Out of the past: May 30

1990

A leaking drain pipe in the Capaha Park Lagoon caused a major drop in its water level yesterday, but public works and park department employees say the leak is under control for now; apparently a gasket around a valve on the drain pipe had deteriorated, and water started running out into the sewer system; the lagoon may have to be drained further to make permanent repairs.

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Band, under the direction of Jon Kent Fisher, opens its 1990 concert season at the band shell in Capaha Park; the band continues its "Celebrity Guest Conductor," with Dr. Arthur H. Turner taking up the baton.

1965

Memorial Day. Cape Girardeau attorney Donald L. Dickerson is the guest speaker at the community's Memorial Day service, held at Memorial Park under the auspices of the Allied Veterans Council; the invocation is given by the Rev. Gerald Ehrlich, associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church; a National Guard unit fires a salute, and "Taps" is played by Robert Harper and Jerry Ford.

The Collegians, a group from Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri, gives a vocal and instrumental concert in the evening at First Assembly of God Church; the group is on a three-month summer tour, making appearances in the South.

1940

Memorial Day is observed as a partial holiday in Cape Girardeau, with general stores closed all day and groceries closing their doors at noon; the shoe factory and the Roth Tobacco Co. plant operate as usual; Superior Electric Products plant closed last night, and workers won't return to work until Monday.

It is rumored that the Park Theater in the 200 block of Broadway will be reopened; the Park, which has been closed six years, is owned by S.E. Brady, who also owns the Broadway and Orpheum theaters; like the other two show houses, the Park is leased by Fox Theaters.

1915

Many of the Protestant churches in Cape Girardeau suspend their morning services, allowing their congregants to attend the baccalaureate service at the Normal School auditorium; the sermon is preached by Dr. Paul Linn, president of Central College of Fayette, Missouri.

Memorial Day exercises are held in the afternoon; members of the Grand Army of the Republic, Sons of Veterans, and the Ladies' Aid Society, as well as school children and the public, assemble at Courthouse Park and then parade to Lorimier Cemetery for a program; there, the graves of veterans are decorated, and a number of recitations given and songs sung.

-- Sharon K. Sanders