Out of the past 5/21/12

25 years ago: May 21, 1987

Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority board president C.W. Rushing will sign his name tomorrow to a local cooperative agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, paving the way for the corps to seek bids for construction of an 1,800-foot slackwater harbor.

A plan to assess what Southeast Missouri State University does educationally for its students, thereby providing public accountability of its programs, is adopted by the board of regents.

50 years ago: May 21, 1962

Eugene Golightly of Cape Girardeau has been elected national director of the Jaycees; Golightly is one of five such officers for Missouri.

Possibly for the first time in Cape Girardeau history, friends of a man here have taken his automobile and traded it in on a new model; this was done this weekend for the Rev. R.C. Holliday, retiring pastor of Centenary Methodist Church; he was presented a new Fairlane at the end of worship services yesterday.

75 years ago: May 21, 1937

Oliver "Bud" Alexander, 86, a leading resident of the Fruitland community, dies of infirmities of age at his home; Alexander was a retired farmer, a staunch member of the Presbyterian Church and an active member of the Democratic Party.

Koss Construction Co. closes the gap that remains in the paving of Highway 25; last year, the slab was laid from the northern limits of Jackson to the Paul Kranawetter farm; this spring, the laying of the slab continued from northward to the intersection with the Shawneetown Road; then the company shifted its equipment to Old Appleton and has been working southward.

100 years ago: May 21, 1912

The McElroy Electric Co. is pushing the installation of electric light arches on the streets over which the big Knights Templar parade will pass and have now installed about 20 arches; the work on the big insignia emblem to be hung at the foot of Themis Street is also being done.

Professor and Mrs. C.E. McKee come up from Holcomb, Mo., where McKee has closed a successful term of school; they will spend a few days here before going to Leemon, Mo., for the summer.

-- Sharon K. Sanders