Out of the past: July 20

1994

Rendrag Corp. was granted approval by the Cape Girardeau City Council Monday night to pull the plug on its own housing development project after it withdrew its rezoning request; the development would have included 134 units, 38 that would be single-family dwellings valued at $100,000 to $150,000; another 20 units were to be four-plex condominiums, and 44 were to be townhouses; the remaining 32 units were to be built into eight-unit apartment buildings.

The Delta Queen steamboat arrives at Cape Girardeau in the morning, the second docking here by the boat this month; it has been plying the waters of the Mississippi River north of St. Louis since the Great Steamboat Race re-enactment between the Delta and Mississippi Queens ended at St. Louis July 4.

1969

SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Neil Armstrong plants his size 9 1/2 left boot on the powdery surface of the moon at 9:56 p.m., and speaks words that will be remembered for all time: "That's one small step for man, a giant leap for mankind"; the Eagle lunar module had touched down on the moon at 3:18 p.m., with Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin aboard; remaining on the orbiting mother ship is Michael Collins.

ORAN, Mo. -- In observance of the Oran Centennial being held through Friday, a painting of the First Baptist Church in Oran has been made by Wilson Soehlig of Oran for the celebration; First Baptist was the first church to be built in Oran.

1944

While busy in St. Louis in conference with U.S. Engineers on plans for flood control for Cape Girardeau, Judge I.R. Kelso advises supporters here that he will withdraw from the race for the Democratic nomination for state senator from this district; Kelso is chairman of the Main Street committee working out plans for flood protection for that area and, in addition, is also chairman of the Chamber of Commerce committee seeking to secure the location of a veterans' hospital here.

A service man's wife and the mother of nine children is Mrs. Herman Long, 513 Maple St.; her husband has been in the Army the past six months, and she is taking care of the children, ages 15 years to 3 months, on the $50 check that comes each month from the government.

1919

It's a great day at St. Paul Lutheran Church at Jackson; in the afternoon Alvin Kerstner, son of County Treasurer and Mrs. J.H.C. Kerstner, is ordained as a minister of the gospel.

The mortal remains of William C. Bergmann, pioneer citizen and veteran merchant of Cape Girardeau, are laid to rest, with hundreds of his friends gathering here for the funeral service; the Bergmann home on Broadway is crowded with mourning friends and relatives, the sidewalk holding scores who can't get into the house; as they stand about in groups, these old, white-haired men discuss their departed friend; they speak of Bergmann's sterling qualities, of his true worth as a man and a citizen, and of his lovable character.

-- Sharon K. Sanders