Business association offering family-friendly eclipse weekend

Julie Smith/News Tribune
Parks and Recreation Department employees have been busy preparing Ellis Porter Riverside Park for this weekend's activities. While new lights were being installed in the ampitheater, others, like Fred Rademan, background left, and Danny Carwile were dropping off 55-gallon drums to be used as trash cans for festivities surrounding Monday's solar eclipse. In other areas of the park and other parks, crews were busy trimming trees and weedeating around the public paths and walkways and other work. There are numerous activities scheduled for Sunday's Total Eclipse of the Park in Riverside Park that begin at 11 a.m. and go until 8 p.m. There will be live music, classic sci-fi movies played in the pavilion, food vendors and much, much more.
Julie Smith/News Tribune Parks and Recreation Department employees have been busy preparing Ellis Porter Riverside Park for this weekend's activities. While new lights were being installed in the ampitheater, others, like Fred Rademan, background left, and Danny Carwile were dropping off 55-gallon drums to be used as trash cans for festivities surrounding Monday's solar eclipse. In other areas of the park and other parks, crews were busy trimming trees and weedeating around the public paths and walkways and other work. There are numerous activities scheduled for Sunday's Total Eclipse of the Park in Riverside Park that begin at 11 a.m. and go until 8 p.m. There will be live music, classic sci-fi movies played in the pavilion, food vendors and much, much more.

Family-friendly events will fill Ellis-Porter Riverside Park on Sunday and Monday at the East Side Business Association's Total Eclipse of the Park event.

Live music, sci-fi movies and an artists' village are just a few of the activities scheduled for the event. The Total Eclipse of the Park will run Sunday and Monday and serve as a fundraiser for the group.

Thousands of visitors are expected to swarm Jefferson City on Monday for a rare total solar eclipse that will cross parts of 14 states and most of Mid-Missouri. Though the total eclipse will last only about 2 1/2 minutes, dozens of community groups and businesses are hosting events and expect to see an increase in business over the weekend.

Many events, like Saturday's Capital Eclipse Party downtown, Saturday's Capital City Pub Crawl or Sunday evening's concert by Pink Floyd Tribute band Dark Side of the Moon, are geared toward adults.

Greg Kemna, president of the East Side Business Association, said it's important for his organization's event to provide family-friendly entertainment.

"There's a lot of different things they can do," Kemna said. "(Families) can go spend several hours over there, and the kids will be happy."

The two-day event kicks off Sunday morning and will run through Monday afternoon. Events are scheduled 11 a.m.-8 p.m Sunday. Seven bands will play in the park's southeast corner during Sunday's festivities.

The Jefferson City Fire Department will have trucks - new and old - in the north part of the park. Children can also test their skills in an obstacle course in the middle of the park, take their photo in an eclipse-themed photo booth, or "escape" from a jail or limousine in the east part of the park.

An artists' village will offer handcrafted items made by local Missourians and art demonstrations in the northwest corner of the park. Attendees can also buy a souvenir cup with several kinds of fruit infused water at a water bar, and get the cup refilled all day Sunday and Monday.

Five sci-fi movies will also play in the northern part of the park, starting at 11 a.m. with 1951 classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still."

The East Side Business Association also will hold a cookout 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday. The group will sell hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, cold drinks, water and soda.

The group will still hold its annual cookout in September but is using Monday's cookout to raise money for the organization.

"We want to help better the east side, and we want to help bring more of a community feel to the east side," Kemna said. "Things change. It is a developing area, and we want to use this as a chance to show what it has to offer."

Sunday's Live Music Schedule

12:15 p.m. - The Vincents

1:40 p.m. - Izzak & Den Green

2:35 p.m. - MO Blues All-Stars

3:30 p.m. - Burney Sisters

4:25 p.m. - The Kay Brothers

5:50 p.m. - Blues DeVille

7:15 p.m. - Georgia Felix & the Cool Car

Sunday's Sci-Fi Movie Schedule

11 a.m. - "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951)

12:40 p.m. - "Forbidden Plannet" (1956)

2:25 p.m. - "First Men in the Moon" (1964)

4:10 p.m. - "The War of the Worlds" (1953)

5:40 p.m. - "Space Cowboys" (2000)