Native son Thomas Hart Benton has been quoted as describing Neosho as “a town addicted to celebration.”
One of the town’s longest-running private events will be held for the 37th and final time this coming week as friends of the late Harlan Stark gather to mark the annual Earthquake Day celebration.
The party recognizes the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes, which started with a couple of large quakes on Dec. 16, 1811, that were felt over a 50,000-square-mile area. It has been estimated that one of the earthquakes could have been as strong as a magnitude 8.0, causing the Mississippi River to briefly flow backward.
“When Harlan Stark moved to Newton County in 1966, as a reporter for the Neosho Daily News, he quickly accumulated friends from Newton and McDonald counties,” Dick Keezer said. “Harlan's love of education clustered a group of friends with academic backgrounds. Since he was a student of geology at the University of Missouri, the New Madrid Earthquake intrigued him.”
Stark, looking for a theme for a December party, felt that an Earthquake Day Celebration would be of interest and grab people's attention. The first three gatherings for Earthquake Day were celebrated in Pineville. It later moved to Truitt's Cave in Lanagan.
On one occasion, Stark was the only one who showed up at the Saltpeter Cave and had to carry all the party gear up a steep hill and then back down again. On his way home, he stopped at the Shangri-La Inn, in Anderson, to warm up and ran into the full bunch of invitees staying warm, unwilling to brave a cold December night in a cave.
Cold temperatures and the climbing needed to negotiate local caves led to the decision to move the party to more conducive locations — the Shangri-La Inn, then the “blue room” of Neosho’s downtown auditorium and eventually the New-Mac Electric meeting room. Over the course of almost four decades, there were just a couple years when winter weather canceled the event. Last year’s celebration was called off due to Stark’s failing health.
Friends — all of whom have been regular attendees over the years — have decided to hold one final Earthquake Day to honor Harlan Stark, who died in August. The group plans to swap old stories, play some bingo, eat and sing carols. One of Neosho’s many historians, Jerry Christian, will share trivia and lesser-known tales surrounding the New Madrid earthquake.
“I have put together some video shots taken of past celebrations, including Harlan telling about Earthquake Day and its origin,” Keezer said. “It should be an interesting event this year. I look forward to Earthquake Day 2009 with a great deal of joy as friends gather to honor my fellow partner for more than 57 years.”
Earthquake Day will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the New-Mac building in Neosho.
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