Out of the past: Dec. 9

1998

Three local photographers have earned international recognition in the 1998 KINSA competition; David Baltzell of Cape Girardeau, Phyllis Brunke of Jackson and Mary Cobb of Scott City each won Special Merit Awards in the judging, as well as $50 checks from Kodak; the three were finalists in the Kodak International Newspaper Snapshot Awards contest conducted locally by the Southeast Missourian; local winners advanced to international judging.

Southeast Missouri State University has turned off the lights on the recreation fields project after keeping them on 24 hours a day for about a week; testing of the lights to see if they would blind motorists was one of the last tasks in construction of the fields on the southwest corner of Sprigg and Bertling; they don't; construction of the fields began in 1997; the project includes an Ohio Valley Conference softball field, two adjacent fields that can be used for soccer and softball, and a concession stand with restrooms and maintenance facilities; the project also includes three parking lots that combined have 212 parking spaces.

1973

Red Star Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau will open its new activities building Thursday; the $325,000 structure includes a gymnasium, locker and shower areas, gymnastics room, handball court, weightlifting area, game room, kitchen, snack bar, ceramics area and office spaces; the building will be open to those with membership cards and groups who may reserve the building through church officials.

The Notre Dame High School gymnasium is filled with the faithful and their applause as approximately 1,100 area Roman Catholics greet their new bishop, the Most Rev. Bernard F. Law; he was installed as bishop of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese five days ago.

1948

Inflated figures in an infinite variety of shapes and colors move along Cape Girardeau streets lined with thousands of children and adults out in the morning to view and cheer the Jean Gros giant balloon parade, formally opening the Christmas shopping season; the route of the parade is packed from beginning to end, with large numbers particularly on hand near the starting point at Houck Stadium and on Good Hope Street and on Main Street.

In a sudden move yesterday afternoon, after receiving orders from Circuit Judge L.D. Joslyn, Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Alvin Klaus and his deputies paid visits to establishments in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, confiscating punch boards and other similar gambling devices; hundreds were seized in the more than 75 places visited.

1923

The Scott County Methodist Preachers' Alliance was recently organized at a meeting in Commerce, Missouri; the purpose of the alliance is the mutual improvement and development of the members along spiritual and literary lines and the larger development of the work of the Methodist Church in Scott County; members included the Revs. L.D. Nickel of Fornfelt, R.L. Smith of Illmo, D.E. Canneday of Morley, Missouri, B.L. Wright of Oran, Missouri, Thomas Mather and Sam Govette of Sikeston, Missouri, P.G. Peterson of Benton, Missouri, W.C. McKinzie of Blodgett, Missouri, D.M. Margrave of Chaffee, Missouri, and Nat L. Buckley of Commerce.

The Rev. J. Pendleton Scruggs, who was pastor of First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau six years ago, preaches at both the morning and evening services at his former charge; Scruggs served as pastor here in 1916 and 1917, leaving to do war work during the World War; at present he is located at Franklin, Kentucky; while in Cape Girardeau, he established Red Star Baptist Church.

-- Sharon K. Sanders