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Great American Eclipse Could Bring Economic Boom, Thousands To Sullivan Monday

The Great American Eclipse of 2017 has been in the discussions for more than a year in Sullivan and anticipation articles have been published in the Sullivan Independent News weekly, however will tourists turn out in thousands providing an economic boom for Sullivan? Will thousands gathering in Sullivan, one of the best vantage points to view the totality bring a strain on emergency services and provide traffic gridlock?

All these questions and more will be answered in just days as Sullivan continues to plan around the clock for events and the impact of tourists coming to Sullivan to view the total eclipse on Monday, August 21, with the partial phase beginning at 11:52 a.m. and totality in Sullivan from 1:16 p.m. to 1:19 p.m., according to City of Sullivan website.

Sullivan City Administrator J.T. Hardy, who has worked diligently on the event, to make sure Sullivan is ready for the influx of tourists stated that he has been contacted from people across the country from New York to Chicago and all parts in between who plan to converge on Sullivan for the total eclipse.

“Sullivan will have its best face forward for this event,” said Hardy. “Our citizens and businesses need to be ready for a large influx of people coming into our city to use our restaurants, stores and we want them to remember Sullivan and come back in the future. I think our restaurants and stores need to prepare to sell to the largest number of people they have ever had before during this weekend and Monday.”

Hardy recently along with law enforcement and emergency services personnel met with SEMA, State Emergency Management Agency, to discuss the impacts of an estimated 8,000 to 30,000 people converging in the local area and the impacts this event could have on emergency services operations.

“We have plans in place that are being finalized at this time and citizens should expect road delays, emergency response delays and some services may be slowed due to the impact from the eclipse,” said Hardy. “We will have changeable traffic signs in place, all of our law enforcement officers will be on duty the day of the event and residents along Highway D should expect traffic delays going to the fairgrounds where the largest influx of visitors are expected to gather including ammeter astronomers.”

Hardy stated that in case cell phone usage is interrupted emergency services are working on what frequency channels they will be using during the event to coordinate emergency efforts should they arise.

Sullivan Police Lt. Patrick Johnson stated on Monday, “All of our officers will be working the day of the eclipse and zoned throughout our city to ensure proper responses in all areas and to be able to handle traffic issues as well.”

“This is a real unknown to estimate just how many people will be in Sullivan, we know they are coming, just how many and the impacts it could have on our infastructure throughout town,” said Hardy. “People should also expect vehicle congestion on and along Interstate 44 during the event.”

SCHOOLS CLOSED:

Sullivan School District and Crawford County R-1-Bourbon School District each announced this week that they would not be in session on Monday.

In an official statement from Sullivan Schools Friday, “Numerous factors have been taken into consideration before making this decision, and with this being a once in a lifetime event, opinions about the day differ greatly. Due to those unknowns, the District will err on the side of caution. We will continue using the eclipse as a learning opportunity in our classrooms with the lessons and other activities. Your child will receive safety solar eclipse glasses to take home on Friday, August 18.”

SOLAR WEEKEND EVENTS:

Many events are planned in and around Sullivan beginning Friday night, as the Fraternal Order of Eagles, 3781 will host a “Total Eclipse Weekend,” with Dirt Floor Ramblers performing in the Social Room of the organization at 8 p.m. The Eagles will then host their 40th anniversary party at 8 p.m. Saturday night with music from Loose Change, Sunday will bring a horse shoe tournament, BBQ diners and Social Room activities and on Monday, an eclipse breakfast at 7 a.m. followed by cclipse viewing on the grounds.

The Sullivan Regional Airport/Chamber of Commerce will host their eighth annual Fly In on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. where residents and visitors can come take the B-52 Mitchell Bomber Flight Experience, Car Show, ARCH Helicopter Viewing, Tom Cline Helicopter rides, craft vendors, fire and police displays along with music and entertainment on the airport grounds.

A Downtown Block Party and movie night will be held in the Fricks parking lot on Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. that will include a number of activities.

On Monday, Harney Mansion Foundation will host a solar eclipse viewing event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. as guests can view the eclipse from one of the grounds in which a historic building, the Harney Mansion, was standing during the last eclipse in 1869. Galaxy-themed music will also be played during this event.

The City of Sullivan and Sullivan Chamber of Commerce will host a viewing event on the Sullivan Fairgrounds in which the chamber will be serving food and refreshments during the Monday event.

Sullivan Independent News

Sullivan Independent News
411 Scottsdale
Sullivan, MO 63080

Phone: 573-468-6511
Fax: 573-468-4046

 

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