Cape Girardeau History and Photos

December 25, 2012

Steinhoff Christmas 2000

Since the world didn’t end at midnight on December 31,1999, all of the Steinhoffs were able to converge on Missouri for Christmas 2000. The group shot was taken at Brother Mark’s house in St. Louis on Christmas Eve. The Tulsa branch consisting of David, Diane, Kim and Amy, had to blast out on Christmas Day to beat a snow storm headed our way, so they aren’t in as many photos. The Florida Clan was represented by Ken, Lila, Matt, Sarah and Adam. Mother, front left and looking younger than most of us, is the glue that binds us together.

Since all of our readers will be busy with their own families, this photo gallery is for us. Y’all are welcome to look at it, but there won’t be a final exam later.

Sarah’s a Floridian

Snow was a new experience for Matt’s wife, Sarah. She had lots of catching up to do. We were coming up from Florida in separate cars linked together by CB radios. When we got the first glimpse of the St. Louis Arch, Matt and I tried to convince Sarah that it’s a tradition for first-timers give it a healthy lick, but she wasn’t buying it. We even explained that it was perfectly sanitary: vendors sell alcohol wipes to protect you from germs.

Mother never throws anything away

Mother dug out Mark and David’s graduation robes and Mark’s high school diploma. She found my white lab coat stolen from the Central High School darkroom. It had a neat NRA patch from one of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s alphabet soup agencies on one shoulder, but Mother carefully removed it, much to my disappointment.

My prom jacket

Adam looks a lot better in my old prom jacket than I did in 1965.

Photo gallery of the 2000 Steinhoff family Christmas

I hope your families have as much fun in 2012 as we did in 2000. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery.

December 23, 2012

Matt and Adam Make the Paper

Since I was the only photo staffer with kids, Son Matt and, later, Son Adam, showed up in a lot of newspaper illustrations. You can click the photos to see how cute the boys were.

Matt is on the front of the Palm Beach Times Trends cover on Dec. 11,1978. As best as I can remember, the story was about picking age-appropriate gifts for your child.

Over the years, he was photographed having night terrors, walking to the bus station at night holding his Poo Bear accompanied by his “abused” mother, and more situations that don’t come to mind.

Jet Pilot Adam

Adam was drafted for a story about flying with children. We talked an airline into letting us shoot some photos while it was at the jetway. The pilot let Adam get the feel for what it was like to sit up front.

Don’t forget me after Christmas

When you get ready to spend the cash Santa left you under the tree, don’t forget to use the Amazon link on my page or this Big Button to make my New Year a little brighter.

You all will probably be too busy to read the blog on Tuesday, so here’s an early wish for the best for you and your families.

December 22, 2012

William Henry and Lilla Luce Harrison House

The William Henry and Lilla Luce Harrison House at 313 Themis Street was built in 1897 by the architect who designed Academic Hall.

You can read the history of the house in the National Register of Historic Places registration form.

A 2003 Missourian story tells how Dr. Robert Hamblin and his wife, Kaye, bought the house in 2003 and set about restoring it., which is why the paper is currently referring to it as the “Hamblin House.”

The story summarized the history: “The mansion once was one of the finest houses in Cape Girardeau. William Harrison, who became known for his timber business and investments, including the H&H Building on Broadway, bought the house in 1990 [that’s a typo, it should be 1890], three years after its completion. It remained in the Harrison family until the mid-1980s, when Mayor Al Spradling III’s family sold it to Dr. Jesse Ramsey. Spradling’s wife, Pam, is a Harrison descendent. The house sat vacant for a few years at the end of the 1990s”.

I’m glad to see this landmark restored. Too bad the university plans to tear down an even older Cape Girardeau landmark at the River Campus.

December 21, 2012

Graham and the Christmas Lights

There’s a neighborhood around Gabriel Lane, just down the road from us that has been known for its holiday decorations for decades. Wife Lila wanted to walk Grandson Graham through it in his stroller like she had done with our boys.

Unfortunately, she picked the first night of the winter when we were under a Wind Chill Advisory. Temps in the low 50s don’t sound cold to you folks who experience wind chills in the negative 50 range, but this is FLORIDA.

Traffic is usually heavy in the neighborhood, so the game plan was for me to drive to a side road where Lila, Adam, Carly, Graham and all the paraphernalia a nearly-two-year-old needs would be off-loaded. When they were through walking around, I’d swing by and load up the survivors.

As it turned out, we found a parking spot close enough that we could all go. That’s when I realized that I had dressed to sit in a nice, warm car, not face Arctic blasts. It’s hard to hold your camera steady when you’re shivering.

Photo gallery of Christmas walk

I shot everything available light (available dark?). From time to time, I’d try to time my shot for when a car headlight would throw some fill onto Graham, but it generally made for an ugly effect. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the photo to move through the gallery.

We’re getting into a few days when folks are going to be busy with family activities, so I’ll probably post some light-weight topics until after the holiday. Since the Mayans didn’t get us, our family wishes your family a Merry and a Happy.