The April solar eclipse will bring totality to a cross section of Arkansas. And there will be a influx of people to the state to witness it. “Well, I think at the first governors’ conference when I heard about this around two years ago, they told me I would possibly need to put Porta Potties on the interstate,” said Christie Graham, Russellville Executive Director of Tourism. “That kind of caught me and I was like, really, really? But they were serious.”Russellville leaders have been planning for years for the eclipse. The city was ranked by astromony.com as one of the top 10 places to view the eclipse.”And if you take the top four are in Mexico, that really bumps us up on that list,” Graham said.There will be festivals and events around the area leading up to the eclipse. One of those events is the Total Eclipse of the Heart festival. Couples wanting to tie the knot under the eclipse will just need show up.”We are making this totally free for the couples, the ceremony, the reception live music, wedding cake, drinks to toast with. There’ll be photographers there, everything you need,”said Rodney Williams, festival organizer.The Mayor of Russellville is looking at the event from a safety aspect.”We’re going to have NASA here, we’re going to have the Weather Channel here,” said Mayor Fred Teague. “When you bring more people in, cardiacs and car wrecks are two things that are going to increase. That’s the reality of it.”Russellville will have first responders staffed for the eclipse in case the worst should happen.”It’s going to be a lot like a concert or a ballgame. They’re going to trickle in, but then when the lights turn back on, that’s when everybody’s going to want to leave,” Teague said.
The April solar eclipse will bring totality to a cross section of Arkansas. And there will be a influx of people to the state to witness it.
“Well, I think at the first governors’ conference when I heard about this around two years ago, they told me I would possibly need to put Porta Potties on the interstate,” said Christie Graham, Russellville Executive Director of Tourism. “That kind of caught me and I was like, really, really? But they were serious.”
Russellville leaders have been planning for years for the eclipse. The city was ranked by astromony.com as one of the top 10 places to view the eclipse.
“And if you take the top four are in Mexico, that really bumps us up on that list,” Graham said.
There will be festivals and events around the area leading up to the eclipse. One of those events is the Total Eclipse of the Heart festival. Couples wanting to tie the knot under the eclipse will just need show up.
“We are making this totally free for the couples, the ceremony, the reception live music, wedding cake, drinks to toast with. There’ll be photographers there, everything you need,”said Rodney Williams, festival organizer.
The Mayor of Russellville is looking at the event from a safety aspect.
“We’re going to have NASA here, we’re going to have the Weather Channel here,” said Mayor Fred Teague. “When you bring more people in, cardiacs and car wrecks are two things that are going to increase. That’s the reality of it.”
Russellville will have first responders staffed for the eclipse in case the worst should happen.
“It’s going to be a lot like a concert or a ballgame. They’re going to trickle in, but then when the lights turn back on, that’s when everybody’s going to want to leave,” Teague said.
