‘Weatherman’ reports at Laie Temple Visitors Center
A popular figure familiar to millions of people in the Intermountain West for decades as the on-air weatherman for KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, Utah, is now director of the Laie Hawaii Temple Visitors Center for the next two years.
Elder Mark Eubank [pictured at right], who recently retired from his TV weather-casting responsibilities, and his wife, Sister Jean Eubank, had been serving a senior mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a year at the St. George, Utah, Temple Visitors Center when he was asked to take the reins in Laie. He succeeded Elder Richard Jacobs on January 17.
Elder Eubank, whose home is now in Bountiful, Utah, said he had previously visited Laie two times as a tourist, and had even come to the Visitors Center on the Polynesian Cultural Center tram, "but I did not get off and go in. I don't know why: We admired the beauty, and just took the tram back [to the Center]."
"The people here are so kind and friendly, whether it's at church, at the market, on the streets," Elder Eubank said of his early impressions of the community. "It's a wonderful, small-town atmosphere. I like it here."
That, of course, begged the question: How does a man who has been recording weather stats in a spiral notebook for the past 50 years and got his first rain gauge as a Christmas present at age 14 like the weather here?
"I absolutely love rain, and I have never seen enough rain to suit me," he quickly responded, noting the St. George Temple Visitors Center, with 8.5 inches of rain a year, is the driest one in the church. "So when we got called to Hawaii, I scurried about and found Laie is the wettest visitors center, even counting Hamilton, New Zealand. I don't want to see floods come back, but I'm delighted to be here."
"All of my experience has been in the mid-latitudes, where the storms come out of the west. This is the tropics, with easterly trade winds, so it's a whole new experience for me, and I hope to learn from it. For example, I love Laie because it has changeable weather: The sun pops out one minute and it's hot. The next minute it rains, and then there's a rainbow. The trade winds howl and the coconuts fall out of the tree. I think that's just fascinating."
Elder Eubank's obvious passion began turning into his livelihood in Los Angeles at age 15, when he wrote a weekly weather forecasting column for his local newspaper. The next year he moved to Redding, California, where he broke into weather reports on the radio. In 1967 he moved to Salt Lake City to complete a degree in meteorology at the University of Utah.
He's been a broadcast weatherman practically ever since, cheering up viewers with his high energy, fun repertoire of personal sound effects and quirky personality as often demonstrated by the white jacket he would wear when forecasting snow. He also served as director of the weather forecast center during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City; and he and his wife operated a weather forecasting business.
"I always wanted to go out at the top of my game," said Elder Eubank, who retired at age 65, "and it just so happened that my son — who was a competitor to me for a number of years — took over. I got to hand off the baton to my own son, Kevin Eubank. He's still at KSL."
"When we finish our mission here, we'll be about 70," he continued, adding at that point he would like spend time with their seven children and 13 grandchildren, and to do some traveling and study. "I'd like to go back to university to take a couple of classes, to learn and ask questions."
He also explained that the Laie Visitors Center, which is open every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., is here "to acquaint people with the history of Laie, with the temple which has been here since 1919 [although it is temporarily closed for renovations], and about Christ."
"My job as director is to make sure the center runs efficiently. We currently have a staff of 17 young sister missionaries and four other senior couples. In reality, all I have to do is stand back and let them run: They are so excited and enthusiastic to have guests and visitors here. They do a marvelous job. They can also do it in Japanese, two different dialects of Chinese, Filipino, Samoan, Tongan and Russian. Plus, when people come in to see the statue of the Christus, we can also play a two-minute message in 34 different languages."
Elder Eubank also said the people of Laie and the surrounding communities often come in: "They're very family oriented, and many of them observe the Sabbath day. After their church meetings, they come into the Visitors Center to learn, study, talk and mingle. There are a number of audio-visual presentations, and they love to watch them, too. So, Saturday and Sundays are our two busiest days. We love to have them." He added he plans to increase the number of "fireside" and other programs for the local communities.
"There's a special feeling here," Elder Eubank continued. "For me, it's the Spirit. The Spirit is here, and even the guests can feel it. This is sacred ground, and it's a privilege for me to be here."
— Photos by Mike Foley
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