Out of the past: Nov. 30

1998

Spectators, five to 10 deep in some places, lined the route from Capaha Park down Broadway to Main Street last evening for the annual Christmas Parade of Lights sponsored by the Downtown Merchants Association; with temperatures at parade time reaching nearly 70 degrees, many of the spectators stood in short-sleeved shirts and a few in shorts; B.W. Harrison was grand marshal for the parade, the largest in its six-year history with 118 entries.

The Cape Girardeau County Commission and local juvenile officers hope to unify a now scattered juvenile system into one facility; the commission proposes building a new juvenile justice center to house a secure detention area, juvenile court, juvenile department employees and an alternative school; a design consultant's report must be completed before an accurate cost estimate for the project can be determined; however, Presiding County Commissioner Gerald Jones says the center should cost $2.5 million to $3 million.

1973

The home of a rural Cape Girardeau County family was destroyed by fire yesterday afternoon because the Jackson Fire Department didn't respond to a fire report; fire that leveled the home of Mr. and Mrs. John F. Knaup off Highway 61 is cited by some rural residents as another example of the need for a rural fire protection district in Cape County; Jackson fire officials say they would have responded to the report had the county sheriff's office informed them of the exact location of the blaze.

Formation of a storm sewer district to control flooding on Montgomery Street and the overall Brink Subdivision would cost the owner of a 7,000-square-foot lot about $560, a preliminary estimate shows; excessive rains cause the area to flood, particularly the 1700 block of Montgomery; during the spring flash floods, a number of residents were forced from their homes.

1948

SIKESTON, Mo. -- According to E.P. Coleman Jr., president of the board of directors, the new Missouri Delta Community Hospital will soon open to public use; this will mark the end of a 10-year effort on the part of a group of Sikeston people; much of the credit goes to James S. Kevil, secretary of the hospital board, who in 1938 was appointed head of a Kiwanis Club committee to investigate the possibilities of locating a hospital here.

The body of Marine Pvt. Leo Pletcher of Cape Girardeau, son of Mr. and Mrs. Leo Pletcher, Cape Rock Drive, is among five soldiers dead that have been returned to the United States aboard the U.S. Transport Dalton Victory; Pletcher served in a number of engagements in the Pacific Theater and lost his life on Saipan on June 15, 1944.

1923

Differences that have arisen among members of the congregation of Smelterville Pentecostal Church are settled this afternoon, just as the case involving an injunction against the pastor was to have gone to trial; the decision to dismiss the proceedings, which had for its purpose the ousting of Cletus Barringer, the preacher, comes after a morning of wrangling; the differences are settled on this basis: each of the members of the two existing church boards are to resign, and the pastor is to quit Dec. 13; new officers will be elected.

Approximately 150 persons attended the Thanksgiving Day dinner and program at Hobbs Chapel Methodist Church yesterday in spite of the inclement weather; proceeds, secured by taxing members 1 cent for each year of their age, totaled $44 and will go toward repairing the church building.

-- Sharon K. Sanders