Out of the past 9/13/07

25 years ago: Sept. 13, 1982

Light showers that fell last night and again this morning serve to settle the dust at Arena Park, as the 127th annual SEMO District Fair kicks off; entertaining before the grandstands in the evening will be Narvel Felts and Lou Hobbs.

The 200 Delta-area residents who turn out for the hearing in the Delta High School gymnasium are outspoken in their support for their school district and equally vocal in their opposition to a proposed plan to consolidate the Delta and Chaffee, Mo., public schools.

50 years ago: Sept. 13, 1957

Weather was the main entry at the SEMO District Fair yesterday, disrupting the planned schedule; the rain came on the biggest day of the week, spoiling the fun for several thousand youngsters and hundreds of adults who crowded the ground.

The general development plan for Trail of Tears State Park has been completed by Harland Bartholomew and Associates of St. Louis, and work on roads in the park is expected to begin in a few weeks.

75 years ago: Sept. 13, 1932

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Mrs. E.D. Preston, justice of the peace of Kelso Township, is filling in as police judge at Chaffee; the regular judge, C.F. Spann, is hospitalized with injuries from a recent fall.

With the draining of the Fairgrounds Park lagoon, many wonders of the past are being revealed; workers have found bottles, tin cans, an assortment of automobile tires, buckets, shoes, and other things buried in the mud and silt; fish from the lagoon have taken up temporary residence in the municipal swimming pool.

100 years ago: Sept. 13, 1907

Last night was the banner night of the Chautauqua so far, with the largest crowd attending Fraternal Day; tonight's entertainment includes a band concert and an interpretive reading by Adrian Newens titled "A Message from Mars."

With winter approaching, city workers have finally started on the street improvements that were promised last winter; workers are hauling mud from Main Street and scattering it on Broadway, between Spanish and Main streets; at the next rain, the men will likely be scraping the same mud from Main and hauling it back up Broadway hill.

-- Sharon K. Sanders