Out of the past: May 15

1994

The congregation of La Croix United Methodist Church breaks ground on its first facility in the afternoon; the property is on Lexington Avenue, two blocks east of North Kingshighway; for more than five years, the congregation has been meeting at West Park 4 Cine at West Park Mall.

The annual Third Sunday in May service is held in the morning at old Apple Creek Presbyterian Church near Pocahontas; a basket dinner is served on the grounds following the service; guest speaker is the Rev. O. David Griffin of Jackson, a retired Methodist minister.

1969

Cape Girardeau has received no word as yet concerning the anticipated approval of its application for federal matching funds to be used in the purchase of the Koerber tract for park purposes, says city manager Paul F. Frederick; while approval of a $74,000 grant has been given on the regional level by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Office in Fort Worth, Texas, the office in Washington, D.C., has not approved the grant.

Courthouse Park will again be transformed into an art gallery Saturday as more than 50 artists take part in the second annual outdoor art exhibit sponsored by the Creative Arts Guild with the cooperation of the city government.

1944

With the Mississippi River receding to 36.1 feet in the morning, the job of cleaning up South Main Street between Independence and William streets begins, and sandbags are being removed from the Frisco passenger depot doors and windows as railroad officials prepare to move back into the building; floors are being relaid at the Montgomery Ward and Woolworth stores on Main Street, and at J.C. Penny Co., preparations are being made to install a concrete floor.

The Cape Girardeau City Council votes to turn down a proposal to pay half the cost of a public summer playground program; it had been proposed as last year the city and the school board divide the cost of the $1,500 program, but the council decides, in view of other expenses, to dispense with its part of the plan.

1919

More of "our boys" come home on the midnight Frisco; hundreds of friends and relatives are at the station to meet them, along with the Schuchert band; the boys are escorted to the Commercial Club rooms, where a luncheon awaits them.

The visit of the soldiers of the 140th Regiment to Courthouse Park while it was raining last week has left the lawn looking "like a cattle lot"; the soldiers were lined up to the west of the walk that leads from Broadway to the Courthouse and, as the ground was soaking wet, the heavy shoes of the boys ground the grass into the mud, and there isn't a semblance of lawn left.

-- Sharon K. Sanders