Out of the past: April 28

1996

Footings are being poured for the Osage Park Community Center, which city fathers hope will come to symbolize Cape Girardeau, much the way the Show Me Center and the Arena Building do; the 33,728-square-foot building along North Kingshighway, which should open in October or November, will boost conventions and recreation.

The longest-serving district defender in Missouri will leave the public defender's office for the last time Tuesday after almost 19 years on the job; Gary Robbins was hired July 1, 1977, as the first public defender in the Cape Girardeau-Bollinger counties judicial circuit, working in Jackson; more than 25 assistant public defenders later, Robbins is resigning as district defender to become a legal adviser with the Missouri Division of Workers Compensation in Cape Girardeau.

1971

ST. MARYS, Mo. -- Chester, Illinois, city officials haven't replied to a request by Missouri Rep. Vernon Bruckerhoff that they inform him whether or not the Chester bridge could be made toll free and transferred to the states of Missouri and Illinois; the St. Marys Republican had requested the city furnish him a reply before April 23 so his attorney could prepare for a June 15 hearing in St. Louis.

Cape Girardeau Jaycees announce they will sponsor a big, two-day Fourth of July picnic this year, including a parade on July 3 from Capaha Park through the downtown area; the celebration, tied in with Missouri's sesquicentennial observance, will include all the traditional activities Girardeans came to expect from the annual American Legion Post 63 picnic, plus a little more.

1946

During the evening service at Red Star Baptist Church, a dedication ceremony is held for new funds received to apply to the congregation's building fund; a campaign is being waged on a long-range basis to provide funds for a new church structure some time in the future.

The government livestock control program, with respect to slaughterers, is reinstated; this re-establishes quotas for packing firms; it will likely have the effect of reducing the local supply of meat available to consumers by nearly 50%.

1921

Walter H. Meystedt, a South Sprigg Street plumber, yesterday closed a deal with Selma Hirsch, whereby he became the owner of a 10-acre tract of land in the west end of the city; the property is the old Hirsch homestead, and Meystedt intends to remodel the house there for his own home.

Frisco train service out of Cape Girardeau is somewhat crippled owing to washouts on two branches south of here; the Poplar Bluff, Missouri, train is unable to reach Bluff because of a washout three miles north of the city, and the Hoxie, Arkansas, train is also unable to get through, as that train uses the same tracks; there is also a washout on the Hunter Branch, near Williamsville, Missouri, stopping service over that branch.

-- Sharon K. Sanders