GUM CREEK, Mo. Clell Fulsom, a crawdaddy fisherman and long-time postmaster of this town of 230, is mildly surprised when this reporter tells him it would be considered “tacky” in other parts of America to park a dilapidated truck in one’s front yard for parts, as he has done.
“Huh,” he says, unimpressed. “Looks like the rest of the country has some catchin’ up to do with us on a lot of things.”
Fulsom is referring to a report released this week by the US Census Bureau that the mean center of population in America is now Plato, Missouri, an Ozarks village with a population of 109. “It’s a quiet little town,” Fulsom says as he scratches the scalp beneath his Dekalb Seed Corn plastic “gimme” cap. “‘Course people there aren’t as sophisticated as us, since we got us a post office.”
Commodities markets reacted strongly, with contracts for December delivery of peanut brittle, a staple of Ozarks gift shops, rising sharply. “I’m wary of inflation trends at work in today’s economy,” said legendary investor Warren Buffet. “A dollar can decline in value, but a genuine Ozark outhouse collectible is a joy forever.”
They can take our peanut brittle, but they can never take our crawdads!