Out of the past 7/5/11

25 years ago: July 5, 1986

Final approval of a $37,500 grant to study the feasibility of a plant that would burn solid waste and other materials to produce energy has been received by Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Environmental Improvement and Energy Resources Authority; the grant will finance a study to determine if a cogeneration plant, proposed for the Cape Girardeau, would be feasible.

Dr. Cleo W. Mabrey, a professor at Southeast Missouri State University, has been named commander of VFW Post 3838 here; he succeeds John Smothers.

50 years ago: July 5, 1961

Mrs. Orren Wilson, left, and Mrs. John McCammon were present at the original dedication of the memorial fountain in Courthouse Park in 1911. They and Mrs. Nell Nicodemus, right, were honored at the rededication of the fountain in 1961. All three were members of the Women's Relief Corps. (Missourian Archives)

Two members of the Women's Relief Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic who were present when the Civil War memorial fountain was dedicated in Courthouse Park in 1911 were on hand yesterday for the Fourth of July rededication of the fountain; they were Mrs. Orren Wilson and Mrs. John T. McCammon.

Eight babies, including a set of twins, were born in Cape Girardeau hospitals on the Fourth of July; the twins, a boy and a girl, are the children of Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Blattel of Illmo.

75 years ago: July 5, 1936

According to Isaiah Bollenger, pastor, and B.E. Cannon, evangelist, services at the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Apostolic faith, are being held each weekend at the church on Pecan Street in the Smelterville suburb; foot-washing ceremonies are held every two weeks.

A picnic sponsored by the Hanover Lutheran Ladies Aid is held in the church park on Perryville Road, with a fried chicken supper being served in the evening; entertainment consists of music, games and contests.

100 years ago: July 5, 1911

Ernst Willer, brother of Henry Willer, the Broadway grocer, arrived recently from Germany and later will have his family join him here to make Cape Girardeau their home; Willer is said to be an expert musician in band music, specializing on the clarinet.

C.E. Eaker, a spy in the Confederate Army the last two years of the great conflict, came back to this country Saturday to visit relatives for the first time since he left here 47 years ago; Eaker was born and reared near Marble Hill, Mo., and was a youth when hostilities broke out.

-- Sharon K. Sanders