Out of the past: Dec. 25

1989

Six hundred and fifty local families are provided meals through the Salvation Army's food basket program; altogether, some 3,787 people were assisted this holiday season through Salvation Army help programs.

Area residents suffer through the coldest Christmas holiday since 1983, a record-breaking, 13-day cold; public works and utility workers spend most of the holiday weekend trying to restore interrupted electric and water service in the region.

1964

Visitors to Cape Girardeau find Christmas damp, but much more pleasant and less hazardous than areas in Missouri to the north, which are icy; the holiday is made more joyful for about 400 families, who receive food baskets from the Salvation Army; another 100 families receive toys for their children from a project sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

The Cape Girardeau Jaycees distributed toys to 253 children of 53 families in the city last night.

1939

With everything present but snow to provide the setting, Christmas in Cape Girardeau is appropriately observed with a cessation of business, with church services and with the needy remembered on a scale possibly greater than ever before; the community has "open house" in a big way, all available transportation facilities being jammed with extra service provided to take care of the homecomers and visitors who flock to the city.

The Salvation Army feeds 950 persons at a public Christmas dinner and distributes more than 400 baskets to other needy families.

1914

With snow as a finishing touch, thousands of people attended Cape Girardeau's first annual municipal Christmas tree program yesterday evening; they gathered at the beautifully lit and decorated tree in front of the courthouse to hear hundreds of little children sing carols; after the program, all the children in attendance trooped through the courthouse to receive a gift.

An accident mars the holiday festivities at the Baptist Church in Jackson; instead of decorating a tree, the youngsters had prepared a pasteboard "Christmas Ship" filled with gifts; in some manner, the ship is set afire and, before the flames can be extinguished, the whole affair is destroyed, gifts and all.

-- Sharon K. Sanders