Out of the Past: July 10

1999

Cimarron Boardman quit playing football after his freshman year, an astonishing decision for a student at pigskin-loving Jackson High School; he just didn’t want to risk an injury that would end his ride on the rodeo way of life; the 18-year-old Boardman left Friday on a rodeo trip that eventually will take him to the National High School Rodeo Championship in Gillette, Wyoming; he earned the right to go by winning the Missouri high school calf roping championship last month in Ozark.

More than 300 persons attended a birthday celebration yesterday for the Rev. Walter Keisker, sponsored by the Lutheran Family Children’s Services of Southeast Missouri; Keisker, who turned 100, was the guest of honor at a party at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson, where he spent more than 50 years ministering to its congregation.

1974

Vandals at Cape County Memorial Park on North Kingshighway took 90 bronze vases from gravesites in the southeast corner of the cemetery some time Sunday night, apparently to sell the metal for scrap; Ted R. Storm, president of Memorial Park, discovered the vandalism Monday morning; each vase is valued at about $75.

Pay raises for most Cape Girardeau city employees will appear in checks at the end of July for longevity and incentive increases, effective July 1, but no adjustments for minimum wage scales will be included for the time being; the city contends it is already in compliance with the minimum wage.

1949

The Rev. Marion F. Forst, assistant pastor at St. Louis Cathedral, has been appointed pastor of St. Mary’s Parish by Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter; the acting pastor, the Rev. R.F. Beckman, will continue indefinitely as assistant pastor of the parish; Beckman was appointed acting pastor upon the transfer of the Rev. Theon A. Schoen to Most Holy Trinity Church in St. Louis at the end of April.

The Rev. J.H. Shirrell, pastor of the Church of God in Marble City Heights, says it will take from six weeks to two months more work to totally rebuild the church; the stone edifice was virtually wrecked by the May 21 tornado; it took two weeks to clear the site and make it ready for reconstruction; although they have been in the rebuilding phase only two and a half weeks, workers have laid over half of the stone and installed some of the window and door casings; the cornerstone was laid Tuesday.

1924

Water resumes in Cape Girardeau at noon after a suspension of 36 hours due to the clogging of a large intake pipe at the power plant in North Cape Girardeau; pumps drawing a 6-inch stream from the middle of the Mississippi River are set to work shortly before noon, and within an hour water is available to all lower sections of the city; before nightfall, residents and businesses on higher ground are expected to be getting water; service should be nearly normal by tomorrow morning.

The state highway department has a force of men at work along Highway 25 to locate gravel deposits of the kind needed for paving work and in close proximity to the highway, so that the haul will be as short as possible; the highway doesn’t traverse the part of Cape Girardeau County where gravel is plentiful.

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.