There will be ice cream, games, country-western music and fellow Missourian Rush Limbaugh. But there will be no references to the tornado that killed 158 people: no American Red Cross booth; nosalespeople for Twister Safe and other tornado protectionproducts."We want to have one day without thinking about it," explainedBeth Peacock, the events manager for the city's parks. "Tuesday'sgoing to be here soon enough."On Tuesday morning, the sun will cast light once again on a citythat is one-third damaged or gone — a city, though, that is workingtoward physical and psychological recovery. Mayor Mike Woolstonsignaled this communal resolve recently when he ordered that flagsbe finally raised to full staff; the time, he said, had come forthe city of 50,000 to focus on the living.Working with various state and federal agencies, particularlythe Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency, the city has followed a plan to clear all obstacles to there-imagining of its future.
With the dead buried and the displacedsheltered, it is focusing on removing the debris, so as to see thepossibilities beneath.Last week, city officials established a steering committee ofcivic leaders to explore opportunities arising from tragedy; thedo-overs granted by tornado. Troy Bolander, the city planner, whoseworkspace walls are decorated with color-coded maps of histransformed city, said Joplin's residents would be asked to thinklong-term.City officials are nagging everyone to work as quickly aspossible, in part to capitalize on the federal government's promiseto pay for 90 percent of debris removal, up to Aug. 7.
For safety and planning reasons, they also have halted anyrebuilding. They also have dealt with con artists, scrap-salvagingthieves and even a couple of area firefighters suspected oflooting.But Woolston and Mark Rohr, the city manager, dismissed those asminor moments. Sitting in devastated Cunningham Park, they spokewith emotion of the more than 50,000 volunteers and the financialsupport of strangers, from a check for $100,000 sent by a synagoguein Arizona to a money order for $31.25 from two girls in theCarolinas who sold lemonade for Joplin.But now, said Rohr, sitting amid the tidy destruction, "it'stime to resume a normal routine."So this afternoon, Joplin will relax a while in the heat ofLandreth Park. Its thousands will eat hot dogs, drink iced tea andsing along to old, familiar songs. Then will come the pulse-racingfireworks, rain or shine.Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.