By June of any other year, the Carthage Square would have hosted any number of car shows and other events, but 2020 is not like any other year.
Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, the first Carthage Square Jamboree marked the first event to be hosted on the square this year.
Crowds were sparse as the temperature hovered in the low 90s, Saturday afternoon, but vendors, attendees and organizer Cherry Babcock, owner of Cherry’s Custom Art Emporium on the Square, we’re all pleased with the turnout.
“I feel good about how this has gone. We’ve had a few people through and the vendors have been selling stuff. They have done some demonstrations. That’s what I asked them to do when they came,” Babcock said. “This is the first show they’ve been able to attend this year because of Covid. They were excited to get out.”
Braving challenges, rumors
Artisans such as the Mighty Mo Chuckwagon, an authentic old west chuckwagon serving cobblers and fruit crisps; Chigger Ridge Soap Works, featuring homemade soaps, lotions, and beard oils; the Blacksmith Friends of Newtonia, demonstrating metal and wood working, and many more, surrounded the historic Jasper County Courthouse until 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Dozens of people braved the heat, Covid-19 and rumors of violence to come out and enjoy the event and learn more about Southwest Missouri culture and history.
Randy and Debbie Dalton, from Croweburg, Kansas, north of Pittsburg, said this was the first time they had been out of their home since late March other than to work or get groceries.
They came to Carthage to see a grandchild’s ball game and heard about the Jamboree, so they decided to check it out.
“It was pretty much time to get out,” Debbie Dalton said. “You can only stay at home for so long, and I’m a homebody, I like staying at home.”
Randy Dalton said he and his wife have continued to work through the pandemic shutdown, and they’re glad to have their jobs.
He said he’s still concerned about the coronavirus.
“I don’t think we’re done with the coronavirus,” Randy Dalton said. “I think we got lucky and it didn’t get as bad here as it did in other places. But I figure we’ll be okay if we keep our distance from everyone. We went to the ball game but we sat off to ourselves.”
Sid Smith, with Dirty Smith Iron Works, part of the Blacksmith Friends of Newtonia, said he still takes precautions because of the coronavirus, but he agreed, it was time to get out.
“I’m old enough to know if something is going to happen, it’s going to happen,” Smith said. “Life is what you make it. You can be woe is me, or you can get out and do stuff and be with people and take care of business. I’ve just never been a dreary type of guy, I’ve always been a pretty upbeat type of person.”
Soap trade
J.D. Whitledge and his wife, Debbie Whitledge, showed off Debbie’s artisan soaps in their Chigger Ridge Soap Works booth.
The Whitledges live on a farm in the Reeds area, so social distancing wasn’t a big problem for them.
“We live out on a farm, we’ve been isolating like everyone else,” J.D. Whitledge said. “We’re pretty self-sufficient out there we can get by with what we need. The only changes we’ve made is that I’ve managed to find a freezer and I had a hog butchered and I got that stashed. We really don’t need a whole lot out there. We’ve got chickens to do our own eggs, so there’s no shortage there.”
J.D. Whitledge said he’s skeptical of a lot of what’s happened in the past few weeks and months.
“There is a lot going on right now,” he said. “A lot of it is rumor and hype. There’s a descriptive term for it, it’s a bunch of baloney, that’s what it is. A lot of this is, I think, is blown completely out of proportion. We’re following folks that I’m not real sure they know what they’re talking about. They talk to hear their gums bump.
As far as those rumors yesterday, I saw the pictures of people downtown boarding up their windows in Joplin. Am I 100 percent sure that nothing’s going to happen? No. You never can be. Is it likely to happen? No. But in Joplin, if something comes up, this is Southwest Missouri, do you really want to come down here and start problems? This is a conservative bastion, and we can take care of ourselves. It’s not a smart thing to do.”
Getting away from home
Sherry and Kenny Stokes came to Carthage from Olathe, Kansas to take in the event.
Sherry Stokes is a Carthage native. She said the coronavirus shutdown has been more pronounced in the Kansas City area than it has been in Southwest Missouri, but that hasn’t stopped her from getting out.
“We have been making ourselves get out really since the quarantine started because staying at home, I’m not a stay-at-home, hibernate person,” Sherry Stokes said. “So we made ourselves go to support the restaurants, the drive throughs, the pickups, and we would make our way to Target and Walmart. We took precautions, we wore our masks and wore gloves at first. We don’t do gloves now. We are precautious, we do the things you should have been doing all along, washing your hands, not touching your face.”
Kenny Stokes said he doesn’t think the danger from coronavirus has passed, although the public has done a good job flattening the curve and keeping the medical system from being overwhelmed.
“I think with things like social distancing we’ve slowed it down,” Kenny Stokes said. “But as far as being gone away, I don’t know. Probably not. I try to keep myself educated and listen to different .gov outlets to find information about it. And then like my wife said, we try to practice those things we’re supposed to. But I think due to social distancing, I think that has helped slow it down.”
Plans for the future
Babcock said she and Carthage Police Chief Greg Dagnan talked about how to hold this event with the restrictions such as social distancing still in force.
Babcock said she put up signs warning people to stay separated and has walked the square watching the crowd.
“The people that are going from booth to both live together, or travel together,” Babcock said. “There hasn’t been any big huddles of folks, I haven’t seen anything that looked like I needed to say anything. We haven’t had any big congregations.”
Babcock said she started planning this event back in January as a way to get artisans and people to the Square. When the coronavirus pandemic started, some people suggested that she cancel, but she refused.
“Here’s what ran through my mind,” Babcock said. “By June, this is going to be far enough behind us, it’ll be warm enough and far enough behind us that we’ll be able to have this event. That’s what I stood on. Someone told me in March, you should cancel your June event. I said, no I’m not. I’m not cancelling.”
Babcock said she’s already making plans for a Jamboree in 2021. She said she’ll probably try to hold it a little earlier in the year to try to avoid the heat.
“I’m always looking for something to bring folks downtown,” Babcock said. “This is where my heart is, right here. The heart of Carthage is right here. I’m just trying to encourage folks to invest in rural America again. I’m kind of nostalgic about this.”
