Out of the past: Nov. 25

1998

A Georgia firm -- Williams Environmental Services Inc. of Stone Mountain -- has been hired to clean up the PCB-contaminated soil at the Missouri Electric Works site on South Kingshighway; the actual cleanup work is expected to cost $3 million to $3.5 million, far less than the $17 million the Environmental Protection Agency had estimated; Missouri Electric Works was a motor and transformer repair and sales business that closed its doors six years ago.

The Southeast Missourian newspaper is compiling a list of charitable organizations in the Cape Girardeau area that will be published Saturday, Dec. 26; this marks the first year for the "Directory of Charities" project.

1973

Kevin Wagner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roland Wagner of Jackson, has been called by the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve as a missionary in the California south mission; after a week orientation at the Missionary Home in Salt Lake City, Utah, Wagner will depart for mission headquarters in Anaheim, California, Nov. 29; missionaries serve for two years at their own expense to explain the purpose and position of the church and to teach the principles of the gospel; he is a junior at Brigham Young University, majoring in electrical engineering.

The Salvation Army will begin taking applications for Christmas baskets and toys at its headquarters at 215-217 Broadway Monday; Dr. Bill Stacy is chairman of the army's food collection drive; the annual Tree of Lights, located in front of Hirsch Tower on Broadway, will be lighted through donations of $5 for a colored light and $10 for a white bulb.

1948

Thanksgiving Day. Although the high price of turkeys has families here looking to replace the noble bird with one of lesser cost, the festive board still groans in most Cape Girardeau homes with good things to eat; chickens, geese and ducks are standing in for turkeys on many tables this year.

The annual Thanksgiving community service is held in the morning at Christ Evangelical Church, sponsored by the Ministerial Alliance; providing the sermon is the Rev. C.E. Mount, pastor of First Presbyterian Church; another tradition of the day, however, doesn't materialize; the usual Cape Girardeau Central-Jackson football game was staged earlier in the season, and no substitute could be found to fill the Turkey Day vacancy.

1923

A number of building improvements have been approved by the congregation of Red Star Baptist Church; a baptistry is to be erected in the basement of the church, with two dressing rooms, and an addition at the front; a cloak room is also to be constructed at the left of the main entrance to the building.

The committee recently appointed by Jackson Mayor J.R. Bowman to locate a site for the landing of airplanes in or near the city has chosen the bottom field of Mrs. M.P. Kirksey, just north of the city on Zenon River, as a possible location for a landing strip and hangar.

-- Sharon K. Sanders