Longtime residents to share memories

Longtime Cape Girardeau residents will share their memories and stories of the city's history at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Historical Association is presenting the second "Remembering Cape Girardeau" program in a series of four, in conjunction with the city's bicentennial celebrations. The panel of residents will discuss a variety of changes during the last four decades.

This Sunday's panel will feature Norma Kies Blattner, Anthony Dohogne, Barbara Rose Rust, Donald Sherwood and Leland Shivelbine. The moderator will be Dr. Frank Nickell, director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University.

Blattner is the daughter of an important Southeast Missouri builder and aviation pioneer.

Dohogne is a historian of Old St. Vincent Church.

Rust is the daughter of Forrest Rose, a longtime dean of Southeast Missouri State College.

Sherwood is a former executive of KFVS12 and a member of St. James AME Church.

Shivelbine is a music store owner and son of noted Cape Girardeau musician William Shivelbine.

The panelists will be asked to recall the biggest changes in the city's history, characters they remember, famous people who visited Cape Girardeau and other humorous and interesting stories.

The first "Remembering Cape Girardeau" program, held last November, was extremely successful, said Robert Hamblin, chairman for the Historical Association.

"We were surprised, and of course pleased, with the turnout," Hamblin said of the first "Remembering Cape Girardeau" program. "We think the crowd will be a bit smaller this time, since we're offering the program at two separate locations."

Because of the success of the first program, the Historical Association will present an additional program at 4 p.m. the following Sunday, March 5, at the Lutheran Home. Paula Kempe, a 99-year-old Cape Girardeau resident, will join the panel for the discussion.

The program will be videotaped and placed in Southeast Missouri State University's Center for Regional History.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 246