Shari Stiver Archives

July 17, 2012

High in the Common Pleas Courthouse

When you look at the Common Pleas Courthouse from Spanish Street, you hardly notice the windows in the dome. (You can click the photos to make them larger.)

Looking east from the courthouse

If you’re lucky enough to hook up with guys like IT director Eric McGowen and public works director Don McQuay, folks who have the right keys and know where the hidden passageways are, you can see some impressive sights. I’m glad Friend Shari and I picked a day when it wasn’t 107 outside for our tour. Even on a relatively cool (sub-100) day, it was hot and dusty. The tiny and winding staircases were made for smaller people than me.

Here’s a view down Themis Street. The greenish building on the left side of Spanish and Themis was Doyle’s Hat Shop. One of the Teen Age Clubs was in the building across the street from it. The tall, red brick building that was the Sturdivant Bank may not be with us for long. It’s on the Endangered Building List. A steel cable is keeping bricks from the top floor from raining down on Main Street.

View to the west

This is the view in the opposite direction. The Civil War fountain and statue is to the right of the roof. Don shared an interesting story about it when we were at the Jackson Courthouse. We’ll save it for another day.

DR. C.E. Schuchert’s bandstand

The bandstand dedicated to Dr. C.E. Schuchert and the KFVS tower can be seen to the northwest. The view from the 11th floor of the KFVS building is pretty spectacular, too. There’s a photo looking back toward the courthouse that provides an interesting counterpoint to this one.

June 15, 2012

Who’s Who or Who’s That?

Memory is a funny thing. I looked at this Central High School auditorium assembly and immediately started assigning names to folks I hadn’t thought of in years, but then I looked at faces that were very familiar and couldn’t dredge up a name to save my soul.

I don’t know if this is a photographic Who’s Who of Central’s finest or if they cause a flicker because I’ve seen them on the wall of the Post Office. Click on the photos to make them larger.

I see, in no particular order, Shari Stiver, Claudia Modder, Chuck Dockins, Gail Tibbles, Marilyn Maevers, Craig Brinkman, Stephen Crowe, Don Call, Lee Dehringer, Yvonne Askew, Joan Amlingmeyer, Janey Crites, John David Finch, Jay Fred Waltz and David Stovall. I don’t see Pat Sommers, but he’ll be pleased to know that there is at least one student in the photo shooting me the bird. Maybe Pat sent in a substitute.

Packed hallways

Whatever was happening in the assembly must have been good. The hallways are packed with students headed to the auditorium. That looks like Randy Morse in the striped shirt on the right.

No hallway rage here

There is plenty of congestion, but nobody seems to be particularly put out at the gridlock.

Wayne Goddard has eye on Jim Feldmeier

Assistant Principal Wayne Goddard, left, has his eye on Jim Feldmeier, student body president. He’s sure Jim is cooking up something behind that cherubic expression. I don’t know who the girl next to him is, but she’s eyeing the podium with a look of fright. She and Jim appear to be the only ones clutching notes.

I can’t tell from the mix of teachers what might have been going on. I recognize art teacher Edna Glenn. Third from the right is English teacher Cecile Busch and, to the right of her is Latin teacher Susan May. I can’t place the man on the end. Principal Fred Wilferth is at the podium.

Take it from someone who has stood behind that podium, it was both a massive wooden structure and a tiny splinter that never felt big enough to hide behind when you were facing a packed auditorium of your peers.

Journalism, music, sports

The right side of the stage has an even more eclectic mix. Henry Crites, left, taught journalism; Ken Webster, physics; Gene Bryant, vocal music; Coach Robert Goodwin is staring intently at Mr. Wilferth. He’s thinking, “As soon as the principal clears the stage, I’m gonna have that scrawny photographer running around the track until his wheels fall off.” I don’t know the two on the right.

May 18, 2012May 7, 2021

Egypt Mills Trinity Lutheran Church

I was roaming around the Oriole – Egypt Mills area with Friend Shari’s mother, LaFern Stiver, last spring. Once we got photos of the places we wanted (I’ll get around to them one of these days), we just rambled.

We paused at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Egypt Mills. It’s a remarkably well-preserved church and cemetery located at 5665 County Road 635, just down the road from the barn I shot with Shari.

Other area churches

Photo gallery of Trinity Lutheran Church

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to mover through the gallery.

April 28, 2012

Beard’s Sport Shop, 818 Broadway

A reader was asking me about 818 Broadway. It’s been a whole lot of things, but it’ll always be Beard’s Sport Shop to me. When I photographed it in 2009, the sign on the front of building said Grace Cafe, but I think it had already closed its doors. I used to go to Grace Cafe when it was located in the old Vandeven’s Mercantile building at Pacific and Broadway because they had a fast internet connection.

Ornate decorations

I never noticed how ornate the trim was on the building until I looked at these photos. I thought that it might have been added recently, but Fred Lynch had a Frony photo of Beard’s and Wayne’s Grill that shows it clearly in 1961.

When Friend Shari and I shot the interior of the Broadway Theater in December, we retreated across the street for some coffee to thaw out. I couldn’t remember the name of the place, but a Missourian business column on April 18, 2011, said “Calix Coffee opened at 818 Broadway, at the former Grace Cafe location in Cape Girardeau. Owner Andrew Whaley, Jackson, previously worked at Grace Cafe as a barista. The shop sells coffee and fresh baked pastries, and Whaley hopes to add sandwiches and salads in the future.”

That must be it.

You can barely make out the Beard’s sign in a photo I ran the other day of a wreck at night on Broadway.

Interested in Pinterest?

I’m always a little slow in adopting new social media, but Son Matt added a new button to the front of the blog. You’ve been able to “Like” a page on Facebook and Google+ for some time. Starting last week, you could “pin” an image on Pinterest. It’s probably easier to show you some of my stuff that’s been “pinned” than to try to explain it. It’s sort of a nice way to get a high-level feel for the kind of stuff I shoot.