Out of the Past: June 27

1999

Good Shepherd Lutheran Chapel breaks ground for a new education building in the morning between worship services; the new, 5,500-square-foot building will house classrooms and a nursery; a new wing will be added to form a new entrance to the church; a parking lot also will be expanded as part of the project; Good Shepherd members will work with Laborers for Christ, an organization of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, to finish the construction.

Amy Knaup of Jackson, a 1990 Notre Dame Regional High School graduate, arrives in Morocco to begin a two-year adventure as “the toughest job you’ll ever love”; as a Peace Corps volunteer, Knaup will provide environmental education to small-business people somewhere near one of Morocco’s national parks; the goal is to encourage environmentally friendly practices.

1974

There are no plans at this time for lighting the four tennis courts proposed for construction in Arena Park, say city officials; the City Council yesterday approved the City Parks Board’s recommendation of the alternate site in Arena Park for the courts, which previously were scheduled to be built at the base of Cherry Hill in Capaha Park; the cost factor is the major reason for not lighting the courts this year.

It is announced that pianist Jess Stacy of Los Angeles, and formerly of Cape Girardeau, will perform at the 21st annual Newport Jazz Festival in New York from June 28 to July 7; he will play at Carnegie Hall on June 30 and July 5; one performance will be on a program of piano soloists and the other with a group called “The Friends of Eddie Condon”; he is also scheduled to record an album while in New York; this will be the first concert in some years by Stacy, who was voted the best jazz pianist in the world four years in a row during the 1940s by Downbeat and Metronome music magazines.

1949

Rehabilitation awards have been given 128 Cape Girardeau tornado-stricken families, amounting to $221,189.33; a final meeting of the local advisory committee Friday evening is expected to bring the total to around $300,000, says Cecil Davis, area disaster director of the Red Cross; upon completion of the advisory committee’s survey of the 39 cases remaining from the list of 247 families who applied for rehabilitation, the Red Cross office on Middle Street will be open for about two more weeks to close out its work.

Cape Girardeau’s hoped for $20,000 appropriation from the state for cleanup of tornado debris is, in the words of its House sponsor, a “dead duck” after the Senate appropriations committee last week twice blocked advancement to the floor; Rep. J.S.N. Farquahar, who introduced the measure in the House and for three days worked for its passage, says there is practically no chance of the measure being passed; its failure means the city won’t be able to complete the task of clearing storm debris from the path of the May 21 tornado.

1924

A petition is being circulated on Main Street by several of the business men there to secure the promise of owners of establishments to discontinue the practice of parking their automobiles on Main Street during business hours, so that more room will be available for the cars of prospective customers; business owners will be asked to leave their vehicles on nearby streets, preferably Spanish.

Two unmasked bandits at 2:15 p.m. hold up the Bank of Vanduser, lock the cashier and a director in the vault and escape with $1,850 in cash, fleeing the scene in a high-powered automobile; cashier S.P. Cutlich and director S.M. Dailey are uninjured; they manage to free themselves from the vault with the aid of a screwdriver after about 10 minutes work and raise the alarm.

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.