Out of the past: April 17

1999

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Calvin Bird has resigned as executive director of Southeast Missouri’s federally funded Weed and Seed program; Bird was the first and only executive director for Weed and Seed of Southeast Missouri Inc. and had served since April 1, 1997; the program is a U.S. Department of Justice initiative designed to weed out violent crime, drug use and gang activity in targeted neighborhoods in Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Charleston, Poplar Bluff and Caruthersville; Bird said Friday he resigned to take a position with the Greater Dimension Church of God in Christ in Cape Girardeau.

Standing on the bank of the LaSalle Fork at the edge of the private Dux Landing subdivision off Route W, there is no hint of the changes that would occur if the city succeeds in building a detention basin downstream; city officials say it is just a matter of time before work proceeds on construction of a 157-acre detention basin, part of the $48 million Army Corps of Engineers’ flood-control project; in recent years, channel improvements have been made along Cape LaCroix Creek and Walker Branch; the detention basin is the last major part of the 9-year-old project remaining to be done.

1974

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An ordinance essentially making Good Hope Street a through street was adopted by the Cape Girardeau City Council last night; the council approved the ordinance because of the added amount of traffic that will be placed on Good Hope during time of construction work on the William Street improvement; yield signs will be replaced with stop signs facing north and south on Benton, Hanover, Henderson, Park, Koch and Louis at their intersections with Good Hope.

May 15 has been set as the date for hearings by the Cape Girardeau City Council on requests for rezoning of a tract where the Westborough Mall is proposed to be located; the request for rezoning of a tract, west of South Kingshighway between Route K and Bloomfield Road, was recommended for approval by the City Planning and Zoning Commission.

1949

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A community Easter sunrise service is conducted at 5:30 a.m. at Arena Park, with six Cape Girardeau ministers participating; the Rev. C.E. Mount, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, preaches the Easter sermon; sponsored by the Ministerial Alliance, the union service is presided over by the Rev. Laurence W. Cleland of First Baptist Church, and Clyde M. Clark is song leader; the Rev. Vernon A. Hammond, pastor of First Christian Church, asks the invocation; Maj. Leonard Burridge, Salvation Army corps officer, reads the Scripture, and the Easter morning prayer is led by the Rev. P.A. Kasey, pastor of Grace Methodist Church; the closing prayer and benediction are pronounced by the Rev. Dale Porter, pastor of General Baptist Church.

The Very Rev. Theon A. Schoen, pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and dean of the Cape Girardeau Deanery, is being transferred to the Most Holy Trinity Parish, one of the largest in St. Louis; Schoen announces his transfer to parishioners at Easter Sunday Masses; the Rev. Rudolph Beckman, assistant pastor, will be administrator until a new pastor is named; a native of Scott County, Schoen came to St. Mary’s on April 28, 1948, from the Immaculate Conception Parish at Loose Creek in Osage County.

1924

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Cape Girardeau Mayor James A. Barks issues a proclamation calling upon the townspeople to turn out in celebration of the maiden voyage of the new steamer Cape Girardeau, which will steam into the port here next Wednesday morning; ceremonies welcoming the new vessel, which at first were arranged solely as an event of interest to locals, have taken on a more extensive scope, and indications point to a large attendance from other towns in this section.

Jim Mansfield, who was attacked by smallpox while confined to the Cape Girardeau city jail last Tuesday, is removed to the city’s “pest house” in the west end, near Fairmount Cemetery; he’ll be kept there until he recovers; a man will be hired to care for him, and they will remain isolated for at least three weeks, or until a physician says all danger is past.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at www.semissourian.com/history.