Hula-hoops. Clackers. Yo-yos. These are just a few of the toys we played with when I was a kid. This Southeast Missourian article from Sept. 11, 1994, takes a look at the games children played in an earlier generation...

In the summer of 1991, players from Cape Girardeau Central High School's 1949 basketball team gathered here for a reunion. Among those to return to his alma mater was former Clemson University president Bill Atchley. Four years later, he would come back to Cape Girardeau to serve as interim president of Southeast Missouri State University, as the Board of Regents searched for Dr. Kala Stroup's successor...

I’ve always had an interest in the stories of Missouri’s Civil War guerrillas, including Jesse and Frank James. This article takes the James story a step further with a discussion of Jesse’s killer, Bob Ford. Published in the Southeast Missourian, July 23, 1995:...

This week's blog concludes Sam Blackwell's look at the community of Smelterville. Published July 9, 1993, in the Southeast Missourian:...

I grew up on South Sprigg Street in Cape Girardeau, on the top of Tollgate Hill. Our house was about two blocks north of Smelterville. In a two-part series published in 1993, Sam Blackwell explained the Smelterville community and examined it's history...

The Tipton family has been cleaning up Cape Girardeau's messes since 1948. Plans for a 6,000-square-foot expansion to the business's operation prompted this article in the Southeast Missourian on Monday, June 5, 1995...

Disney's animated film "Pocahontas" debuted in theaters in 1995. Its popularity prompted two articles in the Southeast Missourian on Sunday, June 18, 1995, about the real life community of Pocahontas, Missouri...

The artwork on the walls of my home reflect my personal tastes: Local artists and history. Along with paintings I treasure by Marjorie Suedekum and the late Joey Sebek, are several drawings by Mark Farmer. Here's a story the Southeast Missourian published about Mark on June 6, 1993...

Last year, I wrote a blog on Charles L. Harris, whose gift of his private library to the local college at his death in 1944 became the core of Kent Library's Rare Book Room...

Sheriff Jeff Hutson (Southeast Missourian archive) The names Jefferson "Jeff" Hutson and William "Willie" Willeford are forever linked in the history of Cape Girardeau and, especially, its police force...

I've known Linda Clark Nash for years. And for a large chunk of the time I've known this remarkable woman, she's been researching Cape Girardeau's founder, Louis Lorimier. Her promise: "One day, I'm going to write a book about Lorimier."...

One of the things that caught my eye about this 1994 Southeast Missourian article was the photographs. The lead photo shows the interior of Eisleben Lutheran Church, from which my Grandma Sanders (Hulda Sander Sanders Hilleman) was buried back in 1983. Another picture features the home of Dr. G.T. Dorris in Scott City. Dr. Dorris was married to my grandmother's sister, Anna...

In the spring of 1994, Southeast Missourian managing editor Joni Adams began a series called "Profiles." It featured in-depth interviews with some of the area's most interesting characters. One of the first people she wrote about was long-time Missourian columnist and book author Jean Bell Mosley. It was published June 7, 1994...

Beginning in 1954, Cape Girardeau physician Fred Rawlins swam the Mississippi River, from the Illinois side to Cape Girardeau, at least once a year. That tradition continued until 1999, the year before he died. Published June 25, 1995, in the Southeast Missourian:...

This Father's Day feature was published in the Southeast Missourian on June 18, 1995. Clark Daniels, second from left, spent time before his sons' ball game to offer a little pre-game pep talk to the four at Arena Park Saturday. Daniels, like many fathers across the country , will be celebrating Father's Day today, relaxing with families. Daniels' sons are, from left, Darin, Derick (behind), Jeff and Matt. (Chris Stanfield ~ Southeast Missourian archive)...

In this article published June 16, 1994, former Southeast Missourian writer and editor Jim Grebing took a look at the history of Fruitland and the growth it was enjoying...

In June 1993 the River Heritage Museum opened a new display honoring the Golden Troopers, the drum and bugle corps of the Louis K. Juden Post of the American Legion in Cape Girardeau. The museum at Independence and Frederick streets kicked things off with a reception for the remaining Troopers and their families...

I've always thought I'd like to try skydiving. But, alas, I'm too old and too much of a chicken to take up the sport... Published April 22, 1991, in the Southeast Missourian:...

Charles Clippard passed away on April 30 at the age of 90. The story featured in this blog was published 29 years ago at the time of his retirement as principal of Cape Girardeau's Hawthorn Elementary School...

Published April 6, 1992, in the Southeast Missourian: With a wallet containing a picture of his sister that he carried during World War II, Charles Branum of Cape Girardeau recalls his survival of the Bataan Death March April 9, 1942. (FRED LYNCH ~ Southeast Missourian archive)...