Out of the past: May 11

1992

It's no surprise the Navy Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron was a big hit with spectators at Cape Aviation Days, but several of the 25,000 to 30,000 people attending the show yesterday said they also were impressed with a Stealth Fighter fly-by, hot-air balloon races and the aerial acrobatics of the Peterson-Krier Airshow.

The popularity of amphitheaters since last summer has left the Show Me Center and other indoor venues with little to choose from in the way of contemporary bands and musicians; center director David Ross said a multitude of amphitheaters have opened across the country, altering touring schedules and limiting the bands available for indoor centers.

1967

Pledges totaling $60,281 have been solicited to date by the general gifts division of the new Saint Francis Hospital fundraising campaign. The figure brings the overall campaign pledges to $757,082, which is $242,918 short of the $1 million needed to build the new facility.

After three years of what must have seemed like unsurmountable stumbling blocks to city officials, work on the new runway at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport began Tuesday. As the condition of the ground reached a workable state, large earth-moving machines of the Gammon, Barter and Zeller Construction Co. of Keokuk, Iowa, were put into operation at the extreme west end of the project.

1942

More than 200 delegates and visitors from every part of the state are attending the Missouri Federation of Women's Clubs convention here, including Mrs. Forrest C. Donnell, wife of Missouri's governor. The meeting will continue through Wednesday.

William J. Sperling, 62, who for 32 years had operated a memorial business in Cape Girardeau, dies at a local hospital. After working five years as a conductor on street cars here, Sperling entered the memorial business in 1910, his first place of business being at Independence and Middle streets; later it was moved to 615 Broadway, and 10 years ago to its present location on West Broadway.

1917

The two-day, 12th annual meeting of the Southeast Missouri High School Athletic and Oratorical Association begins in the afternoon; 43 schools with 284 contestants are entered in the various events.

The Cape Girardeau City Council appoints a commission composed of six men and three women to help supervise and manage the public grounds and parks in the city; appointed are Mrs. Ralph Schultz, Mrs. George W. Patton, Mrs. John Meyers, E.J. Deal, Frank Seib, J.W. Gerhardt, Otto Kochtitzky, Charles Gelvin and Theodore Ochs.

-- Sharon K. Sanders