History
What is now called Newark Days was originally planned by members of the Newark Chamber of Commerce. They later turned the festivities over to the Jaycees. In the 1960s a group called "Newark Birthday Celebration" was formed. However, the event was not put on during the late 1960s. In 1972 Shirley Sisk called a meeting to see if there were enough volunteers to plan an event for that September. Interest was high, and "Newark Days Celebration" was formed. The Newark Rotary club brought in a carnival, and the committee put together food booths and games at the Pavilion. The weekend was a huge success, and a nonprofit corporation was formed to make it a regular annual event. A volunteer 30-member committee works year-round to organize it, and more than 200 volunteers assist at the event.
In 2005, Newark Days celebrated Newark's 50th anniversary with a 1950's theme and the return of Arknew, a kangaroo that was Newark's old town mascot.
Read more about this topic: Newark Days
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“When the landscape buckles and jerks around, when a dust column of debris rises from the collapse of a block of buildings on bodies that could have been your own, when the staves of history fall awry and the barrel of time bursts apart, some turn to prayer, some to poetry: words in the memory, a stained book carried close to the body, the notebook scribbled by hand—a center of gravity.”
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“... in a history of spiritual rupture, a social compact built on fantasy and collective secrets, poetry becomes more necessary than ever: it keeps the underground aquifers flowing; it is the liquid voice that can wear through stone.”
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“The awareness that health is dependent upon habits that we control makes us the first generation in history that to a large extent determines its own destiny.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)