Out of the past 6/13/12

25 years ago: June 13, 1987

On a day when you can build up a sweat just standing still, 38 men and one woman endure the grueling rigors of a physical agility test; they suffer through 90-plus-degree heat, blanketing humidity and back-breaking tests for the chance to be a Cape Girardeau firefighter.

SEDGEWICKVILLE, Mo. -- With the help of about 20 friends, Kristie Roe and William Nitsch work hard to spruce up the old Trinity Methodist Church near here; their July wedding will be the first event held at the old church in a quarter-century.

50 years ago: June 13, 1962

The 48 members of the Cape Choraliers are back at their jobs in Cape Girardeau, footsore but jubilant after their four-day stay at the World's Fair in Seattle; their chartered Constellation plane lands at the Malden, Mo., air field at 7:50 a.m.; they are met by Cape Girardeau pilots and ferried back to Cape Girardeau.

Ervin R. Pitts has been hired by State College to succeed Kenneth Knox as track coach; Knox has guided the thinclads for the past 10 years.

75 years ago: June 13, 1937

Laymen's Day is observed in the Cape Girardeau district of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and in most of the churches in the district, laymen speak at morning services; at Centenary Methodist, the largest church in the district, the occasion is observed later in the day with Stephen Barton, a Benton, Mo., lawyer, as the speaker.

Members of the Emmanuel Evangelical Church at Jackson observe their annual mission festival; speaking at the all-day program are the pastor, the Rev. Paul Piepenbrok; his brother, the Rev. Ernest Piepenbrok of Indianapolis and the Rev. Roland Riechmann, pastor of First English Lutheran Church of Cape Girardeau.

100 years ago: June 13, 1912

A permit has been issued to the Cape County Milling Co. to erect a grain warehouse here; the building will be constructed on the Houck railroad at Fountain and William streets and will be of wood, concrete and iron; it will measure 30 by 80 feet.

The Central Afro-American of St. Louis, one of the best black newspapers in America, has established a branch office in Cape Girardeau, with R.S. Cobb as chief agent.

-- Sharon K. Sanders