Getting to know Cape Girardeau’s heritage

The Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp Museum held its third annual Heritage Day event Saturday, Oct. 3.

Shane Mizicko, director of percussion and professor of music, played steel drum music with Southeast’s Steel Drum Band outside the Central Arts Center located at the entrance of the Crisp Museum.

Tour guides explained other historical events such as Gary Lucy’s waterways mural and the Little River Drainage District.

“The Little River Drainage District is a very important project,” said Ellen Flengte, curator of education. “It went on shortly after the Panama Canal. It is actually a larger project than the Panama Canal.”

Activities for guests included making arrowhead point necklaces and painting over a moon painting with their own creative designs with black or glow-in-the-dark paint. Guests had the opportunity to take home glow-in-the-dark sticks and prehistoric dinosaurs.

The museum featured a scavenger hunt. Participants were instructed to explore the museum and find the 36 missing items on a list that was provided for them. Those who participated were entered into a drawing to win the Cauldron of Candy, a witch’s pot filled with candy. The scavenger hunt will last throughout October, and the winner will be announced Oct. 31.

Randy Greeves, a Southeast graduate student, explained the different Native American collections to museum guests. Greeves presented a digital presentation online to guests explaining the past pandemics of Cape Girardeau.

“I have been learning about history for a number of years,” Greeves said. “ I am a history major, so it is my bread and butter to know about history. I have been with the museum for about a month now.”

Richard Flengte, a historian and local author, did a digital presentation on General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of soldiers who served in Cape Girardeau during the American Civil War.

For more information about events happening at the Crisp museum, visit their Facebook page.