stone for Mike with two special corings in the bottom for most of Mike’s cremations. We had to get special permission from the Cape Girardeau Parks Department, and we appreciate their cooperation and understanding.

Every kid who slides into second…

However,we felt it unwise to advertise our intentions to also make Mike forever an meaningful part of the “Infield Soil” around his beloved 2nd Base. This feat was accomplished without notice fortunately, and the park grounds crew was none the wiser. Just a few old fat guys walking around the infield remembering their lost youth and fond days gone by.

[Editor’s note: y’all weren’t as unnoticed as you might have thought. When I mentioned that the guys grading the infield were shuffling one of my classmates, the park guy just smiled.]

Randy Smith (Mike’s chosen “keeper of the Ashes”) and I then drove to St. Mary’s Memorial Park off Perryville road and to the site of the Schuette grave site. As was Mike’s desire some of his cremations were scattered on his parent’s graves. This will also be the location of his Veteran’s Memorial Plaque commemorating his service to his country and the US Army during the Vietnam War. His father, Lester, was also a proud veteran of WWII and his plaque is on the back side of the Schuette grave stone.

It was a great day all around and I feel some relief in a treasured task nearly completed. We are still waiting for Mike’s brick on the Memorial Wall at the VFW Post to be placed, and this October hopefully his flowering cherry tree will be planted next to his marker at Capaha. If there are any funds left after final accounting we will come up with another small but fitting gesture to make in brother Schuette’s honor.

Thank you again to all who participated in this good venture, and if you have not donated for what ever reason, feel free to make a small donation to your favorite charity, or an organization dear to Mike, in his name.

Sincerely,

Brad.

Photos and mentions of Mike

Brad and some of his eagle-eyed brethren have spotted or mentioned their buddy Mike in some of the old stories:

June 8, 2012

Keeping Kids Busy

Playtime in the ’60s was pretty unstructured. Parents shooed their kids out the door and figured they’d find something to do until mealtime. (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

Richard, son of Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Drye, 1808 North Main Street, elected to protect the family garbage can from marauders. His bored expression makes it look like his backyard suffers from a dearth of marauders. His cap’s earflaps should protect him if an unexpected summer snowstorm sneaks up behind him.

Fun in the sprinklers

All of the photos but this one ran on the June 18, 1966, Missourian Youth Page to go along with a story about what made kids finishing the second grade at at Campus School happy about summertime. I try to do my posts from scanned negatives to get better quality, but I happened across these kid pictures in a box and decided to run them even if time and the elements has caused the prints to fade.

This boy’s picture didn’t run and there was no ID written on the back of the print, so he’ll have to stand in for all of us who ran barefoot through a backyard sprinkler.

The ups and downs of playing at the park

Debbie Statler came up to Capaha Park from New Madrid for a school picnic. The microfiche copy was blurry, but Debbie’s parents looked like Mr. and Mrs. Delbert Statler. Going to Cape for a New Madrid child was probably like a Cape kid going to St. Louis.

Richard Harris was busy stealing souls

New Madrid youngster Ricky, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Harris, is making sure he has a record of the day’s activities. I wonder if it was a passing fancy or if he was sucked into his soul-stealing machine like I was at about the same age. I hope he got a clear picture without his finger in front of the lens. His Kodak Duaflex II was carefully protected in what we photographers called a never-ready case. They might keep your camera clean and safe, but they also got in the way and kept you from being able to shoot quickly and to change film easily. I’ve got a bunch of them in the attic that never saw service.

May 11, 2012

Best Newspaper in State

Delta Delta Delta sorority sisters Janet Maurer. left, and Karen Totty embrace at the 1966 Greek Games at Capaha Park. The caption used one of those cliches that always causes my teeth to hurt, “Mid-afternoon rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the of the more than 700 college students who participated in the games and contests.” The Tri-Delts looked like they were going to post their fifth straight win in the annual contest, but the Alpha Chi Omegas won the Go-Go Disco Contest to overcome a two-point deficit.

I’ve got about 150 frames scanned from the Greek Games (including a wardrobe malfunction never noticed before). I’ll get around to posting them one of these days. (Click on any photo to make it larger. This, by the way is NOT the wardrobe malfunction photo, so don’t strain your eyes.)

This shot won first place in the Missouri Press Association contest in 1967 and helped The Missourian win the Golden Cup Award for Best Newspaper in the State.

Best Paper in the State

A window display gave the paper a chance to brag a bit. I still have some of the cool wood and ceramic plaques on my wall. Here’s the story that lists all the details.

Not bad for a college kid

In all, I won two first places (feature photography and news); a second place for sports, and honorable mentions in sports and features. The paper won second place for best use of local pictures. The Youth Page I edited won an honorable mention. My picture of murderer Phillip Odel Clark emerging from a house with a whiskey bottle in one hand and a pistol in the other pointing at the head of newsboy he was holding hostage was judged best news picture of the year.

After that, I had to leave town because that was going to be a tough year to top.

Working on book proposal

I’m under the gun to get a book proposal to a publisher by Monday, so I may have to slack off a couple of days to make the deadline. Interestingly enough, they are less concerned with my ability to produce the content as they are worried that I don’t have enough local ties to Cape Girardeau.

So, does anyone want to stamp my Cape passport?

May 1, 2012October 19, 2016

Fire Engine at Capaha Park

The negative sleeve says “airport fire truck 6/12/67.” The Missourian didn’t have any stories about it for a couple days on either side of that date, so I assume it was just something I spotted and snapped off nine frames before moving on. (Click on any photo to make it larger.)

Looks like they might be practicing drafting water from the Capaha Park Lagoon, a common practice for rural fire departments without access to fire hydrants. The firefighters drop 10-foot lengths of hard suction hose with a strainer on the end into a pond or other water source, then use the engine’s pump to either fill the engine’s water tank or distribute it through smaller diameter hoses to fight the fire.

Water supply is critical

If the water source isn’t close to the fire, then the water has to be shuttled from the pond to the fire using a series of trucks. For long distances, two or more pumpers could be spaced out over a long run of hose to boost the pressure. That takes a LOT of hose and a lot of manpower. That’s one reason why rural volunteer fire departments were called “chimney savers.” By the time they could get to a fire, establish a water supply and a resupply, too often a chimney would be the only thing left standing. That’s not to criticize the firefighters who were putting their lives on the line; it was just a fact of life.

Even hydrants fail

Murphy’s Law works in town, too. These two Gastonia, N.C., firefighters are looking down the street for the surge of water that’s going to charge their hose. It never came. There was a problem with the nearest hydrant. By the time a supply line was laid from the next nearest hydrant, the house was a loss. You can tell from their expressions how frustrated they were.

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