Tom Harte has been writing a food column for the Southeast Missourian almost 25 years, his first offering in April 1997 being a recipe for Chocolate Plus Cheesecake. But that wasn't his first brush with culinary fame in the pages of this newspaper...

In December 1971 a tornado touched down in Scott City, killing one man and injuring 24 others. The Missourian newspaper recently published a story about that disaster. The storms that spawned that twister Dec. 15, 1971, also made it as far north as Perry County, Missouri. ...

In the fall of 1971, the Southeast Missourian was preparing for its 25th annual art exhibition, transforming its newspaper offices into an art gallery and inviting local residents to come in and enjoy. One of the newcomers to Cape Girardeau's art scene that year was Grant Lund, a professor of art at Southeast Missouri State College. His contribution to the Missourian Art Exhibition earned him a front-page feature story on Nov. 18, 1971:...

It's not a mystery to compare with, say, the meaning of life or the final resting place of Jimmy Hoffa. But, still, I'd like to know. The portrait of War of 1812 and Mexican War veteran and Civil War Gen. Nathaniel W. Watkins, gifted to the Cape Girardeau County Bar Association 100 years ago and hung on a wall in the Circuit Court room in Jackson's monolithic courthouse, has disappeared. ...

My blog from Oct. 19 mentioned the start of construction of the Harry I. Himmelberger home on North Henderson Avenue in April 1921. By December that house was nearing completion, and Himmelberger was making plans to move his family to Cape Girardeau from Morehouse, Missouri...

In the same edition that contained the article from last week's blog, I found another about a new Cape Girardeau barber who decided to buck the Barbers Union. Eugene Penny opened a shop on North Sprigg Street, offering haircuts for the rock-bottom price of $1. That soon led to a visit from a union boss and a picket in front of Penny's door...

One of the added perks of my job as the librarian of the Southeast Missourian is getting to read newspapers that date back to our newspaper's founding: Oct. 3, 1904. And I'm delighted when I stumble on to an article I wasn't expecting, or recognize the face of someone in one of the newspaper's pages. ...

Last week's blog told of the condemnation of dancing, especially in schools, by a local Methodist minister, as well as a traveling evangelist, both from the pulpit of Centenary Methodist Church in 1921. Evangelist Burke Culpepper, whose revival meeting at Centenary ran three weeks, also had some choice words for those who frequented movie theaters on the Sabbath. ...

A Methodist minister by the name of S.R. Robinson became the catalyst for a discussion on the evils of dancing 100 years ago in Cape Girardeau. The Rev. Robinson, presiding elder of the Dexter, Missouri, district of the Methodist church, filled the pulpit for the Rev. E.H. Orear at Centenary Methodist Church on Jan. 2, 1921, and gave the congregation an earful...

As promised in last week's blog, today I bring you Stephen Robertson's take on the 1971 version of Jackson, Cape Girardeau County's county seat. At the end of the blog, you will find a number of photographs Stephen took in Jackson in October 1971, but weren't published. Included are three shots of a cherubic, unidentified child. If you know who it is, please let us know!...

This week's blog as well as next week's will dip into that treasure trove of features penned by Missourian writer-photographer Stephen Robertson in the early 1970s, featuring area towns. The articles customarily give a brief history of the towns and an overview of current conditions. And being a professional photographer, Steve usually shot more than just the two or three images published in the Missourian. Several unpublished photos are at the bottom of this blog...

James A. Barks, mayor of Cape Girardeau, 1921-1930. (Southeast Missourian archive) James A. Barks, an attorney acting as Cape Girardeau city counselor/city attorney 100 years ago, was a lucky, lucky fellow. Evidence of his good fortune was declared in November 1921, when he was named the mayor of Cape Girardeau...

Otto Dingeldein, June 1986. (Fred Lynch ~ Southeast Missourian archive) Last month, friend Steve Schaffner was honored by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri for his "artistic enrichment of the community." The talented fiddler was given the annual Otto F. Dingeldein Award. It was well deserved...

It's not often a full description of a house -- inside and out -- is published in the Southeast Missourian as its original owners take possession of it. But that's exactly what happened in October 1921, when Dr. D.H. Hope moved his family into the newly constructed house in the 1100 block of Woodland Drive in Cape Girardeau. Adding to my amazement is the knowledge that the house was constructed in about half a year's time...

Google tells me that National Newspaper Carrier Day was celebrated Sept. 4, although I doubt anyone in Cape Girardeau took note of the observance. According to the website "There Is a Day for That," NNCD recognizes the anniversary of the hiring of the first paperboy, Barney Flaherty, in 1833 by Benjamin Day, publisher of the New York Sun. ...

Passengers board a Greyhound bus at the Union Bus Center on South Spanish Street in Cape Girardeau in this undated photograph. (G.D. Fronabarger ~ Southeast Missourian archive)...

As a child, I remember my Grandma Clara packing a small bag, and my dad driving her to the bus station in downtown Cape Girardeau. There she caught a bus to St. Louis. After a week or so visiting her brother, Tony Glaus, the process would be reversed: Grandma would ride another bus back to Cape, and Dad would pick her up from the station to return her to her family in South Cape...

Growing up, it was my privilege to go to school with the children of Robert and Rosemary Hendrix. While as a youngster I didn't have much interaction with Bob and Rosemary, I remember them attending Sunday Mass with their children. Both of them were also very active in parish life at St. Mary's Cathedral...

Growing up, I attended St. Mary's Grade School on South Sprigg Street, just south of William Street. At times, Mom would bring lunch to my siblings and me. We would sit in the family van parked in front of the school and eat together. I remember those midday meals for the Angelus prayer that started them and for the scenes we enjoyed as we munched sandwiches and chips...

Included in the group in the above photo, made Tuesday, July 23, 1946, at Common Pleas Courthouse, are the first women called to jury service in Cape County. In the front row, from the left, are Sheriff H.K. Sewing, J.B. Griffaw, Edwin Nagel, Paul Stueve, Judge J. ...