Out of the Past: June 6

1999

Greg A. Shambo, formerly of Scott City, has received a Christian ministries pastoral degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City; Shambo and his wife, Kim, lived in Scott City before he attended seminary; he is pastor of Boswell Baptist Church in Boswell.

Every day for 41 years, John Southern went to work, eager to chat with his customers and help them with any dilemma they might encounter; but early yesterday, the retired manager at Riggs Wholesale Co. in Sikeston watched helplessly as flames destroyed a large part of his past; efforts from several area fire departments proved futile when a fire razed the building supply and hardware business at 380 N. West St.; no one was injured.

1974

A new face will be seen pacing the sidelines when the Southeast Missouri State University Indians open the 1974 football season; Chris George, an all-MIAA linebacker at Southwest of Springfield in 1966, will be instructing Indian linebackers when fall drills get underway in late August; George, head football coach at Melville High School the past two years, completes the coaching staff for the Indians and replaces Gary Barnett with duties in the college’s Vets Office.

Eight new tennis courts costing $45,000 to $50,000 will be constructed in Cape Girardeau at locations previously proposed by the City Council through authority granted city manager W.G. Lawley last night; four of the courts will be built at the base of Cherry Hill in Capaha Park and two each in Missouri and Indian parks; Lawley was authorized to enter into an agreement with Ronald D. Affect to build the courts.

1949

Fifteen of 217 families who have filed for tornado assistance have been allocated $16,093.60 for permanent rehabilitation by the Red Cross, while a total of $4,844.56 additional in emergency help has been given, announces Cecil Davis, area disaster director; the 15 cases were reviewed by the local advisory committee, which henceforth will meet each Friday night to go over disaster needs of those who have filed for aid in the tornado rehabilitation program.

Cape Girardeau’s community summer playground program gets underway, as four recreation areas are opened with Weldon Hager and Bud Eugas in charge; they are acting as supervisors this week while supervisor Bob Beard is out of town; Capaha Park is open in the morning and afternoon, while playgrounds at Holy Family, May Greene and Red Star will be open in the afternoons and evenings.

1924

The political pot is boiling in Cape Girardeau County, as the time for filing for political office nears; Oscar A. Knehans, Cape Girardeau attorney, who earlier in the year had announced as candidate for prosecuting attorney, switches races and is now vying for the Republican nomination for judge of Common Pleas Court; likewise, Cape Girardeau attorney Orrin Wilson once again switches his candidacy from the Common Pleas Court race to that of the prosecuting attorney, the race he had originally entered; deadline for filing is midnight tonight.

The Elks Building on Themis Street, circa 1920.

Southeast Missourian archive

The Elks Building on Themis Street, between Main and Spanish, is sold at public auction in the afternoon for $14,000 to Dr. L.F. Popp, senior member of the real estate firm of Popp and Springer; the sale must still be approved by Judge John A. Snider in Common Pleas Court; the sales price is one-third the original cost of the building when it was erected 18 years ago, and less than one-fourth what it would cost to build it under present prices of materials and labor, it is estimated.

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.