Out of the past: Nov. 28

1996

Thanksgiving Day. The Salvation Army dining room is packed with the hungry and the helpful; most of the former are older people who don't want to spend the holiday alone, while others come with their families; many don't have the means or the energy to cook a holiday feast; the 150 volunteers serve more than 900 meals in the dining hall or delivered to people's homes.

More than 200 holiday light displays can be seen at Cape County Park North; the lights will be on from dusk until 11 p.m. through Jan. 1.

1971

All eight crewmen escape injury when fire breaks out in the morning in the engine room of a southbound towboat on the Mississippi River near Cairo, Illinois; fire breaks out aboard the towboat Lady Rosemary, which is owned by Inland Oil and Transport Co. of St. Louis; four of the vessel's crewmen jump overboard and swim to safety on the Missouri shore; the other four crewmen manage to beach on the Missouri shore the three gasoline-loaded barges which the boat is towing; the drifting towboat is soon met by a northbound tow, and the four remaining crew members of the disabled boat are able to bring the fire under control.

An armed robber takes between $80 and $100 from Town Plaza Standard Service, 2148 William St., early in the day, after forcing an attendant, Wesley H. Bartels, to open the cash register at gunpoint.

1946

Thanksgiving Day, the second since close of World War II, is one for worship and family festivals, and football rivalries; a community religious service, sponsored by the Ministerial Alliance, is held in the morning at Centenary Methodist Church; the sermon is delivered by the Rev. Bayard S. Clark, rector of Christ Episcopal Church.

The annual Turkey Day gridiron game matches the Jackson Indians and the Cape Girardeau Central Tigers at the county seat; the Tigers, who had won the last five Thanksgiving Day games from the Indians with plenty of points to spare, can't maintain the pace, but do manage to eke out a one-point win, 21-20; a crowd of 3,000 turns out in ideal football weather to watch the two evenly matched teams battle.

1921

Common Pleas Court, with Judge John A. Snider presiding, convenes in Cape Girardeau in the morning with a large docket of cases to try; the first action of the court is to accept the resignation of Zeba Childs Edwards as deputy clerk; Frieda M. Wipperman is appointed to succeed her.

Two carloads of chairs for the New Broadway Theatre have arrived in Cape Girardeau, and the balance will be shipped within 10 days; the chairs will be stored on the theater's stage and in the basement until ready for installation; 1,269 chairs have been bought, and those for the lower floor will be upholstered in leather; a row of boxes will extend along the front of the balcony, and these will contain nearly 70 chairs.

-- Sharon K. Sanders