Out of the past: July 4

1992

Jackson area residents greet the Fourth of July with lawn chairs and mud at the annual Independence Day celebration at the Jackson City Park; 32 teams compete in a mud volleyball tournament as part of the celebration that brings between 12,000 and 15,000 to the park; the event ends with a fireworks show.

For the first time in a number of years, Cape Girardeau hosts a fireworks display in celebration of the holiday; in addition to fireworks at Arena Park, a Victorian Independence Day celebration is held at historic Glenn House.

1967

With a Marine Corps color guard leading the way, an Independence Day parade marches up Broadway in the morning; the festivities continue with the annual American Legion picnic, which began yesterday and concludes this evening; approximately 10,000 to 12,000 people attend the picnic at Arena Park, which concludes with a fireworks display.

KASKASKIA, Ill. -- The "Liberty Bell of the West," which is 11 years older than the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, rings out 129 times from this island in the middle of the Mississippi River; the old 650-pound bell has tolled independence each year on the Fourth of July since the capture of Fort Kaskaskia on July 4, 1778, from the English by George Rogers Clark.

1942

Crack troops from Fort Leonard Wood, including infantry units, an engineer platoon and a field artillery band, give Cape Girardeans the greatest military display since World War I days, when the American Legion holds its July Fourth picnic at Fairground Park; along with the military display, the picnic hosts a baseball game between the Cape Girardeau and Jackson Junior Legion teams, a softball game between the towns' girls teams, a municipal band concert and a military dance.

Along with the usual holiday activities at the American Legion picnic, two large boards -- the War Service Honor Roll -- containing the names of 1,295 men and women serving in the armed forces are dedicated; the boards stand between brick pillars at the Broadway-West End Boulevard intersection in Fairground Park.

1917

Mrs. W.R. Chivvis of St. Louis, former president of the Missouri Federation of Women's Clubs and prominent in her work for community betterment for all Missouri, speaks at the Fourth of July celebration held at Courthouse Park; the evening orator is Forrest C. Donnell, a lawyer of St. Louis and a former college mate of several Cape Girardeau residents; the event is a sane one, with no drunkenness or rowdyism on the grounds.

Independence Day is celebrated quietly at Jackson; in the evening, Sachse's band appears on the courthouse square, and several people gather to listen to the music for an hour or so.

-- Sharon K. Sanders