Photos around Cape Archives

December 27, 2014January 8, 2021

Rerun: Old Trinity Church

I grew up in the old Trinity Lutheran Church. I was baptized and confirmed there; was cast in way too many Christmas pageants, counted bugs on the ceiling when I was bored, and saw Dad’s casket in the front of the altar. Today’s post is a collection of stories I’ve done on the old Trinity.

When I heard that the building was being torn down just short of its 100th anniversary because it was “structurally deficient,” Brother Mark and I tried to document as much of it as possible. I put quotes around “structurally deficient” because the discovery was made just about the time a sizable donation came in that stipulated that it could only be used to build a new church.

Here’s what it looked like in the bell tower. Follow the links to see the whole story and to read the many comments.

1954 pledge drive

The church conducted a $225,000 pledge drive in 1954. This picture was used in a brochure promoting the drive. The post logged two dozen comments, so I wasn’t the only one picking out faces.

New Trinity at dusk

I was walking back to my car when I saw the new federal building and the new Trinity Lutheran church in the fading sunlight.

That’s as close as I’m ever going to get to the building. MY church was torn down and many of the things that made it special were discarded, so I have no reason to go into the new Trinity.

And, yes, I know that church is more than bricks and stained glass. That’s why you rarely see me in one.

From the tower

When Mark and I shot the bell tower, I also took pictures out the windows in all four directions. The tall white building off in the distance is the KFVS tower.

There’s an aerial of the neighborhood in this post, too.

Sanctuary and altar

The most striking part of the church was the sanctuary with its imposing altar. Jesus was hauntingly realistic.

Unfortunately, He wasn’t welcome in the new church and has, reportedly, bounced around a bit, becoming damaged in the process. I heard that He might be out at the old Hanover School.

The balcony

Our family usually headed to the balcony. I loved its majestic sweep. On the wall behind the organ was printed Psalms 26:8 – “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house and the place where Thine honor dwelleth.”

If you follow the link, you can see the inscription in the background of a photo of workers dismantling the pews and lowering them to the ground floor.

One of my readers reported the words were still visible when a bulldozer strained to pull the building down.

Lutheran Church mural

The church owned a property at the corner of Broadway and Middle with a huge blue mural painted on it: “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.” There’s a plaque in the corner that is a who’s-who list of well-known Trinity donors who paid for the sign.

The building had deteriorated to the point where it had to be razed in 2011. I toured the 501 Broadway property with David Renshaw, one of the most introspective demolition men I’ve ever met.

Nothing left but bricks

When David was through, there was nothing left but debris that was quickly hauled away. A parking lot is there today.

I was given a piece of the blue cement block as a souvenir.

Keeping the lights on

I want to thank those folks who have used the yellow Donate button at the top left of the page. I appreciate your support and wish you and yours a Happy New Year.

December 26, 2014

Iconic Racing Photos

Continuing my holiday reruns: it’s hard to define what make a photo iconic, but I think these photos have that timeless quality.

Arena Park Stock Car Races was a popular topic: it garnered 58 comments from people who remembered the drivers and many an evening spent at Arena Park. The racer above was Lester Harris, who was also the subject of a piece, “Cheating Death to Make Phones Ring.”

Click on the pictures to make them larger; click on the links to see more images and comments.

Stock car scuffles

Not all of the action took place behind the wheel.

The officer on the right was “Dub” Wilson. Someone back at the office said, “Looks like Dub must have gotten down in the dirt.”

Another reporter said, “Nah, that’s the way Dub’s uniform always looks.”

Arena Park Motorcycle racing

Motorcycle racing never attracted huge crowds Dick McClard commented. See if you recognize anyone in the more than dozen photos.

December 24, 2014

Rerun: Santa Mystery Solved

As promised, I’m taking a short break over the holidays and offering up rerun links to older posts.

This story about Christmas shoppers from December 9, 2009, was one of my earliest posts. I made some guesses about where they might have been taken in Cape.

It set the tone for all my posts to follow:

I got most of the facts wrong
My readers went to great lengths to prove I was wrong and to provide the correct information.

By December 12, Brother Mark, Bill Hopkins, Chuck Blitstein, Jesse James and Brenda Bone Lapp chimed in with opinions, speculation and photographs, but it took The Missourian team of Fred Lynch and Cathy Hancock to determine the photos were taken in Jackson, not Cape.

Hey, close is good enough in horseshoes, hand grenades and nuclear war; I mean I was only seven miles off, give or take?

We know where this is

By December 14, the Fred and Cathy team helped figure out where in Jackson these photos were taken, too. Jim Vangilder filled in more blanks.

After that, I wasn’t afraid to post mystery photos. With few exceptions, someone always stepped up to the plate to provide the (maybe) correct information.

This is one of those exceptions: nobody has come up with who these cheerleader-looking types are.

December 22, 2014May 4, 2021

Top 13 of 2014

#1 – Dancing in the parking lot

That’s a headline that’s going to drive Wife Lila crazy. She HATES it when I tell her I’m going to take a 19-minute nap or set my alarm for 9:32.

I learned a long time ago if you fill out your expense report and round stuff off to even 5s and 10s, you are more likely to get it kicked back than if you say, “Breakfast – $3.97;” “Lunch – $6.43;” Dinner – $16.22.” Mileage should never be 100 miles (even if it was); that sounds like an estimate. Make it 98.7 miles and it’ll sail right through.

She complains when I set the microwave for 2:22 to make popcorn, but I’ve found 2:25 produces some burned kernels, and 2:15 leaves a bunch of orphans behind. It’s all about precision.

Since everybody else does Top 10 lists at this time of the year, I thought I’d find out what the 13-most read posts were in 2014. Interestingly enough, some oldies floated to the top of the heap.

The most-viewed post this year was the 2010 account of the Teen Age Club dance that set the floor bouncing and caused it to be moved to the bank parking lot at Broadway and Main. You can click on the photos to make them larger if you want to see if you were there.

# 2 – 43 years of Cairo photos

A 2011 post of 43 years of Cairo photos slotted in as Number Two. The sad thing is that even most of these buildings have disappeared since the picture was taken in 2010.

#3 – The house in a hole

Readers kept asking me about the “house in a hole,” which ended up as the third most-read story. I ran these photos made earlier, and promised I’d tell the rest of the story later.

The next time I was in Cape, I knocked on the door and was given a complete history of the home and how it got tucked in between commercial properties and the Interstate, but she asked that I not publish it. I’m respecting her wishes. Sorry to disappoint you.

#4 – Dino’s Pizza is doomed

It was a sad day when a fire closed Dino’s Pizza in 2011. These pictures of the last days of Dino’s were taken in May of 2014. A follow-up showing the empty lot where the pizza joint once stood didn’t make the top 150.

Sounds like we’d rather remember that which was there rather than that which is gone.

#5 – Photographs of Smelterville

People still come back to look at a 2011 post I did of Smelterville residents I photographed in 1967. I posed the question, “Where are they?”

I’m happy to report that I’ve been successful in locating almost all the families of those pictured. I’ve produced three “works in progress” books, and am editing video interviews I’ve done with some of the folks who lived there. It’s been a rewarding project.

#6 – Jo Ann Bock’s book

Jo Ann Bock’s book, Around the Town of Cape Girardeau in Eighty Years plows a lot of the same ground I do, but decades apart. She was getting married (1950) just about the time I was getting born (1947), so we’ve viewed the town through different lenses.

By the way, a lot of you have ordered her book through my Amazon link, we both thank you for that. Click here to order your copy of Around the Town of Cape Girardeau in Eighty Years.

#7 – Town Plaza Shopping Center

A photograph of the Town Plaza Shopping Center that ran in the 1962 Girardot drew 20 comments from readers who remember when the Town Plaza was a Big Deal.

#8 – Ruth Ann Seabaugh 1947 – 2012

The dictionary could save a lot of words by just putting a photo of Ruth Ann Seabaugh next to the word “Majorette.” This gal from the Class of ’65 knew how to dominate a street. What I didn’t know until her daughter contacted me was what an extraordinary woman she grew up to be. If you missed the story the first time, it’s worth a read.

#9 – Purple Crackle becomes The Pony

A 2011 story about the Purple Crackle’s transition into “the ultimate strip joint” continues to attract readers and comments.

Even Mother said “I’ve danced there.” I’m assuming she was talking about in the old days when she and Dad would go there and not recently.

#10 – Crash on Independence

It was amazing how many Cape Girardeau landmarks and cultural icons showed up in a simple three-car crash at Independence and Henderson. The photos capture a simpler time when the whole neighborhood would turn out to speculate, estimate and ruminate about exactly what caused the vehicles to try to share the same space at the same time.

As I pointed out in a comment, “Estimates of how much it would cost to repair the damage would be exchanged. Skid marks, the dirt that falls from a vehicle at the point of impact and broken glass would be analyzed by people who were probably as good as most investigators of the time.

“Of course, the fresh crash would cause past crashes to be brought up and compared in detail.

“Any injuries would take the excitement to the next level. That afternoon, everyone would rush to pick up The Missourian to find out how many mistakes they made in their account.”

#11 – Blechle’s Grocery

Posts about neighborhood groceries are always popular. Blechle’s Grocery was no exception. Some readers documented shenanigans that are, hopefully, outside the statute of limitations.

#12 – Founder of McDonald’s killed in crash

Jerry Davis died in a plane crash in 2003. Mr. Davis was not only the founder of Cape’s McDonald’s, but he also owned at one time or another some of Cape’s best-known restaurants: Royal N’Orleans, Ricardo’s, Shakey’s Pizza and Pfister’s Drive-In.

#13 – Those are SOME Cheerleaders

A photo from the annual CHS student-teacher basketball game. It contains some the hairiest-legged cheerleaders Central ever fielded. For cheerleader fans, the post contains 10 links to other cheerleader stories and photos.

Honorable Mention – Randy Morse

This post finished just out of the money, but I just had to include Randy Morse, 1947 – 2014. He and his escapades, including a trip to Florida in a hearse, were well-remembered.

Shameless plug

I want to thank those folks who have used the yellow Donate button at the top left of the page. I appreciate your support and wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

If you celebrate something else (or nothing), I’m still going to send you Best Wishes.