A Quiet Fourth

Descendents of Nettie Hopper Family Reunion 07-04-2013_4362Mother and I passed through Capaha Park when we ventured out to Hamburger Express to pick up some ribs. I stopped at a pavilion where it looked like it there might be a reunion of some of the folks who lived in the Smelterville area. It turned out to be the Descendants of Nettie Hopper Spicer Family Reunion. They came from the Ranney Avenue area around Fort D and May Greene School, which is on the north side of Tollgate Hill, but they knew a lot of the folks I had photographed. I’m going to hook up with some of them to hear their stories of growing up in South Cape.

Shameless plug: I’ll be at Annie Laurie’s Antiques for First Friday, July 5, between 6 and whenever if you want to pick up a Snapshots of Cape Girardeau calendar or look at my Smelterville: A Work in Progress book. They are $20 each if I can place them in your hand. They are $25 if they have to be mailed. More about that later if you are interested.

Parade of Flags

Parade of Flags - North County Park - 07-04-2013Capaha Park was quiet, particularly since the pool has been demolished, so we cruised out to North County Park, which was equally quiet. I had to take a couple frames of the Parade of Flags. The wind was as calm as the park and there was some overcast, so the flags weren’t as dramatic as they had been on other visits.

As I was taking this photo, I was moved by the idea that each of those flags represented a man or woman who had served his or her country, and the family that waited for them to come home. These flags have a real meaning. They aren’t some monster flag a car dealer puts up to sell cars. They represent real people.

Kids and sprinklers

Elias and Emily Huff, Jackson, 07-04-2013We cruised over to see what was happening in Jackson. I couldn’t resist stopping when I saw Elias, 5, and Emily Huff, 4, playing in the backyard sprinkler. (As always, you can click on the photos to make them larger.)

We’ve lost something important

Elias and Emily Huff - Jackson - 07-04-2013One of my former staffers told me a few years back that he no longer shoots this kind of photo. “As soon as I walk up to ask the kids for their names, they start screaming and running away. That’s if somebody looking out a window hasn’t already called the cops on me. It’s not worth the hassle,” he said.

Too many hours sitting in front of the All Fear All the Time TV Networks has robbed us and our kids of our independence and innocence. Thanks to Elias and Emily’s father, Tim, for letting me take these photos. It’s nice to know kids can still be kids in Jackson.

11 Replies to “A Quiet Fourth”

  1. I was shooting beach and restaurant scenes for my blog, and future travel Florida blog with Jimmy…we went into the casino pool in Lake Worth and the lifeguard came over and threatened to take his camera and call the cops on him – accused him of being a pedophile, etc. It got ugly; I was ready to call you to ask about my rights when we decided to leave.

    1. If you were on private property, you may be asked to leave.

      If I felt particularly confrontational, then I would have dared him to take my camera, then I would have called the cops to report a strong-arm robbery. If he accused me of being a pedophile in the presence of others, I would have asked about his assets because they’d be mine after I got through suing him for slander. Even if you don’t follow through, it’s nice to think he may have some sleepless nights wondering if you were going to.

      I ran into a less confrontational situation like that in St. Louis a couple of days ago. I’ll write about it later, but the bottom line was that a very nice guy came up and told me that I wasn’t allowed to shoot photos of a huge building. I told him that a few years ago, I would have walked over to the public sidewalk and taken the same photos with a slightly longer lens, but that I’m not in that business anymore. Some days it’s not worth the hassle.

  2. I was born and lived on the corner of Ranney St. (Ranney became Fredrick going north towrad Harrig) and Maple St. just across ranney street for the neighborhood mentioned. I remember a black family named Johnson living across Maple street form us, anda couple of houses down a by about my age named Eddie (last name might have bee Reid, Reed??) with whom I played Across Ranney street East was where a lot of us went to play – we called it “The Holler.”

    I attended May greene school 1st & snd grade before moving. My Grandparents (Albert and Flora Finley) continued to live ther for many years and I often went there to visit.

  3. Ken, I agree with you. It is a real shame how the news media has created such a paranoid society. When I was in college I used to sometimes play out in the yard with a 3 -4 year old boy across the street (I gave a duck one year that I had gotten as a birthday present )- his parents thought it was great. Today, I would be scared to even talk to him less some adult think I was a pedophile. We have really sunken to the lowest common denominator.

  4. I recall hearing my grandparents mention the Finley’s quite often. By the way, does anyone remember the Keifer’s? I think that is how you spell their last name. Anyway, the dad was a fisherman. I went to school with Thereasa Keifer in the 70’s. when I came to visit, I could not find their old house.

  5. Thanks for another photo of the Parade of Flags at North Cape County Park. They were flying much calmer than on Memorial Day, when they were gracefully blowing in the wind. Each of these flags does indeed represent a person who served our country. My grandfather, James A. Allen, served in WW1, and my mother tells me that he suffered due to mustard gas. The first year of this flag display, I was able to locate his flag as it had a metal name plate on the flag pole. Sadly, in past years, name plates are paper and do not hold up to weather and time. Would be great if that could be fixed.

  6. @Lisafletcher, Cletus Keifer is on the growing up in Cape page on Face Book. My grandparents and my mother lived on the corner of Maple and Ranney too at one time. They lived next to the park on the north east corner.

    1. Ken, I am so sorry that I didn’t get to see you while I was in Cape last weekend. I definately want a copy of your book. I will talk with you soon.

  7. Ken, I am so sorry that I didn’t get to see you while I was in Cape last weekend. I definately want a copy of your book. I will talk with you soon.

  8. Not sure how it posted twice, but it did. Sorry for the duplication. Please ignore the last on.

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