The Salute to America festivities surrounding Independence Day will give some Jefferson City businesses a welcome boost.
Late last week, the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau began final preparations before crowds swarmed downtown over the holiday weekend. Managers at a local restaurant and cleaning service said the Salute to America event is one of their busiest days of the year. Other business owners with said the economic boost from the weekend helps all businesses in the city.
"On a scale of one to 10, we'll go with an 11," said J. Pfenny's Sports Grill & Pub manager Jay Cheshire when describing how busy the East High Street restaurant would be on Independence Day.
Cheshire added, though, the day before Thanksgiving is usually the restaurant's busiest day of the year.
He and fellow manager Angelia Etter sat at a table in the back of the restaurant Friday afternoon still trying to figure out how they'd staff the eatery Tuesday. They said they will be fully staffed. Usually, patrons fill the restaurant and a rooftop deck from 11 a.m. until close at 1 a.m., Cheshire and Etter said. Half of the restaurant's revenue will come from food sales, despite a large crowd that will also purchase alcohol.
"It's not a lot of drinkers," Etter said. "It's too hot outside."
Cheshire added: "We'll have a small beer garden set up here. A lot of people drink in the beer garden."
Parts of Madison Street were blocked Friday afternoon for a sand pit, but businesses hadn't begun preparations yet. By Monday morning that changed when businesses like Arris' Pizza began setting up chairs on sidewalks along High Street before Monday night's parade.
City officials expected more than 50,000 people to participate in Salute to America festivities. All those visitors make a mighty mess, and someone needs to clean it up. JC Cleaning Solutions owner Tanna Helton Sullens said that's where her business comes in.
Helton Sullens said the city hires her company each year to clean up the mess from the mass of visitors. She'll be working a marathon shift from 8 a.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. today. Still, she said she takes time to take in the atmosphere.
"It's fun, hard work," Helton Sullens said.
Most of her employees work four- to eight-hour shifts. She takes an old RV down to the festivities and works out of that.
"I think the Salute to America is just excellent because of all the people it brings to an array of businesses," Helton Sullens said.
Greg Kemna, owner of Kemna Collision Repair and president of the East Side Business Association, said businesses in Jefferson City's east side see an increase in business each year despite most of the festivities being downtown.
"Anything going in Jefferson City helps everyone," Kemna said.
Jefferson City's East Side and West Side business associations coordinated Tuesday's annual Avenue of the Americas. Jill Snodgrass, Salute to America event coordinator, said more than 80 businesses planned to participate and the CVB sold out every space.
Twenty-six food vendors and 40 other vendors made up the majority of merchants, Snodgrass said. She also expected High Street Pub, Grand Cafe, Love2Nourish and Subway to be among the downtown businesses open Tuesday.
The CVB also expects about 50,000 people to rush into town for an Aug. 21 solar eclipse. Hotel rooms for that event sold out months ago, and the CVB requested funds from the Jefferson City Council on Monday to cover the cost of providing port-a-potties and shuttles for visitors. The CVB plans to host a three-day event surrounding the eclipse.
Cheshire said J. Pfenny's expects to be full during the eclipse. A company from Branson with 40 people already booked a party to watch the eclipse on J. Pfenny's outdoor patio.
Snodgrass said visitors travel from about 60 miles away for Salute to America, providing businesses with a great annual bump, but the one-time solar eclipse will help as well.