Perry County Archives

February 2, 2013

Tower Rock: Missed Opportunity

When I showed Friend Jan Tower Rock on January 26, 2013, it would have been possible to get to The Rock without getting your tootsies wet.

It was late in the afternoon, I hadn’t prepared for the climb and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tempt fate by hauling a Florida native onto “the demon that devours travelers.” I saw several other figures on the pimple of rock sticking out of the river, but I was afraid it might be looking for non-native fare

Unfortunately for me, I see the river stage at Cape is 14.98 feet and rising. It needs to be at 7 feet for a crossing. I hope the river goes down in the next three weeks. You can click on the photo to make it larger.

December 30, 2012

2012 Top 10 Posts

News outlets always run Top 10 stories at the end of the year because (a) they are usually short-staffed; (b) readers and viewers are busy with family activities and drop off; (c) it’s easy and can be done in advance, and (d) it’s traditional. So, for all of those reasons, except (c), here are the highest-read pages of 2012.

A 2010 post about the old gym uniforms topped the 2012 list because it went viral on another site. It was viewed 3,576 times.

#2 Simon and Garfunkel

I covered Simon and Garfunkel at Ohio University in 1968. This story was seen by 1,736 readers.

#3 Johnson’s Shut-ins

I was hoping to get back to update my Johnson Shut-Ins photos last summer but didn’t make it. Still, 1,674 folks looked at my old pictures.

#4 Queen Elizabeth II

My tale of getting to cover Queen Elizabeth II in the Bahamas because I was the only guy on the staff with a suit ranked 4th, with 1,462 views.

#5 David Holley’s obituary

David Holley, the last man living in Wittenberg and a storyteller supreme died April 11 of lung cancer. I only talked with the man twice, but he’s a character I’ll remember forever. His wife, Joanne, lives in one of only two buildings left in the once-vibrant Mississippi River town

#6 Low water exposed Tower Rock Quarry

Low river levels has put Tower Rock in the news. A November 2011 story on the abandoned quarry south of The Rock was viewed 1,193 times.

#7 Geocachers conquer Tower Rock

I was hoping the river would drop low enough for me to walk over to Tower Rock like Brother Mark and I did in 2003. It didn’t quite make it, and I didn’t want to take my inaugural kayak ride solo in the Mississippi River when these geocachers made the climb. The page was viewed 1,120 times, and 407 people clicked through to watch the video I produced about the day.

#8 “Rush Limbaugh is a horse’s patootie”

I was interviewing Wife Lila’s Uncle Ray Seyer on a wide-ranging number of topics. Somehow or another, Rush Limbaugh came up. He described the high school Rush as a “horse’s patootie” for the way he monopolized the CB radio channels even when truckers were trying to get directions to local businesses. The page had 1,104 visitors.

#9 Terry Jones and Rush Limbaugh

A 2010 story pointing out the coincidence of Koran burner Terry Jones and Rush Limbaugh both being members of the Cape Central Class of 1969 is still getting hits. It came in 9th with 1,099 readers.

#10 Lila turns fire photographer

I was running some errands when a warehouse across the street from our house exploded into flames. Wife Lila dialed 9-1-1, then grabbed her camera and started shooting. The West Palm Beach Fire Marshall and 1,099 other readers were interested in her handiwork.

Remember my Amazon link

If you were one of the folks who stopped by 357,930 times during the year, don’t forget to place your Amazon orders by clicking on this big button or on the links at the top left of the page. I get a small percentage to keep the lights on and it doesn’t cost you anything extra.

November 28, 2012October 12, 2022

Altenburg Foods Closes after 150 Years

When I photographed the Altenburg Foods store in July 2011, I knew it was for sale, but it never dawned on me that the community fixture for 150 years would actually close.

A story by Amanda Layton in The Perryville News says that Gary Voelker, owner of the store since 1985, called it quits early in October to retire. It had been on the market for about two years. When I looked through the windows, much of the stock was still on the shelves.

Dates back to 1870s

The News story said the original business was started in the late 1870s when John Kunnell began peddling goods to Perry County farmers. He rented an old tavern to store his goods until 1883, when he built “Cheap Johns” next to the tavern. Kuennell sold the business to his son-in-law, Edward J. Fisher, in 1917.

Fishers ran it until 1985

The present structure was built in 1952 by George Fischer, who operated it as Fisher Finer Foods until 1985, when ill health forced him to sell it to Voelker. When the store opened, it had “modern” conveniences like shopping carts.

Everything done by hand

That was about the only thing modern. Lori Scott, who worked in the store for about seven years, said nothing was computerized: not the inventory, not the accounting system, not the checkout lane. Everything was done by hand.

Signature handwritten specials

One of the things that caught my eye the first time I drove through Altenburg were the big handwritten specials taped to the windows and doors. I hadn’t seen that in years.

Altenburg Foods photo gallery

For information about the history of the grocery, go to the link in The Perryville News. I’m including a lot of purely record shots in the gallery because it’s important to preserve the look, feel and architecture of this landmark business. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the images to move through the gallery.

October 26, 2012

Cold Fronts and Hurricanes

I was talking on the photo with Wife Lila about the effects of Hurricane Sandy on West Palm Beach. She started to say that they weren’t getting much rain and the wind was gusty, but no big deal, when she broke off and said that the house had been hit with a gust that had caused the huge mango tree in the back yard to bend. (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

Temperature dropping 30 degrees

Here in Missouri, we’re looking at a 30-degree drop in temperature. I believe it’s coming. I was up in Altenburg for the Immigration Conference I was speaking at this evening when the winds started picking up and the thermometer started a rapid plunge.

It’s amazing how quickly the leaves can change from a brilliant color to a dull brown to gone.

There was a huge maple about halfway between Cape and Perry counties that was a spectacular yellow on Tuesday of last week. Almost all of the leaves were off half of the tree yesterday. On the way by this morning, it was nothing but naked branches.

This is a cold sky

Walking back to the school cafeteria for a meal of chicken ‘n’ dumplings, I noticed the moon coming up. If that’s not a cold sky, I don’t know what is.

Leaves seeking shelter

Earlier in the week, these leaves were content to loll around in the sunshine minding their own leaf business. When I opened the door to get to my car Thursday night, the wind sent them swirling down the school’s hallway. You KNOW it’s going to be cold when even the leaves are seeking shelter.