25 years ago: June 3, 1981

The ribbon is snipped in the morning at the new J.C. Penney store in West Park Mall before a crowd of shoppers and dignitaries; cutting the ribbon is Mrs. Lester Marlin, a former Penney employee who cut the ribbon for the first Penney store in Cape Girardeau in 1924.

Although it has been nearly two months since Cape Girardeau police chief Henry H. Gerecke announced his retirement later this summer, the number of applicants seeking to replace him has been few.

50 years ago: June 3, 1956

Rooster Day in Jackson yesterday, sponsored by the Retail Merchants Committee and the Cape County Poultry Improvement Association, attracted a good audience to the improvised pen on the west side of the courthouse square; there were 271 roosters bought, their weight 1,770 pounds, and about at 15 cents per pound; at the end of the day, the birds were sold to Vienna Poultry Co. of Vienna, Ill.

Mr. and Mrs. S.C. "Cot" Spradlin have presented the Fornfelt Baptist Church with chimes; the chimes were partially installed last week and were played yesterday for the first time; they were given in memory of the Spradlins' daughter, Sadie Grace, who died in 1951, and their son, S.C. "Pete" Spradlin, who was killed in an automobile accident in March.

75 years ago: June 3, 1931

Within less than a month, Cape Girardeau will be served by the new street lighting system now being installed by the Missouri Utilities Co.; for the first time, a few of the lights on West Broadway were turned on last night for testing.

Workers are making minor repairs and improvements on a business building at 721 Broadway, owned by Louis Hecht, formerly occupied by a grocery store and later by an amusement establishment; the large store room is being fitted for the Ben Franklin variety store, which will be transferred to Cape Girardeau from Jackson by E.H. Waynant.

100 years ago: June 3, 1906

Teachers for the Juden School District have been appointed for next year; Elsie Regenhardt of Cape Girardeau will teach at Juden School, about four miles north of the city, and A.E. McGuire will have charge of the district's black school; classes will begin about Oct. 1.

The baseball game between the Capahas and the Maddenville Greys of St. Louis is stopped by rain at the end of the seventh inning; the score is 14-2 in favor of the Caps when the game is called.

-- Sharon K. Sanders