Written by Southeast Missouri State University Student Guest Blogger Laura Williams

This blog series is presented through a partnership between the Historic Preservation Commission of Cape Girardeau, the Historic Preservation Program at Southeast Missouri State University, and Old Town Cape.



       When Cape Girardeau County residents visit the Tax Assessors Office, located behind the Court of Common Pleas at 44 N. Lorimier St., they probably do not realize they are also visiting the original Cape Girardeau Carnegie Library. In 1914, shortly after the City opened its first public library in the Ellingood Building on the corner of Spanish and Themis, new conversations began about how to best fund and construct a bigger and more accessible building that would be able to accommodate the needs of the quickly growing town. Ideas became more substantial plans in 1916 when the Women’s Council of Clubs was the recipient of a $20,000 construction pledge from the Carnegie group for a new library building.  After WWI temporarily interrupted progress, the Women’s Council was able to retake the torch, and in 1921 the Carnegie Corporation reaffirmed its financial support for the project through a $25,000 donation, with the stipulation that the citizens must contribute the remaining $5,000 needed for the project. The residents of Cape Girardeau did more than just affirm their support for a new library building, but also proved their enthusiasm by raising $11,000, more than twice the necessary amount. 

            The original structure, finished in 1922, was one of the last libraries funded by the Carnegie Corporation. Costing $30,000 to construct, the Collegiate Gothic Style building features a flat roof with a limestone cornice line and window surround and red brick laid in the English bond pattern. In 1959, a new foyer designed by prolific architect and Cape Girardeau native John Boardman, was added onto the main entry, significantly altering the physical appearance. This addition had a much more modern architectural style, with a distinctive and prominent curved wall, made from rough-cut ashlar limestone. As the needs of the community continued to grow, the Public Library moved to its current location on Clark St. in 1980 and Cape Girardeau County took over the old building for offices.

            The old Carnegie Library building served the City of Cape Girardeau as a vital source of information and a repository for educational materials for almost 60 years and continues to serve the public’s needs today.

Prior to about four years ago when I began working at Old Town Cape, I had never really shopped downtown Cape or any downtown area for that matter. When I needed to buy something I visited a big box store to find what I needed. However, once I began working downtown, I quickly discovered all of the hidden treasures that I had been missing…not only that, but the service you receive at a small business and the friendships you form are priceless.

After becoming a downtown junkie, I even started to incorporate visits to other downtown areas when planning trips, but it didn’t take too long to realize that something was missing. There were no guides or signage to inform me of the small businesses that each area was home to. Therefore, I had to spend more of my time roaming around looking for businesses and less time actually visiting them. For someone like me who loves shopping, this was a problem.

After returning back to Cape from a trip to a small town in Virginia, I decided that downtown Cape had the same need as other downtown areas because it too had no way for visitors to know what it had to offer. Granted the area does have “wayfinding” signage making it easier to find downtown, but there was no guide available once visitors arrived – or should I say there wasn’t.

After about a year’s worth of establishing guidelines on what information to include for visitors, gathering information on the businesses and attractions, and laying out the design, Old Town Cape launched their Downtown Guide in the summer of 2014. It is a full-color guide, complete with a comprehensive listing of shops, restaurants, personal services, arts and entertainment and more in downtown Cape. If you haven’t checked it out, I encourage you to stop by Old Town Cape, the Cape Girardeau Convention & Visitors Bureau, Isle Casino Cape Girardeau or most of the downtown retailers to see one for yourself – you won’t be disappointed!

Although I no longer work at Old Town Cape, I do still work downtown and enjoy seeing people from all over stroll the area. Now, thanks to the help of many partners, they are able to use the guide to find the small business that carries just what they are looking for.
    
               

This post is written by guest blogger, Nicholle Hinkle, Director of Donor Relations at United Way of Southeast Missouri.

With the recent decision to bring the annual Fourth of July fireworks display back to downtown Cape Girardeau, we thought it a pertinent time to discuss the beneficial impacts that events such as this have on the downtown area.  

 

The list of events taking place downtown during a given period is lofty, and includes the fireworks display, Tunes at Twilight, First Friday, Parade of Lights, and The River Tales Classic Car Show…among many others. These events have the capacity to draw thousands of people (local and regional) into the Old Town Cape area that might not have otherwise visited. When combined with the areas multitude of retail, dining, and entertainment options, it’s an obvious winning situation for downtown merchants of every variety.

 

A recent study conducted by The Maine Center for Economic Policy examined a cities’ economic impacts when comparing local versus chain stores. The city of Portland, ME that was chosen has a population of just over sixty-six thousand people, which is comparable in nature to the Cape Girardeau and Jackson regional area. They analyzed data collected from 28 locally owned retail businesses, along with corporate filings for a representative national chain. The researchers found,

 

“That every $100 spent at locally owned businesses contributes an additional $58 to the local economy.  By comparison, $100 spent at a chain store in Portland yields just $33 in local economic impact.”

The study concluded,

 

“That if residents of the region were to shift 10 percent of their spending from chains to locally owned businesses, it would generate $127 million in additional local economic activity and 874 new jobs.”

 

Cape Girardeau is obviously not Portland, ME, but even if we were to assume a fraction of the benefits they found, we can come to the conclusion that local spending and events are a winning combination for Cape Girardeau. This is why we as downtown merchants, of every variety, should feel the need to champion events such as our recent fireworks display, while also applauding those who chose to patronize local retailers while in attendance.  Of utmost importance though, is to come to realization that events such as these can come to a close at a moment’s notice without support from the local community. We don’t like to imagine a downtown free from the sounds of an acoustic guitar at Tunes at Twilight, the uproar of a hot rod revving its engine during the car shows, or seeing the first set of Christmas lights parading down Broadway. We certainly hope that everyone in our area feels the same!

This post is written by guest blogger Steven Amrhein, Intern at Old Town Cape.

As some of you may know, I recently got engaged! One of the perks of getting engaged is the photographs that you get to take with your significant other to announce the engagement. Instead of going back home to O'Fallon for the photographs, we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous scenery in Cape Girardeau. Now, according to my fiancé, these have to be "lively, fun, loving...they have to be perfect!" It's what everyone sees when you send out the announcements and apparently if they are bad, then no one will show up to the wedding...or so she says. I did some digging around and came across someone that I believe is perfect for capturing and sharing the special moment in our lives.

Stacey Thompson, a fashion and portrait photographer, that lives in downtown Cape has some of the best work that I have ever seen. She strives to create a sense of timelessness in her images by avoiding trends and incorporating vintage and retro themes. We were pleased to find out that she has been in this area for her entire life and enjoys living downtown because she has the opportunity to scout out quiet corners that most people wouldn't consider shooting in - she wouldn't disclose where though! Stacey enjoys the sense of community in downtown Cape and explained that "people are a close-knit bunch; they value their neighborhood and strive to make it the best it can be."

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing her work, you are truly missing out. She has promised to turn my fiancé and myself into models...after all, she is used to working with them! Models are referred to her through agencies who are in need of current portfolio photos. Occasionally Stacey can even request a model that is a good fit for an upcoming photo concept that she is working on. Several models have came from out of town with the furthest coming from a five hour drive away. Every time someone new comes to the area, they comment to Stacey how picturesque downtown Cape is, especially the Riverfront area. She enjoys working with clients who are expressive and at ease in front of the camera, but also finds joy in working with those who aren't used to having their picture taken.

Several publications, including two international magazines, have featured her work. She even has pictures on PhotoVogue, a portfolio section of the VogueIT website. Solis Magazine also decided to do a print feature on her work after she submitted samples to them. She admitted that she is a little worried though because Solis only allowed her to write 2,000 words to explain her work and she fears that she may have turned it into a rant about Doctor Who, Jim Butcher and Legos. While she is receiving international exposure, some of her favorite pieces still come from downtown scenes, one of which was taken in conjunction with Annie Laurie's Antiques. "I frequently shop at Annie Laurie's Antiques because she has such a great selection of vintage clothing and home decorations. A year or two ago, Laurie began a blog featuring models in clothing from her shop. We got in touch and I've had the opportunity to work with her on some incredible vintage fashion projects," Stacey explained. She also began collaborating with Deb for some work through Pastimes Antiques when she was approached to shoot the 2014 Fashion Faces calendar to benefit the Safe House for Women. They both share a love of vintage themes, and Stacey has since photographed several of her concepts with clothing from the store.

One of the best things about reaching out to Stacey for our engagement photos is that she knows how to work with you. I'm looking forward to our session in late May that we strategically chose in order to have warmer weather and blossomed trees - they'll make for a beautiful background. Before we even had a chance to discuss location, she informed us that she had the perfect place in mind. Check back in early June for a sneak peek at the pictures.

This post is written by guest blogger, Steven Amrhein, Intern at Old Town Cape.

Baseball's Spring Training has begun and hopefully Cards nation can book another trip to the World Series in 2014. I work at JCPenney where anything St. Louis Cardinals is big business and I always wondered how this past season's National League Championship Series shirts showed up on store racks the very next day. Someone mentioned that Horizon Screen Printing prints St. Louis Cardinals merchandise, so I sat down with Dru Reeves, owner of Horizon Screen Printing, and learned some pretty interesting stories - who know that World Series Championship shirts are printed right here in downtown Cape!

Horizon Screen Printing sits on Broadway and is known for making quality t-shirts for a wide variety of clients in and around Cape Girardeau. Starting in the early 1980s, the business grew in size and was actually approached by VF Imagewear, the company that holds licenses to Majestic, Wrangler, and Jansport, to start mass producing St. Louis championship clothing. Reeves says that all major cities have a local screen printer since VF Imagewear is located in Miami, FL.

Smoothly executed by Reeves and his employees, the process has stayed the same for the past 20 years. Once a win is declared, Horizon starts printing immediately after. They work non-stop for 24 hours before taking a small break, only to get back to the presses with another 24 hour workday. So, if the Cardinals win the World Series at 10 p.m., the printing starts at 10:30 p.m. because the design has already been submitted. Within a few hours, the first truck shows up and arrives again at 5 a.m. to take the t-shirts back to St. Louis.

Three operating presses pump out 600 t-shirts per hour, manned by a ten person team. The total stock supplies 10,000 t-shirts to be distributed all over Cape Girardeau and back to the bigger cities. Stores that get clothing from Horizon include major retailers such as JCPenney, Macy's, Dillards, and Sears. Horizon gets big business if the Cardinals win! Reeves also has his fingers crossed for the Rams next year and currently for the Blues, since his contract covers MLB, NFL, and NHL as well. He has completed t-shirts for the Cardinals when winning their division before, but doing so is less common because VF Imagewear has more time to print and the t-shirts sell less than the World Series.

Mark McGwire's 62nd homerun in 1998 still holds Reeves' most challenging t-shirt printing operation. He explains it as being different than a World Series win because there is a designated number of games in the World Series and the team only has to win 4 out of 7 games. Reeves even has an estimated date ahead of time on when he will start printing the World Series t-shirts; twice he even received the green light on printing before the final game was played. However, McGwire could have broken the record during any game, and it just so happened to be a day that Reeves was in St. Louis. He had to pack up his bags, make some calls, and head home immediately to start printing.

The last thing Reeves left me with is mention of one of his pride and joys, a St. Louis Stallions t-shirt. Who are the St. Louis Stallions you may ask? Reeves is fond of knowing that he owns one of the only printed shirts of the football team. Before the Rams came to St. Louis, NFL was thinking about the Stallions becoming a team, and the design for their t-shirts was ready at Horizon to be printed by the thousands. Unfortunately, Reeves then got word that the team would not come to fruition, so before putting the design away forever, he turned on the printing press for one shirt only, which he owns to this day.

Did you know that the largest silver artbar dealer in the world is in downtown Cape Girardeau? I sure didn’t, and until this week I didn’t know what a silver artbar was either. Mike Sprouse, owner of River City Coins and Jewelry and – the world’s largest artbar dealer – filled me in during a visit to his shop this week. I discovered that silver artbars are rectangular collector’s items made of silver with engraved artwork that were mostly produced in the 60’s and 70’s after the U.S. stopped using silver in coins which in turn caused an increase in silver interest and value.

During my visit to River City Coins & Jewelry, Mike was kind enough to show me around his shop, give me some coin collecting 101 and share his story.

When I walked in the shop, I carried in a trinket-box full of coins. The box, shaped like a heart with “Toni’s Things” painted on top, held coins that I had thrown in since I was 12 that I thought were interesting or that held special sentimental value. Mike said that people walked in on a daily basis with similar stories of coins they thought may or may not be worth something. We poured mine on the counter, and Mike thumbed through foreign coins, smashed souvenir pennies, a few buffalo nickels and a Kennedy half dollar. The verdict? My buffalo nickel was worth 35¢. Everything else was face value or less.

Since I wasn’t expecting any of my coins to be worth much, I wasn’t that disappointed, so we moved on to bigger and better things. I asked Mike about some of his favorite coins, and he pulled out a buffalo nickel with a 3 legged buffalo and a $20 gold coin. The buffalo nickel (sans one leg) was worth anywhere from $500-$1,000! The $20 gold coin was printed in 1924, and was now worth approximately $1,800! Mike explained that the intrinsic worth of the gold in the coin was $1,200, and the numismatic worth (collector’s value) added another $600 of worth to the coin. Many coins have a raw precious metal value (intrinsic) plus a numismatic value determined by how valuable collectors deem the coin. Mike proudly referred to himself as a numismatist - a student or collector of coins.

As I stood at the counter in River City Coins & Jewelry, I was most impressed with Mike’s knowledge of economics, investing and the precious metals market. As he told his story, I learned he had majored in Economics at SEMO and worked in the banking industry for 10 years before deciding to take a chance on his dream job: buying and selling coins and jewelry. He first opened his shop in Cape in 1985 and moved to the current location downtown in 1993. He laughed in disbelief, as I reminded him he was nearing his 30 year anniversary. Mike confessed that he had collected coins all of his life, and I could tell he had a true passion for the trade.

When I left the store, I couldn't help but peek at interesting pieces, and I made two mental notes:

1. Collecting coins is a hobby that is literally worth something. 
2. I really need to add investing in gold to my list of strategies for retirement. 

After all, cashing in a $20 gold coin for $1,800 doesn’t sound too shabby.


Author: Toni Eftink is a Project Manager at Element 74 where she leads custom web projects. She has a huge love for downtown Cape Girardeau and small businesses. You can find her on Google+ and Twitter.

Have you noticed that downtown Cape has a new "look" to it? I'm not talking about the streetscape, but rather the pink elements and decorations that many business owners are adding to their store for the month of October in support of Pink Up Cape.

Pink Up Cape was launched in 2010 by Saint Francis Medical Center to raise breast cancer awareness in Southeast Missouri. The campaign runs concurrently with Breast Cancer Awareness every October and encourages the community to support the cause by doing just what our downtown businesses are doing - pinking up their spaces!

Laurie Everett of Annie Laurie's Antiques gave Zsa Zsa a pink makeover. She is currently sporting a hot pink wig along with a black and pink leotard, but Laurie mentioned that she will be sporting several different pink outfits throughout the month. Laurie believes that Pink Up Cape is important because we need to come together as a community to care about and support those who can't provide this exam for themselves.

Kyleigh Baliva and her mother Deb Maevers, owners of Pastimes Antiques, also chose to participate by pinking up one of their display windows at the store. According to the two, window displays are a big part of what their store is about and they want to show support for the community through Pink Up Cape. They have partnered with their dealers to display different types of pink merchandise that is for sale.

Other downtown businesses including The Bank of Missouri, Southeast Missourian and rustmedia are also participating with decorations such as flags and ribbons. I expect that more businesses will continue to add to the "look" throughout the month of October, so keep your eye out!

All of the funds raised during Pink Up Cape benefit Dig for Life, a series of fundraisers that educate women in the region about the importance of early breast cancer detection through regular mammography screenings. The fundraiser was started by Cindy Gannon, the Southeast Missouri State University women's volleyball coach, in 2002 after breast cancer claimed her mother's life. Each $100 that is raised provides a free mammogram for a Cape Girardeau woman who cannot afford the important screening. Dig for Life has provided more than 400 free mammograms each year to date.

This post is written by guest blogger, Annabelle Criddle, Intern at Old Town Cape.

As a long time Cape Girardeau resident, I've known about and been to Knaup Floral many times over the years, and the only bad thing about it is never having the money to buy every single arrangement they have. They're all so pretty that I want to take them all home! Recently Knaup Floral was recognized by an organization outside of our little community. It's always nice to see that someone else realizes how awesome one of our local businesses is.

Knaup Floral has been recognized by FTD with a Quality Star for excellence in service and delivery of all of those beautiful flower arrangements. The quality star was awarded for the year 2012; the second year running that Knaup has received the award.

To earn it, Knaup had to have a perfect record - no mean feat when you deliver all over the U.S. and even internationally. It's hard enough for me to get birthday cards mailed off to family members on time and Knaup Floral sends many arrangements as far away as Japan, Germany, and Africa - talk about going the extra mile!

With busy holidays like Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and Christmas, not to mention all the weddings, birthdays and anniversaries, Knaup receives more orders than you can shake an exquisite long stemmed rose at. Each order is hand crafted, a beautiful work of art, and delivered promptly, a true show of dedication and excellent customer service.

Anyone who stops in to smell the roses can see the FTD logo on the door and Knaup Floral can be found on Facebook and by using the Floralapp.

This post is written by guest blogger, Caitlin Schlichting, Interactive Marketing Specialist & Web Developer for The Bank of Missouri.

The Bank of Missouri is new to downtown Cape Girardeau and excited to be a part of it! The Bank recently launched an exciting contest for aspiring and current business owners.

The Bank's second annual "Jumpstart Your Business Contest" is aimed at small, local businesses and entrepreneurs who are looking to start a new business or expand their existing business.

May was National Small Business Month and we wanted to do something fun and exciting. We are giving away $1000 in Cape Girardeau and other surrounding communities. The cash awards will be used toward's the winner's business endeavors.

Local business owners and entrepreneurs who fit the Small Business Administration's (SBA) size guidelines can submit an entry telling us about their business plans. Each entrant is asked to work with their local SBA Center to develop a plan to submit for the contest. Entrants are encouarged to submit their entry online at the bank's website. This site has full contest details, rules, etc. There are also other methods of entry available such as email, fax, website, or in person.

In addition to the contest, The Bank of Missouri can also assist with an SBA loan to finance an entire business, equipment and fixtures, business real estate and much more. The Bank of Missouri is a preferred lender for the Small Business Administration and was recently ranked the #2 community bank in the St. Louis District for 2012.

Details on the contest, which runs through June 29, can be found on The Bank of Missouri's website or their Facebook page.

Toni Eftink is a Project Manager at Element 74 where she leads custom web projects. She has a huge love for downtown Cape Girardeau and small businesses. You can find her on Google+ and Twitter.