Out of the past 8/17/06

25 years ago: Aug. 17, 1981

A part of Cape Girardeau County history came to life yesterday at the dedication of the historic Bollinger Mill in Burfordville; as the crowd looked on, State Rep. Marvin Proffer slowly turned the wheel which brought the water-powered grist mill to life.

Once the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport tower is closed temporarily, some time within the next two to three weeks, pilots using the airport will assume more responsibility for air traffic safety at the facility; however, control tower manager Bob Perason says "visual" air traffic controls were used at the port until the tower opened in 1973, and safety shouldn't be adversely affected by the temporary shutdown.

50 years ago: Aug. 17, 1956

Establishment in Cape Girardeau of a rehabilitation center for the physically handicapped and disabled of Cape Girardeau County, which eventually will serve a 22-county area of Southeast Missouri, is announced by the Cape Girardeau County Society for Crippled Children and Adults and the state society.

Formation of Tumoco Inc. is announced by Clarence P. "Tubby" Koch of Cape Girardeau and C.R. McCullough of Jackson, both veterans in the oil business.

76 years ago: Aug. 17, 1931

Police are searching for thieves who broke a lock to the side door of a building occupied by the used car department of Rueseler Motor Co., 418 Broadway, last night and stole a 1930 Chevrolet sedan belonging to Marshall Fox, a salesman in the department.

Although the remaining unimproved section of 5 1/2 miles of Illinois Highway 146 from the Cape Girardeau bridge to Anna, Ill., is advertised for letting tomorrow, there appears little likelihood that the project will be included in the Illinois highway department's next contract letting.

100 years ago: Aug. 17, 1906

Vogelsang Bros., who yesterday received the contract to build the Elks' new club building, are wrecking the old buildings on the Themis Street site; Mrs. Chappell, the mother of George Chappell, who has lived in Cape Girardeau about 80 years, says the house to the west was built in 1834, and the house adjoining was erected just a few years later.

Lee Candle, a son of the president of the smelting works, is in Cape Girardeau attending to the construction work at the plant while his father is away.

-- Sharon K. Sanders