New Cairo team honors town's past

CAIRO, Ill. -- In 1937, a great flood swept down the Ohio River. It inundated towns such as Cincinnati (100,000 homeless), Louisville and Paducah, Ky. (27,000 forced to flee) and Evansville, Ind. (4,000 WPA workers sent to aid the town). Where the Ohio meets the mighty
Mississippi and where the floodwaters finally met their match, there lies Cairo.

Cairo is surrounded by levees, including a 60-foot seawall to hold the Ohio back from flooding the downtown streets, which lie just blocks away. A massive steel gate hangs over the main highway into town from the north, ready to be closed should the waters threaten again. Indeed, during the 1937 flood, the gate was closed and the wall was tested. By all accounts, the town was an island with a thin strip of raised highway its only connection to the outside world. Also by all accounts, it was the sweat and labor of the men of Cairo who stayed behind to reinforce and raise the levees which saved this town from suffering the same fate as Cincinnati, Louiville, Paducah, Evansville.

It is these men we honor today. The virtues of courage, strength and endurance were carried out to their full potential in these men who saved Cairo. And thus we pay homage to them, the Cairo Leveemen.

Owner, manager and CEO Brent Jones is also proud to announce the selection of the sites of Danville, Ill., Marion, Ill. and Moline, Ill. for the Cairo minor league system. The AAA Danville Dans, AA Marion Miners and A Quad City Swing have been established in their respective cities.

"Since our hope is to have these teams become a part of their communities' history, it seems only fitting to honor the history of the communities," Jones said.