Chautauqua

Teddy Roosevelt, George Washington Carver, John James Audubon, Populist activist Mary Elizabeth Lease and dining entrepreneur Fred Harvey were in Cape Girardeau last week. Re-enactors for the Missouri Humanities Council Chautauqua provided convincing portrayals.

The historical festival of lectures and music, the first held in Cape Girardeau since 1924, was well received. The quality of the performances was top-notch.

Crowds filled the tent pitched near the Osage Community Centre every night of the run. Smaller gatherings and presentations were well-attended throughout the week at cafes, churches and other public venues. The nightly presentations were prefaced with performances by local musicians.

Chautauqua was a reminder that the immediacy of live performances can't be duplicated and shouldn't be lost.

Special congratulations and thanks are due Dr. Joel Rhodes, who teaches history at Southeast Missouri State University and orchestrated the event locally.

Downtown golf

The First Annual Louis J. Lorimier Memorial World-Famous Downtown Golf Tournament and All You can Eat Catfish Buffet begins this afternoon near the gazebo in Common Pleas Courthouse Park. The event is a benefit for the Red House Interpretive Center.

More than 70 golfers have signed up for the tournament, which will wind through the park, through an alley, through the Cape Girardeau Convention & Visitors Bureau, and along the Mississippi River before concluding at the Red House Interpretive Center, where the catfish eating will begin.

Registration for the golfers is at 1:30 p.m. They will tee off shortly thereafter. Fore!