Out of the past: May 8

1994

The Tot Lot at Capaha Park is gone, but not for long; the old playground equipment has been removed to make way for a new, expanded lot at the same location; the new equipment will be handicapped accessible; the Evening Optimist Club has donated $12,000 toward the new playground.

Cape Family Entertainment recently announced plans for a facility, which will include a 75-foot by 160-foot roller skating floor, a miniature golf course and batting cages; the new building will be constructed on a two-acre site in the 600 block of Commercial Street; developers of the project are Greg Crow & Associates of St. Louis, William H. Kuss of K & K Development Co. and Thomas L. Meyer of Thomas L. Meyer Realty Co.

1969

A freak tractor accident in the morning claims the life of Robi Williams, 65, of Whitewater at Pioneer Orchards, where he was employed; Williams is pinned against the wall of a building, when the tractor he is standing behind jumps backwards as it is started.

The Cape Girardeau Lions Club Board of Directors has voted to donate $1,374 to the Otahki Girl Scout Council for the purchase of 10, 12-by-14-foot tents to be used at the Cherokee Ridge Girl Scout Camp in St. Francois County, Missouri; club members will be at the camp this weekend to place the tents on recently built concrete foundations.

1944

With the Mississippi River falling slowly after cresting Saturday night, the Southeast Missourian, in a front-page editorial, asks Cape Girardeau residents whether it will "remain a flood town or is it big enough to desert the river and move its downtown business district to high ground"; two choices face the town: either to continue to employ makeshift measures to defend against floods, or to attempt "to have the government buy the overflow property so the entire business district may be moved to a new district uptown."

Floodwaters have retreated enough for Highway 61 south of Cape Girardeau to be reopened to one-way traffic; the drop also allows South Sprigg Street to reopen in Smelterville, as well as the Bend Road.

1919

It is reported the 140th Regiment won't arrive in Cape Girardeau until tomorrow morning, a day later than planned; the parade is expected to begin at 8 a.m., with Company L, the original Cape Girardeau company, having the honor to lead the troops; the old 6th Regiment band will also parade; the heavy rains aren't expected to prevent the parade through the streets, nor the regimental review at the fairgrounds.

It is reported the Broadway Saloon, owned by Huebel and Brunkhorst for more than 10 years, will close its doors Saturday night; it is said as the license expires then, the proprietors decided they wouldn't ask for a renewal; all saloons must close July 1, according to the federal war laws; this is the first saloon to succumb because of the new law.

-- Sharon K. Sanders