Out of the past 6/12/03

10 years ago: June 12, 1993

Riverfest '93 draws crowds of people to downtown Cape Girardeau despite hot, humid weather and high water that limits activities along Mississippi; colorful concession stands offer wide variety of food from funnel cakes to shish kabobs; there are carnival rides and turtle races for kids; other attractions include arts and crafts, and wide range of music; festival also pays tribute to Cape Girardeau's bicentennial.

Supporters of riverboat gambling take advantage of crowds at Riverfest to collect about 1,500 signatures on petitions asking that issue be placed on November ballot; just days ago, voters rejected riverboat gambling; supporters, made up of downtown merchants, needs 2,254 signatures of register voters to put issue back on ballot.

25 years ago: June 12, 1978

One of finest private collections of William Faulkner material, property of Southeast Missouri resident, will be shown at museum of Southeast Missouri State University in fall of 1979; announcement of agreement between university and collector, L.D. Brodsky of Farmington, is made by Dr. Fred B. Goodwin, dean of university's College of Humanities.

City police issue between 50 and 60 parking tickets to vehicles in no-parking zone recently established by city on inside lanes of Normal between Pacific and Henderson; most of tickets, which normally carry fine imposed in Municipal Court of $6, are issued to Southeast Missouri State University students arriving for beginning of school's summer session.

50 years ago: June 12, 1953

Golden flow of grain, greatest wheat crop in history of Cape Girardeau, will soon be rippling from army of combines, but very magnitude of harvest is posing major problem for farmers who are desperate for storage spaces; situation isn't peculiar to this county alone; it prevails throughout grain-growing area of Southeast Missouri.

Cape Girardeau and district get measure of relief from extreme heat, result of atmospheric conditions that brought heavy showers in some locations late yesterday; relief may be short-lived, however; only light showers are predicted next five days, and temperatures are expected to average from 5 to 10 degrees above normal.

75 years ago: June 12, 1928

Cape Girardeau bridge is extended to Illinois shore; at 2 p.m. workers lay span connecting Cape Girardeau with its neighbor to East, marking important step in history of city; as span slips into place, whistles sound message to city, as American Bridge Co., and local residents celebrate great achievement.

Highway 53 southeast of Poplar Bluff is closed to traffic, being under 44 inches of water from Black River; but it is only road in Southeast Missouri completely closed, says G.J. Phillips, maintenance engineer of Division 10 of highway commission; there are 31 inches of water over Highway 60 at Fisk, and eight inches cover Highway 60 east of Poplar Bluff.-- Sharon K. Sanders