Lori Marble: Earthquake Day braced for final fling

Local News

Discussion

December 11, 2009

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Fri Dec 11, 2009, 09:00 PM CST

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.

Text Only

Local News

Water company cites reconnections
The May 22 tornado has caused a dramatic drop in water usage for the Missouri American Water Co., but things are starting to turn around — one reconnection at a time.

February 10, 2012 1 Photo
Survivor of ’78 Connor collapse dead at age 64
A big story in the history of Joplin was the 1978 collapse of the Connor Hotel at Fourth and Main streets. Alfred Summers, the man at the heart of that story, died at 6:41 a.m. Friday at St. John’s Mercy Hospital in Joplin after an illness. He was 64.

February 10, 2012
County asks for dismissal of sheriff’s suit
The Jasper County Commission is the final authority in budget allocations, including those from the county’s Law Enforcement Sales Tax fund, county lawyers have argued in a motion recently filed in Jasper County Circuit Court.

February 10, 2012
Winter weather back in forecast
The arctic front that passed over Missouri on Friday will bring cold temperatures to the region tonight.

February 10, 2012
Weather service upgrading radar at Springfield station
The National Weather Service radar station at Springfield will be out of service for about two weeks to permit the installation of dual-polarization technology.

February 10, 2012
MSSU, PSU to conduct financial-aid events
Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and Pittsburg (Kan.) State University each will conduct events Sunday to help high school seniors with completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

February 10, 2012
Authorities term deaths of teens murder-suicide
Authorities say a teenage woman apparently shot her estranged boyfriend several times before turning the gun on herself and taking her own life.

February 10, 2012
Mike Pound: One man in America wants his robo call
I like to think I have pretty thick skin. If I didn’t, all the emails I get with the subject lines that read “Hey moron” would bother me. But they don’t, so I do.

February 10, 2012
Proposed Kan. abortion ban blocked by abortion foe
An influential anti-abortion legislator is blocking the push for a ban on abortion in the Kansas Constitution, highlighting a split among abortion opponents over tactics and frustrating the group advocating the “personhood” proposal Friday.

February 10, 2012
Kansas House GOP issues tax plan
House Republican leaders are proposing a plan to cut Kansas income taxes, removing one key objection to an earlier proposal from Gov. Sam Brownback.

February 10, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Water company cites reconnections

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

Lori Marble: Earthquake Day braced for final fling

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr wants the city to distribute weather radios to all Joplin homes that don’t have one. That’s 11,000 radios. Do you think that’s a good use of $300,440?

Site Map

Contact Us