Out of the past: May 19

1999

Utility crews worked throughout the day yesterday to restore electricity to thousands of area residents whose homes and businesses were left powerless by the high winds that raced through the area Monday afternoon; the strong winds that came through around 3 p.m. uprooted trees and snapped power lines, leaving more than 44,000 Ameren UE customers without power in Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area to as far south as Oran in Scott County.

The sun went down on Monday night’s meeting of the Jackson Board of Aldermen; the board met outdoors in the gazebo in Courthouse Park because power hadn’t been restored in the wake of Monday afternoon’s severe wind storm; when the power came back on in the courthouse at 8:30 p.m., the meeting was completed inside.

1974

A heated controversy over the dismissals of three Meadow Heights School District teachers is headed for Federal Court; attorneys for the Missouri and National Education associations are preparing to petition the court to hear a lawsuit alleging the civil rights of two of the teachers were violated because the school board refused to disclose the reasons for the dismissals; the suit will be bought in behalf of Rose Powell and Eugene Statler; the third teacher whose contract was denied renewal, Sharon Eggimann, has chosen not to join in the suit.

Seven students receive diplomas at graduation exercises in the afternoon at St. Vincent’s College: Randy Harris of Cape Girardeau and Robert E. Brown, Joseph Geders, John Jones, Keith Martin, Dennis Nieman and Douglas Sparks, all of St. Louis; the Rev. Patrick V. Harrity of St. Mary’s Seminary in Perryville delivers the commencement address.

1949

Construction has begun on a 13-acre tract on the east side of Highway 61, between the municipal airport and the Little River Diversion Channel, of a drive-in theater; Howard Bates and William Hipes of St. Louis and Carl Milne of Pueblo, Colorado, recently purchased the land from Dr. R.R. Hicks; the men are constructing a similar theater at Pueblo and have interest in one underway at Kennett; the Highway 61 drive-in will have a 600-car capacity, with each car stall to be equipped with individual, in-car speakers.

Organizers say Cape Girardeau’s two roadside gardens will be at their best for the annual Rose Festival and Garden Privilege, which kicks off tomorrow and continues Saturday and Sunday; tickets for the pilgrimage may be picked up at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce; along with plantings at Ten-Mile Garden and Cape Rock Drive, participants will also view home gardens of Boulder Crest on Highway 61; Edgewood, the home of Mr. and Mrs. M.E. Hazen on Highway 61; Neighborhood Gardens, 510 N. West End Blvd., and Flint Hill, home of Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Gerhardt on Bend Road.

1924

The Rev. Richard Lehmann, pastor emeritus, who has been at the County Home for several months, comes to Jackson to pack his extensive library, preparatory to shipping it to his future home in Illinois and to the Edna Publishing House in St. Louis; the library, housed in Lehmann’s former home in Jackson, contains about 3,500 volumes.

The Teachers College athletes are back from Springfield, where they participated Saturday in the track meet for the teachers colleges of the state; the meet was won by Springfield, and Warrensburg took second; Cape Girardeau’s only points of the meet were scored by Alfred Brucher, who broke the record in the javelin throw, hurling the spear a distance of 167 feet, 2 inches, or 10 feet, 6 inches farther than the distance made in the Missouri-Kansas meet last Saturday; Brucher earned five points and a gold medal.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at semissourian.com/history.