Out of the past: March 29

1999

The Vernon Rhodes Family Trust pays a $200,000 bank note, temporarily underwriting Shepherd’s Cove Children’s Home in Gordonville; if the debt is repaid within one year, the family trust will donate $10,000 toward the project; the foster home is associated with Abundant Life Church, also in Gordonville.

Huber Hall on East Jackson Boulevard between Interstate 55 and Jackson, near the new Wal-Mart Supercenter, is now the Heartland Banquet Hall; the hall can accommodate 200 persons and provides complete banquet and reception type services, from food and refreshments options, to choices of entertainment, from karaoke to sound systems.

1974

For 41 years Dr. Raymond A. Ritter has practiced medicine in Cape Girardeau; and when he wasn’t caring for the ill and injured, he was engaged in a variety of activities benefiting the community, especially its young people and two hospitals; the community said thank you to Ritter last night, when he was presented the 1974 Golden Deeds Award at the annual Chamber of Commerce-Joint Service Clubs Banquet at the Arena Building; the award is sponsored by the Exchange Club.

Cape Girardeau presented its case for a northwest-southeast interstate highway and expressed “the utter amazement and consternation of our people” at being ignored on such routing at a hearing in Willow Springs yesterday; Raymond G. Buhs, chairman of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce area transportation committee, made the principal statement.

1949

Renowned violinist David Rubinoff is in Cape Girardeau to present a series of concerts, including five appearances at public schools in the morning and an afternoon concert at State College; the 51-year-old Russian immigrant’s free concerts also feature talks on opportunities of youth in America.

One of the lightest votes of any election in many years is in prospect in Cape Girardeau as voters join with others throughout the county to cast ballots to determine whether the school organization plan should be placed into effect; at 1 p.m., the total vote in Cape Girardeau’s five precincts was only 190; the vote at Jackson at the same time is also low, with 271 ballots having been cast.

1924

One person was killed, another seriously hurt and several others had narrow escapes in a tornado that swept Cape Girardeau at midnight Friday, wrecking and unroofing residences and factories, demoralizing telephone and electrical service and uprooting trees, causing heavy property loss; Mrs. Edward Steger, a resident of the College Gardens suburb north of Cape Girardeau, was killed instantly and her husband seriously hurt, when their house was swept away by the wind; it is estimated that the heaviest single property loss was the $10,000 to $12,000 damage done to St. Vincent’s College

Whitewater and the surrounding territory was damaged to a considerable extent by the wind storm last night, telephone lines being down all over that district and communication cut off; the farm of W.W. Rau, three miles west of Whitewater, was badly damaged, his barn wrecked and eight head of stock killed in the crash.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at www.semissourian.com/history.