Out of the past: Sept. 20

1996

Jay Knudtson, chairman of the Cape Girardeau Park Board, and Dan Muser, parks and recreation director, like to talk about the newest Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation facilities to be available next year; the Osage Park Community Center, a 33,728-square-foot building, is expected to be ready by the first of the year, and the new Shawnee Park Softball Complex and Concession Building will be ready for the 1997 spring season; the combined projects cost $5.3 million.

Work started yesterday on the first in a series of road improvements as part of Cape Girardeau County's new long-range road plan; Apex Paving started paving County Road 253 between Highways A and N, and five other county roads will be paved this year; county commissioners decided last year to earmark the interest earned every year off the county's emergency fund -- approximately $240,000 -- for road improvements; they then studied traffic counts on all of the county's roads to set up a systematic approach for the paving.

1971

Cleanup work begins in Arena Park as the SEMO District Fair is put to bed for another year after six days running with the third highest attendance on record; a total of 73,987 people attended the exposition; rain, a major factor in holding down attendance last year, didn't hit the 1971 Fair until yesterday afternoon, near the hour when gates were to be closed.

The McKorkle Datsun Agency, a new automobile dealership handling the Japanese-made Datsun automobiles, has opened in the old Harris Motor Car Co. building at 232 Broadway; William H. McKorkle, until recently with the Harris firm, and who has been affiliated with other agencies out-state, is the owner of the new business.

1946

Meeting last night to make at least a partial check on the financial outcome of last week's District Fair, the board saw the exposition's net profit, money to be used in expanding and improving future fairs, shrink under a staggering load of taxes and expenses; while the numbers aren't definite, it appears the federal government comes in for a nice slice of the fair's profits: $2,919.45, representing the amusement tax on the admission charge to the grounds and to the grandstand.

Long-range road planning for the area was discussed at a community meeting at the Council Ridge School west of Whitewater last night; nearly 40 farmers and residents of Whitewater attended, and M.S. Gwinn of Sikeston, Missouri, engineer for the State Highway Department in Division 10, was a speaker; Gwinn, promising cooperation, pointed out the state highway construction program has been set up for the coming three years, but said planning of a highway through the district, toward the southwest, might be worked out after that time.

1921

Fair Week kicks off to good weather and good crowds; up to 11:30 a.m., more tickets had been sold at the gates than were sold the entire first day of the Cape Fair last year; superintendents of floral hall, the stock tents and barns are late in getting things arranged for the reason they are all swamped with entries; tomorrow's program will include the first horse races; the race program includes a pace, trot and half-mile dash running race; there are more than 10 entries in each of the harness races.

Herbert S. Duckworth, who has been here several weeks visiting his parents and friends, leaves for Union, Missouri, to visit his sister, Mrs. A.A. Steinbeck; he will then return to Annapolis, Maryland, to resume his work at the Naval Academy; he will finish his four years and graduate next June in a class of 500, the largest in the history of the school; he will then become an officer in the regular navy service.

-- Sharon K. Sanders