Out of the past: Dec. 24

1995

Numerous churches in the area hold Christmas Eve services; a candlelight service is held by Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church in the Health and Education Department at Saint Francis Medical Center; St. Andrew Lutheran Church holds a candlelight service at 11 p.m., which includes carols and songs by the adult choir; instrumentalists are Renee Robinson and Trygye Honaas on flute; Jan Gerald and Viola Henrickson on violin, and a quartet comprised of David and Clayton Hahs, Charles Holt and Dale Rauh.

Sandy Grebing Lyles, a flight nurse for Air Evac Lifeteam at Saint Francis Medical Center, has been named Flight Nurse of the Year by the Missouri Chapter of the National Flight Nurses Association.

1970

As a year-long Christmas gift, The Southeast Missourian is planning a series of 10 art shows; starting in January, the shows will be in The Missourian Building and will each will feature a different recognized area artist; the shows will climax next November in the 25th annual Missourian Art Exhibition.

With the popularity of mobile homes continually increasing in Cape Girardeau as elsewhere, the City Council last night announced it is in the process of drafting a proposed mobile home ordinance.

1945

Archbishop John J. Glennon of St. Louis, who has been elevated by Pope Pius XII to the College of Cardinals, has been a frequent visitor in Cape Girardeau; until recent years, he conducted confirmation services here on many occasions at St. Mary's and St. Vincent's Catholic churches and other churches in the district; he was last here 13 years ago, when he celebrated the funeral Mass for the Very Rev. Eberhard Pruente, for 52 years pastor of St. Mary's.

Ice-coated highways overnight tie up all motor bus traffic between St. Louis and Memphis, Tennessee, and between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis through Illinois following a freezing rain early Sunday night; weather forecasts give little promise for improvement in weather conditions, snow and freezing rain being forecast for most of the area tonight and Christmas Day.

1920

For the first time in 50 years, the old bell in the courthouse dome in Jackson won't ring out the Christmas chimes "in merry, gladsome tones," as workers earlier this week removed the bell from its moorings to make way for installation of the new clock.

Just in time for Christmas travelers, the new concrete road leading into and out of Cape Girardeau to the south is open for traffic; the contractors have taken down the bars on all but two bridges, which aren't quite ready for traffic; but the temporary bridges are all right and can be used safely until the concrete bridges open; Dennis Scivally, resident engineer for the state highway department, says the road is a good one, all complete except the shoulders.

-- Sharon K. Sanders