Marshall, Missouri · Saturday, March 20, 2010
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Between the past and the future, the question of snow
Posted Tuesday, December 1, at 1:22 PM
The Southeast Missourian runs a feature called "Out of the past" that resurrects old news stories from years ago. Today, there is an entry than mentions Marshall -- and snow.

75 years ago: Dec. 1, 1934

A Cape Girardeau family got a real taste of winter during the Thanksgiving holiday; Mr. and Mrs. R.E.L. Lamkin and son, Jack, were marooned in a snowstorm at Marshall, Mo., where they were visiting Mr. Lamkin's mother, Mrs. J.C. Lamkin; the snow measured about 1 1/2 feet, and the thermometer went several degrees below freezing.

I've heard from people who have lived in Marshall for a long time who remember winters past when the snow was always deep. I grew up in northeast Iowa, and I, too, remember winters where the snow was always deep (and the temps were always 20 below -- always). I remember drifts so high we could walk right onto the roof of the new junior high school. I remember delivering newspapers in whiteout blizzards.

Ah, the good old days -- days that people move south to avoid.

Lately, though, winters in the Midwest have been comparatively mild. The weather last year didn't even qualify as a real winter, in my book.

But after a cool, wet summer and a cool, wet fall and with a forecast calling for lows in the teens this week, I think I'm not alone in suspecting we might see a 1934-ish type winter this year. A recent poll on The Marshall Democrat-News Web site backs me up.

When do you think the first measurable snowfall of the season will occur in Saline County?

* The first half of December: 33.2% (109 votes)

* The second half of December: 32.9% (108 votes)

* The first half of January: 13.1% (43 votes)

* The second half of January: 6.1% (20 votes)

* The first half of February: 1.8% (6 votes)

* The second half of February: 0.9% (3 votes)

* Never: 4.3% (14 votes)

* I don't make predictions: 7.6% (25 votes)

328 votes cast

A clear majority expects the first measureable snow this month. A few voters added comments, too, from the extreme ("I predict 12 inches of snow on Dec. 15 and flash flood warnings on Dec. 17.") to the cautious ("when God says so") to the irrelevant but dependable ("Very nice site! cheap viagra").

The cool-wet trend may be a harbinger of things to come, or it may not. The Old Farmer's Almanac predicts colder than normal temperatures for the region including Iowa, most of Missouri and eastern sides of Nebraska and Kansas. Our area will be generally wet, but with less than normal snowfall.

After spending no time at all studying climate trends and meteorological prognostications, I'm willing to go out on a limb and state with certainty that it'll snow when it snows. And this year, it might actually snow.

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Time for a new preservation effort?
Posted Saturday, October 31, at 4:51 PM

Adaptive reuse. Not the loveliest of terms, I guess, but I've been thinking its one we should start using around here more. Since the loss of the The Livery and the Obannon and McClure homes recently, I've been thinking about the problem of preservation...

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New sign, same great theater experience at the Lyceum
Posted Thursday, June 4, at 12:05 PM

The Arrow Rock Lyceum's season begins Wednesday, June 3, and perhaps the most visible change at the theater is the building's face. It no longer wears the blank expression it had all last year. There's a new sign. Looks pretty nice, too, and no wonder. Making any kind of change to the exterior of a building in historic Arrow Rock is done with care and final designs must be approved by three different governing bodies...

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Winter hike at Van Meter State Park
Posted Sunday, January 25, at 10:30 AM

New Year's Day activities traditionally include watching football on TV, eating everything in sight before weight loss resolutions go into effect and enduring hangovers. Since I don't have cable TV, dinner wasn't until 6 p.m. and don't drink to excess, even on New Year's Eve, that left me with a whole day to spend and no specific plans and nothing particular to do...

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Is The Marshall Democrat-News picking on Wally George?
Posted Friday, January 23, at 2:08 PM

Jimmy Carter had his brother, Billy (infamous for beer swilling and boorish behavior). Hillary Clinton had her husband, Bill (infamous for, er, extracurricular activities). George Bush had his brother, Neil (questionable business dealings). Sarah Palin has her daughter, Bristol (had child out of wedlock)...

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Let troops know we care
Posted Sunday, November 23, at 10:39 AM

We published a story this week about Clara Arth, a Gilliam native who has a number of relatives serving in the military. Her father is on his second tour of duty overseas and although she corresponds with him often, the approach of the holidays has reminded her -- and she has helped us remind the community -- just how acutely the absence of loved-ones can be...

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Election Day Updates (How long was your line?)
Posted Tuesday, November 4, at 7:46 AM

Someone called a few minutes ago wondering if we had a source of candidates' positions on issues. I wish I'd put something like that together earlier, but in case anyone is doing some last-minute research before voting: Governor's race: http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/344601.html ...

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Squeezing the most out of every last drop of gas
Posted Saturday, May 24, at 8:41 AM

The other day my wife, Amy, admitted that gas prices have gotten high enough that she's started driving with efficiency in mind. No more accelerating right up to the moment she applies the brakes. Coasting is in. I got to feel a bit self-righteous about then. I'm a veteran of the late-1970s, early-1980s gas crunch. I was young and poor, generally had old, inefficient vehicles, and would savor each drop of gasoline like it was a fine and very ancient wine. And I never really got over it...

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The kitchen table classroom & my first rhetoric teacher
Posted Saturday, March 22, at 7:37 PM

Some of you may have noticed that most of my blog entries so far tend to have links and quotes from sources that I think will support the point I'm trying to make. There are good rhetorical reasons for doing so, of course. Citing sources is at least a gesture toward intellectual honesty. ...

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The meth problem
Posted Friday, March 14, at 4:49 PM

A meth lab bust in Gilliam this week has gotten a fair amount of attention, and reactions range from disappointment that sheriff's deputies haven't busted all the other meth labs in the area to congratulations for getting the one they did. I suppose it sometimes seems like we're shoveling sand while the tide comes in, our reputation being what it is...

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Eric Crump is the editor of The Marshall Democrat-News. Ask him about how you can save gas this summer.