By Andy Ostmeyer
aostmeyer@joplinglobe.com
PICHER, Okla. — Bobo, a 3,800-pound concrete gorilla, is coming home.
For years, the mascot for the Picher-Cardin Gorillas stood outside of the high school, but with the demise of the school as part of the buyout of the town, many of the artifacts and much of the memorabilia from the district went up for auction earlier this month.
Dave Marlin, of Conway, Mo., said he bought the gorilla for $2,500, but said he realized soon afterward just what it meant to the community.
“I just thought it was an old, abandoned gorilla nobody wanted,” Marlin said. “Within a few seconds, that started to change.”
Jodi Morgan, 33, of Grove, Okla., is a 1994 Picher graduate who couldn’t be at the auction on June 14, but said everyone in the community assumed the gorilla would be purchased by someone who was local, and that the gorilla would remain in the area.
“When that didn’t happen, there was just an outpouring of sorrow and anger ... everyone was amazed,” she said.
Marlin said he started taking telephone calls almost immediately from residents and Picher alumni in two states who were hoping to bring it back.
“The thing I didn’t understand ... it’s a mascot ... I never went to school a day in my life. I’m self-educated. We didn’t realize what a mascot really was, what it meant to people,” Marlin said.
Morgan said she made contact with Marlin, too, and ended up working out a deal with him.
She wouldn’t disclose the price, but said: “I just want it noted that David was extremely compassionate, extremely easy to work with. He wasn’t out to get rich. Legally, it was his, but rightfully, it belonged to Picher, and he knew it.”
Marlin, however, wanted a gorilla statue to replace the one he was selling to Morgan, and as part of the deal, she and several other Picher residents called all over the country and eventually found several places that make them.
“Whoever he chooses to go with is fine with me,” Morgan said.
Initially, the gorilla statue will reside with a resident in Picher, but ultimately, Morgan would like to see it kept in Oklahoma, along with the other records, trophies and memorabilia from the school system that were not put up for auction, and will be given to a museum for posterity.
Morgan said she bought the gorilla as a gift for her husband on Father’s Day. Her husband, Allen, is a 1992 graduate of Picher-Cardin, and it will be given to the museum in his name, as well as in honor of his grandmother, Pauline J. Morgan, whose husband, Charlie, was a lead miner at Picher.
Homecoming
Jodi Morgan said the Picher-Cardin Gorilla statue is expected to be back in town Tuesday, and a bonfire is planned for 8:30 p.m. that night in downtown Picher to mark the official last day of the Picher-Cardin School District.
Local News
Gorilla mascot to be returned to Picher area
- Local News
-
-
Prosecutor’s office asking state if campaign used county assets
The Jasper County prosecuting attorney’s office is asking the Missouri attorney general’s office to investigate whether Sheriff Archie Dunn has used the assets of his office for his re-election campaign.
-
Service dogs participate in ceremony recognizing them for their work
The Carl Junction post office has a reputation for promoting the release of special postage stamps in unique ways. Wednesday was no different.
-
Volunteers from Tuscaloosa paying it forward in Joplin
As the teens moved farther along the bleachers they were painting, splotches of bright red paint kept appearing where it didn’t exactly belong. On the ground. On their arms and legs. On their clothing.
-
Webb City mural taking shape at corner of Main, Broadway
Last Thursday, the north wall of the Middlewest Building at Main Street and Broadway was white. Eighteen gallons of paint and a whole lot of red Solo cups later, it will be a completed community mural depicting the Webb City Farmers Market.
-
Filing deadline approaching for county offices in Kansas
The candidacy filing deadline for those seeking Kansas county offices that are subject to the Aug. 7 primary election is noon Friday.
-
Economic development strategies emerge from Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative meeting
More than 30 people shared ideas Wednesday on ways to promote economic development in the seven counties that are participating in the Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative.
-
Mike Pound: Singing the praises of music teacher
When I was in sixth grade, Sister Susan, the music teacher at St. Xavier’s Catholic School, walked over to me while I and my fellow students were singing at Easter midnight Mass and said a bit loudly: “Mike, don’t sing.”
-
Electric bill to drop $6 a month in Joplin
The Missouri Public Service Commission has approved a request filed by The Empire District Electric Company, based in Joplin, to lower the fuel adjustment charge (FAC) on the bills of its electric customers.
-
Mo. Legislature officially ends its 2012 session
Missouri's annual legislative session has officially come to a close.
-
Strong to severe storms forecast for Joplin region
Storms developing across the central and southern plains this afternoon are expected to migrate into the Joplin region this evening.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Prosecutor’s office asking state if campaign used county assets
