Hundreds gather to visit, reminisce about Smelterville community

More than 200 people gathered this weekend to celebrate and remember a place that no longer exists. But the small community on Vine Street will not forget where they came from.

Smelterville was a small area in south Cape Girardeau that was mostly bought out by the federal government because of flooding in 1993. But Smelterville's history extends much further than that. The area was founded in 1790 and since then generations have grown up in the community.

This weekend was the second annual Vine Street Connection, where people from all over the nation met in Cape Girardeau to relive their history.

Ken Steinhoff, left, Steve Edwards and Curtis Williams swap stories at a picnic Sunday, July 27, 2014 that wrapped up the weekend Vine Street Connection at Cape Girardeau County Park North. (Fred Lynch)

The founder of the event, Madeline Webb Fletcher, had the idea for her old community to gather after the funerals of two close members.

People came together to mourn, and Fetcher decided she wanted to see her friends and family more than just for sad occasions, so she and a close friend, Brenda Colon-Newbern, began the Vine Street Connection.

"We decided that we needed to all get together on a good occasion, a celebration, bringing as many of us back together as possible, and giving something to our children," Fletcher said.

The theme for the event was posted on a large banner strung across the pavilion Sunday afternoon at Cape County Park North and read "In honor of those gone before us, for the love of those who remain with us, as a gift to our children and to those who follow."

Fletcher said this message is so important to pass on to younger generations, for them to feel the love and support she felt growing up.

Fletcher's and Colon-Newbern's parents were all very close, so since their births the two ladies have been friends. Sitting together at a picnic bench, it was not uncommon for one to finish the other's sentence. Growing up in the 1950s and '60s, the pair agreed that, although the county was in a rough time with the civil rights movement and different protests, it wasn't something they noticed growing up.

"It was a community for everyone, that was the thing. We all got along so well," Colon-Newbern said. "Even through a civil rights movement time when things were really worse, I didn't even really realize how bad it was. Sometimes I look at some of the history shows, and you see where things were going on in the '70s and the '60s and we didn't have a clue in the community; as far as the hard-hitting stuff, it wasn't there.

"And we were dealing with all races of people in that same economic state, but everyone had jobs. It wasn't like you were sitting back doing nothing, [we were] productive, working, and so that's what this [the Vine Street Connection] represents, all that came from where nobody thought you could be anything."

Fletcher and Colon-Newbern grew up on Vine Street, and even when Colon-Newbern moved away in the second grade, she said she always found a way to come back.

"I grew up on Vine Street," Fletcher said. "And there were other families with lots and lots of kids, and we were on Vine Street ... because there were so many kids, people from all over Cape ended up playing there, visiting on Vine Street. It was the main street to go over the tracks; it was the first one where you could cross over walking."

Colon-Newbern added it was the main street to get to Sprigg Street or go north, and that a bus stop was at that corner.

"So that is where the idea came from for the Vine Street Connection, because Vine Street did kind of connect that walk to go to the rest of Cape," Colon-Newbern said.

On Sunday, people came from California, Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri and many other places to visit with one another and talk about their childhood, and just sit at picnic tables, eat lunch and enjoy each other's company.

Colon-Newbern and Fletcher agreed this year's success was from spreading the news by word of mouth and through their new website. Colon-Newbern laughed remembering one woman's story that she put off seeing the birth of one of her grandbabies in order to attend this year's event.

Friday night there was a fish fry, Saturday was the main event with a program, banquet and dance, and Sunday was a closing barbecue for all those who attended.

More than 200 people attended the banquet, and the ladies received a continual string of compliments from fellow participants who walked by their table Sunday.

According to Colon-Newbern they had music, three speakers and a memorial table to honor all those who had died.

The best part about the entire event was reuniting with family, the two agreed.

"Some people we hadn't seen in 30 years or more. But to me, that was the thing, all the people who saw it and came and thought it was worth it," Fletcher said. "Because for many it is a sacrifice -- they're giving up vacation time, they're traveling, the expense -- but they see the value."

Colon-Newbern agreed that all the people in attendance were like her extended family, and, to her, if that bond is there, sometimes a community feels stronger than the blood lines that make up the traditional family.

"You always hear that it takes a village to raise a child," Colon-Newbern said. "And that's true. Smelterville was a village, and you actually saw how it felt to raise your children like that. I mean, there's always going to be someone who chose the wrong path, but whenever you sit and talk with them, they know they've chose the wrong path.

"But for the most part, when I think about our community, we absolutely have had so many success stories about what people are doing with their lives."

The duo said it will be another year before they begin planning the third Vine Street Connection, to be held in 2016. For more information about the 2016 connection, visit the website at thevinestreetconnection.yolasite.com.

smaue@semissourian.com

388-3644

Pertinent address:

Cape County Park North, 2400 County Park Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.