Out of the past: June 13

1994

Unprecedented attendance, the promise of another generous commitment by Boyd Gaming Corp. and a crowd willing to exercise patience when it was time to leave put a fitting cap on Riverfest 1994; festival organizers are pleased with the two-day festival, calling it a huge success drawing as many as 75,000 people to the riverfront.

One hundred parents and staff attend the Cape Girardeau Board of Education meeting to discuss a recent change in Central High's commencement practice and how the change was made; Amy Randol, a school patron and volunteer at Jefferson Elementary, says the school board and superintendent aren't listening to the concerns of the community.

1969

Dissolution of Cape Girardeau Local 318, Plumbers and Steamfitters Union, and its merger with St. Louis Local 562 headed by Lawrence Callahan, is reported by Southeast Missouri Mechanical Contractors, whose contract with the local here expires Saturday; with only two days remaining before the contract deadline, there is little contractors can do except agree to pay a new wage scale until it can be negotiated, or to close down jobs.

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Occupancy of the new Chaffee General Hospital could be as soon as Aug. 15, says Earl Lewis, superintendent of the building project being done by Kummer Construction Co. of St. Louis; finishing touches are all that remain on Chaffee's newest building project, a $750,000 hospital located on four acres of land at the intersection of Highway 77 and Yoakum Street.

1944

In another whirlwind voluntary response, residents of Cape Girardeau yesterday over-subscribed the community's Fifth War Loan quota by $109,863.25; the total pledged was $759,863.25; likewise, in Jackson, residents of the county seat were led by a Rotary Club committee to top their goal by $78,080, collecting a total of $193,080.75 in pledges.

The Cape Girardeau City Council has fixed the municipal tax rate at 78 cents on the $100 assessed valuation, the same as for last year.

1919

There is a movement afoot in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, to erect a monument to honor Louis Houck, known as the "Father of Southeast Missouri"; Frank Cunningham, president of Citizens Trust Co. of Caruthersville, Missouri, is in charge of the effort.

John Talley, an enterprising young man of Jackson, has purchased an interest in the Wessel Furniture Co. at Jackson, having taken over the stock Martin Lorberg and W.T. Ruff purchased from Ben Schwab last week; Talley has been connected with Jackson Store Co. for several years but has disposed of his interest in that firm to enter the new field.

-- Sharon K. Sanders