Out of the past: May 9

1995

Cape Girardeau Central High School seniors must fulfill all graduation requirements to participate in the May 26 commencement; the Board of Education made it official last night by adopting a formal policy that had been in the works since the start of the school year.

Two Red Cross volunteers from Southeast Missouri leave Cape Girardeau in an emergency response vehicle in the evening, bound for flood-ravaged New Orleans; Glenna Sherron of Dexter and Curtis Mathes of Farmington will represent the Southeast Missouri Chapter of the American Red Cross in efforts to help victims in New Orleans, which was hit with heavy rains and tornadoes Monday night.

1970

Pyramid Roofing Co. of Sikeston, Missouri, submitted the only bid on the proposed removal and replacement of the sheet metal covering on the lower square portion of Academic Hall dome at State College when bids were opened Friday; the bid of $28,990 was referred to the engineering department for checking and then to the Board of Regents for a final decision.

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The City of Chaffee recently purchased a new fire truck equipped with the latest in firefighting equipment; the truck, manufactured by the John Bean Co. of Tipton, Indiana, cost about $28,000.

1945

Declaring that the cruel deeds of the Nazis on the one hand and the valiant fighting of the American soldiers on the other will not be forgotten, Dr. W.W. Parker, giving an address at the community Victory in Europe gathering in the State College auditorium last night, emphasized that only "one half of the war is over"; "It is a question of how long it will take to defeat Japan," he said, at the same time pledging for the community that the home front will remain on the job.

Cost of making projected changes in the interest of flood protection, including raising of more than two blocks of pavement in the vicinity of Main and Independence streets, will be between $56,000 and $57,000, according to a report made by engineer E.L. Sailer before the City Council Monday; this cost would include filling in and increasing the height of streets, paving streets with concrete, making sidewalks and changing sewer lines.

1920

Today is the first anniversary of the day "our boys" came home "from over yonder"; May 9, 1919, saw the heroes of the 140th Regiment of infantry parading the streets of Cape Girardeau, with thousands of cheering friends lining the sidewalks as they walked by; despite the heavy downpour of rain, it was a glorious day!

Members of the First Baptist Church raise $20,000 in five hours, the money to go toward the new building the congregation plans to construct; the old church at Broadway and Spanish Street, erected 27 years ago, will be torn down, but the new church will be constructed farther up the hill.

-- Sharon K. Sanders